Page 58 of One More Time

“I don’t think you should put weight on it.”

“I know. It really hurts when I do.” She cleared her throat, and I could tell she was trying not to cry.

I curled my arm around her shoulders. “You can cry. If we have to, we’ll crawl up. I’ll take one step at a time, and you can use your good leg. We’ll get you to the top. It’s not that far.”

She swiped at her tears as she nodded. I shifted to reach my purse, which I’d looped at an angle over my shoulders when we started walking. I found the small bottle of ibuprofen I always kept. “Take this. It will help with the swelling and the pain.”

She took those with a few swallows of water from the bottle she carried in her small backpack.

“I texted my brothers. They’ll find us.” I had faith my brothers would probably all show up.

“Do you think my dad and Uncle Jack will be upset?” Hannah asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “Absolutely not.”

She blinked and nodded.

“Are you ready to try to move?”

At her nod, I carefully stood and helped her get her balance. Glancing behind us, I was relieved a strip of sandy shoreline was still visible.

We began making our way up the rocky bluff. I knew it was painful for Hannah. She was quiet, but her breath occasionally hissed through her teeth. As soon as we made it to the top, she sat down. The lines on her face were drawn tight, and my heart ached for her. She was clearly in pain.

I sat down beside her in the gravelly flat section of the trail. “We just did the hardest part,” I offered encouragingly.

She swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks and took several breaths. “I know. Let’s go.”

What had been maybe a half-hour walk in was going to take much longer. I worried about the time and cursed myself for not paying better attention. There was no reply to my text. But the reception had gone from one bar to none. I just prayed my text got through anyway.

As we walked and I tried to support Hannah as best I could, my mind kept detouring to Jack. I missed him, and I knew I loved him. I just didn’t know how to make things right. My old doubts were ready and waiting to strike.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jack

When I got the third call in a row from an unfamiliar number, Derek said, “Fucking answer your phone.”

“It’s nobody in my contacts. It’s probably a scam call.”

“Is it local?”

“Yeah, but still. It’s an Alaskan area code, but scammers can spoof local numbers,” I pointed out.

“Dude, answer your fucking phone.”

I intended to ignore him, but the next time it rang, I glanced down to see it was Griffin. I had him in my contacts because we were training together for the hotshot crew.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

“Hey, I’m calling because my brother Rhys has been trying to reach you. He got a text from McKenna. I guess she went on a hike with Hannah?”

“Yeah, is that okay?”

“Of course. But Hannah fell and hurt her ankle. McKenna texted Rhys, and we’re going to head out and try to meet them. The tide may already be blocking a section of their trail.”

I took a quick breath. A sense of panic initially jolted me. But surely, this would be okay?

“Where can I meet you?”

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