Luke (7 Brides for 7 Brothers Book 1)

by Barbara Freethy

  She watched Kaitlyn sleep for a few minutes, wishing she could find a way to give her niece the same sense of peace and happiness when she was awake.

  Time, she told herself. It was all she had to work with.

  Gently closing the door, she went downstairs to the kitchen. Shari introduced her to Val, the auditioning chef, who could hopefully take over when Shari went on maternity leave. Lizzie didn't want to interrupt, so she made herself a bowl of oatmeal and took it into her office.

  She fired up her computer, answered emails while she ate, and when she was done, she made her way out to the front desk where Tina was checking in a family of four, excited to get started on their holiday weekend in the mountains.

  It was going to be a busy few days, and she was thrilled with that. She wanted Luke to see the resort in full swing.

  Kaitlyn got up around ten, unwillingly helped Shari with breakfast cleanup in the kitchen for an hour, then said she was going to the pool. She had nothing to say to anyone and seemed in an intensely bad mood, so Lizzie couldn't bring herself to talk about Kelly's birthday. She should probably just heed Luke's advice and let the day go without mention. Judging by Kaitlyn's demeanor, she was already very aware of the significance of the day.

  So she focused on work for the next few hours, keeping busy with new arrivals and signing up guests for the various weekend activities.

  As busy as she was, she had to admit she also kept looking for Luke, but she had no idea what he was up to, and she didn't have time to find out.

  Maybe he was sleeping, she thought a little after one when she found time to grab a salad. She was happily tired from their sleepless night, and wouldn't have minded a little nap, but there was no time for that.

  After her lunch, she decided to look for Kaitlyn to see if she could get her interested in one of the group activities later in the day. Several more young teenagers had checked in earlier in the day with their families, all girls, which Lizzie was happy about, and they were going to do an afternoon trail ride with Tom. Maybe she could find a way to talk Kaitlyn into joining the group. While her niece had made it clear she preferred to be left on her own, Lizzie didn't think it was a good day for solitude and too much thinking.

  When she got to the pool, she saw the Harrison boys and their sister Julie, as well as a few other guests, but no Kaitlyn. She walked over to talk to them.

  "Hi there. Have you guys seen Kaitlyn?"

  Julie shook her head, but the boys exchanged a quick look before saying no.

  Her gaze narrowed on the younger one's slightly guilty face. "What aren't you telling me?" she asked.

  "She didn't want us to tell you," Will replied.

  "Which is exactly why you're going to tell me. Or we can go talk to your parents if you want."

  "You are the worst liar," Rex told his younger brother with disgust.

  "She said she was going for a hike," Will said. "She wanted to know where the trail started for the falls, so we showed her."

  Unease ran through her at that comment. Kaitlyn had shown absolutely no interest whatsoever in going to the falls the entire time they'd been at the resort. In fact, she'd refused to venture into the woods at all.

  "By herself?" she asked.

  "I didn’t see anyone with her," Will said.

  "Did she ask you guys to go with her?"

  "Nope," Rex answered.

  "When was this?"

  "An hour or so ago."

  "Okay, thanks. If you see her, can you tell her to find me?"

  "Sure," Will said.

  She walked back to the lodge, a bad, scary feeling building up inside of her. She was so preoccupied she ran straight into Luke when she entered the lobby.

  He caught her by the arms. "Whoa. Where's the fire?"

  "I'm not sure."

  His eyes immediately filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

  "I don't know yet. Maybe nothing. Maybe something. I need to find Kaitlyn. The Harrison boys said she asked them how to get to the trail for the falls." She broke away from Luke and jogged up the stairs, hoping that Kaitlyn was actually in her room and had changed her mind about taking a hike.

  "Seriously?" Luke asked, close on her heels as they moved down the hall. "I thought she didn't like hiking."

  "She hates it." She threw open the door to Kaitlyn's bedroom. Her niece wasn't there, but when she saw what was on the bed, her heart skipped a beat.

  An open photo album and several loose pictures were spread across the bed.

  She picked up the nearest picture, a family photo from a year ago: Kaitlyn with Kelly and Brian at Disneyland. They were all wearing Mickey Mouse ears on their heads. They were laughing. They were happy.

  Her heart broke at the sight of her sister's face, the family she'd created, the love so obvious between all three of them. Her eyes watered, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

  Luke came up behind her, putting his arms around her. She leaned back against him, needing the comfort, the security of his embrace. But she knew she could only linger there a second. Something was wrong. Kaitlyn had made a decision to do something.

