CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was Friday morning—two whole days since Holly had bailed without a word. Cole lay in bed, replaying their time together and trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong. Why she’d left so abruptly and hadn’t contacted him since.
They’d had so much fun. At least, he thought they had. Of course, Holly was so happy and easygoing she made it impossible not to. Fun was something he’d been missing in his life. So focused on the job, he’d let everything else fall by the wayside—his friends, his family, his love life.
He’d gotten used to Holly. Running into things, saying whatever came to mind, and inadvertently giving him hope that there was life besides the job. He didn’t want to say goodbye either, but he wouldn’t have just ditched her. Would he?
A ding on his phone indicated an incoming text. He rushed to it, hoping Holly was finally breaking radio silence. It was his sister, asking—more like telling—him to take her to breakfast. She worked a few blocks over, and he was hungry, so he agreed to meet her in ten at the diner on his block.
“Why are you so frickin’ grumpy?” Tracy asked once they were seated.
“I’m not,” he said defensively.
She raised an eyebrow and waited. There was no use arguing. “Fine. Maybe I am a little peckish. Doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.”
“Is it because Holly ditched you?”
“I shouldn’t have told you that. Can we just focus on food?” he said, burying his head in the menu.
“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you like her.” Tracy stirred her coffee and took a sip.
“Is this breakfast or an ambush?” He grunted. “And who said anything about liking her?”
“Well, we’re pretty sure you’re in love with her, but I’m easing you into the idea.”
“Who’s we?”
“Mom, Dad, Steph…”
“Of course.” He rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m fine. Didn’t we come here to eat? Where’s the waitress?”
She ignored his questions. “Why don’t you go up there? See what happened? She seemed just as into you, and I think her feelings for you scared her, and that’s why she bailed. Or maybe she assumed you wouldn’t be into her. You’ll never know till you ask her.”
He sighed. He’d had the same thoughts too. But being left so abruptly stung, and he hadn’t gotten over it yet. Tracy must have read his mind.
“You gotta get over yourself, brother. Call her.”
“I have,” he huffed. “It goes straight to voicemail.”
“Hm. That’s rough, but there’s probably an explanation. If she were at work, up in the hills, would she have a signal?”
“Not always,” he conceded. “I guess that could be why.”
“Maybe she’s in trouble.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her. But she’s got a town full of people to help her.”
“Okay. Time for some tough love. Quit being a baby, and go find out what’s up.”
“Will it get you off my back?” Cole asked, and she nodded. “Fine.”
It wasn’t just to keep his sister from pestering him. The longer he went without hearing from Holly, the more anxious he became. He didn’t think Cruz’s gang would go after her. But what if she had an accident? And all those bears…
Tracy wouldn’t leave his side until he booked a flight. Last-minute airfare was a crapshoot. You either got a rock-bottom great deal or royally screwed. Cole lucked out and found a bargain. He ran home, packed a bag, and arrived at the airport two hours later.
At the rental car counter in Portsmouth, he started doubting this whole cockamamie plan. He was going to show up and what? Ask why she left without saying goodbye, and once she answered, turn around and go home? What if she wanted nothing to do with him?
On the drive to Green Valley Falls, he mulled over what he would say. He’d demand an explanation for why she ditched him. Okay, maybe demand was too strong a word. Ask nicely, that’s how he’d get his information. If her answer revealed even an inkling of warm feelings for him, he’d spill his guts. Take a leap. Put it all out there.
He’d tell her he enjoyed her company and that he missed her. That he respected and admired her. That she was funny and beautiful and brave. And that he wanted her in his life somehow.
Holy crap. Tracy was right. He was in love with Holly. That changed everything. Didn’t it? Suddenly, there was a lot more at stake to this visit.
He refused to entertain the idea that she didn’t feel the same. He didn’t have a PhD in women, but he knew when one liked him. And the way Holly kissed him? Unless she was a master of deception, she felt something all right. And Cole would bet good money there wasn’t a deceptive bone in her body. If she thought it, she said it. Perhaps that’s why she fled—she couldn’t say what she wanted to.
