Rescue on the Ridge by Jennifer Brown

Author:Jennifer Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-04-19T15:29:31+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

When Erin flung open the chapel door, she came toward Patrick with such intensity, he nearly flinched away. She wrapped herself around him in a viselike hug, her face buried in the shoulder of his snowsuit. He couldn’t help holding her in return.

“Thank You, God,” she said over and over again. She let him go, looked him over as if she was searching for something, then tipped up her head and said to the moon, “Thank You, God!”

“Shhh,” he admonished, ushering her into the chapel. “I don’t know how far voices can carry up here. I heard you earlier from wherever you were.” He watched as she shut the door and shoved the pew against it, then turned to him.

“I thought you were dead,” they both said at the same time, a moment of synchrony that bloomed deep in his chest. He’d never felt that before. It wasn’t just that they’d said the same thing at the same time, but more that they felt it. It filled the entire chapel. A pulse in time.

“The gunshot,” she said, pulling him toward a pew. He sat and spent a moment taking down his gaiter, removing his hat and gloves, and unzipping the top of his snowsuit just to get the snow and chill away from his chin.

He shook his head. “Wasn’t even close, really. He’s getting really antsy about his partner. Kept opening the doors and looking around. I could hear him inside mumbling and mumbling and then it got louder. He’s starting to lose it. He finally came out and got on the snowmobile. I think he was going to go look for his buddy, but the snowmobile didn’t work.” He reached into his pocket and produced the spark plugs. “He started yelling that he knew I was out there, and when he found me I was going to be dead. And then he fired a shot into the trees. Way off to my left. I realized if he decided to do something crazy, like shoot Kerrington, we would hear it. So I decided to come find you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“How did you know you would find me here?”

He shrugged. “I just knew. I can’t really explain it. And I can’t explain how on earth I remembered where it was. It was weird how I walked right to it.”

He realized he was still shivering, and Erin reached into her backpack and produced an energy bar. “Here. This will help you keep your energy up.”

He pushed it away. “You should eat it.”

“I’ve already had one,” she said. “Please. I need you.”

He unwrapped the bar and took a bite. Flavor exploded onto his taste buds and he took a moment to savor it before talking. He chewed and swallowed. “I heard you scream. It scared me. I was afraid something horrible had happened to you.”

He was able to convince himself the first scream was just his imagination, or maybe Kerrington or even the wind. But the second scream was definitely Erin’s, and it tore at him.

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