Chapter 13 #2
“Wasn’t a booty call.” Declan cleared his throat. “I wanted to see you after being gone all week. Not for sex, but to talk. To spend time together.”
He waited for her to shoot the idea down, but she didn’t.
Risking a quick glance to the side, he discovered Sydney was still staring at him, but this time her expression was more like a child looking longingly at a toy in the window.
Something they really wanted but knew they couldn’t have.
Driving in dangerous conditions was absolutely not what he wanted to be doing while having an important conversation. He forced his gaze back to the road. “Syd? Where are we going?”
“Township Road for the turn is coming up,” she warned. “The first five km are straightforward then we follow a forestry service road for a bit.”
Okay. He really needed to focus on the road, but this was not the end of the conversation.
Time to give her a break, though, and stick to something simpler. “How was the bridal shower?”
Sydney eased back in the passenger seat, extending her legs as she let out an enormous sigh. “The party part was good.”
“Implying some other part was bad?”
“Hello, complicated life,” she offered. “What about you?”
“When I left the bachelor party, Cody was trying to convince his brother to shave off his moustache.”
She gasped. “Not the day before the wedding.”
“I think Chance was pulling his leg about being interested in the idea, but hopefully he doesn’t do anything that makes Rose want to kick his ass on their first day married.
” Declan peered through the rain that descended in light gusts and then in downpours that made it look as if a river was being dumped through a sieve.
“When Sadie and I got married, she insisted any parties happen at least two weeks before the big day.”
“I can see why, since the goal of the bachelor party seems to be to cause havoc,” Sydney said.
“What’s the worst prewedding story you’ve heard?” Declan asked.
Sydney adjusted position. “The worst is the group of pre-med students who took the very drunk groom-to-be down to the clinic and wrapped his leg as if he’d broken it.”
“The hell?”
“Oh, yeah, it was terrible. Funny in one way, if you can picture the poor guy standing at the front of the church in an ankle-to-hip, rock-solid cast.”
“She still married him?” Declan asked. “Sadie would have married me, but she might have broken something over my head for being an idiot before the big day.”
“The wedding went ahead, but the worst part was they didn’t tell him the cast was a fake until three days into the honeymoon.”
Declan felt slightly guilty for being amused. “Poor woman. I hope somebody paid for them to get new wedding photos somewhere down the road.”
“It was her brothers who did it, so yeah. There was payback.”
The truck hit a pothole Declan hadn’t seen in time, and the entire cab rocked violently. Sydney gasped then didn’t make another sound.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” she reassured him. “I would’ve had to turn back over ten minutes ago.”
The next twenty minutes she directed him. The road became steadily steeper and more and more soupy as the rain turned the gravel road into a sea of mud.
When they finally pulled into the yard of the old-timer’s cabin, Declan was happy to put the truck in Park and release the death grip he had on the wheel. “How do you want to do this?”
Sydney peered out the window. “He’s got a little porch, so grab our bags and head out there. Knock to see if he answers, then open the door if he doesn’t.”
They did a mad rush between the parked truck and the fifteen steps to the porch, and Declan’s jacket still clung to him like a second skin.
Sydney wiped water from her eyes and tightened her ponytail before putting her knuckles to the door. “Mr. Nagy? We’ve come for a visit.”
A chorus of barking erupted behind the door, followed by frantic clawing. At least the dogs inside were excited to say hello.
She knocked three more times then tried the door.
When it swung open easily, two mid-sized mutts rushed forward, bumping their heads into Declan and Sydney before weaving their way around their legs. They barked and licked and otherwise acted excited to help.
“Down,” Declan ordered, hand stretched over their heads.
One of them whimpered slightly as he dropped onto his haunches, but the other disappeared into the house, tail wagging furiously.
“Let’s see what’s happened,” Sydney said.
“I go first,” Declan said firmly.
She stepped aside, brushing another streak of rain off her cheek. “Be my guest.”
The house was empty. Unlike previous mountain cabins Declan had visited, this bachelor kept his organized. There was a cold pot of coffee on the counter, three-quarters full, and a few clean dishes in a drying rack. The airtight stove held the remains of a dying fire.
Declan pushed into the back bedroom section of the house, knocking on the door before pushing it open. “Mr. Nagy? You okay?”
The bed was unmade but empty. A quick check into the other room showed an office space that was also unoccupied.
Sydney shrugged. “Must be in the barn.”
They both pulled up their collars and headed into the storm. The wind snapped at their clothing, blasting them with moisture as the rain lashed sideways, stinging like slaps.
The barn was empty, the shed was empty. The dogs following at their heels seemed not the least bit concerned about where their master was.
“His truck is here,” Sydney said, worry colouring her voice. “Did he go wandering in the trees?”
A loud crack of thunder shook the barn, and Declan pulled Sydney to his side. “If he is out there, we’re not looking for him. Not now in the dark and the rain.”
“I know.”
He crouched to pet the dogs. “Where’s the boss? Hey, boys. Where’s the boss? Go find him.”
One took off like a shot, and Declan headed to the door to watch as the dog went straight to the truck and sniffed before coming back and whining.
“He’s not in there,” Declan assured the dog. He looked at Sydney. “See if we’ve got any reception.”
She pulled out her phone and made a small noise. “I have no bars, but there’s a message from Lexie. Must’ve come in while we were bouncing on the road.” She read it, her eyes widening. “Well, shit.”
“What’s up?”
Sydney made a face. “The hospital called the clinic because we’re the physicians on file. Nagy was checked in half an hour ago. A friend dropped him off.”
“Well, that’s good.” Declan breathed a sigh of relief that the man wasn’t lying out there under some bush in the storm.
She nodded. “I’m glad he’s there. But…”
She stared at the rain soaked landscape. At the puddles that had turned into streams that were now flowing down the road.
From the doorway of the barn they clearly saw the lightning strike hit a tree to the side of the road. Electricity crackled on the air, and the hair on Declan’s arms stood on end as the deafening crack boomed.
The wind howled in his ears, but even at a distance, the creaking and rumble of the tree falling was louder. It leaned to the side, pulling part of the embankment with it.
A swirl of mud rushed down the side of the mountain and across the road.
Sydney gasped. “What—”
From farther up the mountain, another deep rumble started, and the ground underfoot wavered.
Declan caught her by the waist and pulled her into the middle of the open arena. Far enough away there was nothing within striking distance.
Far enough from the barn so that if it collapsed they’d be safe.
The rain let up only enough to let them see the hazy outline of the steep mountainside to the west. Between one breath and the next, the side of the mountain seemed to have been sliced off like a hot knife into butter.
Trees remained vertical but began to flow down the hillside, like a surfer riding a wave.
The surreal sight ended abruptly when the shifting tree line hit the horizontal level of the road, and with a great crash and thunder, tall spruce tipped and tumbled like bowling pins, leaving massive roots jutting skyward.
The slide felt endless, though it likely lasted less than a minute.
Sydney leaned into him, and Declan tightened his grip around her soaking wet body as the full damage finally registered.
Behind them, the barn was intact, and the house was fine. But the road down the mountain simply didn’t exist anymore.