Chapter 24

Jackson

"Fuck, that sucked balls," Colton mutters as the ranch house comes into view. He's riding beside me atop Clementine, just as wet as I am. The rain has mostly stopped, but with the sun having fallen behind the mountains, we're all cold and plain miserable.

But at least we have Tara.

She's on horseback with her dad, who joined the second search party. The little girl is in remarkably good shape, having waited beneath a tree once she was sure she was lost. It was smart of her to stay put instead of continuing to wander in a direction that might have taken her further from her group.

She's shaken and tired, but whole and healthy. And that's what matters.

"Think Ash will have whipped up something warm for us?" Colton asks, a grin on his face.

"It's his weekend," I remind my brother.

"Yeah, but you know he wouldn't care. He likes cooking for us."

"And should be appreciated for it," I grumble.

"Hey, did anything I say sound unappreciative?" he combats, not waiting for an answer before going on. "You're in a mood ."

"Can you blame me?" I ask, sliding down off Starlight's back as we reach the stables.

"Nope," my brother answers easily. "Like I said, that sucked."

Tara's dad jumps down and helps his daughter off their horse. In the dim light, I can see the girl's mom approaching swiftly alongside my mother, both coming from the direction of the ranch house. I give the family privacy as they reunite, their soft cries tugging at my heart.

My mom beelines my way once close, her eyes sweeping the group of us who rode back with Tara and her dad. We're the last to arrive. "Is Ashley with you?" she asks, her voice shaking in a way I don't like.

"No," I say slowly. "Why would he be?"

She sets her jaw, working through something. "He's not here. I think he went after you lot."

"You think?" I ask, my heart jumping.

"I don't know, Jackson. He was here, and then he wasn't. And he didn't come back with the first group."

" Ma ," I say a little harshly.

"Jackson Darling, I suggest you curb that tone. I'm just as worried as you are."

One look at her face confirms it. I spin around, heading into the barn.

"Shorty isn't in there," my mom calls.

I curse, my feet carrying me forward faster. The moment I set eyes on Shorty's empty stall, I spin right back around.

"You tried calling?" I ask.

"Him and his friend Virginia both," she confirms. "She hasn't seen him since earlier, before he got home."

The rest of our party is looking between the two of us now, having realized something is wrong. My mom hands me Starlight's reins as soon as I reach them.

"Go," she says. "I'll talk to the others."

I swing up onto Starlight's back, looking Colton's way. He hasn't yet gotten down off Clementine. "You got the lamps?"

"Yep," he says. "Let's do it."

I turn Starlight in the direction of the woods and kick my heels. " Ya ."

I can hear Colton behind me as we race back toward the trails. I have to slow once we reach the forest's cover, both for safety and because it's gotten far too dark to see. I come to a stop, waiting for my brother to catch up. Once beside me, he pulls the headlamps out of his saddlebag, handing one over.

"You really think he would've gone out on his own?" Colton asks.

I don't even have to consider it. "Yes."

For that little girl? He would've gone in a heartbeat.

The damn fool.

I shake the thought loose immediately, hating it. Hating myself for even thinking it. Ash isn't a fool. He's just a heartstrong man who would have wanted to help, who wouldn't have thought of the dangers to himself above those to that little girl.

"If he's not all right…" I say, shaking my head, unable to even think it.

My brother zips up the saddlebag. "He will be," he says, flicking on his lamp. "C'mon. If we didn't pass him earlier, he must be on another trail. Let's try the northwest end."

With a nod, I turn on my lamp, and the two of us take off. We shout occasionally, calling out Ash's name, stopping to listen for a reply. There is none.

No answering call. No Shorty. No Ash.

We scour the black and yellow trails along the northern border of the woods. Follow them west toward the mountains. We ride along the blue trail and then the orange.

An hour later, my worry has reached a pinnacle. We called back home with the sat phone to check in with my mom, but no Ash. A few other ranchers followed us out, but we haven't crossed paths with them, either.

