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It’s the kind of natural beauty that reaches through your senses and snatches your heart, making you excited about future possibilities and nostalgic at the same time.
The nostalgic feeling calls to my mind memories of my grandfather. The intensity of those memories is heightened this early evening by the fact that I’m wearing a bracelet he made me. One time when I spent the weekend at my grandparents’ house when I was thirteen, I insisted my grandpa and I make bracelets for each other. The one he made me is one of my most cherished possessions, and every now and then, I like to wear it out. This morning, I decided to slip it on.
My left hand moves to touch the bracelet wrapped around my right wrist—and panic roars through me when I only feel the smoothness of my bare skin.
I snap my gaze to my wrist—the bracelet isn’t there.
“Oh, no,” the words push from my throat like a sob.
“What’s wrong?” Hudson asks, urgency thick in his voice.
“No, no, no,” I repeat, wrapping my hand around my wrist and rubbing the space where the bracelet should be, making sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me.
“Summer, what? What’s going on?” Hudson’s dipping down to look at me, his features sharp with concern.
“My bracelet!” I exclaim, feeling sobs welling in my throat, pressure in my sinuses, and pinpricks at the back and corners of my eyes. “I was wearing it, right?” I hold up my wrist to Hudson, thinking maybe, somehow, I was mistaken, and never had it on in the first place, even though I know that can’t be. “Did you notice?”
His eyebrows pinch together, and he nods slowly. “Yeah, I noticed. You had one on.”
My chest feels tight and acidic, my heart like there’s a vise squeezing it. The bracelet is old, and the clasp is worn and sometimes comes loose. It must have fallen off or snagged on a tree branch or something.
I turn around and look at the long, winding trail that we just walked down. It could have fallen off anywhere. We’ve been walking for over an hour, in a circular path that brings us back to the hiking trail’s parking lot.
I was so stupid to keep it on when Hudson and I left to go on this hike. What was I thinking? I knew that it had fallen off before, and I should have known that would be a risk when we’re walking through nature. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I could kick myself.
The thought of going back home without my bracelet, forever losing something that makes me feel so connected with the memory of my grandfather, makes me feel sharp pain scattered through my chest.
But the shadows are already growing thick as the sun angles towards the horizon, no longer beaming down from overhead, but rather filtering through the heavy tree cover. Soon there won’t be any natural light, and there are miles of trail to search.
There’s no way to find it.
I realize that there are hot tears gliding down my cheeks. I look over at Hudson and see that he’s on his phone. I was so wrapped up in my panic I didn’t even notice him take it out and dial.
“Yeah, everyone.” My ear latches onto what he’s saying mid-sentence. “At the Auburn Hills trail. I’ll share my location so you know exactly where I am. Round up as many people as you can, make sure they bring their phones, or actual flashlights if they have them. Thanks, Lane.”
He hangs up. I try to ask him what he was talking about, but the swelling sobs I’m trying to hold back make it impossible to talk.
Hudson places his hands gently but firmly on my shoulders. It’s not enough to make the sobs dissipate, but it’s enough to make me feel just a tad calmer. “We’re going to find your bracelet, Summer,” he says. “I promise.”
Finding my tiny bracelet on the miles of trail we walked when it’s about to be pitch black is a full-blown needle in a haystack scenario.
But the sheer determination that’s weaved in Hudson’s words, and the sincerity that radiates from his crisp blue eyes as he looks deep into mine, give me just enough confidence to keep from breaking down.
I sniffle and take a deep, shaky breath. Even though I don’t fully believe it, I nod. The dip of my chin is like doing a backward trust fall into Hudson’s arms, something I realize I’d never shy away from doing.
“The whole team is coming,” Hudson says, not taking his eyes off mine. “We’re going to comb every. Single. Inch. Of this trail until we find your bracelet. I don’t care if we’re out here all night. I don’t care if they all have to leave and it’s just me, re-tracing every single step on my hands and knees, shining my phone’s flashlight on every square centimeter of the ground. We will find it.”
I nod again. When I swallow thickly, my throat works to push the sobs further down.
Hudson curls his arms around me and pulls me close. I sigh into his chest, trying to believe the words he just told me. To my surprise, it’s not so hard to do.
34
HUDSON
Along with me and Summer, my four roommates are here, plus Carter and the freshman from the second line, Jamie O’Donnell. I’m gonna have to find a way to make it up to these guys when—not if—we find Summer’s bracelet. None of them groaned or complained, they just got to work searching the trail.
We’ve broken up into groups, each group combing an assigned portion of the trail. Jamie actually brought a real, high-powered flashlight, so he’s working his portion alone while everyone else is grouped in twos or threes, stooping down and slowly sweeping their phone flashlights over every bit of the ground.
