Hence the guilt.
Aiden had said no refunds, but he planned to give her one anyway. If everything went the way he expected it would, the ink on the sponsorship form Maddie had signed would still be wet when they returned.
What was that old saying? The end justifies the means? In this case, Aiden decided, the means justified the end.
Which was why he’d confiscated their cell phones.
Aiden wanted the kids to feel uneasy. Realize they were out of their element. There were at least a dozen different ways that weekend warriors could get hurt if they didn’t pay attention to their surroundings.
Maddie had said she wanted to build confidence in the teenagers, but wouldn’t washing out of the competition after the first or second challenge be worse?
He was doing them a favor, right?
An image of Rich Mason’s face suddenly flashed in his mind. His foster dad had instilled a love for the outdoors in Aiden, but he hadn’t left it at that. Every time Rich had pointed to something in nature, whether it was a tuft of moss growing in the cleft of a rock or a bald eagle in flight, he’d reminded Aiden that everything in creation pointed to the Creator of the entire universe.
Rich hadn’t simply talked about what he believed, though. He’d lived it.
Not only had Aiden’s foster dad founded Castle Falls Outfitters around a passage in the Bible, he’d left a legacy of faith that Aiden wanted to pass on to his own family someday.
Just as soon as he found the right woman to start that family with.
In spite of Aiden’s best efforts to keep his eyes trained on the trail ahead, his gaze edged back toward Maddie with the relentless pull of a needle on a compass seeking the North Pole.
The UTV bounced over a root that had erupted from the ground, and Maddie’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. Dozens of cockleburs had already hitched a ride and burrowed into her fleece jacket, so deep she’d have to use patience and tweezers to get them out. Aiden knew better than to wear fleece on a trek into the woods, but at least in that particular shade of yellow, Maddie wouldn’t get lost.
She was obviously out of her element, so maybe Aiden was doing her a favor, too.
The thought ran through his mind even as he battled a sudden urge to skip the scheduled tour and show Maddie all the places he loved to hang out. The rocks that formed a natural walkway over a narrow part of the river. The skeletal frame of a fallen oak that Aiden had pretended was a pirate ship when he was younger. The sunny spot on the riverbank where Ben and Jerry, two young otters, lazed away the afternoons.
Would Maddie see a wonderland to explore? Or a wilderness she would be eager to escape at the end of the day?
The second scenario was the most likely, and also the most convenient for him, considering his pretty driver’s change of heart was the end game here.
Aiden ignored another stab of guilt, pushing it aside like he did the rest of his pain.
“The first land obstacle is called The Pendulum.” Skye’s voice was a jolting reminder there were three other passengers—four if you counted Dodger—in the vehicle. “What’s that?”
“It’s hard to describe.” Aiden smiled as Maddie drove into an empty clearing.
“Where is it?” Tyler asked.
Funny. Aiden had just been wondering the same thing.
“I’m not sure.” Even to his own ears, Aiden’s voice sounded as tight as his grip on the roll bar. “Maybe Bren and Liam built it closer to the river.”
Maddie cut the engine. Skye and Tyler bailed out, but Justin scooped up Dodger and set him down on the ground.
Aiden pried his crutch out from between the seats so he could take a closer look. His gut tightened as he surveyed the area. A pile of lumber marked the spot where there should have been a wall, and a blue tarp protected Liam’s tools from the weather.
The Fall Festival was less than a month away, and neither one of his brothers had mentioned they were behind schedule. In fact, whenever Aiden asked for an update on the course, they’d claimed things were “going fine.”
Call him crazy, but in Aiden’s mind, “fine” translated to “almost finished.”
“Is something wrong?” Maddie stood at his side, her voice soft with concern.
“I thought my brothers would have it done by now.” Aiden tried to cover his frustration with a no-big-deal shrug. “But they must have gotten busy with something else.”
Maddie’s gaze shifted away from him. She took a swift but thorough sweep of the clearing before her gaze came to rest on the stack of lumber. “What were they supposed to build?”
“There’s going to be a platform there.” Aiden pointed to a natural split in the thick branches halfway up a towering pine. “The first objective is to climb the tree, grab the rope on the platform and swing over the wall.” The wall his brothers hadn’t gotten around to building yet. “The second objective is to let go once you’re on the other side.”
Tyler and Justin tipped their heads back, their eyes widening in direct proportion to the height of the tree.
“We have to climb up there?” Tyler asked.
“Only one of you,” Aiden said. “The other one stays in the canoe and meets up with you at the next checkpoint. It’s not too far...a quarter of a mile as the crows flies.”
Without a word, Maddie pivoted and walked away.
This was it. The other teenagers would follow her lead, and Aiden could breathe a sigh of relief.
Except that Maddie wasn’t walking toward the UTV...she was walking over to the lumber.
“We’d better get started, then.”
“What are you doing?” Aiden was almost afraid to ask. Because Maddie wasn’t supposed to be rallying people to get started. She was supposed to convince them to withdraw from the competition.
She blew a loose strand of hair off her forehead and smiled.
“Building you a wall.”
