Lost & Found

  “I wasn’t planning on breaking anything when I climbed down to get her,” he said. “But the mud, my balance, and my feet had other plans.”

  “What were you doing out here on your own in the first place? What were you thinking when you tried coming down that thing”—I waved at the steep wall in front of us—“in those boots?” I flailed at his feet next. “I have four-inch heels with better traction than those things!”

  Jesse looked like he was fighting a grin. A second later, all humor left his face. “I am not answering another question until you tell me what you were thinking coming out here on your own. What you were thinking climbing down that thing in those things?” His pointed from the cliff to my boots. “And . . . and . . . how did you get here in the first place?”

  I doubted my answer would put him any more at ease. “Sunny.” I shrugged.

  Nope, it definitely didn’t put him at ease. It put him the opposite. “Sunny?!” He tried sitting up more, but he only made it a couple inches before grimacing.

  “Would you lie back and take it easy?” I said. “Before you break or bust something else?”

  He didn’t right away, but Jesse eventually settled back against the rock. I zipped out of the rain jacket and wadded it into a makeshift pillow.

  “Rowen,” he said, shaking his head, “put that back on right now. Don’t be crazy.”

  “Jesse,” I rolled my eyes and carefully stuffed it behind his head, “don’t you be crazy. And don’t tell me what to do.” I rested my hand on the side of his neck, and even in the cold of the night and with the rain coating our skin, I felt the heat charging through our touch.

  “Anything else?” he asked as he settled into the raincoat pillow.

  “Yeah,” I said, lowering my face over his. “Stop pretending like what I did was insane. Stop pretending you wouldn’t have done the exact same thing if our roles were reversed.”

  Jesse’s good arm lifted and his hand cradled my face. “That it?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Stop pretending like you’re mad at me because you suck at it.”

  A chuckle rushed out of his mouth. “I suppose I do.” His thumb skimmed my cheek and, just like every other touch shared with Jesse, I melted into it. “But, Rowen, the guys would have found me. It wouldn’t have taken them much longer. Why did you risk your life to find me first?”

  A hundred reasons. A thousand explanations. I’d do it a million times over.

  “I’m working on that whole healthy thing.”

  Jesse mirrored the smile on my face. “How is almost killing yourself healthy?”

  I glanced over my shoulder, then back at him. “Because I’m here with you now.”

  “Is this the same girl who pushed me away, ran away, and was so hung up on the deserve-don’t-deserve thing?”

  “It’s the same girl. It’s just the same girl who let a few wise words from a couple wise people set in. The same girl who let a few of her own realizations set in.” I lowered my forehead to his, shielding us both from the storm. “Because I love you, Jesse. I know that I will love you more than any other person in the world ever could. Because you were right. Deserving has nothing to do with loving someone. I’m grabbing hold of what I want and not looking back.”

  Jesse’s eyes stared into mine and they were as light as I’d seen them. “That sounds like a person who’s gotten past her ‘deserve’ hang up.”

  I smiled. “Well, even if I haven’t gotten all the way past it, I figured this whole saving your life thing was a step in the right direction.” Jesse laughed, then winced. Apparently broken ribs and laughter didn’t go well together. “So? Am I forgiven?”

  “For being so careless with your life?” I felt his forehead wrinkle beneath mine. “No way.”

  I rocked my head back and forth against his. “No. For being careless with yours.”

  His eyes narrowed in contemplation as he murmured, “Hmm . . .”

  Since he was working on making up his mind, I might as well help him. My lips dropped to his and rested in place. I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel his lips again, for more than one reason, and I planned on enjoying the moment. When staying unmoving against him any longer was impossible, I sucked his lower lip into my mouth and tasted the rain coating it. I repeated the rain tasting with his upper lip.

  By that point, Jesse’s chest was rising and falling hard against me. As much as I wanted to kiss him until everything around us faded, the man all but panting below me had a couple of broken ribs. I pressed a final kiss to his mouth before leaning back.

  “Okay,” Jesse breathed, polishing his thumb over my lips. “You’re forgiven.”

