Chapter 19
GRANT
G rant’s grip tightened on Julia’s hands as the storm ramped up. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, afraid that if he did, she would disappear.
He tried to take solace in the fact that she had come back. At least for Sierra. It gave him hope that the one relationship his daughter cherished would not be ripped away from her because of his selfish actions.
But it also crushed his own heart. He’d lost the one woman who had meant everything to him. The one woman who would hold his hands when he was at his worst moments and reassure him. The only woman he’d ever met who would think more of him than what he could do for her.
He’d lost her. She didn’t even want to talk about what happened this morning. He imagined it was over for her. In her mind, they’d ended their relationship.
He wondered if he’d pulled her away from Luke. Should he be glad she’d left him to help with Sierra or disappointed that she’d return to him when this crisis passed?
His mind centered on the reason they sat in the police station, to begin with. Sierra was lost, missing somewhere in the midst of this storm.
It tore at his heart as much as the loss of Julia.
Before his mind could recreate the horrible scenarios of Sierra lying hurt or worse as rain pounded down on the ground around her, Julia’s sister entered the room. He had been surprised that the woman had been half-decent to him throughout this ordeal.
He wondered if she’d mellowed since finding out Julia had left him. Though she hadn’t seemed to have known about the argument they’d had.
“So, here’s the situation…”
Before she finished, Julia answered, “That doesn’t sound good.”
She must have picked up on some cue in her sister’s voice. His muscles tightened as he squeezed Julia’s hands again, needing her strength.
“It’s not great.”
His heart sank at the words. What had happened? “What is it? Did they find her? Is she hurt?”
“No,” Alicia answered, “but with the wind, search and rescue can’t put the heli in the air. The rangers haven’t seen her. And on top of that, one of the trails to Hornet’s Ridge is washed out from the downpour, along with a ton of other issues all over the park.”
“What…they’re not going to look for her?” Grant asked, his panic rising.
“No,” Alicia said, “but…it’s going to be a little slow. This storm is causing issues all over town, so we’re a little shorthanded to get people out on this.”
“Is search and rescue sending anyone to Hornet’s Ridge?” Julia asked.
Alicia shot her sister a glance that must have spoken volumes to his wife. “Ally…”
Before Alicia answered, the lights flickered following a massive boom. Lightning smashed into a tree outside, sheering off a large branch and sending it crashing to the ground.
Sierra was out there somewhere in this mess. And they were going to be slow finding her. Maybe by some miracle, she’d gotten home…or somewhere safe.
His hopes were dashed as Ethan arrived at the door. “We’ve had a…development. Are you able to identify this?”
He unfurled the bag he clutched, exposing its contents. Grant recognized the object inside immediately. He struggled to maintain any semblance of composure as his world spun on its axis. “That’s…Sierra’s,” he choked out.
“Hiker found it on Hornet’s Ridge and turned it into the rangers. No sign of your daughter. But we do know wherever she is, she can’t contact us.”
Grant gripped Julia tighter as terror ripped a hole into his heart. She had no way of getting help, even if she needed it.
“So, are they sending someone or not?”
“Y-yes,” Alicia stammered. “Eventually.”
“ Eventually? What does that mean?” Grant asked.
Julia’s head dropped to her chest as she sighed. “It means they’re not sending anyone fast enough.”
“Julia, there’s nothing I can do. I explained the situation to them, but they have other priorities right now.”
“Other priorities?” Grant asked, heat edging the panic out of his voice. “What? Okay, what’s it going to take to get them up there?”
“I don’t know what that means?” Alicia said.
Grant dug into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. “How much?”
“Whoa, okay, that’s not what this is about,” Alicia said.
“Then what is it about?” he asked as he slammed a fist on the table. “The fact that you can’t stand me? That we’re not from here? That we’re not important to you?”
“Grant…” Julia said as Alicia’s features twisted with annoyance.
“No, Julia, your sister has made it very clear how she feels about me.” Grant rose from his seat. “But this is my daughter’s life–”
“That we have taken very seriously,” Alicia interjected, tension clear in her voice. “But she has only been missing for a few hours, and we have a lot going on right now. Unfortunately for you, your checkbook doesn’t work here.”
“Hey, whoa, easy,” Julia said as she stepped between them.
“Well, I don’t like the implication that we’re looking for a fat check to solve his problem.”
“That’s not…Ally, he’s upset.”
“You’re damn right I am. My daughter is out there in this. She’s…” His voice trailed off as his mind filled with horrible images of Sierra.