When we come to a fork, Colton and I stop to regroup. We're each a little breathless, both from the riding and all the shouting. The horses have got to be tired, but they won't complain. They're used to hard work. And we won't push them past their limits.

"Thoughts?" Colton says.

I look down the two diverging trails. One leads straight west toward the mountains. The other veers south, back toward the cattle pastures.

"Fuck, I don't know," I admit.

"We'll try one and then the other," Colton says. He turns Clementine toward the southern trail when we hear something. A bray. "Is that…"

Both our heads swing toward the trail that leads west, our headlamps dimly lighting the path. I swear I hear a bell, and then…

"The Darling Donkey," I realize, my pulse jumping. "Ash is that way. He's gotta be."

"You don't know—Jack!"

"Stay with the donkey," I call back to Colton, already taking off down the western trail. "If I don't find Ash, the donkey will lead you there."

My brother swears loudly. When Starlight and I pass the donkey on the trail, he turns and trots after us, but I don't slow, knowing Colton will stay with him like I asked, even if he doesn't like it. I shout Ash's name, straining my ears, trying to listen past the pounding of my own heart. I stop after five minutes, shout, wait, listen. We go on.

We ride another ten minutes down the trail when I think I hear something. Starlight and I slow to a walk, and I listen.

"Ash?" I shout.

Again, I hear it. A faint call. I urge Starlight on, and when we come around a bend, my heart nearly falls to my feet.

Shorty.

Alone.

Starlight and I rush forward, and the moment we're close, I swing off his back, jogging a few steps to slow my momentum. "Ash?" I shout again.

"Down here."

I whirl around, sweeping my headlamp over the area. "Keep talking," I say loudly. "I don't see you."

"You came," he says, his words sounding slurred.

I swing my headlamp downward, tracing the steep hill I'm atop toward the sound of his voice. I still can't see a thing. "You all right?"

He mumbles something, and then, "Yeah. I'm conscious again."

"Again?" I call, my heart pounding. I take a step forward but pause, realizing the hill is too severe an angle to walk down. I keep my hand on a tree as I peer around, moving the beam from my headlamp in an attempt to locate him.

Fuck , where is he?

"You know that raccoon we freed?" Ash says from somewhere down below. "I think it just tried to kill me. What a thanks."

He chuckles a little. It's not a sound I like.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, freezing as I see a hint of movement.

"A raccoon," he repeats slowly, but I don't think the pace is for my benefit. All his words sound a little slow. "It ran out on the trail. Shorty threw me. It's okay, though. Not his fault."

My chest feels as if it might just split apart.

"Ash, can you wave your hand or something? I can't— Fuck , there you are." Everything in me sags in relief when I see his hand waving feebly. "Sunshine," I croak. "You all right?"

"Think it was the same raccoon?" he asks, not answering my question.

"Probably not," I mutter, looking at the area around me. I walk along the trail, trying to find somewhere that's not so steep where I can climb down.

"Hey, is Shorty okay?" Ash calls.

"I think he's fine," I answer, not liking the fact that Ash keeps evading my questions, whether intentional or not. "Did you get hurt?" I ask again. "Are you stuck?"

"Don't come down here, Jack," he says seriously. "The ground is too soft after all that rain. It's a painful fall."

Fuck .

"Did you hit your head?" I ask.

That would explain the slurred speech.

"It's my shoulder I'm more worried about," Ash says, almost too quietly for me to hear. "Can barely feel my fingers."

A pit opens up in my stomach. "Ashley, how injured are you?" I ask roughly, heading back in the direction of the horses. "I need you to answer me right goddamn now ."

"I'm fine ," he says, sounding exasperated.

"I'm coming down."

"Don't!" he shouts. "Then we'll both be stuck. And it'll hurt a hell of a lot if you fall on me." A beat passes before he says, "Hey, did you see the donkey? I swear he was here. Unless I imagined it."

"He was here," I answer shakily, pulling out my sat phone.