An hour and a half later, he pulled into Holly’s empty driveway. He knocked, then peeked in the window. No sign of disturbance. That was good. He called for Lady, but she wasn’t home either.
Next, he tried the park. She’d said Thursday and Friday were her days off this week, but maybe the New York trip had necessitated a schedule change. Dina wasn’t in the parking lot, and the guy at the front desk confirmed Holly was off.
The town was so small, it should have been easy to find someone. At least, theoretically. He made the loop around the plaza and up and down a few side streets but didn’t see her truck.
Thinking he must have missed her going home, he circled back to try her place again. He came in from the opposite direction, passing Farmer Jen’s. He spotted Holly’s pickup from the road, slammed on the brakes, and made a hard right to turn into Jen’s driveway.
Jen was pacing the porch. “Cole! I’m glad you’re here. Have you talked to Holly?”
The alarm in her voice immediately had Cole worried. “No, why?”
“She was supposed to be back by now,” Jen said. “It might be nothing, but I was just debating whether to call the ranger station.”
“Back from where?” Cole asked.
“She took Buttercup up the mountain two days ago and planned to stay for a night. She was due back early afternoon yesterday. I’m sure she’s fine, but I always worry.”
The hair on Cole’s neck prickled. “How can I find her?”
“I don’t know if you can,” Jen said. “She’s in the backwoods. I have a general area where she was headed, but—”
“Point me in the right direction,” he interrupted. “I’ll find her.” He cursed himself for not bringing his hiking boots.
“You can’t just walk off into the woods,” Jen said, horrified at the thought. “She went on horseback and could be miles away. It’ll be dark in a few hours.”
“With or without your help, I’m going. Please help me?”
She stared into his eyes and seemed to read the urgency.
“Okay. Wait here.” Jen turned and entered the house.
He told himself not to worry. Holly was tough and could handle herself. She was probably fine. But now that he was here, so close, there was an imperativeness to tell her how he felt. All of a sudden, any time without her was time wasted. His feelings were a bomb set to explode.
Jen came out a few minutes later with a small sack. “Here’s a flashlight, food, and a sleeping bag in case you get stuck. I’ll put a tent and some other supplies in a saddlebag. Follow me.”
He threw the pack over his shoulder and walked beside her to the barn. “You’ll have to take Lucifer.”
Jen opened the door, and the donkey brayed loudly. Right in Cole’s face. “Wait. What?”
“If you’re determined to do this, you don’t have time to go on foot.” She led Lucifer out of the stall and threw a saddle onto his back. Then stuffed a blanket, water bottles, and a few other things in the saddlebag. Finally, she cinched a rifle to the end of the saddle.
“You can ride a donkey?” he said.
“Sure,” Jen replied.
Cole sized up the mule. His head hit at Cole’s shoulder. “But he’s so small. Can it hold me?”
“It’s just like riding a horse. More or less.” She mumbled the last part. “You’ve ridden a horse, right?”
Cole stared blankly. “I’ve seen it done on TV.”
Jen stopped what she was doing and met his eyes. “I’m beginning to think this is a terrible idea. It won’t do Holly any good to have the both of you lost.”
He had to get on his way before Jen changed her mind. “No worries. I can do this.”
Her dubious look made him nervous. Was he really about to hop on a donkey and ride it into the mountains with dusk only a few hours away? The more he thought about it, the more he realized Jen might be right. This was crazy. Don’t think about it then, Robinson .
Cole climbed onto Lucifer, who snorted in protest. “I weigh over two hundred pounds,” he said. “Are you sure about this?”
“He’ll complain, but he’s fine.” Jen patted the mule’s neck. She pulled a map and Sharpie out of her back pocket. “We’re here.” She put an X over a spot on the map. “Follow the main road for two miles to here. That’s where you turn off to head up the mountain. That’s also where you’ll most likely lose cell service. Holly said she’d stay on the west side of the lake, so somewhere over here.” She twirled her finger in a two-inch radius over the X, and Cole made a mental note.
“Okay. Got it.” He shoved the map into his pocket.
