Page 15 of An Alaskan Wedding (Alaskan Grooms 1)

She traveled in a straight line, following the path they’d previously traveled. Jasper was counting on her and she wasn’t going to let him down.

Lord, please show me the way. Guide me out of this forest.

When she arrived at the fork, she tried to remember exactly what Jasper had told her. There was a feeling of panic rising up inside her. She couldn’t think straight. Right, left or maybe straight. Which way? She really had no idea. She should go back to the cave! Turning around, she realized there were several different paths to choose from. And she had not a single idea of which way to go. Now she was really and truly lost. And it was starting to snow. Big, huge snowflakes were falling from the gray sky. One landed on the tip of her nose. If she was safely inside her cabin with a big mug of hot chocolate, she might find them beautiful. Now they just seemed like obstacles to finding her way out of this forest.

Grace didn’t feel brave anymore. Not by a long shot! Fear had nestled its way right into her bones. She was frozen right down to her pinky toes.

This wasn’t a grand adventure anymore. It was cold out here—mind-numbingly cold—and she wasn’t exactly dressed to sleep out in the elements. This trek was supposed to be a short tour of the caves, a fun excursion that would give her some interesting fodder for her articles. Spelunking, Jasper had called it. For a city girl like herself, spelunking had sounded like a journalist’s dream. An adventure to recount in her golden years. Now, it had all the earmarks of a nightmare.

She brushed snow off a nearby log and sat down on it. She looked furtively around the clearing. Lions, tigers and bears. Oh, my! The thought ran through her mind. Even though she knew there might not be tigers in Alaska, she was pretty sure that bears and mountain lions freely roamed the tundra.

Please, Lord. Don’t let a wild animal mistake me for a snack. Please let me find my way out of this mess.

Tears pricked at her eyes. This wasn’t looking good. Not only had she sealed her own fate by venturing out on her own, but she’d left Jasper back in the cave all by his lonesome with a bum ankle. He was depending on her to get help. Maybe this was her just desert for poking her nose around in Love and for pretending that she was in town as a participant in Operation Love.

Thoughts of her family raced through her mind. What would her parents think if she expired out here in the wilderness? She could just hear her father now. “Never thought a child of mine would freeze to death in the wilds of Alaska. I told her that job of hers was a waste of time.”

She felt moisture on her cheeks, and it wasn’t snowflakes melting on her skin. Tears. The fact that she was actually crying surprised her. She hadn’t even cried when Trey had called off the wedding. Nor had she shed a single tear when she’d stood in front of a church full of guests and announced the shocking news that the ceremony wouldn’t be taking place. Time and time again God had shown her that she wasn’t His favored child. She wasn’t worthy of His time or consideration. Her prayers were never answered.

Why should this time be any different?

* * *

Boone sighed as he riffled through the correspondence Shelly had placed on his desk. He sat up straight when his own handwriting jumped out at him. A big red stamp with the words Return To Sender had him heaving a great big sigh. The letter he’d addressed to Miss Honor Prescott hadn’t even been opened. Pain threatened to crack him wide open. His sister was still mad at him for sending her away to get her education in the Lower 48. She still hadn’t forgiven him for busting up her plans to elope with her boyfriend three years ago. She’d only been nineteen at the time and in love with a man who wasn’t worthy of her devotion. Ever since then she seemed to take pleasure in cutting him out of her life.

He shook his head, knowing if he had to do it all over again, he would make the same choices. Protecting his little sister had been his number-one goal. Perhaps, he realized, he could have handled it with a little more finesse. Maybe if he had, she wouldn’t hate him like she did.

His intercom began to buzz, jolting him out of his thoughts. Shelley’s voice came through loud and clear. “Sheriff Prescott, you have a visitor.”

Before he could even respond, his office door burst open.

Grace’s red-haired friend Sophie stood in the doorway, huffing and puffing as if she’d just run a marathon. “Sheriff Prescott. I’ve come down here to file a missing-persons report,” she blurted out.

Boone had to stop himself from smirking. He was waiting for the punch line. Had Miss Sophie Miller lost a kitten? Or a press-on nail?

“It’s my friend, Grace. I haven’t seen her since this afternoon when she went on a tour with Mayor Prescott. She should have been back hours ago.”

“A tour? Led by Jasper?” Boone folded his hands on his desk and lowered his head.

Sophie bit her lip. “Sheriff, you sound as worried as I feel.”

Boone stood up from his desk and reached for his walkie-talkie, holster and gun. “No need to worry, Sophie. I know this town like the back of my hand. I’m going to find Grace and bring her back safe and sound. You can count on it.”

* * *

Boone hadn’t wasted a minute mobilizing the search-and-rescue team. Thankfully, Jasper was as predictable as the tides. Boone knew exactly where he’d taken Grace. The caves at Nottingham Woods were the one place Jasper couldn’t resist showing anyone who was adventurous enough to accompany him.

Although for the life of him he couldn’t imagine what had happened out there to prevent them from returning back to town hou

rs ago. Boone had followed behind the search-and-rescue team in his cruiser, resisting the urge to speed. He’d been at the site of too many accidents not to realize the foolishness of speeding on snow and ice-slicked Alaskan back roads. If his truck ended up in a ditch, he wouldn’t be any help at all to Grace and Jasper.

By the time they reached Nottingham Woods, the adrenaline was flowing like crazy through his veins. With the team following behind him, he led the way toward the caves since he knew the route like the back of his hand. He’d grown up in these woods—hiking, adventuring, spelunking with Jasper. Fear lodged in his throat at the very idea of Jasper and Grace being in trouble out here. These woods were deceptive. One wrong turn and you ended up deep in the interior with no idea how to find your way out.

It was a blessing the two of them were together. If nothing else, Jasper knew Nottingham Woods better than anyone in Love.

A glance down at the trail revealed no footprints in the snow. Since snowflakes had been falling for the past hour, they’d covered up any tracks he might have been able to detect. He called out to the search-and rescue team as soon as he spotted the caves. One glance at the disturbed branches in front of the cave told him that someone had been here. He prayed Jasper and Grace were still inside rather than wandering in the woods.

Boone stepped inside the cave, his eyes peeled for two figures in the dark. The yellowish glow from the limestone lent a slight amount of illumination to an otherwise pitch-black cave. He pointed his flashlight in all directions and called out in a booming voice, “Jasper. Grace. It’s Boone.” Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a flash of movement.

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