Page 42 of Sheltering Instinct

“Reaper is waiting for a whistle report,” Levi said. “Enrico, as far as the race to the hospital, which whistle count will make that happen?”

“One. People coming up aren’t going to help. That trail is one-man-wide. We take her down, put her in the vehicle, and hightail it out of here. Rounding up a rescue crew means their climb up with equipment and then down. Broken leg, I’d make a different assessment.”

“There are risks to that,” Levi said. “And Tess needs to make the final call.”

“Levi, just get me down,” she whispered. “I trust you.”

“Gwen,” Levi said. “give one whistle blow and wait for the same in response. Do that three times.”

As Gwen moved off the platform onto a boulder to blow long and hard, Levi scrambled to pull his pack off, one arm at a time—so he didn’t release Tess’s shoulder—and placed his bag under her head. “Are you in pain, Tessy?”

“I can’t tell,” she whispered. Pain? Yes. Absolutely. The sight of Levi splintered her. And though she fought the distraction, it absolutely took up head space. How could it not?

Tess preferred one crisis at a time.

The noise of the whistle sequence completed, Enrico asked, “Gwen the snake bite happened in this location?”

“There where that boot is.” Gwen pointed.

“I’ll give the area another sweep. Mojo,” Enrico commanded as he went over to retrieve Tess’s boot, “hunt snakes.”

Mojo jumped from the platform and wedged his body underneath.

“Aren’t you putting him in danger?” Gwen asked. “If he’s sticking his nose under those rocks, he could be bitten as easily as Tess was.”

Enrico’s response was lost on Tess. She was watching Goose pull a syringe from his pack.

“Hey, Levi,” Goose said, “while I prep this, get her boot and socks off. Rings. Anything that could constrict and cut off circulation if Tess starts to swell.”

Levi started with her boot and socks, then moved around to face her.

He’d aged. Levi’s face had new crinkles around his eyes. His skin had roughened. There was a determination in his eyes that she didn’t remember. But that might be the situation—both being in rescue mode and the fact that this particular damsel in distress was someone hemustloathe.

As directed, Levi pulled off the rings on her right hand, then lifted her left hand where there were none. “Where’s your wedding ring?” Levi’s voice was unusually gruff.

“I was widowed about fourteen years ago. Abraham was sick when he moved to America. He fought as long and as hard as he could for his children’s sake,” she said softly. “But he died.”

He died.

And she had made promises to see the children into adulthood. She felt her sense of loyalty and commitment to the boys straighten her spine. After everything, wouldn’t this be a horrific way to break her vow?

“Fourteenyears?” Levi’s eyes hardened.

And Tess forced her face to go blank.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he murmured, handing the rings off to Gwen.

“Thank you.” A churning tide of conflicting emotions was dragging her to someplace she didn’t want to be. As Mama Ya used to say, “The only way to survive was to float and wait until you find the eddy.”

Tess made that her mantra—Float. She steadied her breath.

But she couldn’t quite raise her head over the river of shame.

She’d always felt her cowardice in not finding Levi and telling him in person the whys of her marriage. Writing it would have put Abraham’s visa status at risk, even though it shouldn’t have. Her vows to Abraham had been true, she would love and care for him for all his days. But, the devotion she felt for Abraham was vastly different than the love that Tess held for Levi.

Hadalwaysandunwaveringlyheld for Levi.

Tess knew she’d go to her grave loving him.

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