It was already late in the day by the time we made it back to the cottage. One fast phone call and Jackie had met us there, too.

“She’s gonna be pissed as hell, with an entire search party coming after her,” she said, taking the flashlight I handed her. “We’d better pray she really needs finding, because if she doesn’t… we’re all fucked.”

Dean laughed, and leaned in to brush her shoulder with his. “You’re right there,” he said. “But it’s not like her to be out of touch for this long. I don’t see that we have any choice.”

Ryan and I headed off straight down the sloping hill into the thickest part of woods. Dean and Jackie went left and Henry would come around from the right.

“There’s a shallow rock cave near a cluster of old oaks, down at the bottom, about a mile or so in.” Ryan pointed in the fading light. “By the time we reach it, someone should have found her.”

We separated as the last of the light fled.

“Maggie!” I called out again. “Maggie…”

“If she’s inside the cave, she probably won’t hear you,” Ryan said. “We used to hide there when Maggie’s dad was drunk and in one of his tempers. He never found us… but we never heard him coming either. We’d both jump out of our skins when we saw him heading right on past us.”

“I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find her again, and thick-skulled enough to risk losing her. I couldn’t let go of feeling responsible… Hell, I still can’t. I just hope she’ll give me the chance to make it right…

If anything’s happened to her…,” I crashed noisily through the fallen leaves with Ryan at my side. “I was such a damned fool. I love her with my whole heart, but I just didn’t get it. Not until this morning. I didn’t understand… but I do now…”

“What?” he asked, catching at my arm for support. He’d stumbled over a fallen branch in the darkness.

“That she doesn’t need rescuing… and that she never did,” I answered. “What she needs from me is my support. For what she does, for what she wants… But most of all, for who she is.”

She sat, blinking up at us… as if there was nothing at all unusual about the circumstances.

“Maggie… for God’s sake…?” Dean came scrambling over to us. “What the hell were you thinking? You had us all scared half to death.”

‘I left a note on the kitchen counter,” she said, looking only at me. “The truck wouldn’t start, so I had it towed.”

“You didn’t answer your calls,” Dean pressed.

“She needed some time to herself,” I said softly. She nodded up at me and smiled.

Henry caught up with the rest of us, just as Jackie took Dean’s arm. “She’s fine,” she said soothingly, pulling at him gently. “How ‘bout we give them a little privacy…”

“If you don’t mind,” I said, without breaking our locked gaze, “Go on up to the main house. Bess and I have some things to discuss… things that involve all of you. I’ll be up shortly… But I need to talk to Maggie first.”

Dean lingered a moment longer as Jackie leaned up to speak in his ear. They looked at each other and he nodded finally. The four of them began to make their way back up the hill, the beams from their flashlights sweeping and crossing the ground as they went. I sat down next to Maggie and took her hand in mine.

“I love you, Joe,” she began. “I always have… I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.” I lifted her hand up to my lips and held it there. She was warm, and her skin smelled green and fresh… like the earth. “But we’ve been apart for a long time. I can’t imagine a future without you… but I can’t give up who I am…”

I inhaled deeply, savoring her scent, and the comfort of her presence beside me. I turned off my flashlight and let the damp night air surround us. I turned to face her and curved my arms and legs around her, sheltering her… our faces close.

“I always cared about you when we were kids, Maggie, but I fell in love with the woman you’ve become… For a while I couldn’t see… that you didn’t need me to look out for you anymore. But I see it now. You’ve shaken up my whole world, sweetheart… and I don’t want it any other way. I don’t want you any other way. You push me, and you challenge me… I’ve never felt this kind of passion in my entire life… I’ve never seen things so clearly before…”

She kissed me, savagely… hungrily, and pushed my hands underneath her and lifted her onto my lap. She gripped my waist with her legs and pushed her breasts hard against my chest.

“I love you so much, Maggie,” I groaned between kisses. “I’d follow you to the ends of the earth if I had to… so long as you’re mine…”

“I belong to you, Joe… I always have…” She pulled back and looked in my face. Her eyes were so big, so loving. “I always will.”

I laid her back in the soft grass, cool and damp with the night air. I traced the long line of her body, gently with my hands, taking my time, drinking in her skin. I knew the others were waiting… and there were obstacles yet to face…

Let them wait…, my heart said. And I covered Maggie’s strong and lovely body with my own.