Page 36 of Bursting With Love
Savannah ran to Jack, hating that the angry mask he’d worn when they’d arrived had settled back on his beautiful face. “Aiden’s missing.”
Jack’s eyes did a fast sweep of the site, then the perimeter. “Elizabeth, how long ago did you see him?”
Elizabeth was circling the site, calling Aiden’s name.
“She said about twenty minutes ago,” Savannah answered. “I’m going to look for him.”
“No. You stay here. I’ll go,” he said. “He’s probably down by the stream with his father.”
“If he’s not, then I’m going. I’m not gonna sit here while that little boy is out there alone.” She lowered her voice. “Remember the bobcat?”
Jack gripped her shoulders. “You’re not going in the woods alone. I’m not losing you, too.”
Lou and Pratt sprinted past Josie into the camp. Josie’s voice came over the crest of the hill, out of breath and unable to hide the fear in her eyes. “He’s not at the stream!”
Elizabeth’s face was beet-red as she screamed Aiden’s name.
“Where’s Aiden?” Lou yelled. He grabbed Elizabeth.
“I don’t…know. He was right here, and then…” Elizabeth cried.
“Where’s his survivor bag?” Jack’s eyes searched the site. “Elizabeth. Do you have his bag?”
She shook her head.
“I’m going to find him,” Lou said, moving toward the hill.
“Hold up.” Jack looked at Pratt. “Pratt, go with him. Leave a trail on the trees like I showed you so you can find your way back. Do not separate. You two go east. I’ll go west.”
“Josie, you stay with Elizabeth and do not let her leave this site. You hear me? If anyone finds him, you yell as loud as you can and bring him back here to the camp. If he shows up, you don’t let him leave. No matter what. We meet back here in”—he checked the time on his watch—“thirty minutes. Everyone. Right here. Elizabeth, we’ll find him. He can’t have gone far, and since he took his bag, he’s probably nearby playing survivor man.”
“I’ll go that way.” Savannah pointed to her left.
“Savannah.” Jack’s chest swelled as he pulled himself to his full height.
“I’m perfectly capable of searching for him, and I’m not going to be told what to do by you or anyone else. There’s a little boy out there, and he needs as many eyes looking for him as possible.” She set her jaw and met his stare. She was not going to be waylaid.
“Then you come with me.” He grabbed her arm, surveying the woods. Then he dragged her ten feet to their left and, still holding her arm, stalked into the woods. “I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn.”
“You can let go of my arm now,” she said. “How are we going to find him?”
“We’re going to do what I taught you on the hike. Look for recent signs—freshly broken twigs, footprints.” He stopped walking and cast a hard, hot stare at her, then released her arm.
“What was that look for?” And why did it make me want you all over again?
“Goddamn it, Savannah. How can I concentrate on anything with you around? I’m a mess. Can you see that? Hell, I hear it in my own voice.” He moved farther into the forest and hollered Aiden’s name, then faced her again.
“Don’t you get it? I have never wanted to change for anyone before, and you make me want to change. I know I’m fucked up. I never claimed I wasn’t. But you make me want to have a life again.”
Empathy swept through her. “A life, or your old life?” she asked softly. She scanned the ground with every step as they walked deeper into the forest.
Jack stopped again. “Is that what you think? That I want to replace my old life? That you’re somehow like Linda? You’re nothing like her. She was quiet, meek, petite, blond. She’d never argue over anything. I don’t think we raised our voices more than twice in ten years.” He moved a lock of hair from her shoulder. “What I had was love and a normal life. That’s what I meant. I miss those things, and you make me want them again.” He turned and resumed the search.
She was at a loss for words, confused. Did he mean he did want a relationship with her? Silence stretched between them until she finally said, “We should call for Aiden.”
They both called his name, and Jack continued talking as they moved farther up the mountain.
“I thought I was happy before, completely fulfilled, and I was. Then. But when I’m with you—and the night we spent in each other’s arms—it made me realize that there was more to me than I ever knew or understood, and you brought those other parts to life.”
