CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Georgia woke to the sound of a commotion on the floor below. It took a moment for her to process her surroundings, but once she had, the whole terrible situation slammed right back into her.
She sprang up off the couch, frantically untangling herself from the blanket and then tossing it down. When she spun around to head for the door, Everett was standing there—slumped and leaning against the frame for support.
“Everett! You’re alive!” Georgia raced across the room and embraced him in a hug, squeezing him as hard as she was able.
His arms came around her as tears of joy fell from her eyes. He was there. Alive.
She pulled away to examine him. The skin on his face was red and looked sore, and dark bags were under his eyes. It was clear he hadn’t slept in some time, but none of that mattered. Her hands traced all over his body—his face, his shoulders, his chest. Everything was where it should be, but from his slumped shoulders and the mixture of fatigue and sadness in his eyes, she knew he’d probably been through hell.
“Georgia.” His voice was raspy.
“No, no, wait. You need to sit.”
He didn’t argue, and she helped him over to the couch. He wasn’t limping, but he walked more slowly than usual, gingerly taking his steps.
“Where is everyone else?” she asked, her gaze darting over to the doorway. She expected half the population of Hope Falls to be there to greet him.
“When Lucky said you were here, I asked them to give us a few minutes alone.” He took her hands in his and squeezed.
“I was so scared, Everett. I’m so glad you’re okay!” She used her shoulder to wipe the tears from her face, wanting to maintain their physical contact.
“I will be. I’m exhausted, a little dehydrated, but it could be worse.”
She ripped her hands from his and hugged him again. “Sorry. I just can’t believe you’re here. When I heard they found your snowmobile and not you…” She let out an involuntary cry before pulling away. “What happened?”
He brushed hair from her cheek, tucked it behind her ear, and ran his thumb along her hairline. “My snowmobile was acting up on me and conked out. When I couldn’t get it running again, I decided to continue on foot. Figured I’d call it in and let base know then worry about fixing it later. The radio wasn’t working. I’d just stepped into the tree line, heard some rumbling, and before I knew it, the avalanche had swallowed it up. I was so lucky, Georgia.” He rested his forehead on hers for a moment. “Thirty more feet out of the trees or a minute earlier and I would’ve been in the path of that avalanche.”
She ran her hand along his face, unable to stop touching him now that he was with her again. “You were so lucky. If something had happened…” She broke down again.
Everett embraced her, tugging her to his chest. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’m okay,” he said.
Once she’d composed herself, he continued.
“After the avalanche had stopped, I heard people yelling for help. The weather was moving in by then, and it took me a while to locate them. The two of them had decided to look for powder and skied off the trails. One of them ended up in a tree well. Thankfully he wasn’t face down, or he’d be dead right now. The girl wasn’t able to dig him out on her own and wasn’t sure what to do, so she stayed there figuring help would eventually arrive. Radio still wasn’t working. I helped dig him out, and we hunkered down there until search and rescue found us.”
She shook her head. “I don’t even know what a tree well is, but I’m so relieved that you’re okay.” Georgia ran a hand over his face, needing the confirmation—again—that he was real, alive, and sitting right there in front of her. “How did you survive the night?”
“I had most of my survival stuff on me. We dug a hole in the snow to stay warm, shared the survival blanket in my pack, and consumed what little food and water I had. The guy had injured his leg, so he was in no condition to be moved, or we would’ve tried to walk it out of there come morning. I knew, as soon as the storm had cleared this morning, they’d be back out looking for us.”
A tear slipped down her cheek at how close he’d come to death. Feeling silly, she went to brush it away, but he beat her to it, bringing his thumb up to swipe it. Then he cupped her face with both hands.
“The entire time I was out there, all I could think of was you and the awful way we ended things. I promised myself that, if I made it out of there, I’d tell you exactly how I feel.”
Georgia’s stomach did that squishy thing, and she held her breath, waiting for him to continue. His gaze searched her face, and she nodded for him to go on.
“The past couple of weeks without you have been hell. I’ve never felt so lonely and miserable. You have to understand, I’ve been alone for three years now, but I’ve never felt lonely. And I’ve never felt lonely because I’ve never had anyone I wanted to be by my side that wasn’t there. Until you. I was miserable because I knew I was the one to blame. I let what happened to Jake stop me from living, from making new attachments, and for caring about someone.”
He leaned in and kissed her lips—tenderly but with purpose. His lips were rough from having been out in the elements for so long, but it was still one of the best kisses of her life.
“I was so afraid that, if I allowed myself to care about anyone, I’d be faced with that kind of loss again, so I pushed everything away. I don’t want to feel that way anymore.” He shook his head. “No, now I want to feel, and I haven’t wanted that in so long, Georgia. You made all the difference. You were like an electric jolt to my unbeating heart.”
Georgia brought her mouth to his for a quick kiss as joy swelled in her chest like she was a helium balloon about to take flight.
“What I’m trying to say, even though I know it’s crazy because we haven’t known each other for that long, is that I love you. I love you, Georgia, and I’m not going anywhere. I know I fucked up, but I’m staying in Hope Falls, and if you’re not ready to forgive me, that’s fine. I’ll wait and I’ll be here, working to rebuild your trust in me until you do forgive me, because what we have is special. I want to explore where it might lead.”
A smile so big that if felt as if it might split her face in two spread across Georgia’s face. “I love you. So much. I realized it when we were apart, and when I’d heard what happened, I vowed I wouldn’t let you get away again. You’ve saved me and you a whole lot of time and effort on my part.”
He laughed then dipped his head, taking her lips for a sweet yet savage kiss. She loved how he was able to stake his claim while, at the same time, make her feel like a delicate flower.
Georgia’s body heated as it always did when his lips were pressed to hers, and she deepened the kiss before she heard his name being shouted from the doorway.
“Everett!” Deanna raced into the space and launched herself at her cousin, who’d only just managed to stand from the couch before she reached him.
Lucky followed behind her. “Sorry, guys. There was no way she wasn’t coming up here when she returned.”
“Hey, cuz,” Everett said, hauling her into an embrace.
“I couldn’t get back here fast enough when I’d heard they’d located you on the radio. You big oaf. You gave us all a scare!” She stood back from the hug and inspected him from head to toe. “You’re okay?” she asked.
“I am,” he said with a small smile that said he was happy to have someone else who cared enough to be concerned.
“Great.” Deanna put her hand on her hips and leveled all three of them with narrowed eyes. “Now, does someone want to explain to me exactly why my cousin and my friend were kissing when I came in?”
The three of them erupted into laughter and her friend grinned.
The idea of confessing her feelings to Deanna no longer seemed like the hardest thing in the world to do. She knew now that living without him would be the hardest thing of all. Thank God she wouldn’t have to know what that was like. There were no guarantees of where the two of them would end up, but like Lucky had said: Sometimes, all you have is hope.