Ash snorts, and then he starts to laugh.

"Why're you laughing, sunshine?" I ask, needing to keep him talking. I call Colton.

"'Cause it fucking hurts," he says, still chuckling. "It doesn't, but it does, you know?"

My hands tremble. "That bad?"

"Pretty bad," he answers. "Can you believe I fell in a pit? I was just trying to help, and look where it got me."

"You're a good man, Ashley Alcott. Hold on, all right?"

"Not going anywhere," he says. And then he's laughing again.

"Find him?" Colton asks in my ear.

"Yeah. Just up the trail. Are you close? We need rope."

My brother curses. "On my way."

I don't bother with a goodbye before I hang up.

"Hey, is the girl okay?" Ash calls. "Tara. You find her?"

"We did," I call back, walking the other direction down the trail, looking for some sort of access. I don't see any, barely even see Ash peeking out below a drop in the ground. "She's fine. Let's focus on you now. You said it's your shoulder?"

"Dislocated, I think. Can't move my arm. I passed out a bit, but there's no blood. I couldn't make it up the hill, Jack."

"I know," I say, my voice cracking. "You'll be out soon."

"Thanks for coming. Shorty wouldn't leave. Kinda figured I was fucked."

"The horses are trained to stay with their riders," I tell him. "He did good."

Ash makes a sound just as Colton rides up. My brother dismounts as quickly as I did, dropping to one knee and swinging his backpack to the ground. "He okay?" he asks, pulling out rope from his emergency kit.

"Think so," I say, keeping my voice low. "Hurt, though."

My brother looks up at me, his headlamp blinding me for a second. "One harness or two?"

"Two," I tell him. If Ash's shoulder is out of commission, it'll only hurt him worse to pull him up solo.

Colton nods, setting to work on tying the knots needed for Ash's rescue. Once done, I step into the makeshift harness as Colton secures the end of the rope to the horses. "Ready?" he asks.

I give a swift nod, go down to my butt, and start sliding down the hill. Colton keeps my progress steady, and I use my hands for balance. Relief slams into me when Ash comes into full view. He squints up at me, his face and hair covered in grime.

"Hey, sunshine," I say, voice wobbling.

He smiles. "Jack."

Fuck .

It's clear he fought hard. Dirt covers nearly every inch of his body. Exhaustion is evident in his eyes. As he said, I can't see any blood, but that doesn't mean he's not seriously injured, either.

There's about a five foot drop from where I am to Ash's position at the bottom of a pit, so I swing around to my stomach and ease my legs over the side. For a moment, I hang in the air, the harness keeping me suspended. Then the rope starts moving again, and Colton lowers me to the ground.

The second my feet hit dirt, I'm crouching in front of Ash, my hands settling on his cheeks. They shake despite my best efforts to keep them still. He looks so damn worn out. And in pain.

I kiss his forehead, and Ash's good arm comes up around my shoulder, holding tight. "Fuck, baby," I breathe, pressing another kiss to his head. "How bad?"

Ash is quiet for a beat. "Eight? Nine?"

I nod, my lips quivering. "All right. Think you can stand?"

"If you help me."

I ease back, careful to avoid Ash's injured arm as I help him to his feet. It's a struggle, his body not wanting to cooperate, the wince on his face evidence of what sort of hurt the movement is causing. But he never complains. Not once.

As soon as he's standing, I ease the harness up his legs, Ash helping by lifting his feet one at a time. Once it's in place, I walk Ash toward the lip of the hill, my arm around him tight. "Ready?"

He nods.

"Colt?" I yell.

"Hold tight," my brother calls.

There's pressure, and then Ash and I are being hefted into the air. I use my arm to keep us from rotating too much, my focus on Ash's grimace more than the hard earth scraping along my back. As soon as we make it over the lip, Ash falls on top of me, calling out as his arm gets jostled.