  "She must have been looking at these pictures because it's her mom's birthday," she murmured. "I couldn't get her to go near the albums before this. In fact, I caught her trying to throw them away a few months ago, and I stopped her. I hid them in my closet so she wouldn't be bothered by their presence. But today she must have gone in there and gotten them."

  "It could be a good thing," he muttered. "Maybe she just wanted to go for a walk."

  "I don't know." As she closed the photo album, she saw one of the lodge brochures on the bed. This particular flyer outlined the hiking trails and on the back was the story of the upper and lower Wolmer Falls, Last Chance Rock and undiscovered gold.

  "Oh, my God," she murmured, a sudden surge of adrenaline rushing through her. "She's going up there. She's going to Last Chance Rock. She's going to look for the gold."

  "Hold on," Luke said. "You don't know that. She could just be walking up to the lower falls. That's an easy hike. She won't go any farther on her own. She'd be too scared."

  "Would she be too scared? She's reckless and angry and sad. That's a terrible combination. I need to find her. I think Brad is in the office. He'll know the way."

  "I'll go with you," Luke said, following her down the stairs.

  She nodded, happy to take all the help she could get.

  Brad was in the office as she'd hoped. He got to his feet, obviously seeing the fear on her face. "What's happened?"

  "I think Kaitlyn has gone up to Last Chance Rock and the upper falls on her own," she said.

  His jaw dropped. "What? Why would she do that?"

  "It's a long story. We need to go after her."

  "Of course. We can leave right now. But if you really think she's going past the lower falls, I need to get some supplies. The upper trail is slick and dangerous right now with the upper falls so strong and powerful at this time of the year."

  His words only increased her fear. "Get what you need, but make it fast."

  Brad had barely moved around the desk when Shari appeared in the doorway. Lizzie could immediately see that something was wrong. Shari's skin was very pale, her eyes wide and worried, and she had a hand on her belly.

  Brad rushed to his wife's side. "What is it?" he asked.

  "My water broke," she said. "I'm having contractions, but it's too early. I'm supposed to have four more weeks. I can't have a baby now."

  "It looks like you don't have a choice," Brad said. He flung a troubled look at Lizzie. "I need to take Shari to the hospital. I—I don't know what to do."

  "Yes, you do," she said, wishing that weren't the case but Brad couldn't be in two places at once.

  "What else is wrong?" Shari asked, looking from her husband to Liz.

  "Kaitlyn has gone missing," she replied. "I think she's on her way up to Last Chance Rock. The flyer was on her bed next to photos of her mom and dad."

  "O
h, no." Shari frowned. "What about John? Can he go with you?" she asked, referring to their other rock-climbing guide.

  "He took a group up to Paradise Peak this morning," Brad answered. "He won't be back for hours."

  "I'll go look for Kaitlyn," Luke interrupted. "I can make it up any mountain, no sweat."

  "Of course you can," Brad said with relief. "Sorry, I wasn't even thinking. I have a pack that's ready to go. It's in the closet down the hall. It should have what you need."

  "We'll find it," she said. "You and Shari need to go to the hospital and have your beautiful baby."

  "I'm so sorry, Liz," Shari said. "I should have made sure Val was ready to go before now. I think she'll be okay today, but I don't know. I'm leaving you in a bad spot."

  She was so worried about Kaitlyn, the fact that she had only a substitute cook at the moment was the least of her problems. "It will be fine. We will manage. You don't worry about anything."

  She helped Shari outside while Brad brought the car around.

  Once they were headed down the road, Luke appeared at her side with Brad's pack of climbing gear.

  "We're good to go," he said. "You need to come with me, Lizzie, at least part of the way. Kaitlyn may need you to talk her down from something."

  "I doubt she'd listen to me, but of course I'm going with you. I'll put on my boots. Can you tell Tom and whoever else you can find on the staff to keep an eye out for Kaitlyn?"

  "I will." He caught her by the arm as she moved toward the door and gave her a determined look. "It's going to be all right."

  She really wanted to believe him. "I hope so. I can't lose Kaitlyn, too."

  "I'm not going to let that happen."

  She had never appreciated his confidence more than she did at this moment.

  * * *

  They reached lower Wolmer Falls at half-past three. Lizzie's hope that she'd find Kaitlyn sunning on a rock or swimming in one of the pools was dashed. There was no sign of her niece.

