15

“Grace!” The cry ripped from Kye’s throat as he watched her tumble head over heels down the escarpment. She landed in a heap too far away for him to see if she was seriously hurt.

He leapt toward the edge as Bobby scrambled to his feet. Like a professional linebacker, Bobby tackled Kye.

“What are you doing?” Kye pulled back his fisted hand and then let it fly, cracking Bobby in the jaw and stunning him. This offered just enough time for Kye to spin out of his grasp and break free.

He scrambled for the cliff edge. “Grace! Grace!”

Bobby yanked Kye back again. “Get a grip! Falling down after her isn’t going to help. It’ll just kill you too.”

Kye cranked back his arm again and Bobby dropped his hold. He held up his hands in surrender. “We’ll get her out, but we need to be smart about it.”

Kye invaded Bobby’s personal space, grabbed a fistful of shirt, and pulled him nose to nose. “We are not leaving here without her.”

Bobby nodded. “We won’t.”

Kye pushed Bobby out of the way and scanned the bottom of the ravine. “Grace? Are you OK? Don’t move.”

A moan rose from her still form littered on the rocky bottom and he inwardly cheered that at least it meant she was conscious.

“I’m OK.” She lifted her head and slowly stretched out her limbs, but she didn’t sit up.

“Don’t move!” he iterated. “I’m coming down.”

“I think I’m OK. Bruised, but OK.” She pushed herself up.

Why couldn’t that woman ever listen? He squinted, but he still couldn’t see if she was badly hurt. Kye thrust his phone above his head in the hopes of better reception. He needed to call for help.

Nothing.

“Does your phone work?”

Bobby pulled it out. “No bars.”

Kye’s attention bounced between Bobby and Grace. “We are at least a fifteen-minute hike to the nearest storage shed with a two-way connected to Judy, and maybe only a little bit further than that from camp.” He focused again on Grace who now stood favoring one leg. She cranked her neck back as if trying to focus her eyes on them.

He allowed himself a brief second to celebrate that she was able to stand upright.

“Would you please stop moving!” he yelled.

Bobby’s lips twitched as if Grace’s defiance amused him.

“I’ve gotta get down there.”

“Fine, climb down. But how are you going to get her back up here?” Bobby pointed out the steep incline the return trip demanded.

Kye hung his hands around the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I’ll worry about that once I get to her and assess her injuries.” Would Bobby try and stop him?

Bobby shrugged. “I’ll go get help from camp.”

Grace no longer stood at the base of the rock wall. She now hunched against it. Was she shivering? Crying?

Kye locked eyes with Bobby. “Hurry.”

“I’ll go the minute I see you’re safely down there.”

Kye picked his way between trees and rocks as he controlled his five-minute descent to Grace. The drizzle transitioned into a steady, but gentle rain, slowing his progress. His stomach sickened at the memory of her body crashing through these branches and stones.

“Are you OK?” He stooped beside her, never so happy to see her scraped and beautiful face. He gently cupped her chin. Deep gashes on her forehead had already begun to clot. Blood dribbled from another gash peeking out from under the hem of her shorts. But what concerned him most was how she gingerly held one swollen wrist.

“I started to feel a bit dizzy standing.” She moved as if she planned to get back up and he gently stopped her.

“Just sit for a minute.” He peered into her eyes.

She blushed, seemingly misreading his motive.

Her pupils appeared equal in size. That was a good sign. “How many fingers am I holding?”

“Two.”

“How’s your head and neck?”

“How do you think?” she groused.

He grinned. Her fall didn’t dampen her spirit.

“Can she climb up?” Bobby called down from the top, his head barely visible from their position on the bottom.

“Not quickly.”

“I’m going for help.”

“No,” Grace sprung to her feet, winced, and teetered.

Kye wrapped a supporting arm around her waist. “You can’t climb out of here with that wrist.”

“I’m fine.” She pushed herself away. “I already told you that. You need to get to that meeting and convince them Camp Moshe is worth saving. You shouldn’t have come down here after me.”

Her words stabbed his heart. How could she think he wouldn’t come for her? Did she really think so little of him?

She shouted up to Bobby, “Wait for Kye, he’s coming with you.”

“No, I’m not,” Kye bellowed. He pounded his forehead as if she were dense. “What’s wrong with you?” He warred between wanting to shake her and wanting to kiss her senseless. “Getting you help is more important than the meeting.”

“Nothing is more important than saving Camp Moshe,” she roared back. “If they don’t hear your reasoning against selling the shares, they might sign the purchase order and lose what Uncle Carl never wanted to sell.” She paced the base of the cliff with a slight limp and gazed at the lip of the trail. “Bobby? Bobby?”

Silence.

“He must have already left.”

