Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
ANDIE
“ L iam!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Fear and panic instantly engulf me as I
drop everything I’m holding, shrug out of my backpack, and make a beeline to where I saw Liam go down. He’d made it far enough up the side of the hill that I thought he was safely beyond the edges of the mudslide and out of harm’s way. Though it was a relatively small one, mudslides pose a particular type of danger because mud is too dense for a person to dig themself out of once it takes them under.
Slipping through the heavy sludge, I slide along the outer edge of the mud’s path. I struggle to navigate my way through brush and boulders and loose rock, but Liam is nowhere in sight. Another clap of thunder shakes the ground, knocking me momentarily off-balance, and I throw my arms out to steady me.
Rain continues to pour down in sheets so thick I can barely see a few feet in front of me. I try in vain to shake the excess water from my eyes and eyelashes, but the effort is a waste of energy. Liam is somewhere below and he needs me.
“Liam!” I bellow, but the wind and rain smother my voice. Panic seizes hold of me and I fear my heart will stop beating. “Liam!” I call again and again as I try to locate the exact spot where I saw him last. “Liam!” I yell into the storm, but it’s no use. My anguished cries are carried away in the wind.
I send up silent prayers to the heavens–to God and Mother Nature and Zeus–to anyone who can hear me. “Help me!”
And that’s when I see it. Movement from behind a Juniper tree. It’s slight, and as I scramble down the uneven slope, I can just make out two arms tangled in a mass of branches.
“Liam!” I scream again.
“Here!” His response is barely audible over the violent rain. I pick my way down to where Liam has flung himself into a tree and now hangs there by his arms. The bottom half of his legs are buried in the thick river of mud beneath him. I peer up the slope for obvious signs that a larger mudslide is imminent, despite knowing it’s impossible to predict if the ground below has ceased its movement or whether another slide is coming.
“Andie, get back!” Liam’s voice is strained as he calls out to me. “Move away from the edge!”
I ignore his command and continue to inch my way along the sloping hillside until I’m close enough to get a good look at him. “Are you hurt?” I yell, frantically looking him over for obvious signs of injury.
Liam shakes his head, “I don’t know,” he hollers back to me. “I may have tweaked my knee when the mud buried my legs. It was too deep for me to move through it easily.”
I search the surrounding area for anything I might use to pull him clear. The ground is no longer sliding, but the mud beneath the tree is dangerously deep and unstable. “Hold on!” I yell, as I continue to filter through the clutter for a branch, anything strong enough for him to grab ahold of.
“Steer clear, Andie! You’re too close!”
But I don’t listen. I can’t. My sole focus, every muscle, every molecule in my body is of one determined mind. I will not stop until he’s safe. Even if the mud claims me, I will not retreat to safety while his life is on the line.
“Over there!” Liam nods to a somewhat level area below where I’m standing and beyond the slide area. “I think I can jump.”
I shake my head. “It’s too risky. If you don’t make it you’ll slide down and end up buried alive in the mud.”
“Andie, listen to me. These branches aren’t going to hold me for much longer. Grab onto that root,” he gestures to an area on the slope where several roots protrude from the side of the uneven ground. “And no matter what happens, don’t let go. Understand?”
“No, Liam!”
“Just do it, Andie! Please! I need to know you’re safe before I jump.” He takes a beat to rest his head against one of the branches tangled around him. “Please,” he pleads with me, and I can see the muscles in his shoulders beginning to tremble.
“Okay,” I call to him. “But don’t you dare do anything stupid, do you hear me? Or I’ll never forgive you.”
He nods, and the fact that he doesn’t say anything tells me he’s trying to conserve his energy. I side-step my way to where the roots protrude from the side of the slope and grab hold. Liam nods, and even though the rain continues to pound the ground around us, his eyes make contact with mine and he gives me a single nod.
Struggling to gain purchase, Liam uses all his upper body strength to pull himself clear from where his legs are now buried in mud and debris to just above his knees. Once clear, he swings his legs to rest on a couple of the thicker interior branches. He gauges the distance between him and the clearing where I’m still hanging onto the exposed roots of another juniper tree, and then, before I know what’s happening, he launches himself in my direction. He lands with a splattering thud in front of me, spraying murky water, sticks, and pebbles in every direction. The sodden ground is slick, so even though he clenches at the mud, he’s unable to gain enough leverage to keep from slipping.