  If only everything were so easily fixed. But maybe, with Jesse, a lot of things could be so simple.

  A light suddenly shone brightly down on us, startling me. I’d been so lost in the moment I’d almost forgotten the situation. I shielded my eyes and twisted around. The light came from a ways up, probably from the ridge.

  “Am I breaking anything up?” a voice hollered down at us. “I can come back in twenty minutes or so if you want.”

  Jesse groaned and sat up again.

  I stood up. “Garth? Is that you?”

  The light shifted away from us. When it stopped, it shined on Garth’s face.

  “Convinced?” He flashed the light back down on us. “Maybe we can get you both out of there now.”

  “I’d rather spend the night out here than have Garth Black come save the day,” Jesse muttered.

  I was about to elbow him in the ribs when I caught myself.

  “Jesse’s arm and ribs are broken,” I yelled up. “What’s your brilliant plan for getting us up there from down here?”

  “Thatta girl,” Jesse said, tilting his chin at me. “Give it right back to him.”

  “Would you shush already?” I hissed back at him. “You’ve got to be the only person alive who would turn away help from a guy because you don’t like him.”

  Jesse shot me an exasperated look, then exhaled. “Garth?” he yelled. “There’re three of us down here.”

  “You found the calf?” Garth circled the light around until it landed on the still sleeping calf.

  Jesse lifted a brow. “I found her.”

  Garth’s chuckle rolled down the ridge toward us. “No one could ever accuse you of not putting your heart, soul, and body into your work, Walker!”

  “Why don’t you stop talking and start working!” I shouted. “And your brilliant plan is . . .?”

  I heard something swing through the air until it landed at my feet.

  “A rope,” Garth answered. That ego of his was dripping in two words.

  “Did you find a good anchor up there, Garth?” Jesse asked.

  “As good an anchor as I’ll find. Now, I’m tired, I’m wet, and I’m ready to crawl into bed. So who’s climbing up first?”

  “Jesse!” I shouted.

  “Rowen!” Jesse yelled at the same time.

  Garth chuckled again. “Shit. I’m not getting any sleep tonight after all.”

  I spun around, my hands already on my hips. “I’m not arguing with you on this, Jesse. You’re going up first.”

  “No, you need to go first, Rowen.” He cut me off before I could interrupt. “You don’t know how to tie a rope around that calf so we can get her up.”

  “And you can get a rope tied around a calf with one hand?” I stared at the arm he was cradling.

  “I could tie a calf with no hands,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a while, you know?”

  I exhaled my exasperation. He wasn’t seeing reason.

  “So we’ll send the calf up first. Then you. Then me.”

  Jesse stayed so calm. He stayed as calm as I didn’t. “And Garth’s going to be able to wrangle a calf up there on his own while he pulls the two of us up?”

  I opened my mouth, then clamped it shut.

  “You need to go first so you can hang on to the calf while Garth gets me up. That’s the only way we’r
e all getting out of here.”

  “So we’ll leave the calf. Your dad and the rest of the guys will be here in a few hours and can get her then.” I couldn’t just leave Jesse down there alone. I couldn’t leave him.

  Jesse’s eyes landed on the calf. She really couldn’t have looked more relaxed. She’d gotten separated from her mother, been lost in a storm, and had probably been terrified, but Jesse had found her. From the looks of it, that made everything all right.

  “I can’t just leave her, Rowen.” His eyes shifted back to me. “I can’t abandon her.”

  I knew I read more into those words than Jesse had intended, but I got it. I understood why he was the person he was. Why I’d fallen in love with him. Why he made me want to be the best person I could be. Jesse Walker didn’t abandon a person, or in this case, an animal, when it needed him.

  “Okay,” I said. “We’ll do it your way.” The words were painful, but nonetheless, they were the right ones to say. “Are you sure you’ll be able to get up that thing in your condition?”

  “My condition?” Jesse smirked at me. “Rowen, I’ve had so many broken bones, I’ve spent as much time in casts and splints as I have without them.”

  I gave him an unamused look.

