Chapter 9 Willa #2
“We need to get you into the cave,” Margo said from over Willa’s shoulder.
“Let me see your hands,” Willa told him. “You said they were all scraped up.”
Ace held them out. Both palms were raw and torn, the skin scraped back in places from the rock, his fingers stiff and slow to straighten.
“We’ll deal with all of this inside,” Margo told them, her tone of voice brooking no argument.
“Can you stand?” Rad was there offering Ace a hand.
“Yes,” Ace said.
But Rad reached out and carefully took his hand to help Ace up.
When Ace stood, Willa had to keep from letting out a little squeak when she could see exactly what it cost him.
It was right there in the careful way he held himself, and the breath he took before he moved.
But Ace stood, and he stayed standing, and that was what mattered right now.
Rad put a hand on Ace’s shoulder. The two of them exchanged a look that needed no words.
“Let’s get back inside,” Rad said.
They moved carefully back across the rock apron toward the cave entrance, Willa staying close to Ace’s left side, and Margo held back a few paces. The wind pushed at them from behind, as if it, too, had decided it was time they went in.
Grace didn’t stay at the entrance as Willa had instructed. She appeared the moment they came around the corner of the cave towards the entrance. Grace’s eyes went straight to Ace, and Andy was right beside her. Andy looked at Ace’s hands, the torn slicker, and the way Ace was holding himself.
“What on earth happened?” Grace asked, her eyes taking in Ace’s condition.
“I slid down the rockface,” Ace tried to make light of the very serious situation.
“Are you kidding?” Andy gaped at him. “Not all the way to the bottom, though?”
“No, I hit a ledge and grabbed onto some branches,” Ace explained. “I wouldn’t recommend it, though.”
“No, I don’t think that would be a ride anyone would want to go on,” Andy agreed. “I’m glad you’re okay. You gave us all a fright.”
“Sorry, bud,” Ace ruffled Andy’s hair.
“Yeah, and you were lecturing us on being safe,” Grace pointed out before hugging him. He winced, but Grace didn’t stop, and Ace pulled her against him as Andy joined the group hug. “Don’t do it again and be careful.”
“I will be, I promise,” Ace kissed the top of her head.
The sight of Ace with her children brought a lump to Willa’s throat, and her heart tugged, then filled with love.
She swallowed, realizing in that moment just how much she loved that man.
And more importantly, how much her kids loved him.
Willa swallowed, fighting to control her emotions and not let tears spill down her cheeks as she remembered the fear that had gripped her when, for a terrifying moment, they couldn’t find Ace on the edge of the ledge.
“You seem to have a death wish of late,” Andy said, finally stepping away as they all unfolded from the hug.
Tyler stood back slightly, watching, his arms folded. His eyes moved over Ace from head to foot in the methodical way that missed nothing, and whatever conclusions he drew he kept to himself.
“Yeah, first you dive into the ocean in turbulent seas, and then go for a dive down a rock face,” Tyler said, blowing out a breath. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks. So am I,” Ace said, grinning at the teenager. “And this was the last crazy thing for me on this trip.”
“I sure hope so,” Margo drawled angrily, swatting his shoulder before hugging him and making him wince again. “Did that hurt?” She stepped back to look at him. “Good.” She hugged him again. “You said you’d hold on.”
“I love you too, Mags,” Ace said, kissing her head and hugging her. “I promise I was hanging in there until a bucket of rain hit the ledge.”
Willa watched their easy exchange. They were like brother and sister. But still she felt a little envious as she wanted nothing more than to launch herself into Ace’s arms. But she held back. This was not the time nor the place for her to lose control of her very tightly reined-in emotions.
“We need to get all your cuts seen to,” Willa told Ace, as Margo nodded, stepped out of his arms, and then steered him toward the flat rock near the fire.
“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Rad offered and walked off.
Ace sat without arguing as Willa watched, and Rad returned with the first aid kit, handing it to Margo.
“Can you help me, please, Willa?” Margo asked and opened the first aid kit.
Willa nodded and did what Margo directed her to do as they cleaned Ace’s hands carefully.
Working through the torn skin and rock grit with the antiseptic wipes from the kit.
Ace sat still and let them do it without comment, his jaw set against whatever the antiseptic was doing to the raw patches.
When they were done with the disinfectant and cleaning the wound, they wrapped both palms in clean bandages from the kit and pressed the ends flat.
“I’m going to have a look at your ribs,” Margo said, but Ace stopped her.
“They are just bruised,” Ace assured Margo, who did not look convinced. “I’m telling you they are not broken. Having had my fair share of broken and bruised ribs in my lifetime, trust me, I know the difference.”
“Can you take a full breath?” Margo pressed, her eyes narrowing as she watched Ace closely.
Willa stepped back a bit and let Margo handle this part.
Ace demonstrated, slowly and deliberately, filling his lungs completely. It clearly pulled at something that he wasn’t happy about, but he did it.
“Bruised, huh?” Margo said, raising her brows and tilting her head slightly as she observed him. “Okay, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But I want to know immediately if that changes.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Ace promised, with a lopsided grin, and Margo knew even if the pain exploded, that look meant he’d never let on.
