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“I know.” He clears his throat. “I’ve not been the person I should be and it’s been killing me. I’ve wanted to be happy for you, excited that you two found something in each other you’ve been searching for, but it’s hard.”
“I understand. I’ve watched people all around me get what they wanted while I sat back and wondered when it would be my time.”
“Here it was your time.” He makes a noise in the back of his throat. “And all I could do was make it more difficult for you. There aren’t the words for me to apologize.”
“The good thing about being best friends, Gauge, is we don’t hold grudges. But if you don’t help me win your sister back, I’ll put you strictly on night shift.”
He grins. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me, pretty boy.”
“Looks like we’re gonna have to climb.” I groan as we look up at the side of the mountain.
“If it’s too hard for you, I can handle it,” he fires back.
This is the man I’ve known my whole life. The cocky son of a bitch who refuses to let anything get him down. This is what he’s been missing the last few months. “I can hang, can you?”
Natalie
My complete heartis out there in the wilderness. The group of us had gone to Bradford Station at first, hoping to hear something about the guys. When we’d realized they were still out there, we’d gone to where some hunters had found the station’s truck parked.
“You heard anything?” Chance asks as he gets out of his ambulance and comes over to where we are.
Shaking my head, I wrap my arms around my stomach, hoping to ward off some of the cold that’s managed to seep in. What started off as a warm shower has turned cooler the later it gets. “Not yet, but I keep watching, hoping to see them coming out of the trees.”
“Nat! Where’s my daddy?”
I hadn’t expected to see her here, but there she is, standing in between Cam’s parents. Kasey walks over toward me. “Have you heard anything? He sent a text before he went in saying they were helping a kid who’d gotten lost?”
“Yeah,” I confirm for him. Since we got here, I’ve learned a bit more about the situation which brought everyone to this clearing. “Little girl walked too far away from her parents. They were camping up at Old Log. When the rain started, it washed out her footprints and they weren’t able to find her. It turned into a legit storm and they called in the professionals.”
Trinity tugs on my shirt, gesturing for me to pick her up. When I oblige, she digs her head into my shoulder. “Where’s my daddy?” She asks again.
“He’s helping someone your age in the woods,” I explain to her the best way I know how. It’s gotta be hard to be so young and not able to grasp the scope of what’s happening.
“They must be so scared out there by themselves. I know I would be.” And there she is, putting it into easy terms that everyone can understand.
“I’m sure they are, but you and I know there’s no one better than your dad to be out there looking for them.”
“Yeah.” She nods, all the belief in the world for him. “He’ll never leave someone out there without help. Are you scared?” She questions.
Absolutely terrified.
“Nope, your dad and my brother are in total control of what’s going on. They’ll make sure the little girl comes home to her family, just like they would for you.”
It’s a fake it, till you make it type of situation.
“Should we pray for them?” She questions, her voice little and loud at the same time.
“I think we should,” Kasey answers.
Everyone around us agrees and together we stand in a circle, holding hands and bowing our heads. We pray for the privilege of seeing them again and hoping they aren’t hurt in the process.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Cameron
We’rein near blinding conditions, trying to track down the last place the cell phone pinged for the parents. The GPS signal we have is weak, but both of us know these woods like the backs of our hands. We grew up running around them and purposely getting lost before finding our way out.
