Chapter 47
Chapter forty-seven
Zac
“Is everyone all right up there?” someone called from over the ledge they’d been stranded on all afternoon and into the evening. Zac would recognize his friend Miguel's voice anywhere. A bright beam of light pierced the darkness that had descended hours before.
After Zac's confession and Tabitha's oddly calm acceptance of it, a general unease settled on his shoulders.
Tension hung thickly between them as they made small talk or sat silently.
Eventually the sun set. They huddled together away from the edge as the temperatures dropped and the stars appeared in the sky.
It was a stunningly beautiful night. But despite the lack of clouds or wind, a palpable discomfort encroached on their peace.
Zac asked Tabitha if she was ok at least a dozen times. By the ninth or tenth inquiry, she'd nearly taken his head off, explaining that she was tired, hungry, and ready to be done. Done with what exactly, he didn't know. Done with the day? Done with climbing?
Done with him?
It was difficult to not take any of it personally, but Zac continued to remind himself what she'd been through.
Today and also all those years ago when he'd decided to remove himself from her life.
He was going to practice patience and give her as much grace as he could muster.
It was the bare minimum that she deserved.
Eventually the jangle of quickdraws and climbing calls and responses announced Chelan Search & Rescue’s arrival.
“We’re both fine,” Zac shouted down. He smiled at Tabitha, who looked exhausted and sat shivering against the rock wall. “A little cold and tired, but good, all things considered.”
“Sit tight—away from the edge—we’ll be there shortly."
Zac sat beside Tabitha and wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t say anything but released a little sigh and snuggled into his warmth.
The head of the rescue unit, Miguel, crested the ledge first. He tied off the anchor and turned to Zac and Tabitha.
The light from his headlamp blasted them in the face.
Zac hadn’t realized how dark it had gotten on the ledge because a mass of stars clustered in swirls of constellations engulfed the indigo sky.
The full moon crested the tops of the surrounding trees and shone glimmers of light on the river down below.
If they hadn’t been stuck, if their situation had been orchestrated rather than catastrophic, the moment would have been rife with romance.
But the heaviness of reality kept his feet firmly on the ground.
"Any injuries I need to know about?" Miguel asked through huffs as though regaining his breath after the ascent.
Tabitha shook her head.
Zac pulled her tightly to his side and added, "No. We were pretty lucky. Could have been a lot worse."
“Glad to hear it. I want to get a few more of us up here then we’ll work on getting you two to safety. Sound good?”
“Sure. Thanks, man,” Zac responded. He turned to Tabitha and briskly rubbed her arms to scare away the goose bumps.
“We probably have a good hour ’til we’re down, then another hour of questioning and medics giving us the once over, but after that, do you want to grab a bite?
Or we could go straight back to my place? ”
“I’m so tired already, maybe it’s best if I—”
“Why don’t we play it by ear?” Zac interrupted, desperate to sidestep the shutdown. “Like I said, it’ll be a while ’til we get out of here.”
Tabitha nodded and leaned up to plant a soft kiss on his cheekbone. His heart hammered, remembering where those lips had been and the pleasure they’d delivered. He couldn’t wait to shower her in delights again and hoped it would be later that night.
Zac had never rappelled at night, but he couldn't let himself enjoy it. He was too busy worried about Tabitha who he'd insisted go first. The sooner she was at the bottom the better.
SAR had positioned lights hooked up to generators at the base of the rock face.
As they descended from the dark ledge to the first anchor point then down to the ground, the lights washed the area in a false sense of daylight.
The forced illumination created unsettling shadows around the perimeter.
Still, overwhelming peace bloomed in Zac the moment Tabitha's feet touched the ground below.
He watched as two of the members of the SAR team rushed around her.
One helped her out of her harness while the other waited a step away with a bottle of water and a heavy woolen blanket.
Zac could finally breathe, and as he stepped over the edge to rappel down the last pitch to his tabby cat, he felt a sturdy determination in his gut. Things wouldn't end like they did sixteen years ago because he'd do everything in his power to remain in his woman's life.
“Not a bad estimation, eh, tabby cat?” Zac chuckled, playfully skimming his fingers along the surgery scar on her knee.
It was hard to shake her fall from his mind, the one from earlier that day and the one he hadn’t been there to prevent three years ago.
Well, no more. He was done running, done protecting his heart.
Especially if it meant not allowing Tabitha in.
He’d fallen in love with her all those years ago, and the feels had slithered out of hibernation before he could stop them. Not that he’d wanted to.
And yeah, she’d asked him to drop her off with Lark, but he wasn’t upset. She wanted to check on her friend. And so what if she wanted to sleep in her hotel room that night—alone? This was new or new again . . . he wouldn’t push it because having his woman back was all that mattered.
“You were off by twenty-two minutes, but who’s counting?” she teased lightly as a yawn overtook her voice.
Poor thing. She needed rest. But as soon as she felt up to it again . . .
“How did blondie sound?” Zac asked. Tabitha had called her friend and said she’d stop by before returning to the hotel.
“Better. Livelier.”
“Did you tell her about what happened?” Why did he hope she had, not necessarily the details, but the bullet points would get the message across.
Climbing? Check.
Boulder fell? Check.
Made it to safety while also stranded on a ledge then hooked up with my ex? Check.
Who was he kidding? He wanted to shout it from the rooftops that they’d reunited. Not in a creepy way. More of a full-to-the-brim-with-pride-that-she-was-his-again kind of way.
“That’s more of an in-person conversation.” Her words made Zac’s heart dip a little. “I want to make sure she has what she needs tonight. The drama can wait.”
Drama?
“Do you regret . . .” Zac’s question fizzled on his tongue, unable to get the words out.
“No,” Tabitha insisted. “The third pitch wasn’t ideal, but I don’t think what we did was a mistake. It was fun.”
“Fun? Just fun?”
“You know what I mean.” Tabitha closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest. Light from the few streetlamps they passed swept over her tight features. The dark circles beneath her eyes were visible, as was a scrape along the side of her neck that he hadn’t noticed until now.
Zac felt selfish for pressing her when she had nothing left to give.
Typical Zac.
No. Not anymore.
He lifted her hand to his lips and he brushed a feather-light kiss there. “Let’s get you to blondie’s so you can check in on her and then go get some rest. Things will look better in the morning.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand and then returned hers to her lap.
Tomorrow. They could talk about what came next tomorrow.