She leaned back against the wall and shut her eyes. Her tears blended with raindrops, watering down Kye’s anger.

He leaned a shoulder against the wall beside her and brushed away her tear with the pad of his thumb. “It’ll be OK. One thing at a time.”

“But if I had listened when you expressed your concern, we wouldn’t be down here. Now, you’ll miss the meeting, I’ll miss the BBQ. If we lose the camp, it’ll be all my fault.”

Kye cupped her chin with his hand and waited for her to look at him. “No one is more devoted to Camp Moshe than you. I love that about you. But you’ve got to stop carrying this burden alone. It’s not your job to save this place.”

“Because it’s your job?” Her spirited words contrasted her waning strength.

“No, it’s His.” He pointed his index finger to the sky.

She pulled herself from his grasp and hugged her body. “Maybe God wants to work through me.”

“Maybe,” Kye conceded. “Or maybe His plan is more about trust. Teaching you to trust Him with what matters most.”

She huffed but her pained gaze lingered on his. Kye’s heart pounded. Would she finally hear him? Would she finally understand he was as committed as she was? He was just beginning to learn that there were some things only God could fix.

She blinked, and the moment was gone. “I gotta get back to camp. There must be a back way out of here.”

Weariness pressed his heart. “Let me look you over first. Then we can follow that stream.” He pointed to a nearby trickle of water flowing down the rock face and making a skinny trail through the woods. “It has to empty into the lake at some point.”

She gave a curt nod and managed to physically submit to his examination but maintain an emotional distance.

He started with her good arm, running his fingers along the bones and pausing at her wrist to check her pulse. Her heartbeat raced. But considering how his own heart beat out of control whenever she was near, he didn’t attribute that to her fall. His pride hoped it had more to do with his nearness, but it was more likely anger related.

Then what explained the faint red creeping up her neck?

He continued his examination with trembling fingers. She could have died believing he didn’t care about her.

He wanted her to trust God with the camp, but could he heed his own advice and trust God with what mattered most to him? With Grace?

He saved her swollen wrist for last, gently examining it. She pressed her lips flat, enduring his touch without complaint. It was likely a sprain. He released her hand. “The good news is that nothing seems broken.”

“What’s the bad news?” she grumbled.

“Sprains can hurt just as much as a break.” He took her injured hand again, ignoring the way her eyebrows spiked. He laid it across her chest and rested it on her shoulder above her heart. “We should keep it elevated as much as possible.”

“Oh, OK.”

Was it disappointment that flashed in her eyes?

“On a scale of one to ten, where is your pain?”

“Maybe a five?” Her pinched expression upgraded her number.

“We’ll be slow moving if you want to follow that stream, or we can wait. Bobby is going to be at least forty minutes getting to camp and back, maybe more if the rain slows him down.”

Forty minutes. What on earth would they talk about? Grace had spent the better part of the last two days avoiding him, focusing solely on campaigning for her BBQ. She’d done a remarkable job. He tried several times to tell her and offered to help, but she had shut him down every time.

She shivered. From the onset of shock, or her drenched clothing?

“You’re cold. Let me fix that.” He draped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her in. “Combining our body heat will help you warm up.”

Yeah, body heat. That was the reason he wanted her close.

“Fix my chill like you fixed the camp?” Her soft words hardly registered.

So much for not knowing what to talk about.

His muscles tightened and his cheek twitched. “That’s not fair. It’s not my fault things went south with Tony.”

She shuddered again and ignored his answer. “Let’s walk.” She shoved off.

“Hey!” he furrowed his brow. “The walls. There’s nothing on them. How come we didn’t we notice that before now?”

Grace’s jaw went slack. “You’re right.” She scanned the entire area. “Could Bobby have had the wrong spot?”

The perpetual knot in his stomach tightened. The whole thing seemed wrong from the start. “Something doesn’t add up…”

Her quivering lips escalated to mildly chattering teeth. The dampness combined with her injuries and their sedentary wait equaled a bad combination.

He shifted gears. They could deal with Bobby later. Now, he had to get her out of here. “I think you’re right about finding our own way out. We can’t wait for Bobby. I’ll miss my flight and you’ll miss your fundraiser.”

“Let’s go.”

He caught her elbow. “Do you mind if I pray first?”

Gratefulness filled her expression. They might not agree on everything, but they certainly agreed about who held it all in His hands. Why had he waited so long to suggest it?

He entwined their fingers and ignored the jolt of attraction. “Lord, we don’t know what to do, or what is happening here, but You do. Please give Grace the strength she’ll need to hike, and please show us the way out. And God, reveal the truth behind all the attacks on Camp Moshe.”

Her eyes remained closed as he concluded his simple prayer. Her full lips echoed his amen. What would it be like to lean in…?