Threading one arm through the protruding root, I use my free arm to reach across to where Liam has flattened himself against the ground, giving his body the friction necessary to stop him from slipping.
“Take my hand,” I yell as I stretch toward him with everything I’ve got. His hand clasps my arm and he shimmies his legs at an angle until finally, FINALLY, he’s able to loop his arm through another protruding root angling out from the side of the slope.
Chests heaving, we lay there until we’re able to catch our breath. After what seems like hours but is really only a few minutes, Liam regains some of his strength and swings himself up onto the landing. Laying on his stomach, he reaches down, grabs hold of my waist and hefts me up, until he’s able to roll us both away from the edge. We end up sprawled out on our backs, as the rain continues pelting us on all sides.
But I’ll gladly take all of it–the rain, the wind, the sticks, the rocks, and the mud–because Liam is safe.
We’re still panting and working to calm our breathing when Liam rolls his head in my direction and grumbles, “What in the Sam Hill were you thinking marching into a hazard zone like that?” I can tell by the angst in his voice that he’s upset with me, and yet at the same time, there’s an element of wonder in his expression.
Releasing a heavy breath I didn’t realize I was holding, tears begin streaming down my cheeks–a mixture of residual panic and terror.
“That was the most terrifying moment of my life! Watching the mudslide take you down!” My voice breaks with a sob. “ Liam, I thought it was going to drag you under…that I was going to lose you..”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey now,” Liam says, as he scoots closer to me and wraps my hand in his. We’re still laying on the ground soaked through with rain and mud. “I’m not going anywhere. It would take more than a paltry mudslide and a little rain to finish me off.”
Somewhere in the logical recesses of my brain I know we need to find some sort of shelter, but all I can manage to do right now is sob. Liam must sense this, because he rolls onto his side, heaves his mud-clod arm around my waist and pulls me against him, shielding me as much as possible from the rain. It’s such a sweet gesture, given that we’re soaked through to our bones. “Please don’t cry, Darlin’,” he says in my ear. “You know I can’t handle it when you cry.”
“I know,” I hiccup. “I’m okay. Really.”
Liam buries his face into my shoulder and holds me until my tears abate and my heart rate begins to calm. After several moments, he sobers and props himself onto his shoulder. “It doesn’t look like the rain will let up for a while. If we don’t get somewhere dry, we’ll both catch pneumonia.”
Nodding, I say, “I was thinking the same thing. Once the adrenaline wears off, our body temperatures are going to drop.”
“The property adjacent to this one has an abandoned structure on it. I’m not positive, but I think we can get there from here. Maybe.”
“What about your knee?”
“I’ve had worse. Besides,” Liam squeezes my side, “I plan on you carrying me. You’re Wonder Woman, after all.”
I shove my elbow into his stomach, causing him to groan in protest. “Kidding,” he grunts. “Not about the Wonder Woman part, though. Just the part about you carrying me.”
I attempt a laugh, but it’s more a mixture of nerves, tears, and relief. “Okay,” I say. “I just need a second to gather my strength, and then I’ll Wonder Woman you out of here.”
After taking several deep breaths, I push onto my feet and offer Liam my hand. He hobbles on one leg and with some effort is finally able to stand. It doesn’t help that the incessant rain has made the ground increasingly unstable. On the upside, however, now that we’re no longer prostrate on the slimy ground, the rain is beginning to wash some of the mud from our clothes.
We make it to the top of the hill where I had been standing when the mud slide began. Sitting where I left it on the ground, I bend to pick up my backpack and sling it over my shoulders. Destroyed beyond recognition and no longer of any use to us, we leave behind the parcel maps and legal descriptions, where they will likely dissolve into a gray mulch. And quite frankly, they’re the last thing on my list of priorities right now.
