TY
Cord tosses a pebble. It hits a puddle of water and splashes. Years of fishing and skipping rocks tells me that the water is deeper over there than a simple wet patch.
Jiggs’ light goes off on his helmet as he leans against the slick mine wall. He mumbles in his sleep, something about a transmission. Cord and I grin, but don’t laugh. Any other time, we’d heckle him relentlessly, but not today. Not now. We just let him enjoy the simple annoyances of a transmission.
The glow from the light illuminates the trash from the food and the emptied bottles. I lift a leg, my body cold, wet, and aching. My clothes are completely soaked through, even though the mining bibs are supposed to be waterproof. I guess they aren’t made to sit in this shit for hours on end.
Or days?
“How long you figure we’ve been down here?” I ask Cord, keeping my voice down so as not to wake Jiggs.
He tosses another pebble. “Fuck if I know.” Another pebble launches. “Hopefully not much longer.”
Another pebble goes sailing.
“I’ve been thinking . . .” I force a swallow. Once this is decided upon, it will be a sealed deal. And as Foreman, it’s my decision. I remember how many decisions I’ve had to make and how many I hated making and laugh. I’d give anything to trade those stupid choices with this one.
“If the bore works,” I say, “we need to agree on who goes out in what order.”
Cord’s eyes darken. “I go last.”
“No,” I gulp, the words stinging my throat. “I have to go last. I’m the boss.”
“Fuck that,” Cord says, the remaining debris in his hand rocketing across the room. “You two have wives, families. I’ll go last.”
“I can’t do that, Cord.”
“Sure you can.”
Blowing out a breath, I steady myself. “I will agree Jiggs goes first. Lindsay is pregnant. That gives him seniority, in my opinion.”
Cord nods, his mouth opening for a split second. He shakes his head and growls through the room.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.” He removes his helmet and sits it beside him. “Okay. Jiggs first. I agree with that. Then you.”
He looks pointedly at me, a fire to his gaze that I don’t see often.
“I’m the Foreman,” I point out. “I took an oath to get my men in and out every shift.”
“I really don’t give a shit,” he chuckles angrily.
“Damn it, Cord. If something happened to you, do you think I’d be able to live with myself knowing I left you behind?”
“That works both ways, Mr. Foreman. I’m not about to go up and tell Elin, ‘He’ll be right here.’”
Staggering to my feet, I wince as my left leg screams in agony. “It’s Jiggs. You. Then me. Got it?” I bark.
He watches me closely, his lips forming a thin line. Finally, he shrugs and stands, grabbing his helmet off the ground. “Whatever, Whitt. I’m gonna go take a leak.”
His boots splash in the water as he makes his way into the darkness. I watch him until I can’t see him anymore, then I turn to Jiggs. He’s smiling in his sleep, his face streaked black, making him look like a cartoon character.
My knees buckle as the situation slams into me. I catch myself on the wall.
“Dear God,” I whisper, feeling my lashes touch the grit on my face. “Please get us out of here.”
ELIN
“I love you.”
Even though I didn’t say the words out loud, I can hear them ricochet through my mind.
Ty’s face is all I see, his wide grin highlighted vividly in my mind. I see his thick lashes, the little freckle on the right side of his nose. The way his dark hair contrasts with his fair skin.
It’s comforting, the only relief I can find in this madness. I feel connected to him this way, to imagine him in front of me and talking to him.
“We’ve been through some crap lately, huh?” I say, although not out loud. My words, again, are for he and I only.
I block out Lindsay talking quietly on her cell phone across the room. I ignore the faint sounds of the office that shares a wall of this conference area we’ve settled into over the last day. I concentrate on Ty.
Tears wet my lashes as I let that thought wash over me. “You’re a survivor,” I tell him. “You’ve made it through hell before. And I need you now more than ever.”
My hand goes to my belly and I fight the tears. “I have a surprise for you, Ty.”
I catch a sob before it escapes and I draw Lindsay’s attention. Right now, stressed to the max, the lights dim, my life on pause, I need this moment with my husband—real or not.