Chapter Five

The pulse was there! A sign of a heartbeat was all he needed. It was a little rapid, but strong and steady beneath his fingers. It was the answer to his prayer. God had kept her alive for him.

"Thank you, Lord. I've got her."

She had the remnants of one sock on her right foot, and her left foot was bare, revealing the wounds. They were red, inflamed, and in a couple of places, oozing pus. But it was the head wound, the horrific bruising from the attack, and the level of fever in her body that frightened him most.

He slipped a hand beneath her neck. She was his Lainie...but different. A woman now, not the girl she'd been. And she was hurt—so hurt.

"Lainie, darlin', it's me, Hunt. Can you hear me?"

She groaned, then sighed as she rolled over and slowly opened her eyes, and stared straight into a piercing blue gaze.

"The raptor found me," she mumbled. "You're here again, Hunt. Are we dead?"

The skin crawled on the back of his neck. Had she been seeing him in her hallucinations?

"No, baby, we're not dead, and I've been looking for you."

She grabbed his hand. "You're really here? My Hunt? You found me?"

"Yes, darlin', I found you. Easy now... I need to see what all has happened to you," he said, and pulled a bottle of water and the first-aid kit out of his pack.

But Lainie wouldn't let him go. She couldn't believe he was real. This was just another awful dream, and he would disappear. In her mind, she needed to keep him talking so he would stay.

"How did you know I was lost?"

"You're all over the news. I heard your name on TV, and I came to find you." He was holding the bottle of water as he lifted her head. "Just a sip, darlin'."

She took a drink and then another one before he set it aside, and pulled out a digital thermometer. The reading came back 104 degrees plus. His heart skipped. That bordered on seizure level. He dug out a bottle of Bactrim tablets, and over-the-counter fever meds, and set them beside his knee.

She couldn't believe he was real and kept staring at him, touching his leg, reaching for his hand, staring into the face of a boy who'd become a man.

"Hunt...all those years ago... I know why you left, but where did you go?"

"To war, Lainie. I went to war."

"In the military? You were in the military?" She shook her head, trying to make sense of what he was saying, still in fear that he was another fever hallucination as he began applying a balm to her lips.

"Army, darlin'. I mustered out months ago. Been flying helicopters for a charter service in Flagstaff ever since," he said, then he reached for the Bactrim and pain and fever meds.

"If I help you sit up, can you swallow these? They're for fever and infection."

She nodded, then shuddered as he moved her to a sitting position.

"Open your mouth, Lainie," he told her, and she did, like a baby bird waiting to be fed. He dropped in the pills, then held a bottle of water to her lips. "Just sip. Don't want to choke you."

She sipped and swallowed, then reached toward his face, running her fingers along a three-day growth of stubble as black as his hair.

"You know how to fly helicopters?"

"I flew Apache Longbows in Iraq for the better part of four years, then off and on elsewhere for the other six."

Her voice shook. "You could have died, and I would never have known it."

He cupped the side of her face. "If it hadn't been for a news report, you could have died, and I would never have known it."

She sighed. "Touché." Then something snapped in the woods behind them, and she went into an all-out panic. "The bear...is it the bear?"

"The bear is gone, baby, and I have a gun. You're safe now. I promise you are safe."

Tears rolled as she began to tremble. "It hurts, and I'm tired, Hunt. I'm so tired of being afraid." Then she touched him again. "Are you real? Is this happening?"

Her confusion was troubling. It could be from the fever, or the head wound, or a combination of both. "I'm as real as it gets," he said, then he took off his jacket and eased her arms into the sleeves. "Here, put this on. You're shaking."

"I crawled in the creek. I thought maybe the cold water would help take down the fever." The weight and the warmth from the jacket was like his hug, as she wrapped herself in it.

He kept thinking of what she'd done to survive, and then realized this wasn't the first time she'd had to run to get away from a monster. He took the bandanna off her forehead and then the other sock off her foot, eyeing the wounds in dismay as he reached into his pack for disinfectant. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her more, but he had no choice. It was getting dark, and soon be too hard to see. He turned on the LED lantern.

"I need for you to lie down, honey. I'm going to clean up this head wound a little, and I don't want it getting in your eyes."

He made a pillow of his blanket, then eased her down on it.

Her voice was shaking, her eyes welling again with unshed tears. "If I close my eyes, do you promise you won't disappear?"

