Page 2 of Too Late

Josh was jumping into gear to resuscitate.

She grabbed his arm. “He’s already gone. We’re too late.”

Miss Marple nudged Chloe’s elbow with her nose and whined.

Chloe wrapped her arm around the dog’s neck. “I know, girl. You did a great job finding him.”

Josh sat back on his heels, his shoulders drooping. “We failed.” The words barely escaped his lips.

Chloe threw the Kong for Miss Marple, and the dog bounded after it. While she understood the guy was not okay, she still expected her reward of playing for finding him.

“Josh, we did what we could. How late are we?”

“He’s not totally cold, so maybe an hour.”

Would they have made it if she hadn’t refused to rappel? Was this guy’s death her fault? She wasn’t responsible for his getting lost, but if they’d been here quicker . . . Would she always let her fear get in the way?

Chapter One

Sevenyearslater

Josh Schneider sat back on his sister’s couch in Hazel Hill, North Carolina. He loved celebrating Christmas Eve with his family.

Carter, his nephew, jumped onto the couch. He had a small book in his hand. “Can we read this?”

“Absolutely.” Josh opened the book and read.

Three pages in, Carter pointed at a word. “That’ssaid.”

“That’s right, buddy. Homeschooling is going well, I take it!”

Caleb, Carter’s stepdad, smiled from across the room. “The kid is taking to reading as easily as his sister is taking to long division.”

“Fantastic.” Josh pointed at another word. “Do you know this one?”

“P-i-g. Pig!”

“Excellent.” They finished the book with Josh encouraging Carter to sound out some of the words here and there.

Carter bounded off the couch and ran off to his new toys that were strewn all about.

It was Josh’s sister Amelia’s turn to plop down on the couch beside him. “You’d make such a great dad; I don’t understand why you have yet to find yourself a little lady and settle down.”

Chloe ran through his mind. They’d known each other for years, but they’d never entertained anything beyond friendship.

“Chloe?”

Josh shook his head. “What?”

“Would you stop acting like you aren’t madly in love with the lady? Why don’t you just ask her out?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Yes, it is. This is one thing I am confident I can say without sticking my foot in my mouth.” His sister’s propensity for saying the wrong thing always got her in trouble.

“Amelia, it’s just . . .” He really didn’t have an excuse. He adored Chloe. Every time he met another woman, he compared her to Chloe. “I don’t know. I don’t think she sees me like that.”

“How will you ever know if you don’t pursue it?”

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