Page 59 of One More Time

Griffin explained and asked if I would give Derek an update. “Of course.” As soon as I hung up, I glanced over. “You know how Hannah asked McKenna to show her that trail?”

“Uh, yeah. We were both there,” Derek said dryly.

“Well, Hannah slipped and hurt her ankle. That was Griffin. McKenna texted them about it. They’re going to get them.”

Derek stood quickly, wobbling a little on his feet.

“You can ride with me, but you’re waiting in the car,” I said firmly. Derek opened his mouth to argue. I held his gaze. “Seriously?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, fine. But I’m not sitting here by myself and waiting helplessly. I’ll wait in the car helplessly,” he muttered.

My brain was ping-ponging dueling concerns as we drove in silence. I was worried about Hannah and McKenna. When we arrived, Rhys, Griffin, and Wyatt waited.

“Derek’s staying here,” I said.

For all my brother’s good attitude about accepting his limitations, he looked beyond annoyed.

“Have you heard anything more?” Derek asked.

Rhys shook his head. “No, and that concerns me.”

We began walking with Rhys leading the way. I couldn’t even focus on the beautiful view. All I could think about was making sure Hannah and McKenna were okay. I tried to tell myself that I would feel this way about anyone.

My cynicism thought that was a bunch of bullshit. No, you wouldn’t. You miss McKenna every single fucking day.

We were about fifteen minutes in when Rhys swore. I glanced ahead. “Fuck.”

An entire stretch of the trail was closed by the tide lapping against the rocks.

“It’s not far through here.” Rhys glanced at me. “But getting someone through here with a broken ankle will definitely be a challenge.”

Griffin glanced from Rhys to me. “That’s why I brought these.” He lowered his pack from his shoulders and switched out his leather hiking boots for a pair of tall rubber boots. “I have two pairs,” he offered.

Conveniently, he and I wore the same size. Minutes later, we were tromping through the water. I could feel the cold temperature from the water seeping through the boots. Although it was still light out and would be for a few hours, the temperature was dropping.

“I should’ve known,” I said to myself.

“Should’ve known what?” Griffin asked over his shoulder.

“I should’ve made sure Hannah had warmer clothes and?—”

Griffin stopped in the water, turning to face me. “This isn’t a dangerous trail. It’s a little rocky in a few spots, but they’ll be fine.”

He began walking again, and I resumed my ruminations on Hannah and McKenna. I felt a little guilty that I kept worrying about McKenna. But then, I loved her. I needed to figure out what the hell to do about that.

Only a few minutes later, I thought I heard voices ahead. We rounded a bend in the shoreline and stepped onto dry land again. McKenna and Hannah waited on a fallen-down log nearby.

“Jack!” Hannah called, starting to move and stand before McKenna grabbed her by the hand.

“Please wait,” McKenna ordered.

They were both clearly okay, and the tension bundled tightly in my shoulders and chest eased up a little. Griffin and I approached, and McKenna looked up. “I thought we had plenty of time before the tide came in, but —”

“I slipped and fell and hurt my ankle,” Hannah interjected. “It really slowed us down.”

“How much pain are you in?” I asked, kneeling beside Hannah.

“McKenna gave me some ibuprofen, so it’s getting better. It really hurt at first. It still hurts if I put any weight on it,” Hannah explained.

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