“It’s okay,” Julia said to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “We’ll find her.”
“Not if they’re not looking.”
“I’ll go. I know those trails pretty well,” Julia said. “If search and rescue is going to take a while, I’ll go.”
“I’ll go with you,” Grant said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“Fine. Ethan and I can go, too, so–”
“I’ll go,” Kyle offered.
“Uh…okay, so that’s three of us…”
“Three? That’s five by my count,” Kyle said as he stepped closer.
“Thank you, doctor. It’s three. You two,” Alicia said as she pointed to him, then Grant, “can’t go alone. You’re novice hikers with no knowledge of those trails and…a bad sense of direction from what I remember.”
”Hey–“ Grant began before pat on his chest by Julia stopped him.
“We do not need any other lost Harringtons,” Ethan said. “So, that means, Kyle’s with someone, you’re with someone at all times. Julia, me, Ally, we all know this terrain, and we all know how to stay out of trouble. So, that’s three teams.”
“Which isn’t a lot of people to cover the ground we need to cover,” Alicia said, “but we’ll do the best we can…”
A knock sounded at the door, and all eyes turned toward it.
“Dad,” Ethan said. “What’s up?”
“You’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a set of busy rangers, that’s what’s up. So…we’re here to help.”
“We?” Kyle asked.
Grant shifted to glance out the door, his brow furrowing at the crowd of people in the police station. Were they all here to look for Sierra?
Next to him, Julia smiled before she left his side and crossed to the man, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you, Chief.”
“Of course, Juju. You know we’d do anything to help.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Ethan said. “You listening to the scanner again?”
“Nope. That’d be the Hoppers. They called me, and we called a few friends. Send us where you need us.”
“We’re here to help,” a short man in glasses said as he stepped inside and grinned at Julia.
A taller man who resembled him entered, too. “Because Julia needs us.”
“Thank you,” she said as she pulled them both into a hug, still grinning at them when she released them.
“Even though she married an outsider,” the shorter one said.
“From the city,” the taller one said.
They really hated people not from around here.
“With a temper.”
Grant’s shoulders slumped slightly.
“He does not have a temper,” she said with a chuckle before she returned to his side and looped her arm through his. “Bob, Bill, this is Grant, my husband.”
He offered him a smile and a nod as they stared at him, unimpressed.
“Okay, great. This helps a lot,” Ethan said.
“We still should go in pairs. This weather is bad enough that no one should be alone.”
“Right,” Ethan agreed.
Grant leaned closer to Julia and whispered, “Are they all here to look for Sierra?”
“Uh-huh,” Julia said with a nod. “When something happens to someone in Harbor Cove–”
“It happens to all of us,” they all answered.
“That was super weird,” Kyle said.
“Welcome to small-town life,” Julia said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“I don’t know what to say,” Grant murmured. No wonder Julia wants to stay here.
“Just say thank you,” she said. “I can take Kyle with us.”
“Sorry, doc, you’re with me,” Alicia said. “We’ll take the south side of the ridge.”
“Julia, you take the north side.”
“Got it,” she said with a nod.
Ethan distributed other locations to the waiting volunteers as they made their way toward the station’s front door. Before they reached it, it popped open, sending a gust of damp air inside as a rain-soaked Luke stepped in.
“Hey, Julia. The Chief called me. Sorry to hear about your stepdaughter, but we’ll find her.”
So, had she not been with Luke when she’d left?
“Thank you, Luke.”
“Anytime, Julia.”
His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he shuffled away.
“Okay, we’re going to need rain gear,” she said as they stepped into the steady rainfall outside.
“Stop by the house,” Alicia said as she skirted past them down the steps with Kyle in tow. “Ethan’s stuff will fit them, and I still have yours.”
“Thanks,” Julia said as she grabbed Grant’s hand and tugged him toward her Jeep.
He slid inside as she fired the engine. He wanted to say something to her as she backed from her spot, her windshield wipers fighting a losing battle against the rain, but the words would not come.
Instead, he flicked his gaze out the window at the passing scenery, wondering where his daughter was.
A warm hand patted his, drawing his attention back to her. “We’ll find her.”
The only thing he could do was thread his fingers through hers. She turned onto another road leading out of town that wound around through the wilderness before she pulled off onto a gravel driveway, pulling up to a Craftsman-style house nestled in the trees.
Julia threw the shifter into park. “Do you want to come in?”
“I’m not sure your sister will let me cross the threshold,” Grant answered.