Page 51 of Wild in the Woods
“Because you opted out of completing the course. That’s a deal breaker, remember?”
“The search and rescue call would have ended the course anyway.”
His eyes pegged her with a pointed stare. “Correct, but you gave up first. And that changed everything.”
Clamping her lips together, Lulu pushed her emotions down and walked. Fox diverted them from the route they’d taken yesterday and a good hour later, they came to the end of a dirt road. A small building sat beside the gravel. It looked like a tiny gingerbread house plucked from fairy tale.
“This is a warming house for snowmobilers to use. You’ll be safe inside until your transport arrives.”
Opening the door, he ushered her inside just as the sound of an engine speeding toward them filled the air. A UTV came to a halt, kicking up a cloud of dust. Halfway out the door, Fox offered her a small smile.
Tears hit her eyes.
“Fox,” she whispered.
“I’ll talk to you later. Don’t leave town until I get back, okay?” He turned away, paused, and looked back at her. “But, if you do I just… just be safe and remember, mindset. Always.”
She nodded, hoping like hell that he’d kiss her. But he let the door swing closed and left. The ATV raced off into the distance and she’d never, ever felt so alone.
Chapter Twenty
TheroarofATVengines passed by somewhere in the vicinity, though she couldn’t see them from the warming house.
A few hours passed and no one came. She thought about calling on the radio but didn’t want to interrupt the real emergency happening. That poor little boy. Thinking about what he must be going through prevented her from feeling too sorry for herself. Her sour emotions were her own fault. She’d initiated wild sex with Fox, and she’d let herself get too deep with him knowing how he felt about commitment.
She’d opted out of the course because her father had made her feel worthless and incapable. She still felt that way, despite Fox’s advice making a ton of sense. The idea of setting her toxic father out of her life wasn’t new. She daydreamed about it sometimes, which was horrible. But it always made her feel better. The idea of walking away and preventing them from affecting her life lifted all the heaviness inside her. It was so freeing and so joyful.
But then reality came crashing back and she didn’t think cutting family out of her life was allowed. Especially after her father had given her so much. A funded credit card. Full college tuition. A car. Each new gift or monetary handout felt like another stab to her soul. Soon, her soul was nothing but a colander, full of holes where all her hopes and dreams drained into a puddle that slowly evaporated. It was how she’d become hollow.
And then she’d met Fox.
Her chest swelled. She’d had that incredible man all to herself for a hot minute. Mates. It was ridiculous but it felt right, as if it was exactly what her body was trying to tell her. His advice had patched a few holes inside her. He was good at what he did, and more importantly, he gave a shit about what was going on with her. Helped because he wanted to. Looked out for her.
He fucking cared and he knew what he was talking about it. Shared trauma connected them? Probably. He’d only touched the surface about his father, but honestly, Lulu didn’t know if she could tolerate the truth of what Fox had gone through. The thought of anyone hurting him, or sweet Bunny, was gutting.
Checking the time on her phone, she realized with delight and a little suspicion that she didn’t have any new texts from Rudd. That was a first. He harassed her all day long since she’d broken up with him. Now he was radio silent?
That meant he was up to something. Yeah, like turning her father loose on her.
Her stomach growled, reminding her it was noon, and she hadn’t eaten yet. She was also thirsty, and a search of the small warming house revealed it contained no food, no water. Just some wood for the fireplace and a six-pack of beer that had collected two inches of dust and expired in the seventies.
Fox had said her emergency radio’s satellite would let the rescue team know where she was. So it wouldn’t hurt to go look for water. They’d followed a creek for a while on their way here. Thinking for a minute, she remembered how to get to it. Fox had a bottle in his pack that she could fill and keep for later.
Not wanting to go outside alone, but needing to stave off her thirst, she put the pack on her back and clipped the radio to her waist. Then she ate a protein bar inside the warming house instead of taking it into the woods with her. She hyped herself up before walking outside. She could do this. It would be easy. Get the water, go back to the cabin where she’d be safe from non-Fox bears.
She let out a breath, squared her shoulders and left the cabin. The air was heavy with a cool tint that suggested more rain was coming. Not wanting to get caught in a storm again, she hurriedly turned the way she and Fox had come in earlier, left the gravel road, and entered the sparse forest. Adrenaline kicked in and her body went in high alert. Reaching the top of a hill, she frowned as she looked around. Something felt off. The back of her neck prickled. The creek wasn’t here. Had she gone the wrong way? With a lump in her throat, she spun around to look back the way she’d come. The road was below, just visible through the trees.
Convinced she needed to go a little further, Lulu veered along the edge of the trees to follow the wide edge of the incline. The feeling of unease grew but she powered through. Thinking she saw a glint of water ahead; she continued that way until the fresh scent of water and wet ground filled her nose. She’d made it!
Grabbing the bottle from the side pocket of the backpack, Lulu trotted toward the glinting water. But it wasn’t the creek. A pool of water had collected at the base of the hill from the storm. It looked like something big had slid down the hill, taking most of the grass and undergrowth with it and puking it all into the puddle.
The flash flood! She pictured it, gallons of water rushing down the hill, taking everything in the way along for the ride. Scratching her temple, she looked around to get her bearings. This couldn’t be the same flash flood Fox was concerned about, right? The air was quiet here, without a single sound to suggest rescuers were searching close by. He’d mentioned earlier his fear of a flood coming into the basin. It must be a common occurrence that could happen in more than one place.
Just to be sure, she went to the pool and looked around. It was surrounded by debris. Poking around in it with a stick, she didn’t turn up any sign that the child might have been here. Thank God. She’d been incrementally holding her breath, praying she wouldn’t uncover a small body.
Shit.
She needed to go up and over the rise, the way the flood had come down. Something ticked her brain, convincing her the creek was up there. The water in front of her was drinkable with the filter straw. She could fill her bottle with it and go back. That’s what she should do.
