Twenty (Love By Design 2.50)

“Amelia?”

“H-here. I’m h-here.” She looked more like a drowned rat with her hair in tangles, makeup streaking down her face than a human female. She took a step toward me and collapsed in my arms, pulling me to my knees with her dead weight.

“Hey, I got you.” She picked her head up, looking into my face. Bedraggled and shivering, she was surprisingly lovely. Dark eyes

of indiscernible color in her heart-shaped face had me lingering over her looks until a shiver twitched her whole body.

“T-thank you.” Her chin dipped down and her eyes darted away.

“Can you walk?” I asked her, our voices muddied by the rain and thunder.

“W-what?”

“Are you hurt? Can you walk?” I yelled again to get her attention.

“I think so.” Nodding, I helped pick her up. Standing, I handed her a sweatshirt and a rain poncho from my backpack. She didn’t move, so I grabbed it back from her and put both over her head, dressing her like a parent would a child.

“T-thank you.” Shudders racked her body and I nodded, knowing we needed to make good time getting out of the rain. Guiding her, we hiked up the hill precariously, with our feet slipping on leaves, sticks, and rocks as we made our way back up to the trail.

“This way.” I steered her toward an old hunter’s cabin I knew was about a half mile further down. Anything had to be better than being exposed to the cold wet rain. It was a lot closer than my jeep, which was now a solid mile or more back at the trailhead.

“Are you sure?” she asked. A frown on her face was her way of letting me know she didn’t trust me yet. Poor girl was hopelessly lost if she thought walking in the direction of the cliffs or the lake nearby was the way to go. The last thing I wanted was her running off and over the mountain.

“Yeah. I’m Whit, by the way. I work for the park service and your friends came to the Ranger Station to report you missing.” She grunted inelegantly and the first sign of color pinked her cheeks. So that’s the way of things.

“I wish this day never happened.”

“Well, we’ll be out of the elements soon enough, Amelia, and then I’ll get you back to your friends.”

“Lia. You can call me Lia.” I helped her step over another log and we walked in silence for what felt like another twenty minutes in the dark. The trail was littered with fallen branches from the wind and leaves that covered the natural trail markings.

“Not much farther now.”

“Thank goodness,” she muttered, and I could see the cabin ahead of us. Reaching the door, I let her go and used my keys to unlock it. I flicked the switch and found that the electricity was out.

Looking back over my shoulder, she was pathetic looking and had her arms tightly wrapped around her middle. “No lights.” She shrugged, so I worked quickly to get the door open.

“We’re inside. That’s all that matters.” I was pleased she was at least acting positive and not pouting like a spoiled brat. I was going to have to start a fire to heat things up in here so neither of us got sick sitting in our wet clothes.

“Right then. See if you can find some dry blankets in the closet.” I pointed to a door in the corner and pulled out my cell, seeing that I had no service at the moment. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I wouldn’t be able to call in to headquarters that I’d found Lia. “You check your phone?”

She shook her head no. “I didn’t bring it.” Nodding at her, I looked around the Spartan cabin and figured we could get through the night. We were lucky there was no major storm brewing besides the downpour. “I’ll get a fire going.”

“Isn’t anyone coming?”

“Coming to do what?”

“T-to rescue us?” That right there insulted me. I’d just hiked a mile in and out of the woods soaking wet and she didn’t realize I was the cavalry come to save her sweet ass. I revoked my earlier assessment. She was a damn brat.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I’m the rescue committee. We’ll have to hike back to the jeep in the morning once there’s daylight. Just us two for now.” She looked crestfallen, but there was nothing I could do about that except get this place heated up as quickly as possible.

Chapter 5

Lia

“I found some candles and blankets.” My arms held two woolen blankets that smelled of mothballs and summer camp. The candles looked like two nubs that would barely last us the night.

“Excellent.” Whit ignored me, his attention focused on the fireplace, setting up the logs in some tripod arrangement that I hoped generated instant warmth. He was acting like I bruised his male ego assuming there was someone else coming for us. He hadn’t exactly been a warm welcoming committee and naturally I assumed incorrectly.