Chapter 42

Suddenly, I wish we hadn’t been rescued by the guys. Our bubble has officially exploded, and our time is running out with each mile back to the trailhead. She’s been silent since she found out Jonathan’s in town. We made plans on the mountain, but now that her husband has shown up, will she still hold true to them? What if he convinces her not to file for divorce?

When the parking lot comes into view, I can already pick him out. He’s acting the same way I probably would if Scottie went missing. His fingers are threaded on top of his head as he paces back and forth, but as soon as he spots our off-road vehicle, he stops in his tracks, then bolts toward us.

I retract my arm from behind her back despite my body’s instinctive protest. That’s when I notice my sister in the parking lot, standing near one of two ambulances. “Can’t believe you called Teddy.” I can thank the guys for that. Great, this day just got even better. She’ll probably chew my ass out.

When we pull up, Scottie climbs out and is instantly wrapped up in a hug by the man I presume to be him . My sister has her arms around me for a hot second before rearing back and slapping me on the back of the head .

“Glad you’re alive, you fucking idiot.” Her nostrils flare, and she throws her arms around me a second time.

Peeking over Teddy’s shoulder, I witness Jonathan and Scottie in a tender embrace. Even after everything she’s told me about their relationship, jealousy burns hot in my chest. Her eyes find mine, and she offers a sympathetic smile. How did he find her, and what does he want? It better not be to take her back home. They may still be married, but I won’t give her up without a fight.

Teddy angles away. “You need a shower, dude.”

“I wanna introduce you to someone,” I say, ignoring my sister’s gripes, unable to take my gaze off Scottie. I’m calling out to her before I realize it. “Scottie.”

She withdraws from his hold and steps toward us. Jonathan follows. When she stands before me, the whole thing feels surreal. Fuck, it’s like I’ve already lost her. I hate it.

“Scottie, this is my sister Teddy. Teddy, this is Scottie.”

Jonathan shows up at her side and shakes my hand. “Thank you so much for keeping her safe. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.”

Obviously not much, took you long enough to chase after her.

My jaw tenses. “I don’t know what I'd do either,” I say, meeting her eyes.

Scottie’s cheeks flush and an awkward silence stretches between us.

“Well, I appreciate you keeping my wife alive and getting her back to me.”

Ouch .

I open my mouth to respond when Matthew hops out of one of the ambulances and interrupts our friendly little conversation. “Prescott, playing hooky already?”

Her face drains of color, and she winces. “I’m so, so sorry. I—How much trouble am I in for missing work?”

He laughs. “Nobody is mad at you, but I need to check your shoulder and that cut on your forehead. Mind jumping in the rig for a sec?”

She shakes her head. “Sure.”

Matthew asks her a few questions about the injury on their way over, and Jonathan stays right on her heels.

I waive care and quickly fill out the refusal form, then turn back to my sister, who’s looking at me with raised eyebrows. She gives an exaggerated glance toward the ambulance Scottie’s in and back to me. “So, you wanna tell me what that’s all about?” Her lips are pursed, matching the judgmental expression on her face.

I tilt my head, scratching my overgrown facial hair. “Not really.”

“Dude, after Molly?—”

“It’s not like Molly, okay? It’s just complicated. Look, I gotta get home. I’m beat. Can I call you later? I promise I’ll explain, but for now I just wanna go home and get a shower.”

She inhales. “Okay. Yeah.” Her arms drop to her sides.

“Give the kids a hug for me,” I tell her.

From the corner of my peripheral, I spot the side by side carrying Xander and King creeping toward us. “Hey Teddy,” Xander says with a smirk aimed at my sister. She waves.

“Hey, you good?” King asks me, pulling my focus.

“Yeah. Need any help loading up the UTV?”

“Nah, just take care of yourself. Text us later,” Xander says.

My palm finds the back of my neck. “Will do. Thank you for saving our asses out on that mountain.” I mean it sincerely.

“Whatever, you could have made it back without us,” King adds. “But the guys are gonna have a heyday next fire season after word gets around.”

Oh good, I can’t wait to hear their version of it.

My sister laughs. “Alright, I’m going back. Call me later,” she says, pointing at me. She nods goodbye to everyone and continues on her way .