He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her cheek, then moved the lantern above her head. "I promised you forever. This is me, Lainie. Put your hand on my knee. You'll feel me beside you. You can talk and I'll answer," he said.

He felt her hand on his thigh as he knelt beside her, then began opening packets of gauze swabs, and dousing them with antiseptic. "Here goes," he said, and began dabbing them along the cut on her forehead. He heard her take a deep breath, then she closed her eyes, but she didn't cry out.

"Did you know the hiker?" he asked, trying to distract her from the pain.

"Stalker from work. Didn't know he'd followed me up the trail. He attacked me, I got away and ran. I tricked him. Made him believe I fell into the canyon, then I did what you always said to do."

He paused and looked up. "What's that?"

"When faced with a difficult situation, do the unexpected. I backtracked on myself and ran up the mountain, instead of trying to get down to the trailhead. When it worked, I thought to myself, Hunter saved me."

Three simple words... Hunter saved me, put a lump in his throat. All those years ago, and she'd remembered.

Lainie was still talking. "Then I really did fall later. Hit my head against some rocks. When I woke my head was bleeding, and there were bear tracks all around me. It scared me. I was dizzy and confused and started running. The next morning, I woke up with a fever. I kept getting sicker, then I got lost...so lost, but you kept finding me in the dreams and bringing me back."

Hunt swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Because we belonged. I gave you my heart a long time ago. It will always be yours."

Her hand was still on his thigh when he began making a bandage for her head. "I'm so sorry, Hunt. Sorry I never answered your texts. I didn't see any of them until months later, after I was released from the hospital. Millie took me home to help me pack and get my car, and found my phone under my bed. I guess it fell there when Dad knocked me out."

Hunt frowned, pulled a leaf from out of her hair and then finished wiping down the cut on her head. "I loved you then. I love you now. Nothing will ever change that." He glanced up. It was full on dark now, and he shifted the lantern enough to get a bandage over the cut in her forehead and tape it down. "I'm going to move down to your feet now," he said, and moved the lantern with him.

As he did, he began seeing the rips and tears in her pants and could only imagine how bruised and scratched her legs must be, but he was leaving that to the doctors. Right now, he was most concerned about her feet.

"Lainie, darlin'...you have a lot of open wounds here. I need to clean them out, but you're too hurt. The best I can do is kind of drench them with alcohol. It's going to burn like the devil, but I won't have to touch them."

"It's okay, Hunt. I've outrun the devil before."

In that moment, he felt defeated. He knew what she meant. Despite all of his military service, he had not been a part of their greatest war—the war she'd fought with her family to stay with him. The war that cost them their child.

He opened the bottle, then took a breath. God, he hated doing this. It was going to hurt her even more.

"Are you ready, baby?"

"I'm ready," she said, and held her breath, waiting for the inevitable. But when the alcohol hit the cuts, it felt like she'd walked into fire. She screamed, and then fainted.

The shriek stopped his heart. He was on his knees in seconds, checking for a pulse, but it was steady. He dropped his head, then laid a hand beneath her breasts just to feel her heartbeat.

"I am so sorry, baby. Maybe this way is best. At least you're not going to feel it."

He quickly moved back to where he'd been sitting, put on a pair of surgical gloves and began sluicing alcohol over the bottoms of both feet, pouring slowly, and carefully, making sure he'd gotten it into all of the cuts, then put the lid on the bottle and went back to the first-aid kit for tubes of antibiotic ointment. Working quickly, he liberally applied the contents of the tubes to the bottoms of her feet. Then he stripped off the gloves, dug a clean pair of his own socks from his backpack and slipped them on her feet before rocking back on his heels.

It wasn't nearly all she needed, but it was all that he could do. He was in the act of policing the area for the medical debris he'd discarded, packing it all into a bag to dispose of later, when she woke up screaming his name.

Her panic scared him, and within seconds, he had her in his lap. "I'm here, baby, I'm here."

Lainie opened her eyes, saw his face and went limp.

"Thank God! I thought all of this was another dream. I was afraid to open my eyes and still be alone."

He pulled her closer. "I know we're still sitting in a pile of brush, but you did good finding this place. I'm here and I'm real." He took her hand and put it in the center of his chest. "Feel that heartbeat? That's panic. You passed out from pain and woke up screaming. Damn sure got my attention," he said, then kissed the back of her hand and held it close. "Your feet are all cleaned up, and you're wearing a pair of my socks. Do you feel like you could eat something? I have MREs...meals ready to eat. It's military stuff. Spaghetti, stew, or chili, I think."

