CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It’d been a miserable two weeks back in Saltwater Springs. Saying goodbye to the town she’d grown up in and all the friends and memories it held was even more difficult when it was punctuated by the loss of the man Georgia loved.
Yes, she’d come to the realization that she’d fallen in love—as crazy as that was—with yet another man who, in the end, had rejected her.
Unrequited love was a bitch.
On her period.
With horrible cramps and no chocolate in sight.
Apparently, the amount of time that passed wasn’t always conducive to how much she could care about someone. That might have been handy to know before she had started a fling with Everett.
Even so, Georgia was looking forward to a new start in Hope Falls. She’d not only fallen in love with Everett, but the town as well. It’d be a long time before she’d take the leap of faith love required again, but she was determined to make the best of it. She’d throw herself into her new job and everything else the small town had to offer.
She waited with her luggage outside the airport in Sacramento, searching for Deanna’s car. Her friend had insisted on picking her up because Georgia had decided to leave her car back in Saltwater Springs for her parents to sell. She’d purchase a new vehicle once she was settled.
Concern gnawed at her gut when Deanna still hadn’t shown up after ten minutes. Her friend was always on time. She’d never known her to be late. Georgia’s shoulders relaxed when she spotted the car pull up to the curb some ways down from where she stood. Smiling, she dragged her luggage down the sidewalk, surprised when Lucky exited the vehicle.
The frown lines between his eyes were her first clue that something was up.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said with false happiness to her voice, hoping she was wrong.
He hurried over to her and reached for her bags, taking them to the trunk. “Yeah, sorry. The past day has been crazy. Deanna got called into work unexpectedly. There’s not much I can do to help at the moment, so I offered to come pick you up.” Lucky slammed the trunk down and rushed over to the driver’s side.
Georgia followed suit, racing to get back into the car and buckling her seat belt. “Help? What’s going on?”
He checked behind them before merging the car back into the driving lane and speeding away from the airport. “A pair of hikers were reported missing in the mountains.”
“That’s awful,” she said.
“A search-and-rescue crew was put together to try to find them, but there was an avalanche in the area where they were last known to be searching. Communications were shit because there’s been some bad weather up in the mountains. So far, everyone on the team has been accounted for...except Everett.”
Georgia’s hand flew up to her mouth as invisible hands around her throat restricted her breathing. “Oh my God!” Gripping the edge of the seat with her other hand, she rocked back and forth, doing her best to replace the oxygen that had been expelled from of her lungs.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lucky glanced in her direction, his eyes flaring when he saw the state she was in.
Georgia turned her head to face him, tears rolling down her face. “Everett… Is he…” She wasn’t able to finish her question, the idea incomprehensible. After what had happened, she’d known she wouldn’t see him again in Hope Falls, but that was a far cry from this.
Lucky gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white. “Don’t know. The weather up there on the mountain should clear in few hours, and then they’re sending more people out to look for him and the stranded hikers.”
“No, no, no! He can’t be. Not after the way we left things.” She sobbed into her coat sleeve, unable to control the devastating loss that consumed her.
“Hey. Hey now. I’m sure he’s fine. Everett’s a smart guy, and it’s not his first time on a mountain, okay?” He patted her knee, but it didn’t provide any comfort.
Her mind flashed to Everett stuck on a mountain, freezing to death under the wrath of a winter storm, then to him buried under an avalanche of snow in a frantic attempt to dig himself out, gasping for air. Lost in the dark recesses of her own mind, she didn’t hear Lucky saying anything until he raised his voice.
“Georgia!”
With red-rimmed eyes, she stared over at him. “Yeah?”
“Want to tell me what’s going on? What did you mean when you said how you left things?” His face was full of curiosity and concern.
Her bottom lip trembled as she looked at him. What did it matter now anyway? If he was dead, what they’d shared would be a moot point, and if he wasn’t, there wasn’t a chance in hell she was letting him walk out of her life again—whether he, Deanna, or anyone else liked it or not.
So she confessed everything to him—except the more intimate details, but she was sure he got the gist of it. Lucky listened as he navigated the snowy roads back to Hope Falls with care.
“All right, listen. They have a whole team of people headed out to find him. By the time we arrive back there, he might already be located.”
“And if they don’t find him?” she whispered, voicing her greatest fear.
He pinned her with an intense stare he’d used on his MMA opponents. “Then they’ll keep looking until they do. Don’t lose sight of hope, Georgia. Sometimes, it’s all you have to hold on to.”
She nodded, the determination to stay hopeful and positive permeating through the fear and loss. Georgia would do this. For Everett. And, once he was safely returned to her, she’d never make the mistake of letting him go again.