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, Maddie,” Aiden said slowly. “But it’s not just hammering boards together. Liam was going to draw up a plan to make sure the person holding the rope sails over the wall instead of crashing into it. The angle between the platform and the wall has to be perfect, or someone could get hurt. The goal is to challenge people, not maim them.”
“We could start it, though,” Tyler said. “It can’t be that hard to pound a few boards together.”
Aiden’s gaze moved to Justin, who was frowning up at the tree. Yes. Aiden had someone on his side.
“Justin?”
“I can figure out the angles so no one gets hurt.”
“What?” What?
“He’s a math geek,” Tyler said.
Justin shrugged self-consciously. “I like numbers.”
The boys turned toward Skye, who rolled her eyes.
“Sure. Why not? It’s not like I have anything else to do on a Saturday.”
If Aiden had heard so much as a hint of sarcasm in Skye’s tone, he would have pushed instead of giving up. Still, he felt obligated to try one more time.
“You really want to spend the day building a wall?”
It was Maddie who answered for the group. “The team has a vested interest in The Pendulum, don’t we?”
Aiden laughed. At himself and at the best-laid plans.
“I guess you do.”
Chapter Ten
Four hours later, Maddie had a much quieter group than she’d had when they’d left earlier that morning.
Aiden was pretty quiet, too, although his fingers tapped out an uneven beat against his knee.
Maddie had been just as surprised as Aiden when she’d suggested—no, informed him—they would build the wall. And she hadn’t understood his initial reluctance any more than she’d been able to decipher the rueful smile that had tipped Aiden’s lips when he’d finally agreed.
It was the together part that had had Maddie sending up a silent cheer.
“There you are!” Brendan’s wife was waiting for them when Maddie pulled up next to the garage. Lily, a marketing whiz who’d lived in an urban area before making Castle Falls her permanent home, appeared to be completely at home in her new surroundings. “I was about to send out a search party!”
“A search party?” Aiden repeated. “I knew my oldest brother would be a bad influence on you.”
“Your oldest brother happens to be perfect. And yes, a little overprotective, but he’s working on that.” Lily flashed a warm smile at Maddie, the one that had instantly won the hearts of everyone in their small town, as well as Brendan Kane’s. “Do you and Aiden need help putting things away?”
You and Aiden.
The words lit on Maddie’s heart, stirring up a whole myriad of strange emotions. But it was too dangerous to allow them to linger there.
“Thanks, but my crew has it covered,” Aiden told his sister-in-law.
Amazingly enough, the members of his “crew” didn’t protest.
“So...how did it go?” Lily turned to the teenagers. “Was the course what you expected?”
“Nope,” Tyler mumbled around the sugar cookie he’d popped into his mouth before handing the container to Maddie. “We didn’t get to see it.”
“You were gone for almost three hours.” Lily looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or express concern. “Did the UTV break down again?”
Again?
Maddie looked at Aiden, whose attention had shifted to the tufts of clouds drifting over their heads.
“We finished The Pendulum instead.” Tyler gave Justin a shoulder bump that sent the other boy stumbling sideways. “And the next time we come over, Justin here is going to test it out and make sure it works.”
“It’ll work.”
To Maddie’s absolute delight, Justin found his footing and shoulder-bumped Tyler right back.
“If the next time is tomorrow, you’ll have to join us for supper afterward.” Lily smiled at Maddie. “Our Sunday tradition is homemade pizza, and Sunni always makes enough food to feed a small army.”
“I—” Maddie bit her lip. “I wasn’t planning to come back. Aiden—”
“Has a bum knee, two cracked ribs and only one hand that works,” he interjected smoothly. “So like it or not, you’re part of the team now.”
The glint in Aiden’s eyes had returned, reminding Maddie that the “team” had been her idea.
But the trouble was, Maddie did like the idea. Too much. She’d imagined Aiden would take over from here, and she would receive updates from the teens when they met with her at the library. Once again, though, Aiden had changed the plan.
“The library is closed on Sundays, right?” Skye must have sensed Maddie’s hesitation. And the fact that the girl looked nervous at the thought of joining Aiden’s family for dinner tipped the balance in Lily’s favor. She didn’t want Skye to feel uncomfortable.
“Yes.” Maddie nibbled on her lower lip. “I suppose I could.”
“Great.” Lily’s violet eyes sparkled. “I’ll tell Sunni to expect four more for pizza tomorrow night. Now, I’d better scoot or Brendan will send out a search party for me. I’ve been waiting for the delivery truck to drop off some light fixtures that Liam ordered, and I want to take them out to the cabin before he gets back.”
“Back from where?” Aiden’s eyebrows dipped together in a frown. “Aren’t he and Bren working on the cabin this afternoon?”
Lily shook her head. “A water pipe broke at the animal shelter while you were gone. They went over to fix it, and I plan to grab a mop and help Sunni when I get back.”
“It will take you a good half an hour to drive out to the cabin and back.” A muscle tightened in Aiden’s jaw, and Maddie instantly understood why.
As much as he wanted to, Aiden couldn’t help his brothers with that project, either.
