“I’ll have some gear and supplies brought out. We can get a four-wheeler down here.”
It took an hour, by which time Chris had her little one-person tent set up and Dash fed. Xander’s deputy, Clyde Parker, was the one who came with camping gear.
“Where’s Xander?” Pru asked.
“He’s coordinating with the rest of the search team, making a plan for tomorrow.” Clyde swung off the ATV and unhooked the elastic net holding on his cargo. “Got a couple tents, sleeping bags, and food. Crystal’s taken over your kitchen back at the inn and is feeding everybody.”
“That’s kind of her.”
“She sent provisions. There’s an active burn ban, so no fire, but we won’t go hungry.” He hefted one of two coolers off the back.
“We?” Flynn asked.
“I’m camping out here tonight with y’all.”
“To make sure we behave and don’t keep searching?” Pru asked.
“That and to make sure somebody with some more training is on hand, in case anything happens,” he said easily. “Your sisters are en route and should be here sometime tomorrow morning. Kennedy stayed back to talk to them. But she sent this.” Clyde lifted Flynn’s fiddle case. “She thought you might want it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Flynn took it.
They set up their minimalist camp. She and Flynn were sharing a tent and a double sleeping bag. Some thoughtful person had made sure they had air pads so they weren’t sleeping directly on the hard ground. Crystal had packed fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler. Thanks to the cooler and expert packing job, it was all still warm. Though she had no appetite, Pru ate, tasting little, but appreciating the effort that had gone into making sure they were fed something solid.
When the meal was finished, Flynn opened his fiddle case. He ran a hand over the instrument itself.
“I didn’t think you’d feel like playing,” Pru said softly.
“I don’t. But I can’t do anything else, and sound carries out here. So maybe she’ll hear it and be a little less afraid.” He brought the fiddle to his shoulder and drew the bow across its strings.
She didn’t recognize the song, but the melancholy melody seemed to reach right into her chest and squeeze her heart. He was playing his grief, much as Ari had done after Joan’s death. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she listened, even after he rolled into something more cheerful and lilting. He played for near to an hour, and by the time he put down his bow, tears streaked his face as well.
No one spoke as he put his fiddle away and climbed into the tent. Pru didn’t think she could sleep, but she wanted to curl around him and offer whatever comfort she could. They’d been in this together from the beginning. There was no reason that should change now.
She crawled in after him, zipping them into the deceptive privacy of the tent. In the opposite corner, he pulled off his shoes and slipped into the sleeping bag. On her side, Pru did the same. He faced away from her, and she cuddled up against his back, wrapping an arm around his waist. His body stayed stiff. Aching in body and soul, she pressed a kiss to his nape and whispered, “I love you.”
Flynn loosed a shuddering breath and curled his hand around the one she pressed to his chest. “I love you, too. Get some sleep, mo mhuirnín.”
She didn’t think she could, but the moment his body relaxed against hers, she was out like a light.
~*~
Flynn woke often, unused to the raucous sounds of the night creatures. Pru slept the sleep of the utterly exhausted, wrapped around him. How she took comfort in being close to him after everything that had happened, he didn’t know. How could she even bear to look at him? She’d trusted him. She and Ari both had, buying into his crazy plan instead of booting him out on his ass. The price for that trust was far too high. That singular thought circled through his head in the long stretch of absolute silence before the dawn. He couldn’t settle, but he’d cost Pru enough. He wasn’t about to rob her of the oblivion of sleep. So, he didn’t move until he heard the telltale zipper of one of their companions coming out of a tent.
“It’s morning,” he murmured.
With a little groan, Pru tightened her hold, burying her face against his back. He felt the moment she realized and remembered as her body went stiff. She took a long, slow breath and seemed to will herself to relax again.
“Did you sleep?”
“A little. You?”
“More than I expected.” She sat up running a hand through her hair and refastening her ponytail.
Chris was watering Dash as they emerged. “Morning.”
Clyde clambered out. “Christ, I’d give my eye teeth for coffee.”
“No coffee, but there are Cokes still in the cooler.”