“Good to see you, Teddy,” Xander calls after her, his eyes lingering on the back of her head a little too long. My gaze bounces between Xander and my sister—my very married-with-two-kids sister. She casually lifts her hand in a wave, then looks down to her phone as she walks to her car. If Xander sees something in her, he missed his chance a long time ago. She and Logan were high school sweethearts and live a very happy life.

I shake it off. “All the same, I appreciate it.”

The guys drive the UTV toward the alternate access road that leads to the main base, where they likely parked the trailer, and we part ways.

“Thank you for making sure I didn’t die,” I yell out to my sister, walking backward toward my truck.

She opens her car door, yelling back, “What are baby sisters for?”

I fish my car keys out of my pack and hop in my truck, turning the ignition, but I can’t bring myself to leave. I remind myself she’s in good care with Matthew and the other EMT.

And Jonathan.

Shaking my head, I shift the truck in reverse. It’s time to go home, but as I back out of the parking spot, I can’t help but feel like I’ve left something behind.

Back home, I push aside one of the hanging tarps that blocks off the dining room from sawdust. This place has been in a constant state of construction for nearly five years, but there’s been a lot of progress made too. My footsteps echo through the unfinished space toward the stairs. The house sounds hollow.

Upstairs, I lumber to my bedroom, one of the first rooms I remodeled after I bought the place, and drop my pack in the closet. Next, I plug in my phone, and it lights up with a charging battery symbol. I leave it to power up on the nightstand while I turn on the shower in the en-suite bathroom. I brush my teeth while I wait for the water to warm. As soon as those bristles hit my gums with that cool, minty toothpaste, I moan. “Oh, baby, I’ve missed you.” My words are muffled around the toothbrush.

I probably brush for a good five minutes straight, even scrubbing the inside of my cheeks. Then I floss. Then swish mouthwash around and delight in the brisk sensation. After stripping off my filthy hiking gear, I stand under the hot shower spray and release another groan of pleasure. I scrub my body with the same detail as my mouth and step out feeling fresher than ever. The whore baths at the lookout certainly helped, but there’s no substitute for the real thing. My thoughts wander to Scottie. Has she gotten home yet? Has she had her shower? Did she get the dirt out of her hair like she wanted?

With a towel wrapped around my waist, I exit the bathroom and sit on the edge of my bed. I pick up my partially charged phone, hoping to see a message from her, but instead, it’s a barrage of texts that have loaded from the last few days. Most from my group chat with Xander and King. The most recent one.

Xander

Hey asshole, are you coming out with us or not?

King

You better not be dead.

Xander

He said he made it back from Quell… probably balls deep in home remodeling.

King

Or pussy.

Xander

Did he mention going out of town?

King

Not to me.

Xander

I’m gonna reach out to Teddy. She might know.

King

Word is Scottie’s gone missing… think they’re together?

Xander

Maybe?

Scottie and I are at the fire tower on Quell’s waiting out the storm. Trail is blocked with a rockfall, both of us are fine. We have water and supplies. We’re going to take Goat’s Ridge to get back as soon as the weather breaks.

Not sure if my last message went through, battery low, but the storm is easing up, we’re starting our descent early 11/12.

Xander

Holy shit.

King

Thought I told you I didn’t want to go on one of your damn hikes during my off-season!

Goddamn it. I’ll get the UTV on the trailer.

Xander

I’ll spread the word.

It takes real effort to resist texting Scottie, but I open the text thread with her name anyway and frown. I hate the last texts I sent to her. They’re cold and callous.

Things have run their course with us.

Scottie

Okay.

Hey. Are you off the trail?

I tap a message across the screen.

You don’t need to respond to this, but I don’t want you to open our texts later and have the last message you see from me be that. So instead, you’re getting this one, where I tell you that I miss you. That it was really hard to drive away from you today. That I can’t stop thinking about you. That I wish you were with me right now. I can’t help but feel like a part of me is still at the top of Quell’s and I hope like hell there’s a piece of you there too, because I’m not ready to let go of that version of us. The rest of me is here, only a few blocks away, waiting for you. I’ll be here as long as it takes, but you should know I’m keeping my word: I’m not walking away without a fight.

After I hit send, I leave the phone plugged in, and finish getting dressed. There are no new notifications. Scottie needs time to work through things with Jonathan, and it’s important I give her that space. For now, there’s nothing more I can do.

I flop on the bed and close my eyes, knowing this nap won’t leave me feeling as rested as it is when her body is wrapped around mine.