Page 52 of Love By a Landslide

“Did you”—she began then scanned the dry dust around him—“make it in time?”

“Yes, Lucy, I managed to avoid pissing my pants.” She couldn’t fault him for the scorn in his voice. “But I fell on my way back.”

“How long have you been lying here like this?”

“Who knows.” Jonathan gave a semi-shrug and sighed. “Thirty minutes? A week?”

“Well, let’s not be dramatic,” she murmured, rolling her eyes despite the niggling feeling of guilt twisting her insides. Maybe she’d spent too much time away. If she had come right back after pumping fresh water, she probably could have helped prevent his tumble. But besides travel time, she had only spent half an hour at the lake. It wasn’t like she lazed all day in the sun and water.

“Uh, Lucy? A little help?” His snarky grumble snapped herback to the present.

“Yes. Shit, I’m sorry. What do we do?”

“If I’m on my side, it’s easier to sit up.”

Lucy scooped her hands beneath Jonathan’s large torso and heaved as carefully as she could. He flopped over like a landlocked seal, letting out a painful grunt as he settled on his back. Like before, she managed to sit him up and help him rise to his feet. After considerable effort, he was securely in the hammock. She grabbed a bottle of freshly filtered water and a couple of Tylenol.

“You still have to wait a bit before taking another dose of muscle relaxers, but this’ll help some.”

He took the offering and swallowed the pills with a long gulp. “Thanks,” he said, handing back the Nalgene.

“Have you eaten anything?” she asked.

“Handful of trail mix.”

Lucy shook her head then rummaged through the pile of supplies she’d removed from the pack earlier that day. She grabbed a small bag of dried mangoes and the remainder of the pork jerky and brought it over to him. He held up his hand in refusal.

“What, you don’t like mangoes? You packed them.”

“They’re my favorite, but we need to conserve our rations.”

“Correction: You need to heal and be strong enough to get me the hell out of here tomorrow.” She tried to keep her tone as soothing as possible (really, she did), but she couldn’t keep the scold from her words. She gave him an unyielding look that she hoped said,I’m not taking no for an answer, buster.

The stare-down lasted a long seventeen seconds (stubborn man-child) before he begrudgingly accepted the snack. He paused before taking a bite and sniffed the air.

“You smell . . .” He inhaled again, face scrunched in confusion.

“Clean?” Lucy wiggled her eyebrows. “I snatched thebiodegradable soap and washed up at the lake. That Dr. Bronner sure knows what’s up. It’s way better than that old-school green stuff my dad used to pack.”

“You bathed? In the lake?” Jonathan questioned, scanning her neatly braided hair and dirt-free face.

“Sure did.” Leaning in, she mock-whispered behind her hand, “You’re welcome.” Not only had she brought back water all on her own, but she gave him the gift of a fresh-smelling roommate for the night—two good deeds in one.

“Are you kidding me?”

Come again? Is he upset?

That was not the reaction Lucy had anticipated.

“No, I’m not kidding. I felt disgusting, and I had soap. I took five minutes to clean up. What the hell is wrong with that?” Lucy challenged, feeling less sympathetic to his plight. She’d gotten water for them and trekked into lands unknown by herself. And now he was pissed she’d taken a moment to feel less like a swamp monster?

“This isn’t some spa or woo-woo retreat where you can just splash around in a lake.” He winced with every frustrated gesture, dust-caked hands swinging everywhere until he finally crossed them tightly at his chest.

What was with the man-tantrum? Mantrum? Lucy smirked then remembered his gripe.

“Why not? It’s not like I spent hours lounging around working on my tan. I was in, out, and dried off just like that.” She snapped her fingers to illustrate.

“Because it’s not safe!” Jonathan’s voice reached bellowing proportions. “You were alone, Lucy! What if you’d gotten hurt? What if you slipped on a wet stone and cracked your skull? And fallen into the water and . . . and . . .” His ribs expanded and retracted wildly with each aggressive breath. His face reddenedbeyond his initial sunburn. The rapid thrumming of his pulse tested the strength of the veins in his neck. His anger was next level, and Lucy couldn’t understand why.

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