  “I’m a cowboy, remember? I’ve got steel running through my veins.”

  “And hippie in your heart,” I shot back.

  “That’s right,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s why I need the rope.”

  I was glad he thought the situation was amusing, because I sure as hell didn’t.

  “I just qualified for the senior discount up here!” Garth yelled down at us. “Is anyone planning on coming up? This decade?”

  Jesse lifted his eyebrows and waited for me.

  I sighed. “I am!”

  “Ready when you are, princess!” Garth replied. “I’ve been ready.”

  Jesse hoisted himself up and came toward me. “Let’s get that rope around you and get out of here.” I grabbed the rope and handed it to him. “I’m ready to crawl into a warm bed with you.”

  Jesse was right. He really could tie a rope one handed. “In case you’ve forgotten you have bones inside your body that are broken,” I said as he cinched the rope tight around my waist, “the only warm bed we’ll be cuddling in is a hospital bed.”

  “Sounds perfect. Sign me up. You. Me. Bed. Whatever kind of bed.” He gave the rope one final check. “She’s ready, Garth!”

  “It’s about damn time,” Garth said.

  “Oh, and Black?” Jesse said, lifting his face up at the light. “I’m putting Rowen in your hands. I’m trusting you.” Jesse swallowed. “Take care of her, okay?”

  Garth didn’t snap back with his standard smartass remark. Eventually, it sounded like he was clearing his throat before he said, “I’ll take care of her, Jess.”

  My mouth dropped open and I gave Jesse a look. “Did you guys just have a moment?”

  Jesse looked as confused as I did. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll figure it out later. Right now, I want you to focus on getting to the top of that ridge safely.”

  “Hey,” I said, “I’ve got a rope.”

  Jesse tried giving me a stern look. He sucked at that, too.

  “See you at the top,” he said, grabbing my face with one hand before pressing his mouth to my forehead.

  “See you there,” I replied. I turned to the muddy, rocky face I’d just come down and lifted a hand and foot to it.

  “She’s coming up, Garth!” Jesse hollered.

  “For real this time?” Garth threw back sarcastically before the rope went taut.

  Then with the help of the rope, and my hands and feet aiding in the journey, I made it up the wall. I glanced back once at Jesse. He watched me without blinking, almost without breathing. As I moved higher and the dark swallowed him up, I stopped breathing, too.

  In at least a fourth of the time it had taken me to get down, I crested over the ridge. I curled over the edge and hoisted myself higher.

  “Whoa, boy,” Garth said, rushing around the side of his horse toward me. He kneeled in front of me and held out his hand. I took it and let him help me the rest of the way up.

  We sat in the middle of the trail for a minute, catching our breaths. Garth tilted his head at me. “Good job, Rowen. Good job.”

  I nodded, too breathless to reply.

  “She’s up, Jess!” Garth shouted over the ridge. “She’s safe.”

  He was a long way down, and there was a lot of space between us, but I could have sworn I heard him sigh in relief.

  “Let’s get this back down there.” Garth worked the knot around my waist free before standing up and winding the rope between his elbow and hand. “Step back, Jess! The rope’s on its way down!” Garth glanced over at me, a small smirk in place. “Not that it would do much damage if it did clock him in the head.”

  I swatted his arm and sighed. “Where’s your flashlight?” I asked, looking around for it. “I’ll hold it for you.”

  Garth smiled at me sheepishly. “The batteries died.”

  “The batteries died,” I repeated and crossed my arms. “And you don’t have any spares?”

  He continued wrapping the rope around his arm. “I will next time.”

  The “next time” better not involve Jesse and broken bones.

  I clicked my headlamp back on. It didn’t produce near the amount of light Garth’s flashlight had, but it was better than pitch black. After Garth had circled the rope back up, he heaved it behind him before tossing it out over the ridge.

  “Got it!” Jesse called up.