"Oh. My Lord. Spaghetti. I choose spaghetti," she said.

"I always knew the way to your heart was to feed you," he said.

"I'd deny that, but it's so the truth."

It was the first time in three days that he'd smiled. "Let's get you settled first," he said, and scooted her out of his lap, and then down between his legs, letting her lean against his chest while he sorted through the food packs. When he found the MRE she wanted, he opened it, handed it to her along with a disposable spoon.

"Lean against me, darlin', and here's your drink. You eat. I'm going to call the ranger in charge of the search parties and let him know I found you, okay?"

"Okay," she said, and then took her first bite of food in three days. It was manna in her mouth.

It was full-on dark, but the lantern shed good light. Good enough for Hunt to see the numbers on the SAT phone. He was relieved by the gusto with which she was eating. She was a raggedy, bloody mess, but she wasn't too sick to eat. He was trying to remember if it was "starve a cold and feed a fever," or the opposite, when the ranger suddenly answered.

"Hello? This is Scott."

"Scott, this is Hunt. I found her. She's alive, mostly cognizant except when she's afraid I'm going to disappear, and wolfing down an MRE as we speak. But she's not out of the woods. She's definitely suffering from dehydration, hypothermia and fever. She wore out her socks walking and running. Her feet are shredded, and infection has set in to some of her wounds. She's running a 104 degree fever, but I just gave her some Bactrim tablets for infection, and some meds for fever. I hope that will offset the worst until we get her down. She's also a lot farther up the mountain from where her belongings were found, but my initial impressions were right. Take my GPS location. She's okay to wait it out until morning, and she's safe here with me now."

"Man...this is the best news ever. I've got a fix on your location. We'll have to pack her back to a trail and then bring her down to where one of the Life Flight choppers can pick her up. You stay put. We'll head your way at daybreak."

"Understood," Hunt said, and disconnected. "Okay, the authorities have been notified, and there will be a lot of happy people tonight. They have been searching hard for you for three days."

She had finished the spaghetti and was licking her spoon when a thought occurred to her. "How did they know I was missing?"

"Not sure why, but the hiker, Randall...took himself to an ER and told some big story about hiking with you and being attacked by a bear."

Lainie tried to laugh, but it came out in a groan. "The bear was me." And that's when she began to describe the attack in detail.

Hunt could only imagine what Randall must have looked like when he walked into the ER, and kept staring at her. The defiant girl he'd loved had grown into a warrior. But there were pending battles she knew nothing about.

"Your parents were at the trailhead with the search crew when I arrived."

She went pale. "I don't want to see them, ever. Don't let him near me. Please, I—"

"I won't, darlin'. I promise," he said, and then began unrolling the sleeping bag he hadn't used the night before. "It's getting colder, and I need to keep you warm. I'm going to slide in, and then you nestle in against me, and I'll zip us in, then cover us with the blanket, okay?"

Her face was in shadows, but she had an odd expression on her face, and she hadn't answered.

"Lainie...darlin', what's wrong?"

"We've made love a hundred times, but we've never slept together. I never imagined it would happen when I look like and feel like this, or that it would be on a mountain under a pile of brush."

He grinned. "What do we do when faced with a difficult decision?"

She sighed. "The unexpected."

"So...we're right on target," he said. He took the lantern to the sleeping bag, spread it out, then carried her there and laid her down on the outside edge. Then he began pulling all the limbs and brush back into place so they were once again enclosed. He situated his backpack and gun within reach before scooting himself into the bag behind her.

After that, it was a simple matter of zipping them in, spreading the blanket and the sleeping bag over their shoulders before turning off the lantern. Now they were lying on their sides, her back to his chest, with her head beneath his chin, enfolded within his arms.

"My poor, darlin', what a nightmare you have had. Are you okay? Do you need to move to a more comfortable position?"

"I'm okay," she said, but he knew she was crying again.

"I love you, Lainie. Time hasn't changed any of that for me." His voice was a rumble in her ear. She was glad it was dark, and he couldn't see her face, because she had yet to talk about the elephant in the room.

"Hunt...there was a baby."