Liam is quiet as we navigate our way along the saturated terrain of what will someday (hopefully) become part of a scenic golf course. For now, however, the ground remains a sodden, uneven combination of rocks, weeds, and tall brush. Liam’s silence speaks volumes–letting me know he’s in far greater pain than he’s willing to admit.
I keep my eyes trained on the ground, doing my best to avoid jagged rocks and holes. Instead of abating, the rain increases in intensity, making me swear under my breath and mentally shake my fist at the weather gods. Lightning strikes in the distance, mocking my mental curse, but it’s far enough away that I don’t feel too concerned. That said, storms of this nature can travel rapidly, so I know better than to assume we’re out of the woods. Thankfully, when the next bolt of lightning strikes a few minutes later, the thunder takes longer to reach us, and I breathe a silent sigh of relief. I don’t have to say anything to Liam, because I know he’s doing the same thing.
We power on, doing our best to avoid slipping. It’s been over thirty minutes, and Liam still hasn’t spoken. But when an explosive rumble of thunder immediately follows an especially bright bolt of lightning, thunder that makes the earth tremble and shake, Liam curses.
Right there with you, buddy.
Normally, I don’t mind lightning and thunderstorms, so long as I’m safely inside my comfortable townhome. But out in the wide open, where I’m one of the tallest structures around? Yeah, not a fan. One hundred percent, not a fan!
I don’t verbalize any of this though, because first, it’s taking all the energy and strength I possess to maneuver Liam and myself through the brush and brambles that seem to be growing in thickness by the minute; and second, I don’t want Liam to know how freaked out I am right now. It will only make him worry about me.
“Over there,” Liam’s voice brings my head up. I follow the direction he’s pointing in and see a building in the distance. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Some ancient ruin, perhaps? Okay, not likely in the foothills of Eugene, but whatever I was expecting, it was not a modern, two-story edifice, big enough to host a huge crowd.
It’s another ten to fifteen minutes before we finally reach the structure. I’m surprised to discover it has a realtor’s lock box attached to one of the side entrances. Liam enters the code, and the box opens, revealing a key to the door. Wordlessly, I enter, and Liam returns the key to its box.
The building appears to be in the middle stages of completion, and judging by the dust and a few scattered spiderwebs, it’s been in this state for a while. The walls are framed and most of them have drywall nailed to them, but none are finished. The floor is concrete, and a winding set of stairs has been framed, but there are no handrails. Off to one side, there are unfinished cabinets and countertops, which I assume are part of a kitchen area because it’s plumbed for a sink and appears to be wired for an electric stove and oven.
I turn back to find Liam sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his eyes closed. “Liam, what is this place? It’s too open and large to be a residence.”
“It has good bones, doesn’t it?” he says without opening his eyes.
“How long has it been here?”
“Since before Covid shut everything down. The owners of this parcel planned to build an event venue, but when Covid hit, they held on as long as they could, but eventually, they had to shut the project down. They never recovered financially, but they’ve held onto this land in hopes of recouping a portion of their losses some day.”
I close my eyes and sigh. “That’s too bad. This is a great location for high-end events.”
Liam nods. “I think it has the potential to be a great clubhouse for an elite golf course.”
My eyes widen at the suggestion, and I scan the area again. “You’re right. I can easily picture it.”
“A company like Landmark could buy this place for pennies on the dollar, although I’d hate to see the current owners taken advantage of in that way. I know it’s only business, but stealing the property out from under them doesn’t exactly sit right with me.”
I give this some thought. I’m not an expert in acquisitions, but Liam is. “Has anyone pitched the idea to the Landmark team?”
Liam shakes his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t mentioned it to them because they’re so hell-bent on a golf course that crosses the river. I just don’t see that happening, though.”
“Nor do I,” I agree. “Peter Rockwell seems to think they have enough connections with city and county officials that it won’t be a problem, but that just smells like some pockets are being lined with a lot of cash.”
Liam laughs. “Listen to you being all cynical.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Guess I’ve been watching too many crime dramas.”
“No, I think your instincts may be right, Andie. And knowing my brother, there’s no way Layton will approve financing on a venture where there are questionable business practices.”
For all their bickering, it’s clear Liam admires his brother.
