Page 34 of Protecting Vidalia
“We are already 30 minutes from the campground. How could Dani have gotten so turned around?” Vidalia asked with a frown.
Jake sighed heavily. “I can’t answer that, but let’s keep looking.”
Another thirty minutes into their downward trek and they found it. “That has to be it,” Vidalia exclaimed. “Look! Exposed tree roots and a ledge just above the base.”
“You could be right,” Jake replied. “At this point the water at its highest peak would have been over Dani’s head. Unless she could get higher, she would have been swept away. That ledge could hold her if she could have gotten to it.”
Vidalia shook her head. “Dani didn’t even try,” she croaked. “She was too scared. This is why I blame myself. I should have been able to convince her.”
“Then how did the phone get on the ledge?” Jake asked, his eyes gleaming down at her. This was the thought that had been eating at him ever since he’d read that report.
Vidalia’s mouth dropped open and she was at a loss for words. Finally, she stuttered, “S-she must have thrown it up there.”
His eyebrow rose. “And lose her connection to you? You were the only thing she had in that moment. With you, she wasn’t alone.”
“Oh god, Jake,” she whispered, sinking to the ground. “Do you think she actually tried?”
Jake grabbed hold of the tree roots. Some of them fell away in his hand when he tugged on them, but others held. “I think she tried,” he replied, showing her the thin tendrils in his hand. “I really think she tried, but either her hands were too cold to hold the roots, or they broke off when she tried to climb so she fell all the way in. Once she was in the water, she couldn’t get out and she was swept away, leaving the phone behind. With that downpour, I’m sure it died pretty quickly.”
He stepped up on the soft ground where he was able to see the top of the ledge. “There’s some brush growing on this ledge and I bet that’s what kept the cell phone in place when the rain was beating down on it. That kept it from sliding off the ledge.” He stepped back down and looked at her. Then he hunkered down in front of her and took her hands. They were cold and trembling. “It wasn’t your fault, honey. You have to believe that she tried to get to safety because you were helping her.”
Vidalia’s eyes were green pools with tears leaking from them. “It beats the hell out of the alternative,” she sobbed brokenly.
Jake sat down beside her and pulled her into his chest. “Oh, honey, have faith in yourself.”
“Either way, she’s dead, Jake,” she cried. “And that reallyreallyhurts.”
Jake pulled Vidalia into his lap and held her, the sobs wracking her slender body until she couldn’t cry anymore. It took a while. Finally, she lay silent and still against his chest while he rubbed her back. It wouldn’t be the last time she cried for Dani Owens, he knew, but at least she was finally grieving.
“I think I need to pee,” she finally said, trying to get up.
He chuckled and stood up, helping her up with him. “Leave it to you,” he teased.
Vidalia wrapped her arms around his waist, surprising him. “Thank you, Jake. You’ve really helped and I appreciate the trouble you’ve gone to on my account.” She reached up and kissed the bottom of his chin, her watery smile peeking through.
“At last,” Jake growled and swooped down to take her lips in a gentle plunder, his heart rate skyrocketing. “I didn’t think you were ever going to kiss me first.” Then he did it all over again.
Finally, Vidalia pulled away, her eyes leaking again. “Let’s finish this,” she said quietly. Taking his hand, they started down the ravine together, Vidalia pausing every now and then as something caught her eye. When they reached the bottom, she stopped as the trail flattened out and eventually ended near a parking lot of a lower campground. He wondered what she was thinking as she stared off into the horizon.
“Let’s have a drink and a snack before we head back,” he said quietly, gently tugging her toward a nearby picnic table. Without a word she allowed him to lead her to the bench where they sat down.
“There is one more thing,” Jake said after they ate some snacks and drank some water. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s just an option.”
She looked over at him. “What?”
Jake studied her face closely. She was quiet, pale, but no signs of zoning out. Satisfied, he went on. “I took the liberty of looking up Dani’s parents. They would like to meet you—if you’re willing.”
Vidalia’s eyes widened. “Why would they want to? They must surely hate me, especially with all the news reports and the lousy stories being regurgitated about reckless and irresponsible dispatchers at that time. I’m not sure I can take their censure, Jake.” Her lips trembled and she bit her lower one trying to control her feelings.
Jake shook his head. “I don’t think so, honey. Her mother broke down and asked me to tell you she would dearly like to meet you, and that she knew you’d done everything you could to help her little girl. She wanted to thank you in person. She wanted to reach out and make contact before, but the police told her it wouldn’t be a good idea, and the emergency center protected you from contact. She couldn’t reach you.”
Vidalia closed her eyes as yet more tears leaked down her face. “When?” she asked throatily.
“Today—if you want. I can call her right now, they are waiting for your decision.”
“Why did you wait until now to tell me? I’m not prepared.”
The anguish in her voice stirred a deep chord in Jake. He never got the kind of closure with Hamal that Vidalia was being offered with Dani. To the family of Hamal, he was the enemy. The enemy of all their family members. Nothing he could say or do would ever change that.
