Chapter 4 #2
Noah
MEG!
Meg
We’re not done talking about this.
He had no doubt they weren’t. But he wasn’t budging on the matter.
Meg
How are the stitches on your arm?
Noah
I may have popped one.
Meg
I expect to see you here before closing.
He sent back a GIF of Han Solo offering a salute.
Meg
Don’t think that your excellent use of a Star Wars GIF will make me forget about the cave conversation.
Noah chuckled and pocketed his phone.
He knew it made sense to let her go with them when they returned. Made logical, practical sense.
But when it came to Meg, nothing made sense.
The memory washed back—how close the rock fell today, the sound of it crashing down. The dust that had choked them.
He shuddered at the idea of Meg being with them, of her caught under falling stone.
He refused to even think of taking her back there.
Not tomorrow. Not ever.
She couldn’t put it off any longer.
If Meg was going to take the job in Pennsylvania, on the schedule they wanted, she needed to talk to Virgil.
She made her way down the long hall of the ranger station, her footsteps muffled on worn carpet.
The walls were lined with black-and-white photos of rangers working at the canyon from another era.
She stopped at a solid wood door with a frosted glass window and Virgil Jones stenciled in black letters.
She lifted her hand and let it hover, poised to knock.
If she did this—gave her notice—there would be no turning back.
Her phone vibrated against her hip. She pulled it out.
Noah
I checked the stitches. They’re fine. See you tomorrow.
That guy.
Her thumbs flew across the screen.
Meg
You said you’d let me look. And we need to talk about the cave.
Noah
Soon
He was pushing her away again. His MO had become so routine she didn’t even know why she was surprised anymore.
And that’s why it was time to move on. More than just the stupid injuries or the idea of facing another Lydia in a cave, she couldn’t force Noah to change, to open up, to let her in past those walls he’d built.
And she couldn’t live in this yo-yo of emotion, this constant whiplash.
She lifted her hand and rapped hard on Virgil’s office door.
“Come in.” His deep voice came through muffled from the other side.
She pushed it open and walked in. Virgil wasn’t tall—maybe five eight on a good day—and his hair had faded to a nearly white shade of gray. But the guy could command a room with just a look. No one questioned him, not even Noah.
She clicked the door shut behind her and stepped over to the desk, then slid her letter across the surface. “This is my two-weeks’ notice.”
She tucked a wisp of dark hair back toward her loose braid. She swallowed and tried to keep her voice steadier than she felt. “I know I agreed to finish the summer, but my four-year arrangement is up July 31, and I have a great opportunity to work with a research team. It starts August 1.”
Virgil skimmed the letter, then motioned to the chair across from him. “This is a big change. Can I ask why?”
“Research was my original goal. And with…everything”—she swallowed again and fought past the painful tightness in her throat as she settled into the stiff brown chair—“I think it’s time.”
He reached to the side of his desk and lifted a red folder. “Is this about Lydia?”
Meg flinched. It wasn’t. Well, at least not entirely. “I know I did all I could.”
“Do you?” He slid the red file to her across the desk. “That arrived this morning.”
Meg lifted it with both hands and read the label.
Lydia Bradley.
Meg opened the file and paused on the top page. Official Autopsy Report. She drew a deep breath and scanned the document. Extensive internal damage—ruptured spleen, lacerated liver, massive hemorrhage into the peritoneal cavity…
Beyond field intervention…
Her breath eased. That ever-present knot in her chest—the one that had been there since Lydia’s heart stopped beneath her hands—loosened just a touch.
She hadn’t failed.
No one could have fixed all that in a cave. With what was stated in this report, it would have been a miracle if Lydia could have been saved in a hospital with everything at their disposal.
Meg set the report aside and skimmed the full workup they’d done on Lydia. She’d been just eighteen. Jeremy twenty. They lived with their dad, Ryan Bradley, former military, explosives expert, dishonorable discharge. Maybe Jeremy’s volatile side came to him naturally.
“Does that change anything?” Virgil watched her.
Meg shut the folder and slid it back. “I’m glad to know, but it’s more than that.”
Before she could go on, there was a quick rap on the door—confident, familiar—just before it opened. Noah’s head poked in.
He froze at the sight of Meg. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here. Sorry for interrupting.”
Meg’s breath slowed. Stupid heart, skipping and racing at just the sight of him.
The last thing she needed was for him to find out she was leaving this way, accidentally, overhearing something not meant for him. But he didn’t ask, just blinked at Virgil.
