“Freckles?” Brooks pressed.
I swallowed and kept my eyes trained on him when I said, “I might be pregnant.”
I was suddenly no longer aware of the two EMTs anymore. Not when I had Brooks’ indiscernible gaze riveted on my face.
The female EMT cleared her throat. “All right,” she said, and then looked at Brooks. “Sir, would you like to meet us at the hospital?”
“He’s coming with me,” I blurted out.
The female EMT nodded.
Brooks paused for a moment and then climbed into the cabin.
He held my hand the entire way, not saying a word.
I hadn’t wanted to tell him this way. Not in front of strangers. Now I had no idea what was going on in his head.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was taken care of quickly. They administered a pregnancy test.
Positive.
I was lucky. No internal injuries. Mild concussion. Minor hypothermia and dehydration.
Brooks sat at my bedside in silence. His phone rang, but he didn’t notice.
Because all he did was stare at me.
“You should get that,” I murmured. “It might be important.”
“There’s nothing more important than you.” His eyes dipped to my stomach.
His phone beeped, signaling a voicemail. Then it rang again.
“Brooks,” I pleaded. “Answer it.”
With a sigh, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the name across the screen. “It’s Archer.”
“Talk to him,” I urged. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He pressed a button and put the phone to his ear. “Yeah.” He paused. “She’s fine. No. Don’t come down—” He sighed. “Alright. See you in a few.”
Brooks hung up. “Archer’s coming.”
“So I gathered.”
“Hadley, Salem, the whole fleet of them are coming with him.”
“Oh . . .”
We fell silent again and then I asked, “How did you know where I was? I lost my phone somewhere.”
“It was next to your car,” he explained. “It must have fallen out of your pocket when you got out. When I got to the trailhead and your phone was there, but you weren’t, I calledCole. The mist was starting to get bad and there was no fucking way I was leaving you out in it alone.”
“I was worried you wouldn’t come looking for a long time. What tipped you off that something was wrong?”
“Hadley found me in the barn late this morning and asked why you hadn’t returned any of her calls or texts. That made sense, you know? That you might need some alone time. But I thought for sure you’d turn to your friends at some point and when you didn’t . . . I drove back to town and bumped into Gracie. She saw you leave early this morning driving like a bat out of Hell. I checked your location and headed to the trailhead and found your car and phone. Cole and the guys met me with the dogs. The dogs scented your car, and we found you less than twenty minutes later. Crazy that the dogs could track you even through the rain, but they’re bloodhounds, so I guess it shouldn’t be a shock. How did you wind up in the mine shaft?”
I scratched the bridge of my nose, which only reminded me that I’d lost my glasses. Brooks was a bit fuzzy. “I was running away from a mountain lion.”
