Chapter Fourteen

Sloane had never been a cheerleader. The closest she ever came to one was standing behind the glass, cheering on her man while he made a shot at the goal. But the mantra going through her mind on loop was as good as a cheer.

Get out of the car. Get up the hill. Get back to my daughter.

The mud rose high up the window of the driver's door. It was heavy enough to wipe out towering pine trees—no way would she be able to simply open the door and get out. Besides, she'd sink into it like quicksand.

She was trapped in the car, but she was okay. Alive. She took stock of her body. Other than a few small pains from being thrown around when the car skidded over the mountain—and a full bladder—she was fine.

Great—now that she thought about needing to relieve herself, she really had to go. The curse of all women, needing to use the restroom at the worst possible times. One of her girlfriends had to go right before walking down the aisle on her wedding day, and Sloane and two other bridesmaids ended up holding a long bridal train in the air to allow her to use the bathroom.

Casting a glance around the vehicle, she hoped to find a discarded container she could use. No such luck. Getting out of the car was out of the question. She'd just have to distract herself.

When would anybody find her? Eventually, someone would check out the road and downed trees. They'd start clearing away the mud, which would reveal the tire tracks from where her car slid off the road.

She switched on the radio. It still worked fine, and the strains of some old country music filtered into the vehicle.

Dropping her head back, she peered up at the sky, but the thick fog obstructed everything, leaving her in a white prison.

Automatically, she reached for her phone. She still had no cell service up here, but she had plenty of photos to entertain herself with until somebody found her.

The past two years' worth of photos were mostly of Marigold. The last one she'd snapped, Marigold had been eating ice cream, her deep green eyes wide with joy, her face covered in pink strawberry, her favorite flavor for every single food.

She flipped through more and more photos. Of her daughter passed out asleep in the oddest places, the way kids so often did. On the playground. At the beach on a brief vacation. Sitting on the mall Santa's lap in a frilly red dress and little black patent leather shoes.

I'm coming back to you, Marigold. I promise, no matter what, I will be home.

Through a blur of tears, she swiped through several dozen more photos. When she landed on a selfie taken of herself and Shaw, she stopped dead.

A gulp of oxygen filled her lungs and made her head swim. Did he have to be so damn handsome? She knew what that devilish grin did to her far too well. Dylan's too, come to think of it.

She wished she had some photos of Dylan. Several images were imprinted on her mind, including him standing tall and proud in the arena in his chaps, prepared to ride that bull.

If she hadn't freaked out and run away, she'd be in the arms of both of her lovers right this second. Why did she leave?

The simple answer? Damage control to her heart.

Long minutes turned to an hour. Then two. She had no water, and come sundown, it would be cold. She shut off the radio to preserve the car battery, but every time she got bored, she turned it back on for a minute or two.

Her phone was dying too, and she rummaged in her bag for a charger. Once in a while, she attempted a call out. Something had to be pinging off a tower, so she kept trying. For her child, she wasn't going to give up.

Dylan and Shaw's faces loomed in her mind as if they were standing right in front of her. She'd always loved Shaw, but loving Dylan never entered her mind. Now the thought of never seeing him again, feeling his touch or looking deep into his brown eyes, left her with a deep ache.

She would fight for Marigold…that was a given. What she never expected was her drive to fight for Shaw and Dylan.

She never expected that she would fight to have it all.

Was having it all even possible?

* * * * *

Dylan's eyes weren't burning with tears. Nope. It was the brightness of the Alaskan midnight sun.

Even though it wasn't anywhere near midnight and the sun was pale and dim, it was causing him to blink. A lot.

However, there was no excuse for his heart pounding other than fear and adrenaline.

Shaw's fingers whitened on the wheel. "We're going up and finding her. Send search and rescue behind us."

The park ranger shook his head. "I can't let you go up there."

Oh damn. That was a red flag to a bull. He'd seen Shaw walk away plenty of times, but that was a challenge. A man like Shaw didn't walk away from those.

Dylan gave him the side-eye. "Drive," he muttered from the corner of his mouth.

