Chapter 2
Jake
The fact that Sawyer Montgomery would ever think I could forget her pretty blue eyes is wild to me. The curvy little paramedic has haunted my dreams since I was a junior in high school, and she was a freshman.
But she doesn’t need to know that. I don’t need her holding that power over me. Not yet.
Pulling my hiking pack from the backseat of the truck, I shrug it over my shoulders and jog back to where Sawyer is waiting by her pseudo-uncle.
When I saw the text from Sue on my phone, I knew I was going to be leaving the ranching duties with my brother, Colter.
I didn’t think I would be so lucky as to end up partnered with Sawyer, though.
Figures her actual partner, Mark, wouldn’t want to join in the actual hard work. He’s always been a lazy bum with a weed problem.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask, peering down into those blue eyes.
It reminds me of being on a cruise in the Mediterranean, and you look down and can see the ocean floor, so you just keep staring, wondering if you’ll see something cool – like a shark.
That’s what it’s like staring into Sawyer’s eyes.
Like staring into the ocean and waiting for something epic.
“Yeah, I’m all set,” she pats the crossbody bag that looks like something out of Baywatch.
“You gonna be good carrying that up the switchblades?”
“I’ll be fine, Williams. Worry about yourself.” Huffing out a laugh, I watch as she takes off towards the trailhead.
“Don’t listen to her,” Sheriff Swede tells me, leaning across the folding table that serves as his makeshift desk. “Worry about her.”
“Oh, trust me,” I mutter under my breath, so low he won’t be able to hear. “I do.”
I have to practically jog to catch up with Sawyer.
For such a short little thing, she sure can move.
The back end of the mountain, which is more a hill on steroids than it is a mountain, is pretty bare.
You can see the switchblades cutting their way all the way up to the peak. It’s a pretty daunting sight.
What most people don’t know is that it’s the other side of the mountain that holds the true danger.
Devil’s Peak works its way down into William’s land, specifically Colter’s section.
It’s heavily forested, with a thick wild animal population, and drop-offs that appear out of nowhere.
It’s easy to get lost, slip off the trail, or just straight up walk off the edge of a cliff if you’re not paying attention.
There’s a reason it’s called Devil’s Peak, and it’s not for the spice.
“Stay close to me,” I warn as we make our way to the first incline. “Once we get to the other side, things get a little treacherous.”
As kids, my brothers, Finn, and I used to hike Devil’s Peak for something to do. A reason to get out of chores. We got so good at it that we started doing it in the dark. It’s been a while since we last climbed the mountain, but I’m hoping muscle memory takes on the brunt of the job today.
“I’ve hiked Devil’s Peak before,” Sawyer scoffs, not slowing down even a little as we dig into the climb.
“You have?” That hike is private property, and as far as I can remember, no one’s snuck onto our land to hike it before.
“Sure, back in high school. Finn brought me.”
“Finn? My Finn?” My teeth grind at the thought of my best friend taking Sawyer up the mountain.
“Yes, Finn O’Donnell. That Finn. Though I didn’t know you two knew each other like that.” She shoots me a mischievous grin over her shoulder, winking.
“Hilarious.” I narrow my eyes. “I wasn’t aware you two knew each other.” Finn certainly never mentioned it. “And keep your eyes on the road, would ya?”
Rolling her eyes at me, she does as I say and faces forward again. My heart steadies a little with her questioning gaze, looking elsewhere.
“We didn’t really know each other,” she explains, hiking boots digging into the dirt. “We were both having a shit day, and we found comfort in one another. Once the day was done, we went back to pretending we didn’t know each other.”
“You found comfort in each other?”
They found comfort in each other?
I’ll show him how comfortable my fist will be when it makes a home in his face.
See, this is why I keep my distance from Sawyer. She drives me crazy. She has full control over me, and she doesn’t even know it.
I’m not ready to lose control of my faculties. I’m not ready to turn into a love simp fool, like my father. I will not let myself fall in love only to be crushed so brutally that I can’t even make it out of bed in the morning.
“Oh, jeez, Jake. Not like that.” Her braids whip back and forth as she aggressively shakes her head. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Sorry,” I smile cheekily, pulling my go-to look out of my toolbox and masking my relief. “But can you blame me?”
“You know what, let’s have less talking and more looking. How about that?”
Yes, please, Lord, save me from this tempting apple. “Works for me.”
I look out of the harsh drop-offs on either side of the path, looking for any sign of the missing boy. A red shirt. Hoof prints. Anything.
Nothing.
We follow the trail for an hour, walking in complete silence. As someone who likes to talk just for the sake of talking, the hike is excruciating.
“Do you think he’s out here?” Sawyer finally breaks the silence, looking back at me. She trips over a rock on the trail and quickly looks forward again.
“He’s gotta be somewhere,” I reply. But as the day goes on and the sun gets higher in the sky, I feel the worry start to settle in my gut.
“But do you think he’s out here? Or do you think the horse took off and dropped him in some obscure Montana valley?”
“She wouldn’t just run off with no destination in mind.” Horses don’t just take off for no reason. No, she would have followed a path she knew. That’s how she made her way home.
“I hope you’re right, Jake.”
“Yeah,” I sigh, looking down the edge of the mountain. In the distance, the canopy of the search party becomes a distant image. “Me too.”