He took a breath, careful to choose the right words without sounding like an accusation. "I know, honey. I found out after I learned you were missing, but why didn't you tell me?"

His arm was across her shoulders, holding her close. As she reached for him, his fingers curled around her hands.

Her tears were rolling in earnest now.

"I didn't realize it myself until I'd missed my second period, which meant I was nearly two months along. I panicked. I knew what hell the news would unleash, and kept trying to find the right time to tell you, and then I started bleeding, and I thought I'd miscarried."

He hugged her closer, waiting. It was her story to tell.

"But then I didn't have my third period, either, and so I took another pregnancy test, and it was still positive." The timbre of her voice lifted. "I'm not going to lie. I know we didn't plan it, but I was happy. I knew it would be hard, but I figured we'd find a way to make it work once we were both at college. I told myself I could start a year later, and you'd already be there on your scholarship and...well...then it all became moot. Remember when I disappeared the night of the storm?"

He shuddered. "Like it was yesterday. I'd never been so scared."

"That was the day I knew for sure I was still pregnant. I went upstairs to call you, and couldn't find my phone. Then Mother came storming into my room with my phone, screaming at me for being pregnant and ruining all her plans. Dad was worse. They vowed they were going to take me to an abortion clinic the next day. I was screaming at them, telling them if anything happened to me or the baby, I would tell the world what they'd done, and that I would destroy them, and it would ruin their precious social standing." Then she took a deep, shuddering breath. "That's when...that's when..."

Hunt heard the pain in her voice and knew there was something more—something ugly that she couldn't get said.

"What happened, Lainie?"

"Dad flew into a rage. He told me he'd rather the baby and I were dead than have Chuck's child in his family. And then he knocked me out. I woke up in the car. They took me to Baton Rouge to my grandmother's old house and locked me in an upstairs room. I'd been kidnapped, and I was there for two months before I got a chance to escape."

Hunt felt the breath leave his body. There was a roar in his head and a pain in his heart too sharp to bear, and then the sound of his own voice pulled him back.

"Three days ago, I punched Greg Mayes in the face the moment I saw him. I told him if I found you dead, I would kill him. I thought I hated him before, but there are no words for what I'm feeling now. I know he chased you. Did he also cause the wreck?"

Lainie was sobbing now. "Yes. He ran me down and rammed the back of my car trying to make me stop. I lost control. The car went airborne, then rolled and rolled. Our son died, but I didn't. He's a monster and my mother abetted every decision he ever made."

And once again, Hunt was sideswiped. "Son? It was a boy?"

"Yes. I always thought it was a boy, but I didn't know, because they never took me for prenatal care. I asked the doctor after the wreck. He said it was." She paused. Even though she felt the weight of Hunt's body, it was as if he'd turned to stone. He was tense, silent and motionless, and she didn't know how to help him. She'd had all these years to come to terms with what happened, but for Hunt, it was happening now. The only thing she could think to do was make the baby as real for him as he'd been for her. "You know I was alone in my room all the time, except the last month I was there, when they brought Millie down to cook and clean. My mother was such an ass...all pretense of hiding me and my shame, but she still couldn't bring herself to do menial labor. So, I talked to the baby all the time. I called him Little Bear, because every time I got hungry, my stomach would grumble and growl, and I'd chide him for making such noise."

Hunt buried his face at the back of her neck. All the walls he'd put up were crumbling. Four years in Iraq and watching the life leave Preacher's eyes. The suicide bombers. Scrambling to get choppers in the air with sirens blaring. Flying into a hail of ground fire to provide backup for soldiers barricaded in bombed-out villages. Raining Hellfire and Stinger missiles on insurgents while Preacher quoted the Bible from the pilot seat, and people died on the ground. To now, and the shock of learning he'd been a father, and fearing he'd never find Lainie alive. Knowing there'd been a baby, and then hearing her talking about the real baby, the one living within her. The one he'd never known. They'd made a baby, and their fathers' hate for each other had brought his brief little life to an end. He didn't know how to handle all this hate, and at the same time love her this deeply.

His voice was ragged. He had been shattered by what she'd suffered on her own. "I should have been there. I should have found a way. I should have known."

"No, Hunt. He would have killed you. I'm never going to be sorry our baby was here...even if it was just for a little while. I'm sorry you didn't know it then. I'm sorry our parents broke us. But we didn't do anything but love each other. I loved you then. I love you still. Nothing is ever going to change that for me. I'm here now if you still want me."

