Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
E ric’s heart nearly stopped as he slammed on the brakes. Or maybe it jumped into his throat, turning his voice gruff and croaky. “What’s wrong? What is it?”
But Willow was already scrambling out of the Jeep, tottering into the woods as quickly as her heels would take her.
Eric hurried to catch up, keeping an eye out for bears or mountain lions, not to mention the plethora of other animals that could easily take out Tinkerbell while she was scurrying toward… what, he wasn’t sure.
In fact, he was so focused on the whimsical blonde that they were halfway to the old, dilapidated shed before he realized it was there. It seemed to appear from behind a crop of trees, and Eric wasn’t sure how Willow spotted it.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “What is this?”
“I…don’t know.” He frowned at the structure, which looked to be only barely standing, years’ worth of snowfall and wind leaving it half collapsed.
He’d honestly had no idea this was here.
How could that be?
Willow frowned back at him. “How did you not know about this? Don’t you come this way all the time to get to No Man’s Land?”
“I usually run or take my snowmobile in the winter, so I use the walking path. I rarely come this way.” He caught up to her and swung her off her feet. “Your toes are going to freeze,” he said by way of explanation.
And if he enjoyed the feel of her in his arms? Well, she didn’t need to know that right this minute. It was true, though. A thin layer of snow covered the ground and had likely already soaked through her heels.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and it felt so freakin’ natural, so right…
“Let me down!” She hopped out of his arms the moment they were close enough to touch the shed.
This close, the sight of the rotted wood and teetering beams made him wince.
“This thing is a hazard. I can only imagine the lawsuit if some kids found their way up here and got hurt. Thank God this area is out-of-bounds. Although, I’m gonna have to get Jerry to come out here and…
” He realized too late that he was talking to himself. Willow had disappeared. “Willow?”
“Here!” Her voice was muffled, and he rounded the shed’s corner just in time to see her bottom half disappearing through a gap where a window used to be.
“Willow! Are you crazy?” He tried to go after her, but the space was way too small. One had to be the size of, well… Tinkerbell to fit through. “Get out of there. It’s dangerous.”
But if she heard him, he couldn’t say. He was met with nothing but the disconcerting groan of a building begging to be demolished. He could hear its old bones creaking like it was getting ready to breathe its last breath and slump to the ground.
Eric circled the shed, mystified by this forgotten structure tucked away in the woods. It looked like a hunting hut…maybe?
How had he never noticed it before?
More importantly, how had his family’s property management team missed this obvious liability? He was already drafting an email tirade in his mind. Just wait until he got back to his laptop.
Honestly, it made him wonder if it was time to replace his team. How closely were they keeping up with the property maintenance if there was an entire abandoned structure still standing?
Sure, this area was a wildlife zone and guests weren’t coming through here, but people broke the rules all the time. It was his butt on the line if one of them was stupid enough to enter the structure.
Like Willow had just done.
His gut tightened with worry. The building was a lawsuit waiting to happen between rotted support beams, missing walls, and jagged edges of broken glass.
Honestly, all it would take was a strong gust of wind and the thing would be leveled.
And the thought of Willow being trapped inside was too much.
“Okay, Willow, get out of there.” Eric’s voice was sharp and commanding, his imagination doing him no favors as it started conjuring a mountain of potential disasters.
“Willow? Come on.”
She could get crushed by a beam or be cut with a piece of broken glass, bitten by some animal who’d made this place its home.
She could?—
Her scream was so sudden and appalling that his blood ran cold.
“Willow!”
He bolted toward the window where she’d entered, wrenching off a piece of wood until it was big enough for him to squeeze through.
“Willow!”
He threw himself into the shadowed space, desperation turning his moves erratic and sloppy. He couldn’t care less about rusty nails and broken support beams.
He had to get to her.
He had to make sure she was okay.