Shaw stepped on the gas. In seconds, the vehicle was deep in the fog and the ranger's truck invisible behind them.

"Hang on." Shaw picked up speed despite the lack of visibility.

Dylan gripped the handle above the door and rocked forward in his seat, peering hard at the road to alert Shaw of dangers in case he spotted them first.

"I think you should slow down."

"I can't. That ranger will detain us, and nobody is stopping me from reaching Sloane."

"A fucking mudslide." His throat closed on the syllables, unable to even think about what could have happened to her. It made Dylan want to jump out and run through the forest, screaming her name.

Now he understood the wild look in Shaw's eyes earlier. They were both losing their minds.

"When we find her, we're not letting her go." Dylan's vow came with a tight squeeze of his heart.

"Never."

"I don't know how we'll make it work, but I'm done running away from my feelings and letting life take over. I'm in charge now."

Shaw brought a hand down on Dylan's thigh. "We're going to figure it out—together."

He started to speak, but something caught his eye ahead. "Stop! Those are trees down on the road!"

"Oh fuck!" Shaw stomped the brakes and for a heartbeat, they gaped at the scene in front of them. Trees crisscrossed the road, and the gap of light on the side of the road where they'd once stood made Dylan's blood freeze.

At the same time, they leaped from the vehicle.

"Be careful!" Shaw's call came at Dylan's back as he sprinted away.

He was fast—he had to be to escape pissed-off bulls. He scrambled around a tree top forked with branches and came to a stop as another appeared through the fog. The thick trunk reached his waist.

Planting his hands on it, he vaulted over it like a gymnast and ran on.

"Dylan!"

He ignored Shaw and continued to barrel through the obstacle course. When he spotted the mountain of mud, his heart slammed into his ribs.

"No!" His bellow didn't even echo in the dense fog. The sound died in the air and on his lips.

He heard Shaw's footsteps and the huff of air in his lungs as he came up behind him. Together, they surveyed the apocalyptic landscape.

"I hope she's on the other side of this." Shaw latched on to Dylan, looking for support. He felt the man sway and reached out to steady him.

"There aren't even tire tracks. The mud's too thick." The hair on his nape prickled.

"We have to look around." Shaw's statement brought a new thunder of fear to Dylan's already hammering pulse.

If she was here…

"We'll find her." Conviction rang in his tone, if not his heart. He threw himself forward with Shaw right behind.

"The mud would have wiped her off the road, down over the side of the mountain. We have to look there."

Dylan rushed over another treetop that filled the road, ducking under branches and leaping over others. His boot caught and he nearly pitched forward. Shaw grabbed the back of his shirt and kept him from face-planting on a branch.

"I like your face without bruises, Dylan. Try to stay on your feet."

Nodding, he pushed on. When he reached the other side of the tree, he came up against the huge spill of mud and rock. Trees and entire shrubs projected from the mess.

"We can't go any farther! Check the side of the mountain!" He stumbled to the edge and peered down. The fog thinned in the ravine, but visibility was still low.

Then he saw a flash of red. The blink of a taillight.

"She's there!" He didn't wait for Shaw and started down the mountain, skidding as he skirted the mudslide.

Sure enough, the car Sloane had made her getaway in was there, trapped between a huge tree and a wall of mud that climbed high up the side of the vehicle. It oozed around the back and swallowed the bumper, but one of the taillights was still visible.

The sound of muffled country music came from inside.

Dylan's heart soared. "I found her! She's here!" Cupping his hands to his mouth, he bellowed her name until his vocal cords strained.

The low noise of her window lowering almost dropped him to his knees. Then came her cry of response.

"Dylan! Shaw! I'm here! I'm okay!"

Out of nowhere, Shaw grabbed Dylan. He hadn't even realized how close he was until now. When he looked at his lover's face and saw the emotion blazing there, he couldn't stop himself from throwing an arm around him and yanking him close. They were both shaking.

Shaw threw his head back and let out a whoop of joy. "We're coming for you!"

"We're never letting her out of our sight again."