  While Jesse tied up the calf, or while I guessed he was tying up the calf since I couldn’t see since someone’s batteries had died, I took a closer look at what Garth had rigged up. His big black horse was a little ways down the trail from us. The other end of the rope was tied to the saddle horn. From there, the rope was wrapped once around a young pine tree growing up the side of the ridge. It looked incredibly jimmy-rigged to me, but what did I know? For all I knew, that could be the way to pull both man and mammal up a steep dirt face.

  “Where’s Sunny?” I’d wandered a good ways down in the ravine before I’d found Jesse, but I wasn’t sure if I’d wandered to the right or left of where I’d left Sunny.

  Garth titled his head to the left. “A little that way,” he said, “but don’t worry. As soon as Jesse’s up here, that horse will be right here, practically panting and waving his tail at him. That damn horse thinks it’s a dog when it comes to Jesse.”

  I studied Garth toeing the ledge, adjusting the rope just so. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he had a streak of hero running inside of him somewhere. “I have to say, you’re pretty much the last person I would have thought would come save the day,” I said.

  Garth cracked his neck and continued examining the rope. “I’ve ridden this ridge dozens of times.”

  “So it isn’t really Suicide Ridge?”

  A corner of Garth’s mouth twitched. “Only at night during a torrential downpour.”

  “Ah, fantastic,” I muttered. “I feel so much better.”

  “Ready down here, Garth!” Jesse shouted.

  “All right!” Garth headed toward his horse, then looked back at me. “You ever wondered if cows could fly?” He flashed a wink. “Well, you’re about to see it with your own eyes.”

  “How about a little less talking and a little more working?” I called after him as I looked over the ledge. I couldn’t tell how long I had taken to get up the face, but I wanted to be ready for that little thing whenever it got there. I already heard it crying its little calf cry.

  “Gid’ up, boy,” Garth said, clucking his tongue. The rope starting moving up the face, around the tree, and down the trail. The calf was really giving her vocal chords a workout. I wasn’t sure if she was bouncing her way along the side as the rope pulled her up, or if she was trying to climb, but either way, she didn’t sound very happy about the entire situation.

  ?
??I can see her!” I shouted at Garth. “She’s almost over the ledge.”

  “As soon as she is, give me a shout!” Garth yelled back.

  The calf was making so much noise I wanted to cover my ears, but as soon as I grabbed her and pulled her up onto the trail, she calmed.

  “Stop!” I yelled.

  The rope went slack, and Garth rushed toward us.

  The calf wasn’t even struggling. Thank God, because she was a sturdy little thing, and I’d have my work cut out for me if she did decide to put up a fight.

  “She’s safe, Jesse! I’ve got her! She’s safe!” And then, for reasons I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand, I started crying. Almost sobbing.

  Garth couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if he was wearing eyeliner and a tutu. After giving me a quick pat on the back and mumbling good job, he made quick work of untying the knots Jesse had fastened around the calf.

  I sat in the trail, holding the calf, crying like the idiot I was, while Garth wrapped the rope around his arm again.

  “All right. Two down. One more to go,” Garth said before leaning over the edge. “Rope’s coming down, Jess. If you don’t make it to the top of this thing quicker than your girlfriend and a baby cow, I’m never going to let you live it down.”

  Jesse’s chuckle rolled up toward us.

  “His arm’s broken, Garth. Not to mention his ribs, too,” I said, giving him a small scowl.

  “So?” he said before tossing the rope over the side again. “He can take a few pain relievers when he gets back to the ranch. You’re not dealing with your wussy city boys, Rowen.”

  “That’s right,” I said, rolling my eyes even though he had his back to me. “I forgot you all are invincible gods.”

  Garth looked over his shoulder, “Nope, we’ve even better than that.” I could see his smile gleam. “We’re cowboys.”

  “Set your timer!” Jesse hollered up. “Because I’m climbing!”

  Garth gave another cluck of his tongue, and the rope snapped tight. I closed my eyes, held the calf tighter, and said a silent prayer. I’d never prayed before. I’d never known who to pray to. I didn’t know who I was praying to now, but I sensed someone was listening.

  “Get ready for him, Rowen!” Garth shouted at me. “That crazy S.O.B. really is going for some kind of a record.”