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Jay stood there as if waiting and Erika frowned even harder. “Are you planning on showing me?”
“What?” she exclaimed, horrified by his audacity and literally took a stumbling step backwards.
He reached out and steadied her. “I can’t very well determine the extent of the injury unless you plan on showing me. If you would rather not, I can only conclude that you more than likely bruised it pretty damn good and, yes, it’s going to hurt like hell. But sitting out here in the freezing wilderness is not going to heal it. Now, are you going to show me?”
“Jay,” Ryan said quietly, almost as if he were scolding a disobedient child, but sounded far more embarrassed.
Erika felt her insides begin to boil. “I hate you, Jay Colby.”
“And I don’t care,” he said, nonplussed by her admission. “I take it that means you will not be showing me, so make up your mind. Are you coming or staying?”
“We’re coming.” Ryan put his arm around her and prepared to help her walk.
Grateful for Ryan’s presence, Erika allowed him to act as her walking stick. If the situation hadn’t been so horrific, she would have thought being forced to walk arm in arm might just be considered romantic. But not a single romantic bone in her body tingled as she hobbled down the snowy path and through the huge fern trees lining the lake, toward what she knew for certain was her inevitable death.
Chapter 5
Erika winced as yet another spasm took hold of her hip. She unconsciously leaned heavier onto Ryan’s arm.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”
No, she most certainly was not! However, as she looked ahead and saw Jay’s big build grow even further away, she swallowed her protests and nodded her head. She would have loved nothing more for them to lose him completely, but Ryan had very different opinions. The more Jay distanced the gap between them, the more Ryan pushed her harder.
They had been walking quite the while already and the sun had finally slipped below the horizon. The wind had picked up and an evening chill replaced the day’s warm sun. She was startled when Jay suddenly veered off the trail and disappeared into the thick forest of pine trees.
“Where’s he going?”
“Not sure,” Ryan muttered, then said, “Rest here, I’ll go and see what’s going on.”
Her eyes widened. It was starting to get dark. She did not want to wait there alone. “Ryan, let’s just keep walking. We can follow the wagon tracks back home.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said, and gently removed her arm from around him. “I’ll be right back.”
Before she could object any further, he ran after Jay into the thick bush. Erika reached for a tree nearby and put her weight against it. Not only was her hip in more pain than she ever experienced in her lifetime, her feet were now throbbing in agony as well. She was certain her expensive boots, which admittedly were very beautiful, but definitely not meant for hiking, were leaving blisters.
Reaching under her hat, which had remained remarkably intact during her fall, she gingerly touched the sore part of her head that had hit the ice and winced. Jay was right, she would have a huge goose egg.
Sighing, she looked about her surroundings and was confronted with nothing but snow and bush. It was eerily quiet. Erika shivered and glanced at the trees where the Colby brothers had disappeared, hoping to see Ryan re-emerge. No one came. The bare branches above her head began to sway to and fro as the wind slowly picked up strength. She thought she heard something behind her, but after looking over her shoulder, she saw nothing.
It felt like forever while she sa
t there waiting. If she were to hazard a guess, it felt like three quarters of an hour, but was probably no more than fifteen minutes.
Trying to appease her rattled nerves, she however, could not stop the icy finger of apprehension creeping up her spine. A cold breeze swept over her and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She tried to convince herself it was for protection from the cold, but she had a sneaky suspicion fear had more to do with it.
She heard it again. There. Directly behind her. She spun around and saw nothing. Biting her lip, she tried to reassure herself it was probably nothing but branches or leaves blowing in the wind.
Nevertheless, she pushed herself away from the tree and limped in the direction she last saw Ryan disappear.
“Ryan?”
Nothing. Only silence from the wooded area. She released a weary sigh and slumped against another tree. What could be taking so long?
Another rustling sound had her head jerking up and spinning around. This time, her pulse rate increased so dramatically, it felt painful beneath her chest.
“Ryan?” This time she made her voice slightly louder.
A flash of movement in her peripheral vision had her heart leaping from her chest to lodge itself permanently in her throat. With a croak, she called out his name again.