“I can take the lights over to the cabin.” Maddie shocked herself—and Aiden, judging from the look on his face—for the second time that day. “If you don’t mind dropping Tyler and Justin and Skye off on your way through town.”
“Not at all.” Lily’s eyes lit up. “That would be wonderful! Aiden knows the way.”
“Oh, but I...” Maddie cut a sideways glance at the man standing next to her. “Aiden doesn’t have to come along. He can just point me in the right direction.”
“It would be easier to show you,” Lily said cheerfully. “Unless Aiden is getting tired—”
“Aiden,” he interrupted, “is standing right here, listening to every word you’re saying, and he’s fine.”
That seemed to settle the matter.
Maddie helped Lily load up the shipping boxes while Aiden and Dodger waited in the UTV.
“Being outside today has been good for him,” Lily murmured. “He needed some fresh air and sunshine.”
“Still here...and I’m not one of Mom’s houseplants.”
Lily winked at Maddie, which made her like the woman even more. “Thanks again for doing this. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
Maddie hopped into the driver’s seat again after they left, buckled her seat belt and looked at her navigator for instructions.
“Go that way.” Aiden pointed to a well-worn path winding into the woods in the opposite direction of the one they’d taken earlier that morning. And this one was easier to follow because it actually looked like a trail.
“Liam is building a cabin?”
Aiden nodded. “He and Anna and the twins will be moving into it after they’re married. He had to expand the original plan, though, because it was only big enough for one person.”
“When is the wedding?”
“Christmas Eve.”
Maddie was thrilled for Anna, but that didn’t prevent a tiny curl of envy from forming in the pit of her stomach. Any dreams she’d had of her future wedding day had been carefully tucked away the day Maddie discovered that children wouldn’t be part of that future.
“I’m sure they’re going to love living there,” she said softly.
“Liam’s behind schedule, though. Brendan and I were helping with the project, and now they have to help me finish the course for River Quest.”
“I’m sure they don’t mind,” Maddie murmured. “And you’d do the same for them, if the situation was reversed, wouldn’t you?”
Aiden responded with a clipped nod. “Of course. But it’s different.”
“How...” Maddie stopped when Aiden’s breath hissed between his teeth.
The UTV hadn’t hit another bump, but Maddie lifted her foot off the gas and turned toward him, certain he’d somehow reinjured his arm or his knee.
Aiden wasn’t looking at her at all. Maddie followed his gaze and saw a pickup truck—or rather what was left of one—crouched in the shadows of an old shed no more than fifty yards into the woods. Shards of twisted metal spiraled from the hood, and fragments of shattered glass outlined the gaping hole where the driver’s-side window had been.
The world seemed to shift, and two thoughts collided in Maddie’s mind.
This was the truck Aiden had been driving the night of the accident.
And it was clearly only by the grace of God that he’d survived.
* * *
Aiden couldn’t take his eyes off the chunk of scrap metal that had once been his pickup truck.
No wonder his brothers hadn’t told him it was here. They must have towed it into the woods under cover of darkness in order to spare Aiden from seeing something that would remind him of the accident.
As if the cast on his arm and a messed-up kne
e weren’t enough of a reminder as to how quickly things had gone south on Razor Road that night.
Its official name was Razorback, but the locals had shortened the name to Razor because that’s what it looked like. A smooth, three-mile stretch of road that took a sharp turn a few miles from town. Even in good weather, people gave it the respect it deserved. Aiden always had, too, until someone had forced him to take a shortcut through the ditch.
Aiden tried to tear his gaze away, but seeing the truck triggered a tide of memories, and it was impossible to stop the flow.
The split-second decision Aiden had made began to play out again...only this time in slow motion.
The crunch of the tires against gravel as the truck slid off the road. The sensation of being airborne. The crushing jolt as the vehicle slammed against the ground before rolling once. Twice. The frame had crumpled as if it had had no more substance than a soda can. Stinging fragments of glass from the windshield raining down on him like sleet.
He’d struggled to keep his eyes open, but the darkness had crashed over him like a wave and swallowed him whole...
A featherlight touch brought him back to reality.
Maddie had taken his hand.
He tore his gaze away from the truck and experienced the sensation of falling all over again when he found himself staring into Maddie’s green eyes. She let go, but Aiden could still feel the warm imprint of her fingers against his skin.
And even though she hadn’t witnessed the crash, Aiden couldn’t help but notice that she looked a little pale, too.
“Praise God,” she whispered.
Aiden knew what Maddie meant. The truck was totaled, but he was alive. But right now, anger at the coward who’d left him in the ditch burned hotter than gratitude. Or forgiveness.
“I didn’t know the truck was here.” He pasted on a smile. “I shouldn’t be surprised, though. My brothers have a habit of keeping things from me.”
“Or they wanted to protect you from reliving the accident,” Maddie said softly.
That word. Accident. Something inside Aiden broke loose, and the truth spilled out.
“I know what people are saying, but I wasn’t speeding that night. Someone else was, and when he crossed the center line, I had to take the ditch to avoid a head-on collision.” Aiden’s gaze locked on the crumpled remains of his pickup again. “Whoever was driving forced me off the road and kept going.”
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