Page 19

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises, Erin.”

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Erin

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APARK RANGER?

Eli’s previous role surprised me, although I wasn’t immediately sure why. He was certainly fit enough to be a ranger and had the presence of mind the role would require. I didn’t doubt how much he admired nature, but somehow, I recognized a dark glint in the rugged stranger, something deep and foreboding in his eyes that suggested he was more than only a guardian of the wildlife.

Don’t be silly.Wriggling my fingers to keep my blood circulating, I glanced his way.I don’t even know him.

Regardless of his qualifications for the role, I still couldn’t understand why he’d have chosen to go from ranger to guide. Surely, that was a step down the ladder.

What does it matter?

The truth was, Eli was an enigma who was helping me by looking for somewhere we could shelter from the unexpected storm. I should have been thankful—and I was—but I couldn’t shake the niggling feeling there was more to the man than he was letting on.

“There!” Excitement rose in his voice as he pointed into the distance.

Looking past his finger, a torrent of fresh flakes floated past. The snow was falling so quickly that I had to strain to see through the wall of white, but as my eyes adjusted, I could just make out the outline of what looked like a wooden building.

“That’s the ranger’s hut.” He pulled my bag tighter around his left shoulder as he marched off through the blizzard. “We’re nearly there.”

Trudging behind him, my limbs begged to differ. It didn’t matter that the hut was only meters from where we were or that the building offered hope in an otherwise seemingly bleak landscape. The only things dominating my mind were how excruciating the cold had become and how, given the state of me, even with Eli’s help, poor Chelle wouldn’t stand a chance.

Chelle.

Pain ached in my chest, fresh tears pricking at the thought of my friend. We’d disagreed about James, but that didn’t change the years of support and companionship we’d shared.

If anything happened to her—and at that juncture, short of a miracle, I couldn’t believe in any other outcome—I’d only have myself to blame. Ishouldhave made her stay with us, should have grabbed onto her and refused to let her leave.

What sort of friend permitted another to wander off into the wild alone and unprepared? What sort of friend—

“Erin.” Exasperation radiated from Eli in waves as he neared. “What’s wrong?”Now?

His tone expressed the final word he didn’t articulate.

“It’s Chelle.” I was loath to cry in front of him again—he’d think I was an utter fool. “She’ll never make it out there in this weather.”

He wrapped an arm around me, the concern in his eyes confirming the dread snaking in my stomach.

“She had her bag with her.” His voice was gentle suddenly, his tone quite unlike the man who’d demanded I demonstrate my gratitude when we’d set off in the snow. “And she’ll have waterproofs too. All being well, she’ll have wandered down to the river and found the emergency services.” His gaze rose to the sky as though he expected to see the helicopter hovering overhead. All there was to see, though, was more and more falling snow. “She’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.” I sniffed, daring to hope he could be right. I found it hard to believe she’d had the good fortune to find a ranger’s hut on her travels. I’d never have survived without Eli’s direction. I’d have been curled up under a tree somewhere, close to freezing to death.

“Come on.” Squeezing my shoulder, he took my hand and yanked me across the final few meters of snow.

Our destination was at the top of the incline in the middle of a medium-sized clearing. The structure was larger than I’d expected, but the building itself was in complete darkness and inevitably fast being buried under the expansive white blanket smothering every direction the eye could see.

Surveying the black of the hut’s windows, I was reminded of the state of my mind. I couldn’t ever remember being so cold before or feeling so wretched for whatever reprieve I was about to experience. Why should I get out of the snow when I’d condemned Chelle to freeze in it? I might not have sent her away, but I’d done nothing to make her stay. My head ached with the weight of the weary contradiction.

“Is this it?” I didn’t mean for the question to sound as ungrateful as it did. “I mean, it looks empty.”

“Yeah.” He stomped the final few feet to the wooden door and surveyed the structure. “It doesn’t look like there’s anyone at home, so we’ll just have to let ourselves in.”

Dropping both bags into the newly fallen snow, he tried the door, which, as expected, was locked. He turned and lowered to open his backpack, and I watched, fixated, as he rummaged inside. I had no idea what I expected him to pull from there—a crowbar, perhaps, or a hammer. What he produced from the pack, though, almost stopped my heart altogether.