Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Ivy
T he face that appears at the entrance of the tight space I've managed to back myself into isn't what I was expecting.
The man I saw all too briefly back at the bakery in Moonshine Ridge stares back at me. I recognize the olive green eyes and the dusty brown beard.
I drop the stick I was prepared to defend myself with, but I can't find the strength to crawl out of the space.
When Jake says my name like he just found the holy grail, I use every last ounce of energy in my body to sob uncontrollably.
"Rapid? Glen? You guys copy?"
Jake's hand reaches in to take mine, while he uses a handheld radio to tell someone that he found me.
"Looks beat up, but in good shape," he answers the voice that comes over the radio to ask my condition.
"How are you?" Jake slides the radio onto his belt and leans into the crevice with me. "Can you walk? Is anything broken?"
More voices crackle through squelch and static on his walkie-talkie, but Jake ignores them all.
Struggling to catch my breath, words don't come out when I try to speak. The best I can do is shake my head to answer his question.
"No to walking or no to broken?"
His voice is so low, like he's trying to calm a frightened animal and then I realize he kinda is. That makes me laugh a little and that's what it takes to finally make the sobs subside.
"I can walk," I manage. "Nothing's broken."
Jake helps me crawl out of the crevice. His grip is secure but gentle, providing support as I wiggle out from between the massive boulders that form my cave.
When I'm free of the rocks, I realize how long I was crouched in that awkward position.
My legs ache and they don't want to hold me up when I try to stand.
Jake's strong arms encircle my waist, pulling me against his broad chest and holding me up until the blood starts flowing back into my legs and feet.
That's not the only place blood is flowing to.
He's so much taller than me. Strong, solid, and warm, and the way he curls protectively around me has me feeling something more than mere gratitude at being saved.
"Let's get you out of these fucking woods, baby," he says. His cheek rests against the top of my head, his arms wrapped around me so tight, I don't think he plans on letting me go.
If that's his plan, I'm here for it.
Leaning into him, I press the side of my face against his solid chest and let the strong beat of Jake's heart calm me.
He smells like the forest; like sawdust, fresh air, and hard work. I wonder where he came from, why he was out here looking for me, and why it feels so right to be this close to a man I don't even know.
My brain tells me it's just the relief of seeing a familiar face after being so scared and alone. My body tells me something else entirely.
Heat blooms through me, not just circulation returning to my extremities or the heat from Jake's strong body chasing away the threat of hypothermia from two nights pressed against granite with nothing but a thin fleece hoodie to keep up my body temperature.
This is a new feeling, something that doesn't make sense under the circumstances. A completely inappropriate reaction to a man who might be my savior, but is still a stranger.
The radio on his belt crackles. A man asking for an ETA on our arrival.
Muscles that I've been getting used to the feel of flinch and flex around me. Under my ear, the sound of air filling Jake's lungs drowns out the comforting beat of his heart.
I swear I feel his lips press a kiss to the top of my head before his arms reluctantly unwind from me.
"We better get moving." Jake steps away from me, taking all my security with him and I swear I almost start crying again at the loss of him.
"You okay to hike out?" A crease between his brows makes him look older than he did when I first saw him in the bakery.
He looks at me with so much concern, I think he'd carry me out on his back if I said I couldn't walk.
"Yeah. I can hike," I promise him, even though my voice comes out shaky and small.
Jake
" W e're heading your way, Ash. She's good, just scratched up and scared. I got her."
Ash's radio connects but before he responds, I hear one of the guys in the background comment that it sounds like I'm planning to keep her too.
Ash laughs and agrees with the other guy before acknowledging the timeframe I gave him.
The rescue crew waiting for us down at the base camp isn't wrong; I do plan on keeping Ivy, and from the way she can't seem to let go of me? I'd say there's a good chance she's going to be okay with that.
"Do you need anything from your camp? Glen and another guy are still up here, they'll pack everything up and bring it back down to you. If you don't need anything, we can head straight back to first aid."
Ivy's had a grip on either my hand or my arm the whole time we've been hiking.
When I ask if she needs to stop for anything, she turns to look into the woods toward where she left her camp set up.
Fear clouds her face and I wonder what happened that made her hide in those rocks-- and why she didn't answer any of the other guys who've been out looking for her.
She wasn't far from her camp, she had to have heard the search team calling for her before I got here.
"No, I have what I need in my day pack," she tells me. She takes hold of my arm again, like she needs to feel safe and touching me does that for her.
"Let's get off this mountain then."
Pulling the radio off my belt again, I call in to the guys who were set up close by. I let them know Ivy and I are headed straight down to the base camp at the hot springs and work out plans to have them bring her camp stuff down.
While I talk, I pull free of Ivy's grasp, but only to drape my arm over her shoulder. The way she moves into the space beside me, fitting so perfectly against me and falling into step with me feels good.
"What happened out there?" I look back at the dense forest as we break out of the tree line onto to main trail. I'm dying of curiosity, wanting to know not just what scared her but why she didn't answer anyone looking for her.
"I went for a short hike to take some photos of the area before I packed up camp and headed back into town but..."
The trail is narrow here, running along a steep cliff on one side. It forces me to let go of Ivy so we can walk single file. Ivy won't let go of my hand though. I keep her in front of me, letting her hold my hand behind her back as we make our way down the hill.
I can't help but notice the nervous glances she takes toward the woods bordering the left side of the trail.
"Your camp looked like animals had gotten to it." I coax gently for more story. "Something with pretty big claws, they're thinking it was a bear?"
The back of Ivy's head turns side to side in front of me.
The pretty blonde curls are no longer contained in the pigtails on either side of her head.
She looks like she took a roll in the mud, and wasn't careful about the route she took when she left the trail; she's not just dirty, she's scratched up too.
"I mean, it wasn't a bear. I heard voices. That's why I didn't go back to camp."
By the time we get down off the trail and make the short drive up to the hot springs where the local volunteer rescue and recovery team has damn near every member waiting for us, I think I've managed to piece together just enough of Ivy's story to have me confused-- and pissed off.
"All these people were looking for me?"
Ivy's eyes go wide when she sees the people gathered around the resort's main office.
"Not all at once," I tell her, laughing a little at her shock.
"I've lived up here for seven years and you're the first time I've seen them call out a genuine search and rescue operation.
The rescue crew mostly recovers stranded hikers and vehicles that break down on the four-by trails.
You're the first missing person case they've had for two decades. "
While the first aid team takes a look at Ivy's bumps and bruises, the rest of the recovery team takes turns greeting her while everyone celebrates her safe return, I pull our local sheriff deputy aside and share what Ivy told me.
"You don't think it was any of the guys on your crew?" Hawk hears me out and starts asking questions.
"Doubt it. Can't be sure though."
"Vale and Sparrow have a room set aside for her here at the resort if she doesn't have a place to stay in town."
"She's staying with me," I tell the deputy emphatically. "I've got time off due, the Murdocks can spare me."
Hawk's lips twitch under the corner of his beard but he doesn't say a damn thing.
Men on the Ridge know better than to get in another man's way when he finds what he's been looking for.