“We should have turned around at Huckleberry Mountain,” Josh said darkly. “We never had permission to take the kids to Numa. I should have stepped in, but I wanted to trust Willow. Frankly, I don’t see what Willow’s point was in taking us to such a remote location.”
Sam couldn’t exactly place the rise inside him, why he felt the sudden need to come to her defense. He’d been thinking the exact same thing no less than twenty-four hours earlier.
“The remoteness is probably why she took us there—so we didn’t have any distractions.” He looked at Josh. “Willow loves these kids. I think she was just trying to help them see beyond their lives—high school, if I remember correctly, is a bit of a war zone. You never know when you’re going to get blown up.”
“I was homeschooled,” Josh said, “but I doubt a little hike in the mountains is going to keep these kids from sleeping around or doing drugs.”
“Maybe not, but it might help them get ahold of their lives afterward, when everything is in shambles.” Not that he knew, exactly. He’d packed his shattered life into a hard ball, shoved it deep inside to simmer like a peat fire. Maybe he should have taken his brother on such a hike, back in the day, helped them get a different perspective, find their footing.
Except Pete would have been like Quinn, sitting apart from everyone else, aloof, alone. Not in the least interested in what Sam had to say.
“We need to help them make right choices at the beginning. So they don’t find themselves picking up the pieces.”
Funny, it seemed that life was always about picking up the pieces. He frowned at Josh. “We’re talking about teenagers here. They live from one impulse to the next.”
“That’s why you get into their lives and help them curb the impulses.”
He glanced again at Willow. Maybe teenagers weren’t the only ones in need of curbing their impulses. Because his current impulse had to do with Willow, and the fact that he couldn’t get his mind—or gaze—off her.
He could probably blame it on his need to get them all to safety.
Or not. Because right then, she looked at him and met his eyes. Smiled at him.
Heat shot right through him.
Sam swallowed hard. This was simply a reaction to the stress of the last few hours.
The fear that she’d plummet right off the cliff and he’d have to watch Sierra’s sister die.
Although, for a while there, he’d forgotten that part—Sierra’s sister. She’d become just Willow. His partner in getting these kids home.
Something about being with her, despite the trauma of the past day, seemed . . . healing maybe, and didn’t that sound crazy? Because he should be taken apart by their predicament.
Instead, for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt less shattered, and the angry burr under his chest seemed to have shifted.
But then what? In a few hours, they’d be back in Mercy Falls and life would reset. He’d find Sierra, figure out how to make it work between them. According to his calculations, it should work. Sierra was exactly the girl he’d waited for. She fit perfectly into his life. Organized, capable, a little domestic, kind, patient.
Willow was—aside from being Sierra’s kid sister—messy, impulsive, reactive, emotional. She wore her heart on the outside of her body, taking no care to protect it. Frankly he’d always be a little worried about Willow that way. Sierra could take care of herself. Hadn’t she walked away from Ian when she realized he didn’t have the same feelings for her?
Although, knowing Ian like Sam did, there was more underneath Ian’s polished exterior than he let on. If he’d only reached out to Sierra, let her glimpse his heart . . . Which meant that maybe, to keep Sierra, Sam would just have to be more forthcoming about his feelings. Maybe if she knew . . .
What? Because at this moment, the only emotions he could pin down had everything to do with wanting to pull Willow back into his arms.
Oh no.
“We need to get going,” Sam said now, to Josh.
“To where?” Josh said.
Willow had gotten up, dusted herself off. She had added a windbreaker over her fleece pullover. That, a pair of Gore-Tex hiking pants, sturdy boots, and she appeared ready to hike Everest.
Sam got up. Stared up the cliff, trying to spot the road. But with the cliff and overhang . . . Farther ahead in the distance, the mountains curved, and he spotted the hazy outline of a cutaway that could only mean the highway. If he could find a place where he could hike up, he could get help.
Don’t leave. Willow’s voice. He shook it away and gestured to the youth to gather in. All but Vi got up and walked over to him. Even Quinn joined them.