“Let me know when you’re free.”
Virgil nodded at him. The moment the door clicked shut, Virgil tilted his head at Meg. “Did you guys break up or something?”
Meg choked on—well, nothing, and drew a quick breath. “We were never dating.”
“Oh.” The guy’s bushy gray brows pinched together. “I just saw you two—never mind. Not my business.”
Warmth filled her face. Awesome.
Virgil must have seen Noah nearly kiss her at the lodge almost three weeks ago. This was so embarrassing. “This isn’t because of Noah.”
Liar.
“It’s everything. And the ridiculousness that the gold has added. Another knife fight, not even counting Noah’s. Two cases of embedded cactus spines. A few alcohol poisonings. I didn’t sign up to work a mining town.”
“I get that.” Virgil pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I hate to lose you. But if you’re certain, I’ll post an ad. I just ask that you not leave until I can find a replacement. But Yellowstone just replaced one of their docs in under a week, so it shouldn’t take long.”
A week?
Why did that not make her feel better? Why did the thought of leaving in seven days make her stomach drop?
He lifted her letter and started to file it in his desk. “If you see Noah out there, send him in.”
And just like that, she was dismissed.
She wanted this new job. It was offered to her on a silver platter. So why did she feel like she was going to throw up?
She slipped out of the office and nearly collided with Noah’s solid chest. She stared at him for a moment. “He’s ready for you.”
She started to walk past him, but his hand landed gently on her arm. “Everything okay?”
Okay? No. Nothing was okay. This wasn’t how life was supposed to go—full of almost moments and what-ifs.
But if she said all that, she’d end up in tears. He’d hold her again. And when the push away inevitably happened once again, when he pulled back and erected those walls, she would shatter.
She couldn’t keep doing this.
So instead she just nodded, not trusting her voice. She needed to redirect or she’d fall apart right here.
“Lydia’s report came back.” Not what the meeting had been about. But it was true. “It showed I wasn’t at fault. The damage was beyond what we could treat in the cave.”
“I told you.” He lifted his hand toward the wisp of her hair that had broken free again. But instead of touching her, he let it drop back to his side.
Always so close. Never close enough.
“Are you here to check out his arm, Doc?” Teague appeared next to Noah and leaned casually against the wall.
Then she saw it. Noah’s bandage was brown with dirt. A fresh spot of blood in the center.
She held out her hand and waited for him. Finally he lifted his arm and extended it toward her. She peeled back the bandage with careful fingers. He didn’t even twitch his muscle. So it wasn’t painful. Or the guy had quite the poker face.
The stitches held. But one had torn into the skin a bit. “Stop by the clinic and have Sarah clean it. You can leave it uncovered around here. But you’ll need to wrap some protection around it before we go back to the cave tomorrow.”
“You aren’t going.” His voice was low and even. Not demanding. Just factual, as if he were stating the weather.
“I know you’re trying to protect me, but I can handle—”
“Liam was about two feet from getting hit by a boulder in that cave today. You think you can handle a rock falling on you? It was too close. I just can’t—”
“Protect me? I’m not yours to protect.” The words were harsh but true. “We work together, and part of my job is doing what I can to protect this park.”
“Spelunking in unstable caves is not your job.” Noah’s jaw hardened.
“We won’t be exploring the cave. I know what I saw and where I saw it. In and out.”
“She’s right, boss. We can be fast.”
Right. Teague was right there watching this little banter. He leaned on the wall next to Noah with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Like he was watching a movie.
“If she points it out, we grab it quick, then seal the opening.”
Noah hesitated, his jaw twitching. Then something like defeat passed over his face. “Fine. You can go. But you have to do exactly what I say this time.”
“Fine.” The only reason she’d ignored his instruction last time was because someone’s life was on the line. And that was the only reason she’d ignore it again.
Eden appeared to Meg’s left with her long blonde hair sweeping past her shoulders. “Hate to break up the fun, but Virgil already said all hunting trips were on hold with this weather. So the cave trip is a no go. And Satellite shows this storm is hanging around for a while.”
Noah looked relieved.
But if he thought she’d forget, he was crazy.
She had to go. Because if she could help find one of the chests and help the park get one step closer to the peace they’d once known, then maybe this guilt over leaving would lessen. Maybe she could walk away clean.
And this pain in her chest had to be guilt. Because the only other option was heartbreak.
And she couldn’t do anything to fix that.