Chapter Six Jake #2
It’s fully dark now, Ashley can’t walk, and there is no way I can carry her out of here. The terrain is too dangerous—even with a flashlight, our chances of falling are too high.
“Look, we are going to need help. Do they still have a rescue team around here we can call or maybe get help from the town—”
“No! Please no.” She stops, takes a deep breath, and looks up toward the sky and then at me. “It’s bad enough that you have seen me like this. I hate being the talk of the town. I’ll manage. I can walk back on my own. Surely you know where we are. You can get us back with your flashlight.”
“Ash, you can’t even walk on that ankle, so how the fuck are you getting yourself out of here?
And it’s too dark for me to be carrying you on my back, because yes, I have a rough idea where we are if it were daylight, but in the dark it’s not that easy.
I could take a wrong turn and the next thing we are more lost than you are now.
” I give her the hard truth of the situation she’s in right now.
“Should’ve known that you weren’t the super-talented amazing man that walks on water like Betty portrayed you to be. I suppose you have some fantastic plan then.”
I want to laugh at her throwing a tantrum like a toddler, but I know that’s not going to go down too well right now.
“I think the walking on water was stretching the truth just a little, but I’ll have to thank Gran for the accolades.” I wrap my arm around Ashley’s waist and ignoring the initial flinch from her, she eventually relaxes into me, so she can stand up properly.
“And you’re right. Since you have refused to try Plan A, Plan B it is then.” I knew she was stubborn but the reaction to people seeing her vulnerable surprised me.
“Okay, you aren’t going to like what I have to say, but here’s the situation.
I’m going to find a flat surface at the top of this slope for us to camp the night.
Because there is no way we can walk you out in the dark, not safely anyway, or without one or both of us injuring ourselves.
” I feel her shoulders fall in disappointment.
“You’re right, your Plan B sucks.”
But I can hear the defeat in her voice.
“I knew you would love it,” I quip as I try to surprise a smile.
“The good thing is we are surrounded by plenty of firewood, and in my pack, I have a fire starter, water, some dodgy food which may or may not be past its best-by date, and a blanket. So, it will be first-class roughing it, because only the best for you.”
The tiny chuckle that is almost a laugh is a relief. Maybe we are getting somewhere.
“What, you didn’t pack food for Rosie?” Ashley mumbles.
“That dog deserves a juicy steak for finding you today, but she’s going to have to wait just like the rest of us. Now let’s get you up to the top so I can get you comfortable. But there is one condition for this plan,” I tell her.
“What?” She sighs.
“We agree on a truce from all this verbally attacking each other. We are going to be stuck with each other tonight so unless we can manage to make friends, then I’m calling in the rescue squad now.”
“Fine, truce,” she grumbles, and she twists her body a little away from me, brushing against me.
Shit! I didn’t know how much a stubborn woman could turn me on as much as she does. But there is something about Ash that seems to be revving my engine higher and higher every time we see each other.
“So glad to hear the joy in your voice.” This time I do laugh at her.
“Just shut up and let’s get on with it. Nobody likes a gloater.”
My plan sounds easy, but it’s not. We are both puffing with the effort as we struggle up the embankment and then, finally, we make it to the top.
Once I have Ashley seated with the blanket wrapped securely around her, I collect some wood and light a fire inside the safe circle of rocks I have made.
The first crackles of the wood from the flames fill the air around us, and Ashley gasps.
“What about Betty? She will be worried about you.”
I can’t help but feel a pull on my heart that this woman in front of me is hurt and scared as hell but is worrying about my gran.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I lift it up, praying there is at least one bar of service, and I’m surprised to see I actually have two.
Not wanting to waste battery, and with no guarantee that those two bars will be enough to have a clear phone conversation, I shoot off a text to Gran, explaining what has happened and that we are all fine but will wait until first light to walk out.
I know full well I’ll be carrying Ashley, I’m sure with her protesting the whole way.
I’m relieved when I see it shows delivered, and the dots are dancing on the screen, albeit quite slowly, but she’s getting there. Gran is not very tech savvy, but she does know how to text.
Gran: Oh, a cute first date under the stars, very smooth, Jake. Remember, what happens in the woods stays in the woods.