Around them, the cave had settled back into something warmer.
The teenager’s chatter had come back gradually.
Tyler and Andy divided up the last of the trail mix into portions with careful fairness.
Margo moved to sit beside Rad against the far wall as the rush of what had happened slowly subsided within them.
She rested her head on Rad’s shoulder, breathing out a breath and closing her eyes.
The fire was steady, warm, and doing exactly what it was built to do.
Willa sat down beside Ace.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
“Thank you,” Ace said quietly. “For coming with Rad to rescue me.”
“Well, of course,” Willa replied. “You’d have done exactly the same for me, so I couldn’t really leave you hanging off the edge of a cliff.” She gently knocked his shoulder with hers. “Besides, I did owe you. You did dive into the ocean to save me.”
Ace gave a soft snort and looked at the fire.
Willa looked at Ace. She thought about Margo’s face over the edge of that rock when the flashlight beam had found nothing below, the three seconds of pure terror before his voice had come up from the dark.
She thought about how it had felt standing at the anchor tree with the rope in her hands and his weight somewhere at the other end of it.
Willa thought about what she’d said to him in this cave not too long ago. She suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“I’m going to check on the teenagers,” Willa said, suddenly needing some space. “Can I get you some water or an energy bar?”
“I could do with some water,” Ace told her with a smile.
Willa nodded and moved to where the food supplies were. Her mind was spinning. A shadow fell over her as Margo appeared beside her, reaching out to take a water and two energy bars.
“Willa, don’t you think it’s time you told Ace the truth about how you feel?” Margo asked softly, after a while.
She didn’t answer straight away.
“It’s not the right time,” Willa replied, glancing around at her friend.
“There is a lot to consider first.” She glanced at her two oldest children.
“I have to talk to them first.” She looked at Margo, who was watching her with quiet, compassionate understanding.
“But now isn’t the right time. We’re too close to their father’s memorial and it…
It just seems like a slap in the face to Shaun’s memory to move into a relationship now.
” She glanced at Ace, where Rad was now talking to him.
“But I will tell him. I promise. Once we’re over all the drama of what’s going on in Sandpiper Shores, and the memorial is behind us. ”
Margo nodded once and said nothing for a few seconds. “Maybe, you should tell Ace that.” She smiled knowingly at Willa. “I think he deserves to know that.”
Willa gave her friend a tight smile. “You’re right.” She glanced at where Ace was again. “He deserves to know.”
Margo hugged Willa. “Everything will work out as it should.”
Willa wished she could be as confident as her friend, but she smiled, nodded, and then crossed the cave to where Ace was now speaking quietly with Rad.
“Rad,” Margo called. “Come have some water and…” She held up some energy bars. “Breakfast, I guess?”
Rad laughed, excused himself, and went over to Margo, where they went to sit in their spot once again.
Willa sat down beside Ace.
“Can we talk?” Willa asked, handing Ace a bottle of water.
“Of course we can,” Ace replied, giving her a warm smile. “As long as it’s not another lecture about sliding down the side of a ledge.”
“No.” Willa laughed despite herself. “Although you did nearly give us all a heart attack.”
“I know,” Ace said with a sigh. “We were just trying to get more wood.”
They fell quiet for a moment.
“About earlier…” Willa said, taking a breath. “I didn’t mean to just walk off. I was… I was a little stunned, that’s all.”
“Willa…” Ace said. “You don’t have to say anything. Really, I was out of line, and my timing sucked.”
“No,” Willa said, shaking her head. “Ace, I have feelings for you too and I can’t pretend otherwise.
Not after what you confessed to me earlier.
” Her eyes went to where her kids were. “But the memorial is coming up, and every year around this time, I walk back through the worst day of my life, and I need to get through that first.” She turned her head and met his eyes.
The love and understanding shining in his eyes was almost her undoing.
She sucked in a breath. “I need to be present for my kids.” Her eyes held his. “I need a little time. That’s all.”
Ace was quiet for a moment.
“Willa,” he said. “I’ve already waited twenty years.” The corner of his mouth moved just slightly. “A few more weeks isn’t going to break me.”
Something in her chest released.
“Thank you,” Willa said softly, her voice growing hoarse with the emotion trying to choke her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ace promised her. His eyes held hers. “Take whatever time you need.”
Willa opened her mouth to reply when the sound came through from outside. Her eyes widened as she and Ace stared at each other in surprise—it was the sound of a helicopter.
It was low at first, then built steadily, the unmistakable beat of rotors pushing through the last of the wind.
Rad was at the tarpaulin before anyone else had fully registered what they were hearing. He pulled it back and stepped outside. His voice came back in over the sound of the rotors, clear and certain.
“Rescue’s here,” Rad called back in. “Everybody up. Start getting things together as fast as you can.” His eyes swept the cave. “Come on, let’s move!”
The cave came alive.
Willa stood and looked at Ace.
He looked back at her.
Everything between them was exactly where they’d left it, patient and present, in no hurry at all.
She held his gaze for one more second.
Then she smiled.
And turned to bring her family home.