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Maybe Reed is right by suggesting we need to put a little distance between us and the plane.
“We need to get somewhere higher.” Reed plants his hands on his hips. “If we’re elevated, we might be able to see if there are any towns or cities nearby. I can go, and then I’ll report back.”
The fog that had at least partially caused the crash has started to lift. All I can see surrounding us are trees.
“We need to stick together,” I tell him. “If you go wandering off, you might not find us again.”
He points to the plume of black smoke that continues to billow into the air. “I’ll find you. If the fog goes, I’ll be able to see that from miles around.”
“Let me come with you, then.” I’m almost begging now.
Is it because I feel safer with Reed? Or is it that I don’t want to be left alone with his two sons?
“No, you’ll only slow me down. I won’t go too far, I promise. It’s better if you just wait here. Conserve your energy. We don’t know how long we’re going to be out here.”
“Okay,” I say, my voice small.
I’m thankful my bag survived the crash. Though the majority of what’s in it didn’t even belong to me before the previous night, it at least means I have clean clothes and the toiletries I took from the hotel. It also gives me something to sit on that isn’t just the hard ground.
Reed faces me and tilts his head slightly to bring his eyes closer to the level of mine. He’s solid and masculine, and I have to fight the urge to fling myself at him and wrap my arms and legs around his body like a little spider monkey and refuse to let go.
He must have sensed this need in me, as he touches my chin. “I won’t be long,” he reassures me again. “You’ll be fine. Cade and Darius will watch out for you.”
I want to tell him what Cade said to me on the plane, that he thinks I’m a cuckoo, a parasite, but I clamp my mouth shut. I’mgoing to be stuck with these men for God knows how long, and I don’t want to stir things.
Reed moves even closer, and I catch my breath. He wraps his arms around me, and I stiffen. Have I ever had a man hold me this way? I try to think. I’d had some of my mother’s old boyfriends make a grab for me on the odd occasion, but it never felt anything like this—warm and safe and comforting. I never had time for boys from school. They saw me as haughty and standoffish—untouchable, one of them had said, as though that was supposed to be an insult. But the truth was that I was just too fucking busy taking care of my mother and working to bring money into the house to even think about getting involved with someone.
Reed holds me a little tighter, and he drops his nose against the top of my head. Finally, I allow myself to relax, and I breathe him in. He smells of smoke from the fire, but I don’t even mind.
He releases me, and I try not to be disappointed. Then I remind myself that I’m supposed to hate this man. He abandoned me and my mother. He’s been wealthy for years, while we’d been struggling, and he hadn’t even given us a second thought.
Just because he’s tall and handsome and older does not make him some kind of hero or rescuer. If he was that kind of person, he could have saved me years ago.
“You okay, Laney?” He frowns in concern.
I nod, but I don’t meet his eye. “Just go.”
Behind Reed, Cade is sitting on a tree trunk, his leg elevated on the wood. He’s staring right at me. No, not even staring—glaring at me. What the fuck is his problem? Is he worried I’m going to steal his daddy from him? Poor baby.
I can’t help glancing over to Darius. He can’t see Reed hugging me, but I wonder if he knows. His face is angled towardthe trees, the daylight slotting between the trunks. Can he see the contrast of light and shadows?
Reed clears his throat. “Right, I’ll be back as quick as I can, okay? Hopefully, I’ll bring help with me.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I wipe them away and sniff. “Be careful, okay?”
I still don’t think this is a good idea. There are wild animals out there, and he doesn’t have any way of defending himself. But I know he’s not going to listen to me. He looks at me and sees a girl, not a young woman who has been looking after herself most of her life.
He leaves me to go over and say goodbye to his sons. I expect some handshaking and back slapping, but he hugs them both just as tightly as he hugged me.
I allow myself a moment to hope. Maybe Reed will return with help. Or he’ll spot a town in the distance that will be close enough for us to walk to. I have to cling to the hope that we will be found.
Reed strides off into the trees, and each of us remaining retreats to our own spaces, allowing the shock and disbelief of what has happened to sink in.
Cade has found a large tree branch, which he’s using as a crutch. He has a torn t-shirt wrapped around the injury on his calf, but blood spots have appeared through it. I wonder how much pain he’s in. For a moment, I think perhaps that’s the reason he’s being such a dick—well, that and the fact we’ve just been in a plane crash and are stranded in the middle of nowhere—but then I remember he was acting that way long before he got hurt.
Darius holds his violin in his hands, but he doesn’t play. I’m somewhat glad for that. The thought of his music slipping through the trees while the plane continues to burn would have been so surreal, I’d have worried I’d lose my mind.
His long fingers trace the outline of the instrument, running up the neck and across the top and back down again to follow the curves of its body. I wonder how he feels about it surviving the crash. The way he’s touching the instrument is with such tenderness that I can’t help thinking he’s as much relieved to still have his violin as he is to have his brother and father.
