Page 25 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty (Delectable Protectors #5)

AIDEN

“ Y ou’re not going to sit here for the rest of the night moping.

” Carter stands in the doorway of the search and rescue station, glaring at me with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s the last party of the season.

You should be out there partying and having a good time.

Maybe you should even think about getting Mia back. ”

“I told you I’d rather be working. You’ve always enjoyed those parties more than I have.

” I lean back in the chair behind the desk, linking my hands together behind my head and staring at the hiking plans posted on the wall.

There are only two groups of hikers out, and once they come back for the night, I can relax and start reading.

Carter nods at the window. “It looks like there’s one of the groups there, so it’s just the second one you’re waiting for.”

I glance and see them trudging through the snow, six people headed back toward the resort. “Well, that makes my job half as hard as it was gonna be tonight.”

“Come on. You should go to the party.” Carter steps back into the station, Honey weaving between his legs the best that a Bernese Mountain Dog can. “One of these days I’m gonna trip over her and fall flat on my face.”

“More likely she’s gonna run into the back of your knees and send you flying down a staircase.” I pat my thigh, calling Honey over. Instead of coming to me, she sits down and glares at me.

I know, girl. I miss her too.

Carter’s eyes roll, and he shakes his head. “This is ridiculous. Both of you should be at that party and talking to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” Carter fixes me with a disappointed look.

“I can’t believe that, for the first time in all these years, you finally met somebody who interests you.

Somebody you could — I’m assuming — spend the rest of your life with.

And instead of trying to fix whatever the hell is going on in your head, you’re sitting here and hiding from her. ”

“Are you gonna stay here all night and bother me, or are you going to enjoy the last night you have with the staff?”

“I’m gonna go.” Carter tucks his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “But if you change your mind about the party, just radio down to the mess hall and I’ll come switch out with you.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’m going to change my mind.” I kick my heels up on the desk and lean back a little more, watching as the sun starts to sink toward the horizon. It’s only going to be a matter of time before I’m alone and can turn back to my book.

Carter leaves the station, shutting the door behind him, his footsteps echoing on the steps and then crunching against the fresh snow.

After a moment I glance at Honey. “Looks like it’s just going to be two of us. It’s the way it’s been for a long time. I don’t think that’s worth changing right about now, do you?”

Honey turns her back on me and lays her head on her paws with a dramatic sigh.

Traitor.

Time seems to drag by the closer the sun gets to the horizon.

I keep glancing around, checking for the hikers, but they haven’t come back yet.

The clock slowly ticks toward the twelve, and I start counting down the minutes until I start sending out messages for them.

They could be back at the resort by now.

If they took a different way, I might not have seen them go by.

A few more minutes tick by. I message down to the resort. A crackling message comes back. They’re not down there.

My breath catches in my throat. This is the part of the job I hate the most. It’s the one that takes me back to all those years ago when my father died.

I grab my bag of rescue equipment, snatching the keys for the snowmobiles off the wall.

Honey jogs along behind me as I fly down the stairs and over to the shed, unlocking the door.

I head for the snowmobile with a little sidecar and sled behind it.

Honey hops into the sidecar like she’s been doing her whole life, sitting down while I get on.

The snowmobile revs to life and we head out into the evening.

I take another look at the group’s hiking plan and turn down a path that has old boot marks on it. I don’t know if they’re going to be down here, but it’s the best place to start. It looks like they were gathered for a little while, the remnants of a fire burned down and doused with snow.

I hop off the snowmobile, cupping my hands over my mouth. “Becky! Luke! Tyler!”

I shout their names over and over again, following the footsteps that lead around their little camp until I find a set of all three tracking away from the fire pit. Honey darts ahead of me, her tail wagging.

I follow along behind her, pulling the emergency sled with the first aid kit slung over my back.

The trees grow thicker, the trunks closer and closer together, branches scratching and tearing my jacket as I delve deeper into the woods.

It’s getting darker out, harder to see. I pull the headlamp from my backpack and set it on my head, turning it on.

Bright white light shines in front of me, highlighting Honey as she darts between the trees with her reflective coat on.

I don’t know how long we trudge through the woods, but the cold is starting to seep through my jacket and my pants.

My toes are starting to turn to ice, and with the fur-lined boots I wear when I’m out here, it should be nearly impossible.

Honey finally stops running, but it looks like it’s at the edge of a cliff.

My heart sinks in my chest as I approach the edge slowly, careful not to disturb too much of the snow.

I tilt my head, shining my light down over the side. It’s not a steep cliff, but there are rocks at the bottom and among them are three bodies. “Becky! Luke! Tyler!” I shout down.

There’s a groan from down below before two of the three people stand.

“We’re down here,” Becky calls. She sounds exhausted. “I didn’t think anybody was coming for us. I know that we left the hiking plan with the search and rescue station, but we weren’t back in time.”

“That’s why we ask you to leave us the plan,” I say, trying to keep calm as I unhook the sled from my body and drop the rescue bag to the ground.

My fingers are numb as I pull out the climbing harness and the rope, attaching it to one of the trees. I tie the tightest knot I can while Honey sits at the edge of the cliff, wagging her tail. As I hook myself into the harness and then onto the line, my hands shake. The third body isn’t moving.