“Oh seriously, what is wrong with that woman?” I’m cracking up heartily, passing my phone to Ash, who can’t help but join me. And in that moment, I can tell she’s finally letting the tension she has built between us fall a little.
Looking across at her in the soft light of the fire, giggling when she really feels like crying, I can’t help but see how beautiful she is. If only things were different, maybe this would be the ideal first date with Ash . . .
Wait—when did I start calling her Ash?
Oh no, as much as I have been fighting these feelings and pretending they don’t exist, tonight all my guards are down, and my heart is thumping a different beat.
Maybe Gran is right. What happens in the woods stays in the woods.
Ashley
“Can you ask Betty to call my friend Tiffany? Just in case she turns up at my house and freaks out when she doesn’t find me. Betty will have the number. Your gran knows everyone in town.” I can feel my ankle starting to throb as I shift on the cold ground, trying to get comfortable.
“So you have other besties beside me?” He smirks at me.
“Umm, we only just agreed to be friends. You have a lot of hard work to put in to make it bestie level. And I dare you to challenge Tiff for that spot.” I’m smiling at the thought of Tiff replying to that notion.
“Can’t wait to meet the competition.” He grins at me while his fingers fly over the phone’s screen and once he gets the reply, he crouches down in front of me. “I’m turning the phone off now to save the battery just in case we need it.”
Slipping his phone into the front pocket of his pack, he pulls out a compact red bag with a white cross on it.
I want to laugh at how prepared he is, because I’ve already got the impression that he’s an attention-to-details man. Based on the quality in his part of the fence repairs and the way he sneakily fixed mine, I can tell he takes pride in everything he does.
Pulling out an alcohol wipe, along with a bandage, he looks at me. “Can I take your boot off so I can wrap your ankle in this bandage? We need to stop the swelling until we can get you checked out tomorrow.”
A shiver runs through me as the adrenaline in my body starts to drop. “What if you hadn’t found me?” I whisper.
“But I did.” He reaches out and wipes his thumb to catch the small tears that are falling from my eyes again.
His touch is so comforting, and a wave of calm settles in my stomach.
“Well, technically Rosie did, but I’m not letting her take all the credit.
” In the orange glow from the fire, his brown eyes are captivating, and the attempt at humor works, with a small half giggle slipping from me.
“I told you that animals are amazing. You just had to give them a chance.”
“Hmmm, the jury is still out on that, but I have to admit she has put in a solid effort today.” I can feel him unlacing my boot and a sharp pain shoots up my ankle.
Seeing me gritting my teeth, he keeps talking to distract me.
“Now, can you tell me how the hell you ended up down an embankment, headfirst toward the creek, and your foot deciding it wanted to hide out in a little rock hollow?”
He peels off my sock and starts to wipe the scratches with the alcohol wipe, the sting making me suck in my breath each time. “Start talking, Ash, otherwise I’m going to assume it was all a ploy to get me to come rescue you. Have you been in cahoots with Gran?”
I can’t help but laugh at that, even though I’m in pain. “You wish, big guy. I don’t date, so that’s not possible. But good try. Plus you drive me insane most days.”
His eyes whip up from where he’s concentrating on my ankle, and that piercing look has my mind racing.
Is it that he’s shocked, or annoyed at me for admitting that he irritates me, or is he disappointed because, just like me, maybe there is some interest buried in a place he didn’t realize, and that neither of us want to admit to?
“Why?” he asks bluntly.
But I don’t want to share my inner demons right now, out here in the middle of the dark, when I’m already feeling so vulnerable.
“Story for another time,” I mumble, to which he nods and continues to clean my scratches and then starts to strap the bandage around the already swelling ankle.
“Speaking of stories, stop trying to avoid the one where you tell me you were so clumsy you just fell while walking along the trail.” Jake doesn’t even look up this time but just keeps carefully wrapping.
“Oh, I won’t deny I’m clumsy at times. That’s why me and the great outdoors don’t really blend together.
And I know you are going to use today’s adventure against me at a later date so I’ll tell you the truth.
I was trying to catch an injured fawn who ran into the woods.
” Sighing, I wait for the laughter that is surely going to come.
Jake’s body starts bouncing up and down a little and still he isn’t looking at me.
“Go on, let it out. Tiff tells me it’s not healthy to keep laughter on the inside.”