Liam tries to bend his knee and winces. “You don’t happen to have anything for pain in your backpack, do you?”
I slip my backpack off my shoulders and grab a bottle of water, some Tylenol, and an ice pack. Handing the Tylenol to Liam, I say, “It’s not the best thing for inflammation, but it might help with the pain until we can get back to town.”
Liam holds out his hand and I give him the bottle of water. “Sorry I don’t have anything stronger,” I say.
He laughs. “Me too, Darlin’.”
He swallows two tablets and hands me the container and the bottle. “You should drink some water, Andie.”
Reaching into my backpack, I retrieve a second bottle. “I’m nothing, if not prepared,” I tease.
Liam chuckles. “What else you got in that Mary Poppins bag of yours?”
“Protein bars, dried fruit, and almonds.”
Liam raises his eyebrows. “Remind me never to poke fun at your emergency preparedness again. Do you happen to have an Ace bandage?”
“I do,” I say, as I reach into the backpack again and retrieve a first aid kit. “Liam, don’t lie to me. How bad are you hurt?”
Shaking his head he says, “I don’t know. I can’t tell if I dislocated it or just strained it. But it’s starting to swell, so I should wrap it. ”
“Okay, I’m going to make a slit up your jeans so we can take a look at your knee.”
He nods, and I begin cutting his pants until I’m a couple of inches above his kneecap. I fold back the material and confirm that his knee is swollen. The good news is it’s not black and blue. Yet. I wrap his knee and fasten the bandage to itself using a Velcro tab. I glance up at Liam, who’s watching me with interest.
“What?” I ask.
He smiles. “You really are remarkable.”
“I thought I was Wonder Woman. Did you just demote me?”
Grinning, he says, “You’ve been promoted.”
“Ah. Does that promotion come with a raise, or is it a promotion in title only?”
Liam chuckles, and once again I’m aware of what a dazzling smile he has. “When did you become such a shrewd businesswoman?”
Ignoring his question, I hand him a protein bar and grab a second one for myself. The rain continues to pelt the roof, and I make a mental note of where water might manage to seep into the structure. The building really does have good bones.
“How’s the pain?” I ask, and Liam shrugs. “That bad, still?”
“I just need a distraction until the Tylenol kicks in,” he says.
“Well, if you could see your face right now, it would be plenty distracting,” I smirk.
“Because I’m so handsome?”
I laugh. Using the pair of scissors from my first aid kit, I cut a strip of material from my t-shirt. Carefully, I pour some water from my bottle onto the material and turn Liam’s head toward me. I move onto my knees and begin cleaning the dried mud from his face in slow, even strokes.
“Do you remember the first time you took me waterskiing?”
Liam doesn’t answer, so I continue. “You told me getting up on one ski was easy. No sweat. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the hang of the whole single ski thing.”
“That’s because you were overthinking it.”
I chuckle. “So you said. Multiple times, if I remember right.”
“You’d have gotten it, eventually,” he says with a shrug.
“But you! You were something on the water, Liam. I didn’t really care that much about water skiing, but I could have sat in the back of the boat and watched you all day.”
“Well,” he says, “whatever skill you might have lacked on the water, you more than made up for on the slopes.”
“That’s because I was on two skis. I sucked at snowboarding.”
“I loved skiing with you, Andie. Do you remember our first trip to Bachelor?”
I pause, wiping the mud from Liam’s face and adding more water to the cloth. “How could I forget? I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life!”
“Right up until you hit that patch of ice and slammed face-first into the side of the mountain. Although, if my memory serves, you laughed about that too.”
“Oh my gosh! I’d forgotten about that. I thought for sure I had broken something. I remember laying in the snow and taking inventory of each body part, beginning with my head and working my way down to my toes. I can’t believe I escaped with only a few scratches and a broken thumb.”
Liam grins. “It didn’t stop you from skiing the rest of the day.”
I pull my eyebrows down in a frown. “Heck no! The lift ticket cost me a full week’s pay. I wasn’t about to waste it.”
“It’s one of the things I love about you, Andie. Your easy laugh and your eagerness to try new things, even when you think you’ll fail.”
