Chapter Fifteen #2
“Well, we might as well get comfortable. From the looks of it, we are going to be here for a while,” Tag said.
They both watched the snow for a moment until settling to work, trying to build a small fire.
They needed to stay warm while they waited.
Tag pulled out the dry firewood that they both kept in their packs along with matches.
He built the fire while Torren got some water and granola out for everyone.
They would be good for at least a day, maybe two, but Tag hoped like hell it wouldn’t come to that.
He promised Piper it would be just a quick trip up the mountain, and then he would be back home.
He wasn’t about to break his first promise to her.
The sooner the storm stopped, the sooner they could find the three SAR guys, and he could get back home to Piper.
The storm continued to rage around the cabin, and Piper added another log to the fire.
She stood by the front window, looking out at the snow, wishing Tag would appear in the doorway.
The sun went down hours ago, and there was no word from him or the three SAR guys that stayed behind with him.
Aaron called her four hours before, filling her in on everything.
All the college kids made it back down the mountain with most of the SAR team and Aaron.
Unfortunately, Tag stayed behind with three others to find Torren and the lost college student.
The thought of Tag being trapped out in the storm made her feel sick.
She knew that she was probably overreacting, but all she could think about was Tag lying frozen to death in the snow.
She choked back a sob, trying to calm herself.
Piper felt near hysterical. She all but begged Aaron to go back up on the mountain to find Tag and bring him home to her.
He replied that all teams were told to stand down and wait out the storm.
The conditions were just too dangerous for anyone to go back out in.
The practical side of her understood, but the fearful little girl inside of her was screaming for help.
She fixed some dinner, hoping that Tag would show up hungry, but he never did.
She couldn’t eat or sleep. She knew that at any minute she could get a phone call from someone on the SAR team telling her that Tag was hurt or worse.
She wouldn’t be able to bear that—losing Tag would kill her.
He became her entire world in such a short amount of time.
He became someone that she couldn’t live without.
She never wanted to be dependent on anyone else for her happiness.
When she lost her parents, she shut that part of herself off from the world.
Then Tag happened, and now she couldn’t imagine being without him.
She wiped the fresh tears from her face and slumped down into his favorite leather chair, inhaling his scent.
She pulled a blanket over herself and stared into the fire.
“Where are you, Tag?” At the sound of her voice cracking, she broke down sobbing.
The winds howled on around the cabin as she cried herself into a fitful, restless sleep.
Instead of dreaming about Tag making love to her, she dreamt of him being out of reach.
He was with her parents, and she was screaming his name, trying to get to him.
She woke up to a cold, dark, empty cabin and one missed call from Aaron.
Piper dialed his number and held her breath, ready for the bad news that she knew was coming.
Tag was relieved that the storm had just about stopped by daybreak.
He and Torren took turns sleeping through the night, although he felt like he only got about five minutes.
They needed to get the kid to safety and then find the rest of the team.
He pulled out his cell phone and found that it had died.
Torren checked his and found the same. Tag tried to reach Aaron by radio but got only static feedback.
He knew that the storm had probably taken out the power, even in town.
Spring snows were always wet and heavy. It would be some time before he could get anyone on the radio, and he wasn’t about to sit around and wait.
Between him and Torren, he was sure they could get the kid down the mountain to safety.
He would then head back out to help find the rest of his missing team.
He could send word to Piper to let her know that he was all right.
He knew that she was probably scared to death, but he also knew he would make it up to her.
Right now, he needed to focus on getting everyone home safely, then he could concentrate on making everything up to Piper.
Piper didn’t know if she felt relief or panic when Aaron called to tell her that they were sending the team back out at daybreak.
She was worried that the next call from him was going to be bad news.
A part of her was thankful that she and Tag had no television up at the cabin.
He told her that they never had one there, and she was happy to keep that tradition.
It gave her and Tag more time together as if they were living in their own little world.
She had the radio if she needed to reach anyone, and her phone still had a charge.
Other than that, she couldn’t bear to hear any news until Tag was home safe.
She spent the morning cleaning her already clean home.
She showered and dressed quickly so as not to miss a call from Aaron or even Tag.
Aaron assured her that it was normal that they would have no signal during the storm.
He even told her that “No news was good news”.
She knew that he meant well, but it was still hard to listen to him be optimistic.
She needed to hear that Tag might not be okay because that was the truth.
Life taught her that bad things can and do happen.
It happened to her before she was old enough to know about what evil lurked in the world.
She hoped for the best but prepared herself for the worst. Sadly, it was just how she lived her life.
Piper decided to try to catch up on some reading and found a good romance on her Kindle.
She started the first chapter and jumped when her cell phone buzzed on the coffee table.
“Hello!” She shouted into the phone without checking the caller ID.
“Piper?” Tag’s voice sounded so far away. She wanted to scream, jump up and down, and cheer. But she sat as still as possible, trying to hear him through their weak signal.
“Tag,” she whispered. She cleared her throat, needing to find her voice. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah, Honey. It’s so good to hear your voice,” Tag said.
“You too, I thought—” Her voice cracked, and she couldn’t help her sob.
“I know, Pipe, but I’m fine. So is Torren. We have to go back out, though. We lost three SAR team members while searching for the kid. I can’t leave them out there.” Tag sounded so tired, and she ached to wrap her arms around him.
“Please don’t go back out, Tag. Just come home, please.” She knew she sounded desperate, but she didn’t care.
“Honey, I know that you’re worried, but the storm is pretty much over.
Spring snow thaws quickly, and by tomorrow, everything will be back to normal.
Torren and I need to do this. These guys are friends of Aaron’s and we owe them.
” Piper was trying to be open-minded about what Tag was saying, but she couldn’t.
She was terrified that he was going to go back up to look for the lost SAR guys, and she would end up losing him.
“I know you must think that I’m being unreasonable, Tag. I can’t just sit here and pretend that I’m okay with all of this. I don’t want you to go back up there.” Piper sobbed into her hand, trying to muffle the sound.
“Piper, please don’t cry. I can’t just leave those three guys up there when they stayed behind to help me find Torren. I need to do this. You stay put at the cabin. The roads are still bad, and going into town won’t be safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Tag—” She wanted to scream at him, lose her temper, demand that he come back.
But he was gone. He ended the call and left her sitting in the middle of the cabin, fuming that he had discounted her feelings so easily.
She stormed into their bedroom and pulled down her overnight bag.
If Tag was going to do what he wanted, then so was she.
She would find a way to get back into town and open her store.
She could stay at her old house with Lorna.
Piper convinced her to give up her rental apartment and live at the house after she moved in with Tag.
It made her feel better knowing that her aunt didn’t have to worry about paying rent every month, and Piper’s old home wouldn’t be sitting empty.
She threw a few days’ clothes into the bag and pulled on her coat and boots.
Her car was going to give her some trouble, but she knew that if she took it slowly, she would make it down the mountain.
She couldn’t sit around the empty cabin and wait for Tag.
He would come home to find that she was gone, and wouldn’t that serve him right?
If they were going to be able to move forward in this relationship, she was going to have to find her backbone, and Tag was going to have to consider her feelings.
They would work on it, just not today. Tomorrow—yeah, tomorrow they could work on everything.
Today, she just wanted to get into town in one piece and work until her body was bone tired and her mind didn’t have the energy to think about all the worst-case scenarios that played through her thoughts over the past twenty-four hours.
Tomorrow, she would face Tag and discuss ground rules and promises.