Hunt groaned. "Want you? Like I want my next breath. I need you to be whole again. I will never make peace with how you've suffered. But I will find peace with you again, and that is enough. Sleep now, darlin'. Tomorrow we get you off this mountain, and we go from there."

Lainie felt lighter. Eleven years of guilt had been a heavy load to carry, and it was gone. "I love you, Hunt."

His voice was a rumble against her ear. "Not a damn ounce more than I love you."

GREGAND TINA MAYES were watching TV in their hotel room when Greg's cell phone rang. When Denver Park Rangers popped up on caller ID, he grabbed it. "Tina, it's the park service!"

"Put it on speaker," she said, and then started weeping. "I'm afraid of what they're going to say."

Greg glared because she was crying again, and then answered.

"This is Greg."

"Mr. Mayes, this is Ranger Christopher from the search site. Hunter Gray just called in. He found Lainie. She's alive, suffering from exposure and some injuries, none of which are life-threatening. He is tending to her immediate needs, and we'll be bringing her down in the morning."

"Thank God," Greg said. "And thanks for letting us know."

"You can thank Warrant Officer Gray and his tracking skills."

Greg frowned. "Warrant officer? What's that?"

"Basically, that's the rank given to Army helicopter pilots who didn't go through OTS. That's Officer Training School, you know. He spent ten years with the Army before he was mustered out. I know because I checked up on him a little. He flew Apache Longbows in Iraq and Syria in the fight against ISIS."

Greg was so stunned he forgot to respond.

"Mr. Mayes, are you still there?"

"Yes, yes, just taking in what you'd said. Thank you for calling," Greg said, and disconnected.

Tina glared. "So much for your prison theory. Are you going to call Chuck?"

"So he can gloat about his fucking hero son? Hell, no."

She shrugged. "That's okay. I'll call Brenda."

"You don't call her. Do you hear me?" Greg shouted.

"You don't tell me what to do," Tina said. "Not anymore." Then she picked up her phone and locked herself in the adjoining bathroom to make the call.

brENDA GRAYWASa mother in mourning. She feared the day Hunt disappeared that he would never be back, and became certain after all the years that had come and gone without a word. She had already accepted he could be dead, and they would never know.

And then he called.

One question. He'd asked them only one question, and her hesitation was their downfall. She could only imagine the shock he'd received, and the hate he must feel. Only after he hung up in her ear did she realize the immensity of damage they'd done. She knew in her heart that seeing him now wouldn't change anything between them, and there was a part of her wishing they hadn't even come.

And then her cell phone rang, and that tiny spark of hope flared as she looked at caller ID. Tina? Why would she—oh my God... Lainie!

Chuck hit Mute on the TV remote and looked up. "Who's calling?"

"Tina. It must be about Lainie," she said.

"Put it on speaker. I want to hear," Chuck said.

Brenda nodded, then answered. "Hello?"

"It's me, Tina. I just wanted you to know the ranger called us. Hunt found Lainie alive."

"Oh, my God, Tina! That's wonderful news. I'm so happy for you."

"Well, Lainie won't believe we give a damn about what happens to her, but I'm happy. I just wanted you to know. She has injuries, but none are life-threatening. They said Hunt had administered first aid and was taking care of her. They're bringing her down in the morning."

"Thank you for telling us. We're hoping to get to speak to Hunt then, so we'll see you at the trailhead in the morning."

Tina rolled her eyes. Greg was hammering on the bathroom door and cursing her, but she wasn't finished and went on to tell her what the ranger had told them about Hunt's military service. As she was talking, Greg kicked the door.

TINAROLLEDHEReyes again. "I gotta go. Greg's pitching a fit because I locked myself in the bathroom to call you."

The call ended.

Brenda looked at Chuck. He was smiling.

"That's a son to be proud of," he said.

"If you had been prouder of him before, and less focused on the stupid war with your stepbrother, none of this would have happened," she snapped. "I'm going to bed. We need to be at the trailhead early. I don't want to miss our last chance to see him."

HUNTCOULDN'TSLEEP. He'd given Lainie a couple more pain pills in the night. She turned to face him and slid her arm around his upper body as he tucked them back in.