“That was two things.”
Liam chuckles. “I didn’t realize you were keeping track. ”
“Of the many ways you love me? Always.”
“Remember the day you tried to kill me by making me run with you?” Liam asks.
I laugh. “You were such a baby about that! It was only four miles, for heaven’s sake. You’d think I was forcing you to run a marathon. Besides, if I recall, you insisted I’d be eating your dust.”
“You might have mentioned you ran cross country in a city league for four years.”
Shaking my head, I say, “I was afraid if you knew, you wouldn’t run with me.”
Liam’s hand wraps around my arm, causing me to pause cleaning his face again. “I’d still have gone, you know, because even though running wasn’t my thing, I wanted to hang out with you.”
My breath hitches when I meet Liam’s gaze and see the fire in his eyes. He lifts his hand and brushes the back of his fingers along my chin. “I was so crazy about you, Andie. I’d never felt that way before. I’d have run two marathons if it meant hanging out with you.”
Swallowing, I say, “It was that way for me, too.” Liam’s gaze holds mine and I know I need to keep talking or something we’ll both end up regretting is going to happen.
“Remember our first date? When you rented the bicycle built for two?”
Liam nods. “I remember you made me do all the pedaling.”
“Not true!” I laugh.
“It’s absolutely true,” he insists.
I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “It might be a little true.”
Liam’s eyes narrow but he’s grinning. “I didn’t mind you know. The view from where I sat was incredible.”
Rolling my eyes, I give his shoulder a shove. “And then you gave me a necklace with a bicycle-built-for-two charm on it. Never said a word. You just slipped an envelope to me during class, and when I opened the envelope, there was the necklace. It was the sweetest gift ever! Then, a couple of weeks later, you gave me another white envelope with a necklace that had a different charm. This one was a lotus flower. I still have it, you know.”
“You do?”
I nod. “The clasp broke, but I still have all the charms you gave me. You were always so thoughtful. I loved that about you. Flowers left on the hood of my car. Notes tucked beneath my windshield wipers. A candy bar that mysteriously appeared in my backpack. Oh my gosh, remember the day you had after-school detention? You took a three-foot piece of Mr. Perkins’ butcher paper and wrote me a letter on it. I still can’t believe you were able to fill both sides!”
Liam laughs. “Yeah, well, I had an hour to kill, so…” he shrugs his shoulders.
“I still have the letter,” I say. “It’s in my yearbook.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
He takes the wet cloth from my hand and sets it aside. “Come here,” he says, his rich voice low and tempting. I still at his words.
“Where?” My suspicious voice earns me a chuckle.
“Here,” he says, tapping his index finger to his bottom lip.
“Oh no you don’t,” I say, pushing his hand away from his mouth.
“What?” he says, “I’m hurt. I think it’s standard medical procedure to kiss someone with a legit owie.” His wide eyes feign innocence so well if I didn’t know him, I might actually fall for the act.
“I believe standard medical procedure would be to avoid any potential cross-contamination.”
Liam waggles his eyebrows. “Ah, but you and I have developed a tolerance for each other over the years, so we’re immune to any danger.”
Hah! If he only knew how untrue his claim is. I haven’t been immune to Liam’s charm since the first day I met him. “Okay, fine. Give me your knee.”
“My knee?”
“Yeah, of course. So I can kiss you where you hurt.”
With some effort, he manages to bend his leg, and I peel back his bandage so I can get a good glimpse at his knee. There’s still no sign of bruising, but it can take a couple of hours before any discoloration shows up. Gauging by the sound of the steady rainfall and the distant rumbles of thunder, we’re going to be here a while.
“Where does it hurt?” I ask.
“It’s hard to pinpoint. It just hurts all over,” he answers.
I bend over and press a kiss to the center of his kneecap, and then to each side of his knee. The moment I register the sudden hitch in his breathing, I realize what a gross error in judgment this was. Why didn’t I just humor him, and kiss him on the mouth like any sane person would? His bare knee? Really?
“Um, Andie?” Liam’s crystal eyes have suddenly gone stormy as I look up and meet his gaze. He moves his head slowly from side to side.
