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Chapter One
“This isn’t going to work.”
Shyla leaned against a nearby tree trunk to rest and take the weight off her ankle. It was badly swollen; she could tell by the way her boot squeezed around her foot, but that was probably a good thing right now. It was keeping it stable and acting like a pressure bandage. “We need to set up a camp for the night.”
Her hiking partner and ‘almost’ boyfriend turned to stare at her. The look of distaste on his face was plain and Shyla struggled not to roll her eyes.
Antony had been pursuing her for weeks, but Shyla had never been one to dive head-first into a relationship. Caution was her middle name. Which was why it was ironic that she was the injured one on a hiking trip she had suggested as a way for them to get to know each other better.
“You mean sleep outside. Overnight. In a tent?” he asked. His tone was so appalled you’d think she’d asked him to swim naked in a pool of piranhas. Shyla might have laughed if she wasn’t in so much pain. He was clearly way out of his depth on this trip. Despite all his assertions that he was an experienced walker and climber, she suspected his idea of walking was a light stroll through a manicured park, and the only climbing he did was stairs, if his brand new, designer rather than practical, outfit was anything to go by. She should never have brought him up here, but Shyla had thought it would be safe enough, even if they were on the side of a mountain. She had enough experience for both of them, after all, and it was only a day hike on a fairly undemanding slope… if you weren’t injured. She blew out a breath.
“I need to rest, and at the rate we’re going we’re not going to get down the mountain by nightfall,” she told him. “It makes sense for us to make camp now while we can see what we’re doing.”
She should have known Antony would argue. If there was one thing today had highlighted, it was his damn superiority complex. It was like nobody could possibly know better than him. Which is why she was injured in the first place. “Well, I think it would make more sense for me to carry on down the mountain and go to get help.”
Shyla stuffed her irritation down and kept her tone reasonable. “I told you when we came up here that this wasn’t to be taken lightly, and we needed to stay together.”
“I remember,” he replied haughtily. “In case there was an emergency and one of us needed help. Well, you need help, so I’m going to get some.”
“That’s not how it works, Antony.” She struggled to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Shyla. I can get down there and have someone back up here to rescue you way before nightfall and you can rest up in a nice comfortable hotel bed where I can look after you.”
Shyla gritted her teeth. The pain made her want to lash out, but she reminded herself that never got anyone anywhere. “No, Antony. If something happens to you, we’ll both be stranded.” She was aiming for assertive with her tone, but it had mostly come out as tired.
“Of course we won’t,” he denied, and Shyla wondered if she said the night was dark whether he’d argue with that too. “You’ve got an emergency beacon and you insisted on giving me one as well. Besides, if I’m lucky, I might not have to go too far before I pick up a phone signal and can put in a call to mountain rescue.”
“No Antony…” She realized too late she should never have outright denied him. It was like a red rag to a bull to the Antony’s of this world.
“Look, I’m going, Shyla. I’ll have someone back here before you know it.” With that he left her propped up against the tree and started walking away.
Shyla took a step forward and winced as her ankle almost gave way beneath her. “Do you even know where you’re going?” she shouted at Antony’s retreating back.
Of course I do,” he yelled without bothering to turn around. His arm shot up in the air and he waved the very latest Garmin handheld GPS.
Of course he did, Shyla thought bitterly. She stared until he was out of sight, swallowed up by the camber of the mountain and what sparse winter foliage there was.
He hadn’t even bothered to help her set up her tent.
Of course, that might have been a godsend. She didn’t end up with a damned sprained ankle without his help!
Using the tree for support again, Shyla unpacked the small emergency pop-up tent. This wasn’t the best location to set it up, but it was a case of beggars can’t be choosers right now. She looked around and eyed the ground critically. She hated sleeping on a slope, but the couple of trees that grew here at least provided a modicum of shelter. Tomorrow’s forecast was for snow. Blizzards, in fact. But she should be down the mountain and tucked up in a nice warm bed before that happened. She wondered if it was even worth putting up the tent at all. Then again, it wasn’t a lot of effort, and its bright red color would provide a useful beacon, even after Antony had provided the coordinates with his fancy Garmin.
And if she was comfortable, she’d manage to rest her ankle all the better and maybe not be such a drain on the people who came to help her down. Besides, now that she was standing still it was damn cold, even if it wasn’t snowing yet, and she knew that sweat chilling on her body was an insidious, first-class ticket to hypothermia.
Better safe than sorry might as well be her catchphrase.
Choosing the flattest piece of ground in the vicinity, Shyla hobbled around and pegged out the tent. She didn’t bother doing more than the four corners. She didn’t want to slow the rescue team down for too long when they arrived. Especially not with severe weather moving in. The forecast was reasonably accurate within twenty-four hours, but she knew better than to think it might not change. Many a hiker had been caught out by bad weather closing in sooner than it was expected, so Shyla was always prepared for every eventuality, even on a relatively simple hike like this one. It was especially useful when you had pretenders like Antony who liked to make out they had far more experience than they really did.
It was sods law that she’d been the one injured, rather than him. She was still annoyed at the way he’d lorded that over her too. Like it hadn’t been his fault in the first place.
Shyla climbed into the tent and removed her thick down jacket, spreading it out on the floor of the tent to lie on. Then she sat down and risked loosening her boot laces slightly before she finally took the spare sweater from her bag to use as a pillow and positioned her backpack so she could rest her foot on it and elevate it for a while.
She didn’t expect to sleep, but within minutes of laying down she was out like a light.
The sound of a gale blowing and the insistence of her bladder that it needed emptying woke her.
For a moment she was disoriented, and she blinked a couple of times in the dim light before uncurling and stretching her cramped muscles.