"If this is another dream, I don't want to wake up," she mumbled, and fell back to sleep again with her cheek against his chest.

"Just rest, love," he whispered, and pulled her close.

Night had never been darker. The stars had never been brighter. And the slice of moon was mostly worthless when it came to shining. But it didn't deter the mountain nightlife.

A coyote yipped, and another answered.

Hunt watched a small herd of mule deer move past their shelter, and there was an owl hooting in a nearby tree. Once, he thought he smelled bear, but he didn't hear or see it, and was thankful Lainie was asleep when the odor dissipated.

He kept thinking of all he'd learned, and if anything could be done about it. It enraged him, and it frustrated him that all of it was old news. His only satisfaction was punching Greg Mayes in the face, even before he'd learned the depth of his betrayal.

Then he felt her breathing change. She was dreaming again. He cupped the back of her head and began whispering in her ear.

"Shush, baby, shush...you're okay. I'm here, I'm here."

She sighed, and then she was still.

THENIGHTSHIFT was making an exit, and the day shift began arriving. A squirrel was scolding them from a nearby tree, and a little fox passed by them on his way to the creek, and Lainie was awake.

"This is embarrassing, but I need to pee."

He grinned. "Honey, we've seen each other stark naked so many times, I can't believe you'd even utter the word embarrassing."

She winced as she tried to move. "Well, it's been a while."

"Better me than the team coming up to get you down the mountain," he said. "Give me a sec."

He tossed their blanket on the pile of deadfall, unzipped the sleeping bag and got up, then began moving aside the limbs to clear their way.

She sat up. "Lord, but I dread walking."

"You're not walking. I'm carrying you into the bushes. As for the rest, I'll close my eyes."

As soon as he had moved enough brush, he grabbed a roll of toilet paper from his pack.

She stared. "What else do you have in there?"

He grinned. "Enough to get by on, and I know what I'm doing, so hush your worries. Today, we blow this Popsicle stand." He handed her the toilet paper, then scooped her up in his arms and headed for the bushes. "Okay, I'm going to ease you down on your feet. I know it's not going to feel good, but those thick socks will help. I'll turn my back, and you let me know when you're done, then I'll go."

He put her down, then held on to her until she'd steadied herself.

"I'm good, and we'll both pee in the bushes. This is my bush. You go find your own."

He was grinning as he walked a couple of yards to comply with her orders, then waited until she called him.

"I'm done."

She was holding the roll of toilet paper when he turned around. It was the first time he'd seen her standing, and he could tell how beautiful her woman body had become. In two strides, she was in his arms again.

"Your Uber has arrived. Where to, lady?"

She smiled. "First pile of brush on your right, please."

He kissed her cheek. "The affection is complimentary. There's no charge for that."

She was still smiling when he put her back down on the sleeping bag, and then reached into the magic backpack again and pulled out a little bottle of liquid hand cleaner. He squirted some in his hands, then handed it to her.

"Wash up, darlin'. Breakfast coming up. We have beef stew with potatoes and vegetables, or chicken and rice with vegetables."

"Chicken and rice, please," she said, as she cleaned her hands.

He glanced at the time, then felt her forehead. It was still too warm, but better than yesterday. He wouldn't rest easy until he had her in the hands of the medics.

But Lainie saw the worry on his face. "It will be okay, Hunt. You already did the hard part. You found me. Once they start pumping me full of antibiotics, then I will be fine."

"You better be," he said, as he opened her food, handed her a spoon and set her drink within reach before choosing beef stew for himself.

Lainie took her first bite, sighing in quiet delight to have food in her belly again. She chewed, swallowed, then licked her spoon.

"You do know that in other circumstances, camping out with you would be a dream. A tent in lieu of dirt. Real food, and a big teddy bear to sleep with. A girl couldn't ask for more."

He was almost smiling. "So, I'm your teddy bear now?"

And just like that, Lainie's teasing ended. "You're my everything. The next time we sleep together, we will make love."

His eyes narrowed, and when she began drawing him a picture, a muscle jerked at the side of his jaw.

She waved her spoon in the air, like a conductor leading an orchestra, illustrating every comment. "I will look and smell pretty then. I will have had a bath and brushed my teeth. My hair will be clean and shiny, and I will wear something sheer and sexy just so you can take it off me."

Hunt's gaze never left her face. "And I will have showered and shaved off this beard, and you must be prepared for me to peel that sexy whatever off of you with my teeth...if it so pleases you."