“Murky?”
He doesn’t answer verbally. He just gives me a slow, transfixed nod. I attempt to make light of the situation by asking, “But does your knee feel better?”
Liam doesn’t answer. He just keeps his stormy gaze fixed on me. I hurry and rewrap his knee, then close my eyes and move back to my place against the wall. The two of us sit in silence for several minutes—well, silence except for the pitter-patter of rain, the distant rumbling of thunder, and the sound of my heart pounding in my chest.
Normally, I’m comfortable in the quiet, but after too much time in the stillness, my thoughts have become so loud they threaten to fly out of my mouth. So I circle back to our “remember when” conversation.
“Did I ever admit the truth about our first kiss?”
Seriously, Andie? That’s your idea of a safe topic of discussion?
Liam’s eyes are focused on his hands as he asks, “You mean the part about it being your first-ever kiss?”
“Oh, so I did come clean about that,” I nod.
“No,” he chuckles. “You failed to mention that little detail.”
My eyes dart to the ceiling as I try to recall who else I might have told. “Then who told you?”
“No one told me,” he says with a grin. “But it was pretty obvious.”
“Ugh!” I cover my face with my hands. “That bad, huh?”
“There was nothing bad about it. I could just tell you were inexperienced.”
I shake my head against my palms and groan.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I loved knowing I was the first guy to kiss you.” Liam nudges my shoulder with his. “Besides, you caught on quickly.”
“Who was your first kiss?” I ask, not wanting to know, but needing him to tell me.
“Shannon Clemens.” He lets out a quiet laugh and shakes his head at the memory.
“Wasn’t she like three grades ahead of us?”
Liam nods. “She was.”
“Wow! She legit robbed the cradle. How’d you manage to make that happen?”
“You’re not going to believe me,” he says as his cheeks redden.
“Try me.” Because now, I need this information like I need caffeine in the mornings.
“It was the summer before eighth grade.”
“What? But you were only thirteen! ”
He nods.
“So, wait. Let me get this straight. A girl going into eleventh grade kissed an eighth grader? That’s so messed up. And creepy-weird.”
“That’s not even the creepy-weird part,” Liam admits. “The creepy-weird part is that for her, it was a business transaction.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Liam laughs as he shakes his head. “That summer, Shannon offered kissing lessons to any boy who had never kissed a girl before. She priced her…services based on which skills you wanted lessons for. Oh man,” Liam laughs, “that sounds so incredibly pathetic!”
A giggle bubbles up in my throat and my shoulders begin to shake. “Wait, hold up,” I say, as I try, and fail, to keep a straight face. “You paid Shannon Clemens to teach you how to kiss?”
“Yep, I did.”
“Oh my gosh, Liam! How have you never told me this before? This is solid gold!”
“In my defense, I was thirteen, and I was afraid that if someone didn’t teach me how to kiss, I’d mess it up when the time came.”
My belly is shaking so hard I’m afraid I’m going to pee my pants. Actually, I really do need to pee. “I’m seriously dying over here,” I say, trying to keep the belly-shaking to a minimum.
“It gets better,” Liam says.
“Impossible,” I reply between breaths.
“She taught all my friends, too.”
Now, I’m wailing! Forget trying to hold it in, I’m on my side, clutching my stomach and doing my best not to lose all control of my bladder. “Stop!” I throw one of my hands up. “I beg you. I can’t take anymore!”
“To Shannon’s credit,” Liam says, all business-like. “She taught me well.”
“I guess I have her to thank, then, right? ”
“I don’t know about that,” Liam teases. He tilts his head to one side for a moment and hums. “I wonder if she includes kissing lessons on her current resume.”
I bark out a laugh. “Can you imagine? She probably includes it in the Additional Skills and Talents section.”
Liam laughs. “The things we do when we’re young and stupid!”
I pick up my water bottle, “I’ll drink to that,” I say in a pretend toast.
Liam taps his bottle of water against mine. We quickly empty the contents of our bottles, sit them on the floor beside us, and pound them into plastic pancakes.
It’s just one more thing we’ve done a hundred times throughout our friendship.