“Who’s on the ground not moving?” I ask as I inch my way toward the edge of the cliff.

“Luke.” Her voice breaks as she looks down at him.

The other man, Tyler, nods. “He hit his head on the way down. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t have a first aid kit with us.”

Becky glares. “I told you we should’ve brought a first aid kit.”

I lower myself over the edge of the cliff. It’s not a far drop, but it’s one I want to be hooked in for. However, the line starts to move, and all of a sudden, the rope springs free.

My body plummets. Pain shoots through my back as I hit the ground, but I can get to my feet.

Even though I’m a little wobbly, it’s better than nothing.

I pat my pockets. I don’t have my radio.

And I didn’t radio this call in. A pit opens in the bottom of my stomach.

Calling in an emergency is the first step of a rescue.

If I had done that when I was supposed to, backup would be on their way.

They would be able to get me and the other three out of here even with my rope snapped.

Instead, I’m going to have to climb up the face of the cliff.

I try to focus on one thing, crawling over to Luke and checking him over. Though there’s blood on his head, I don’t think there’s an immediate emergency. His pulse is strong.

“Becky?” I try to keep my tone as calm as possible. “Are you good at climbing?”

Becky nods, her hands shaky. “I think so. I used to do some rock climbing when I was in college. It’s been a few years, though.”

I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep breath.

I’m going to be like the people who couldn’t get to my father in time.

Luke needs help getting up. He’s unconscious, his chest rising and falling though the breaths are shallow.

There’s no way of knowing what trauma was done to his head.

He could die out here just like my father died, except this time it would be my fault.

My job is to save him, but I don’t know if I can do that right now.

I’ve been too distracted with everything else going on in my life. Even on the ride over here, I was thinking about Mia and maybe skipping out of work to go down to the party and talk to her. Carter said he’d cover for me.

Guilt eats at me as I open my eyes and look at Becky with a broad smile, giving her encouragement as I guide her toward the edge of the cliff.

“Okay, Becky, you and I are going to climb this together. You’re going to go first, and if anything happens, I’ll be right here to help you.”

She clenches her jaw shut and gives me a determined look, but fear shines in her eyes and a tear slips down her cheek. She reaches out and wipes the tear away like it was never there to begin with.

“You can do this,” Tyler says.

Becky walks over and gives him a tight hug. “Make sure Luke’s okay.”

Becky goes to the cliff, and she fits her fingers into a handhold and her feet into little footholds.

She starts climbing slowly, and I wait until she’s several feet off the ground before beginning my climb after her.

It’s been a long time since I went climbing, and though I try to stay in shape in case situations like these arise, the rocks are slippery with the ice that came down last night.

Becky tilts back, and my hand shoots out, pressing against the small of her back and shoving her into the rocks. She lets out a shaky breath and nods, taking a moment before continuing her climb.

It seems like an eternity passes, but we haul ourselves over the edge of the cliff and onto flat ground.

“Okay, Becky,” I say as I get up, shaking out my hands and stretching my fingers. “I’m going to tie a rope to the tree, and I’m going to hook my harness up. And I’m going to do a better job at that this time.”

She laughs, but there’s still a nervous look in her eyes. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to get them up? I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

I grab the radio from my bag and call in the code to Carter. “Backup is on its way. I’m going to go down there, and Tyler is going to come up. Tyler will stay with you until help arrives, and I’m going to stay down there with Luke.”

Becky nods, tears shining in her eyes. I leave her and tie the rope to the tree, hooking it in tight and connecting my harness to it. After giving it a hard tug, I make sure that it’s not going anywhere and lower myself down the cliff.

“All right, Tyler.” I step out of my harness and show him how to put it on. “You’re going to climb up. I’ll hold the rope down here, so all you need to focus on is getting up the side.”

Tyler takes a deep breath and nods.

After Tyler gets to the top, I drop to my knees beside Luke and check him over again. He’s still stable.

In the distance I can hear the hum of other snowmobiles as they draw closer. They get louder and louder as I stay beside Luke and wait for them to arrive. The longer I stay with him, the more I get to thinking that life is too short to waste not going after what I want.

Mia is what I want.

Carter repels down the side of the cliff, landing in the snow beside me with the rescue basket.

“James and Morgan are at the top. We’re going to load Luke into it, then James and Morgan are going to take him down the hill and get him to the paramedics who are waiting on standby at the search and rescue station. ”

We tend to Luke, careful not to jostle his head too much as we fit the neck brace around him before lifting him into the basket.

We stand below, holding onto the basket, helping make sure that Luke is pulled up lightly without banging the side of the cliff. Once he’s brought over the edge, snowmobiles rev up. Carter and I hook ourselves into the ropes and climb up the side.

We ride down the mountain, Tyler and Becky on the backs of our snowmobiles, Honey sitting in her sidecar.

After dropping them off at the waiting paramedics, Carter turns to me. “You look like you’ve done some thinking during the time we’ve been apart.”

“Sorry to ruin your night.” I pat him on the shoulder. “But I have something I need to do.”