She shivered. "It pleases me."

"Then it's on my agenda. However, it will please me now if you finish your food, instead of giving me an itch I can't scratch."

"I can do that," she said, and shoveled another spoonful of food into her mouth.

Once they finished eating, Hunt gave her more meds, then settled her on top of the sleeping bag to rest while he went about packing up camp. After that, he sat down beside her and cradled her head in his lap. They talked about nothing, and everything, and he watched her fall asleep in the middle of a sentence and thought he couldn't love her more.

About an hour later, he began hearing voices, and then caught a glimpse of men in the distance, moving toward them through the trees.

"Lainie, honey. They're here."

She rolled over and sat up. "Now what?"

"They'll pack you back to the trail and carry you down to wherever the chopper can land."

"Can you come with me?" she asked.

"Not in the chopper. I'll go back down with the rescue crew after you're loaded, then as soon as I get down the mountain, I'll head straight to whichever hospital they're taking you."

"Surely it will be Denver Health, where I work. If you see my parents down at the trailhead, tell them to go home. I don't want to see them."

"I'll find you wherever you are, and I will send them packing, I promise."

She could see the men now, coming toward them at a jog. "Don't disappear on me."

Hunt stood and then picked her up in his arms. "Don't get lost from me, again."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry.

"It's okay, love. It's okay," he whispered.

"I know...it's just scary letting go when we just found each other again."

"No more hard decisions to make here. We were always attached at the heart, and nothing has changed. I'll come straight to the hospital. I'll find you there a hell of a lot easier than finding you here."

And then the crew arrived, with Ranger Scott Christopher in the lead. They were elated to see their missing hiker, and praised her for her fortitude, but wasted no time. As they were strapping her down on the stretcher, one of the men handed her a park ranger cap.

"To keep the sun out of your eyes while we're carrying you down," he said. "If it hurts the wound on your forehead, we can adjust the size."

"Thank you," Lainie said. "Much appreciated, and it will be fine." Then she looked around for Hunt.

He was standing just beyond the stretcher with the magic backpack on his shoulder, his gaze focused on her, and everything they were doing.

"I'm here," he said. "The path will be narrow, so even if you can't see me, remember I've got your back."

Then they picked her up and started walking.

Hunt gave the giant brush pile one last glance, thankful it had been a shelter and not a grave, then fell into step.

BOTHSETSOFparents were on the scene, but sitting on opposite sides of the parking lot.

Greg and Tina were still fussing.

Chuck and Brenda were silent.

None of them knew Lainie was being airlifted, or that it would be Hunt who reached the trailhead alone. They kept glancing at each other and then looking away. They'd come to this place because of guilt and duty, but everything about this day felt wrong. They'd gate-crashed a reunion to which they no longer belonged.

ITHADTAKENthe recovery team a little over an hour to hike out of the woods and back onto the trail. They'd been walking it for a while when Hunt began hearing the familiar blade slap of rotors. His pulse quickened, and then he heard Scott talking to Lainie.

"The chopper's inbound. We're almost there, Miss Mayes. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Where's Hunt?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Behind us. He took the flank position, but you will see him before you leave. He'll help load you up."

Her throat tightened with yet another overwhelming urge to cry, but she wouldn't. She didn't want his last sight of her here to be in tears.

A small clearing on the south side of the trail became visible as they came out of the trees. A Classic Air medical copter was already down, rotors still spinning, with the doors open, waiting to hot load. The recovery crew immediately left the trail with Lainie and headed toward it.

Hunt dropped his pack on the trail and ran to catch up. She reached for his hand the moment she saw him, and then he ran the rest of the way with her. One quick kiss, and then he helped lift her up into the chopper. He got one last look at her face before the doors shut between them, and then he was running to get away from the downdraft as it lifted off.

Scott and the recovery crew were already heading down the trail when he grabbed his backpack and caught up.

"Where are they taking her?" he asked.

"Where she works—Denver Health Hospital," Scott said. "They will be waiting for her."

"I'll find it. A big thanks to all of you, but here's where we part company," he said, and started down the trail at a lope.

"Damn, does he think he's going to run the whole way down?" one man asked.

"He's Army, man. He can probably run circles around us and then some," Scott said. "Besides, I think he's got a woman to see about the rest of his life."