He tugged his hands away. A kiss wouldn’t solve anything. It would complicate it.

“It’s this way.” He pointed out the way.

She hesitated and looked up to the cliff edge. “What if Bobby comes back?”

“He’ll figure out what we did. He’s a smart guy. Besides, we can call him as soon as we get a signal.”

He slipped an arm around her waist to help support her. She could probably walk on her own; he just wasn’t ready to let her go yet.

They followed the stream through the woods. It disappeared into the rock near the mouth of a cave. “If my memory serves me right, this cave opens up on the other side near a trail with much easier hiking than the one we came in on.”

She eyed the cave like some women eye insects.

“Really?” He couldn’t suppress his chuckle. “After fighting off a bear, rock climbing, being thrown by a horse, and a fall down the escarpment, a hike through caves is your breaking point?”

She shot him a dirty look. “It’s…icky. And dark.”

He stretched his hands out on either side. “Your call.”

“The cave,” she grumbled, stooping low to enter first.

His gentle laugh mingled with the sounds of trickling water.

“What, don’t you have any fears, Mr. Fix-it?”

He had fears all right. The most pressing of which was not getting her help in time to properly set her wrist. But his biggest fear was being trapped in a marriage with a woman he couldn’t please.

Not that he would tell Grace that.

The wind lessened, replaced by fast and heavy water droplets splashing onto the stone floor. He rubbed his arms to generate heat. She must be freezing. They tunneled deeper before gaining precious headroom. The walls spread out. Cracks in the formation let in slivers of light.

“We’re almost there.” In a way, he hated for their hike to end. He had Phoenix waiting, and it held little appeal. If only she’d give him a reason to stay, a reason to rethink his theories on women and dating.

They cleared the cave and he exhaled relief when familiar trail markings pointed the way back to camp.

“We did it.” He grinned and held up a hand for a high five.

She smacked it with her good palm. “I never doubted you.” Her sweet smile undid his resolve. He couldn’t look away, couldn’t imagine walking away. Not even for Phoenix.

He slid his hand under her chin and tipped up her face. “Grace?” He said it like a question.

She stilled.

For a breathless moment, everything faded.

She swayed in, water droplets glistening on her eyelashes.

He slid a gentle kiss over her lips, his mouth feathering across hers, and then pulled back. He hovered, welcoming her hot breath against his face, measuring her reaction.

She closed the distance between them.

His hand slid down to her waist and fit her body against his. He fully captured her mouth.

Her arms wound around his neck, her fingertips dancing along the neckline of his T-shirt, sending shivers down his spine when they grazed his flesh. She leaned into the embrace for a glorious second, before gently pulling back.

He reluctantly broke the kiss. But instead of letting her go, he tugged her close.

She rested her head on his shoulder and slipped her arms around his waist. It felt right.

He tucked her head under his chin. “I’m starting to feel like there might be more for me than just work.”

She pulled back and looked at him through clouded eyes. She smiled a brief, seemingly regretful smile. “You know, every once in a while, God gives me a glimpse of what might come next…and the ache for it nearly breaks me.”

He didn’t understand. Why did she look so sad?

“Something or someone will remind me of Becky. Of how she can’t get married. She’ll never have kids. And how it’s my fault.” She disentangled their arms. “I’m sorry, Kye. Until I get my program on solid ground, until I make sure they didn’t die in vain—work is all I have. It’s all I can have.”

Her words sliced through his hope. “You can’t mean that.”

“I have to.” She stepped back and stumbled away.

Kye’s breath came in gasps. Did he imagine their connection or was her kiss just a result of their precarious circumstances? The door to his heart slammed like a jail cell. Maybe she wasn’t so different from Annette after all.

He straightened. “Then let’s get out of here and get you back to your program. The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner I can be on that plane to Phoenix.”

He let her lead the way. The minute his phone had a strong signal, he tried calling Bobby, but there was no answer.

When they reached the fork in the road, he couldn’t just leave things. He snagged her good hand. “Are you sure”—he halted, and then lost his nerve. No guy wanted to get shot down twice in less than an hour—“Are you sure you’re OK?”

He wasn’t asking about her injuries and she knew it.

“I’m sure.” The words bubbled out in a sob, but after a moment she gained control. “I’m fine. I’m certain the wrist is just a sprain. Besides, you need to get to that meeting.”

He forced a smile. “You’ll make the BBQ if you hurry. The nurse should be there.”

She palmed tears from her face. Raising her gaze to meet his, she lifted her hand and briefly touched his cheek.

His eyes dampened.

She blinked. “Hopefully, I’ll see you after Phoenix.”

As she walked away, he couldn’t help but feel she was walking out of his life for good.