Chapter Fifteen #2
The flashlight helped. She wished Sloan had taken it with him. Since it had still been daylight when he’d left the cabin, he hadn’t done so. Now it was dark. She stopped walking when she thought she heard a sound.
What had Sloan told her about bears? He claimed his property was bearproof and that most bears hibernated during the winter months. Even if the sound she’d heard wasn’t a bear, it could be some other kind of animal. Like a moose. A very unfriendly moose. Or an even larger bison.
Refusing to give in to her fears, she began walking again, or else her feet would get frozen in place.
Taking a chance, she called out to Sloan again in the loudest voice she could.
Her eyebrows went up when she thought she heard a deep groan coming from the direction where she’d heard the sound earlier.
She had a feeling what she’d heard wasn’t a bear or any other animal but was Sloan.
She called out to him again, and when she didn’t hear anything, she braved the weather to move in that direction.
Moments later, she found him, leaning against the side of a tree. When she shined the flashlight on his face, she saw a bruise near his left eye. “Sloan! What happened?” she asked, reaching him.
“I got hit in the head with a flying branch and then I slipped and fell,” he said in a shivering and slurred voice. “I need to get to the cabin. I’m almost frozen.”
She saw that he was, and that wasn’t good. “Lean against me, and we’ll go back together.”
“I’m too heavy, Leslie.”
“No, you’re not, so do what you’re told, Sloan.”
It must have been the tone of her voice.
All she knew was that when she wrapped her arms around him, he leaned against her, and when they began walking, she slowed her pace to keep up with his steps.
She then led him toward the area from where she’d come.
She supported his weight and he supported hers as together they slowly moved toward the cabin.
“Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” he asked in a voice that shivered.
“Positive.”
“Did you throw down bread crumbs?”
Leslie couldn’t help but smile. In college, more than once, she’d gotten lost on campus while walking from one building to another. Jokingly, Sloan had suggested that she throw down bread crumbs to find her way. “Not this time.”
Moments later, she said, “We’re here.”
“We’re here?”
She could hear the surprise and gratitude in his voice. “Yes, Sloan, we’re here.”
Once they walked through the cabin door, Leslie knew her work had just begun.
First thing she needed to do was get Sloan warmed up and then check his injuries.
He had been out there a long time, and she needed to look for hypothermia and frostbite.
She was grateful she’d been a Girl Scout back in the day.
They made it to the sofa. She checked the knot on his head and then raced to the kitchen for the first-aid kit. She made sure he took a couple of aspirin for the pain and determined there was no frostbite. But she needed to get him warm.
He assisted her in removing his wet clothes, and then she quickly removed hers. There was no time to be modest, since they’d both seen the other naked a number of times, although not recently. The important thing was getting dry as quickly as possible to share body heat.
Luckily for them the fire was blazing in the fireplace.
Wrapping themselves in a sleeping bag and blankets, they lay down in front of it.
She wished she could ignore the naked body plastered to hers that was shivering profusely.
Hopefully, their bodies’ heat would stop any hypothermia.
She had taken a quick look at the knot on the side of his head.
She needed to watch for any signs of a possible concussion, which meant waking him up periodically.
The feel of his hard body pressed against her back and his arms across her waist felt comforting.
She didn’t want to think of what the outcome could have been if she hadn’t gone looking for him.
From the way he was shivering, he was still cold, but the body pressed against hers was beginning to feel warm.
His arms tightened around her, and his body shifted slightly to whisper in her ear, “Thank you, Leslie.”
The huskiness of his voice made certain parts of her tingle. “Don’t mention it, Sloan.”
She lay there, cuddled in his arms inside the sleeping bag, as they continued to share heat.
She was facing the fireplace, and for the longest time she watched the blazing wood, trying to recall the last time she’d slept naked in his arms. It had been the day before he was to leave to come here and prepare this same cabin for their week during spring break.
They had made love most of the night and again that morning before she’d taken him to the airport.
That had also been the last time she’d seen him until she’d run into him at Tyler and Keosha’s wedding.
Leslie thought about all they’d discovered about what happened ten years ago, since being here.
Lies she thought he’d known about, only to discover he hadn’t.
Their one accomplishment was realizing they both had contributed to their breakup.
They had played right into Sarah’s hands, and she felt herself getting angry just thinking about it.
As for Sloan, she had no idea what he was thinking. Was he also remembering the last time their bodies had fit this snugly? When she heard Sloan’s even breathing, she knew he had drifted off to sleep, which meant he wasn’t thinking at all.
Leslie wished she could say the same about herself, but she was thinking and doing a lot of it.
What if she hadn’t gone looking for Sloan?
What if he’d been injured far worse than he had?
What if he’d gotten frostbite and needed extreme medical care and she couldn’t give it to him or expect anyone to come out in this weather? What if...
She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about all the things that could possibly have gone wrong. Instead, she focused on all the things that had gone right. He was back in the cabin and safe.
They might have been apart for ten years, but she knew some things hadn’t changed. And that included her love for him.
Yes, she still loved Sloan, and it had taken almost losing him to make her realize that.
She also knew he’d seen her leaving him ten years ago as no different than the way his own mother had deserted him.
He had shared with Leslie how he’d felt about his mother’s desertion, how it had affected him, although he knew he’d had a better life without her.
And Leslie knew he couldn’t trust her after what had happened ten years ago.
More than anything she wished she had more time with Sloan, but she knew that wouldn’t be the case.
There was no doubt in her mind, when the weather cleared up he would be taking her back to Wasilla as planned.
She knew it, and although she wished otherwise, she accepted it.
She’d appreciate having him here with her for as long as the weather lasted.