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Now wasn’t the time to think about my miserable, lonely childhood. I had to stay focused on how epically screwed I was presently. I groaned and stopped walking to look around in defeat, then, like an angel to my rescue, I saw Charlotte waving to me. She was covered by a huge raincoat, but I was certain it was her.
“Thank God.” I took off toward her and she held up both hands and shook her head.
She said something but I didn’t hear it over the gusty wind. However, I assumed her gesture meant to stay put. I stopped and waited. Her steps were more confident than mine and even though she seemed to be navigating fine, she skidded and stumbled a couple of times.
When she was in earshot, she shouted, “Jamie, thank God I found you in one piece!” Her words were whipped away by the wind. I felt like it would lift us and hurl us into the ravine at any moment.
“It’s damn good to see you,” I said, although I didn’t think she heard me.
“We can’t go back in that direction,” she shouted, hiking her thumb over her shoulder. “I barely made it up, and I’m sure that the area is impassable by now—completely flooded.
Well… Shit. Was there another way to the resort? “What do we do?”
She grabbed my hand and led me uphill. Despite our situation, I felt a jolt shoot up my arm and I gazed at our point of contact, a little dazed. I was surprised that she was the one who came to my rescue after what happened between us last night. Charlotte hadn’t even looked my way for the rest of the night after we parted ways on the club’s terrace. We walked in silence for a while—it would have been hard to hear each other anyway.
Finally, my curiosity got the better of me. Based on the direction that Charlotte came in, we seemed to be heading much further away from the resort. “Where are we going?”
She let go of my hand as she glanced back, and I immediately missed the contact. “What?”
I shouted the question louder.
“There are a bunch of abandoned cabins up here,” she replied. “The safest thing to do now is to seek shelter in one of them.”
I nodded and asked nothing further because I trusted her judgment. The things I saw her do and heard of her doing—like climbing mountains and roaming the desert—I had no doubt she knew how to survive in a forest during a storm.
It was hard to tell how much time passed until a rustic cabin came into view. It was at the top of the hill, a long way to go when wading through mud and water, but it was a lovely sight.
Finally…
Charlotte looked back. “How are you holding up back there, city boy?”
I snorted. “I’m managing.”
She smiled and I couldn’t help returning it. By the time I blinked, she was upright and then she wasn’t. Her shriek was carried on by the wind as she tumbled out of my sight… toward the ravine.
My heart damn near leaped out of my chest. “Charlotte!” I took off running but her head popped up into view and relief almost had me weak in the knees. “Jesus Christ.” For a moment, I had feared the worst.
“No, Jamie, don’t come any closer,” she ordered, looking over her shoulder into the ditch.
I stopped, torn between listening to her instruction and disregarding it to help her up. She was hanging on a vine for fuck’s sake, and I was terrified that she’d lose her hold.
However, I watched in amazement as she climbed back up with impressive strength.
When she seemed to be in a safer spot, I hurried to her. The relief that washed over me as I reached her side was palpable.“Charlotte, are you alright?”
When she clutched her right ankle, her face twisted in agony. “Well, I didn’t fall to my death so, yeah… but I twisted my ankle.”
My hand hovered over her injured foot. “Let me see.” Just as I got ready to tug off her heavy water boot, she placed her hand over mine.
“We can check it out once we get out of the rain. The wind is picking up and there’s no telling when a tree might take a tumble.” She gave me a once over and frowned. “Plus, you’re soaked. You must be freezing.”
Although we were in the tropics, being wet while being whipped by heavy wind wasn’t favorable. I felt chilled to the bone… until I thought Charlotte had fallen into a ravine. I forgot all about my discomfort then. The fact that she was worried about me warmed me to the core.
“I’m fine. Let’s go,” I said, helping her to her feet.
She took one step, let out a cry, and was on her way back down into the muddy water when I caught her.
“Do you think the ankle is broken?” I asked.
