Page 116 of Somewhere We Belong

“Thank you for helping and being here for us,” I said, my voice cracking at the end. “I was an only child, and I don’t think I’ve ever really understood family dynamics until now, so, I’m grateful Theo has you guys.”

A tear slid down my cheek as I took a deep breath.

“You’re our family too,” Jude said, hugging me and it turned into another group hug with Forest awkwardly standing to the side before Jude brought him into the hug.

“Ok, sorry, I didn’t mean to get sappy,” I said, wiping my face.

“At this point any excuse to cry is ok with me, it helps to not keep it all bottled up,” Iris said, then chugged her coffee.

“You ready to go find our brothers and our niece?” Luke said, as he slipped a beanie on. “Well, not your brothers, cause that would be weird.”

“I like the sound of that,” I chuckled, hoping that I still had time to make us a proper family.

We bundled up and the sun was rising just as we left the house. We took two trucks Luke and Iris headed out with me and Jude headed out with Forest to the spot we agreed on before we had to start hiking. I parked the truck by the trail and we all exited as someone's phone rang loudly.

Jude scrambled to get his phone out of his pants as he got out of Forest’s truck. “Hello.”

We all waited, and my heart was pounding so loudly it was all I could hear for a moment.

“Yeah, right now. I’m actually here with his family,” Jude said, a blush tainting his cheeks. “I know, but what did you expect?”

His tone made me worried as they spoke and he hung up abruptly.

“They found three kids alone last night,” he said and my stomach dropped. “Then they found two adults and two kids.”

“Sol, Theo or Atlas?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “They need help covering the south part of the trail because they are pretty sure they got hit by the avalanche.”

I couldn’t say anything, I grabbed my bag and handed everyone else theirs. If they got hit, that meant they were either dead or they didn’t have much time and I was really praying it was the latter. We didn’t speak after that as Jude navigated us through the trail until we spotted the start of the snow from the avalanche. I quickly turned around as I got light-headed, my chest felt tight and I couldn’t breathe.

“Colt,” Iris said, kneeling in front of me with tears in her eyes.

“I… I… We… can’t… lose them,” I said, between each gasp of breath.

“I know, we won’t, we will find them,” she growled. “Now take a deep breath with me and tell me three things you see.”

Iris calmed me down until I was able to breath on my own. Thankfully, Jude, Forest and Luke started looking and with renewed vigor, I started looking too. I couldn’t lose my family, not when I finally felt like we were finally complete.

34

nova

He left me,and for the first time in the last eighteen hours, I felt something other than heartbreak. I was pissed. How dare he fucking leave me like a helpless woman when the people I loved were missing and I was an able-bodied person ready to help and search. So, I got dressed in the warmest things I owned, laced up my boots ready to go out when Genevieve and Camila walked out of the hallway dressed similarly to me.

“The town Facebook group says they are convening at the fire station again to help look for them,” Genevieve said, as she read off her phone.

“We can probably make it before they start leaving,” Camila said, grabbing a bag and a few thermos’ I missed. “Here’s some coffee to keep us warm and keep us awake.”

I was in awe of these women and to thank them was right on the tip of my tongue, but I was afraid if I did then I would start crying and the fire I woke up with would burn out. I needed that fire to get me through the day.

The girls and I got into what I assumed was Luke's truck and it was a little comical how much Camila had to scoot the seat up to be able to reach the pedals. We drove in silence withGenevieve looking back at me every so often like she was afraid I would break down or jump out of a moving car.

We made it to the fire station without me doing either and the amount of people here blew my mind. One of the search and rescue guys was talking about where we would start looking as we walked through the crowd. A few people patted my back, and I stopped when I saw the families of the kids that were missing. Some of the moms hugged me and that’s when I learned a few kids and dads had made their way back.

The avalanche had hit them, panic ensued, they all got separated.

Since it snowed last night, their chances of survival were slim. One of the moms held my hand as I tried to wrap my brain around what was happening. Camila and Genevieve had their hands on my shoulder when commotion erupted.

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