Jen backed away. “You’re all set. Last chance to back out.”
Cole shook his head. He felt ridiculous, like an old-timey miner. Whatever. Holly might be in trouble. He had to find her.
“Giddy up?” he said, nudging Lucifer with his feet like he’d seen in the movies. Surprised, he gripped the knobby thing on the saddle when the donkey started moving. Jen’s chortle was the last thing he heard as he made his way down the driveway.
After a while, he discovered riding was actually pretty easy. He just hung on and let the animal do all the work. When they approached the turnoff, Cole tugged the reins in the direction he wanted to go and was once again pleasantly surprised when the mule turned.
“Good job, donkey,” he said. It seemed mean to call him Lucifer, and he needed to stay on good terms with this beast.
They rode along amicably for a while, but once the trail thinned and the slope steepened, Lucifer grew impatient. Well, that was what Cole assumed all the head-throwing and braying meant. The trail eventually got so thin that Cole wasn’t even sure they were on it anymore.
Lucifer seemed to be heading in the right direction—at least, the right general vicinity—so Cole let him have his head. But the woods grew dense, and branches scratched his face and caught in his hair.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” he asked the donkey, pulling a twig from his hair. He hunched over the animal to avoid low-lying tree limbs but was still assaulted by the occasional bramble or errant branch.
In the middle of nowhere, Lucifer finally hit a breaking point. He stopped, and no amount of coaxing could get him moving again.
“You need a rest or something?” Cole slid off the donkey’s back. Which was easy, since his feet dangled only a foot off the ground. He patted the animal’s neck. “Um. There, there?” Damn, he felt stupid.
When the stubborn mule seemed disinclined to continue, even without the two-hundred-pound burden, Cole pulled the reins over Lucifer’s head and started off on foot, dragging the donkey behind him. He didn’t have the proper shoes for hiking in the wilderness, and ten minutes later, had fallen twice and ripped his pants on a sturdy sticker bush.
The sun was dropping, and with it, the temperature. Dirty and frustrated, Cole mounted the grumpy beast again. “Come on, buddy. I need you.”
Every five minutes, he yelled for Holly and listened for a reply. It had been hours and nothing. It was when the sun finally set that he started to panic. What had he been thinking? He’d been in such a hurry to find her that he didn’t stop to think about what would happen to him if he didn’t.
He’d just come to grips with the realization he would have to spend the night in the woods—a terrifying thought by itself—when a thrashing noise in the brush sent his heart into overdrive. Please don’t be a bear !
As he scrambled in the saddlebag for a bear horn, a shadowy four-legged creature came crashing through the weeds, scaring Cole half to death. A wolf! Holly hadn’t given him a pamphlet on dealing with wolves. Forgetting his search for the horn, he grabbed and pointed his gun but then hesitated.
The wolf wasn’t growling or advancing, and it didn’t seem very menacing. It barked once and stepped into the dusky light. It wasn’t a wolf. It was Lady! That meant Holly was nearby. Cole prayed it wasn’t close enough to hear the high-pitched yelp he’d let out.
Once his pulse calmed, he found his voice. “Lady! Where’s Holly, girl? Can you take me to her?” It sounded crazy, even to his own ears, but desperate times and all that.
Without any nudging from Cole, Lucifer turned to follow Lady. They beat their way through a path Cole would never have thought to take, and before he knew it, he smelled smoke.
“Holly?” he yelled. He stopped to listen for a response and heard rustling in the bushes. Just as he was about to draw his gun again, Holly burst through the forest, flashlight in one hand, rifle in the other.
“Oh, thank God it’s you,” he said. He took her in. This tall, gorgeous woman, confronting him fearlessly in the dark woods. Yeah, no doubt about it. He was in love.
“Cole?” She flashed the light up and down, and he could only imagine how rough he looked—mused-up hair, scratched face, dirty tennis shoes, and ripped pants. All atop a cantankerous ass, two sizes too small for him. He didn’t blame her when she doubled over with laughter. “What are you doing here?” she managed to get out between giggles.
He slid off the donkey and said triumphantly, “Saving you.”