"I know, I know," I say, trying to soothe him as the horses tug us slowly up the hill, the rope around a tree keeping us moving in a straight line. "Just think. Once all of this is over, we'll go home, get patched up, and sleep for a good year or so. How's that sound?"

"Like heaven," Ash says, his teeth gritted.

I kiss his temple, keeping my feet braced wide so we don't spin on our way up the hill. Small debris rolls beneath my back, but I pay it no mind.

When we level out at the top of the slope, I let out a massive sigh of relief. Colton is there in an instant, untying us, helping Ash to ease off of me and stand.

"Dislocated?" my brother asks, gently touching Ash's shoulder. Ash is holding his arm to his chest.

He nods. "Think so."

Colton glances at me. "I'll set it before we leave. He can't ride like this."

"Colt…"

"Jackson," my brother interrupts. "You know I know how to reduce a shoulder. So let me. It'll hurt until it doesn't, and then we can go. It needs to happen."

I nod, the tightness around my chest making it hard to breathe. Colton has EMT training. He's right. I know he knows what he's doing, but that doesn't make it any easier when it's your loved one who'll be in pain.

"Just do it," Ash says, his voice stronger than before. "Jackson, look away if you need to."

I huff, stepping up beside him. "Like I'm gonna do that. C'mon, let's sit."

Ash nods, and in the dark of the night, in the middle of a goddamn trail at the back of my family's property, we sit across from one another on the cold hard ground. I aim my headlamp so it's not shining on his face, and Ash holds my gaze as Colton squats down beside him. My brother tells Ash what he's going to do every step of the way, getting his arm in position, something that has Ash grimacing and biting back his pain. I pretend to ignore the moisture I can see on his face.

"Here's what we'll do," Colton says. "On the count of five—"

Ash cries out as Colton pops his shoulder back into the socket. It's over fast, and then Ash is laughing, tears streaming down his face as my brother shoots me a concerned look.

" Fuuuck ," Ash groans, hanging his head. "You didn't count at all, you dick."

"Trick of the trade," Colton says, letting Ash go so he can grab his med kit.

"You okay?" I ask, squeezing Ash's hand tight.

He nods, tears in his eyes as he continues to chuckle. One look at my face, and the sound breaks into a sigh. "Nicholas didn't get it, either. Why I'd be laughing on those days I was in so much pain. Sometimes, you just have to laugh, you know? Because the alternative…"

He trails off, wincing again as Colton starts wrapping his arm against his chest to prevent further jostling.

"I'm probably going to be pretty sore after this," Ash says, blinking slowly. "I think I've been blocking most of it out."

I lean forward and kiss his hair. It smells like earth. Like rain and dirt. Not like Ash at all. "We'll get you better, sunshine."

"Yeah," he sighs. "I want cocoa when we get home."

"Anything you want."

"With milk," he adds. "None of that watered-down nonsense. And I don't want to talk to people, okay? Not tonight. I know I was an idiot—"

"Hey," I say softly, bringing his hand to my lips and kissing his knuckles. "No one's gonna blame you, I promise. Everybody's just gonna be relieved you're all right. I—" I clear my throat and try again. " I'm relieved you're all right."

His lips twitch. "Worried about me, were you?"

"So fucking much," I admit, not even trying to hide the truth of it from my voice. I press my cheek to his as Colton packs up our things, my eyes prickling. "You're not allowed to scare me like that again, sunshine."

He hums, the sound light and almost happy. "I'll try my best, darlin'. Now would you kiss me? I know I'm a mess, but—"

Ash's words cut off, a soft sound pressed against my lips as I kiss him. His hand grips the side of my neck, my fingers tangle in his hair, and we breathe each other in, no words needed to express what we're feeling. The happiness. The relief.

The lingering ache.

When we pull apart, it's not to go far. We stay tangled until Colton lets us know we're ready to go. Then, oh so carefully, I help Ash to his feet and atop Starlight's back before joining him. Shorty follows behind us.

The whole way home, my arm stays wrapped around Ash's chest, my hand never leaving his heart.