  She asked several families in the area if they'd seen Kaitlyn, pulling out her phone to show them a photo, but she struck out until she got to a young guy who said he'd seen her heading for the upper trail an hour earlier. He thought he'd seen an older guy a dozen feet ahead of her; he'd assumed the man was her father.

  She didn't like that Kaitlyn had gone past the falls or that there was some unknown random man ahead of her on the trail.

  Luke must have seen the panic in her eyes, because he put both hands on her shoulders. "Don't get ahead of yourself. One step at a time. That's how we do this."

  "I can't help it. She might act like she's twenty, but she's only thirteen, Luke. She has no common sense, and she's being incredibly reckless."

  "We'll find her. And I don't think she has no common sense. There's a good chance when things get too tricky that she'll turn around."

  Liz wasn't sure of that at all, not the way Kaitlyn was feeling these days, but they were wasting time talking. "Let's go."

  "Okay, I'll lead the way. If you need to rest, let me know. I've got extra waters in my pack."

  She nodded, sticking close to Luke as they started up the trail. The first twenty minutes weren't too bad, but just as she was starting to relax, the trail took a turn and the incline in front of her was steep and narrow. On one side was the mountain. On the other was a drop of at least thirty to forty feet and, judging by where they were going, that distance to fall was only going to get greater.

  "Don't look down," Luke called back to her, as if he were reading her mind.

  "Easy for you to say," she muttered.

  "Just focus on your next step."

  It was all she could do, or terror would take over. Luke obviously had no concerns at all. He moved with confident agility, occasionally pausing to help her navigate a slippery part of the trail.

  For the next twenty minutes, they didn't pass anyone going down, and she couldn't see anyone behind them. It was after four now, but thankfully they still had a few hours of daylight yet. She just hoped they could get to the top, find Kaitlyn, and return to the resort before dark.

  The farther they walked, the more she wondered if Kaitlyn really would have done all this by herself. Had she really come this far? Wouldn't fear have forced her to turn around?

  Or was it survivor guilt that drove her? She was alive and her parents weren't. She'd told Lizzie that she was supposed to be dead, too. Was this some sort of a suicidal hike? God, she hoped not!

  Luke stopped as a heavy log blocked their path. To go around it, they'd have to get very near the edge of the trail and climb over some rather large boulders. One wrong step and they'd tumble over the edge of a sheer rock wall.

  "I think if we go across there, we'll be okay," he said, pointing to a spot not far from the edge of the trail.

  "She can't have gone past this point," she protested.

  "According to the map Brad had in the pack, Last Chance Rock is another quarter mile down the trail. I don't think she'd stop before that."

  "What if she's not even up here? What if she's back at the resort?"

  "If she were, someone would have texted or called you."

  She pulled out her phone. "I only have a weak signal."

  "If you want to wait here, I can go ahead on my own."

  She didn't think she'd feel any safer standing on this narrow path by herself than going with Luke. "No, I'll keep going."

  He nodded approvingly. "Just follow in my footsteps."

  They maneuvered around the log, and she breathed a sigh of relief as they made it back onto a wider trail.

  Fifteen minutes later, their path was blocked by an enormous boulder standing well over ten feet tall and ten feet wide. Around the right side was a three-foot narrow opening. What was on the other side of that rock was impossible to see.

  What she also couldn't see was any sign of Kaitlyn.

  "Decision time," Luke said, his lips set in a grim line. "This is Last Chance Rock. We turn around, or we keep going, or I keep going. You have three choices."

  "Brad said he did the trail beyond this point only once, and he had to use ropes and picks. We're not prepared for that, are we?"

  "There's rope in the pack," he said.

  She frowned. "But Kaitlyn doesn't have any of those items. She'd be terrified to go past that rock. I think she went somewhere else. I think she went back."

  Did she really believe that or was terror blinding her?

  "What do you want to do, Lizzie?" Luke asked. "It's your call."

  She drew in a breath. She'd never forgive herself if she turned around and went back to the resort and Kaitlyn wasn't there.

  "Let's go a little farther, at least through the opening," she decided. "Maybe it's not as bad as everyone says."

  He nodded and moved quickly down the path. He slipped through first, then took her hand, as she made her way between the boulder and the cliff. On the other side, the hillside was rocky and very wet. She could hear the thunder of the distant falls and feel the misting spray on her face. This side of the boulder was also darker and filled with more shadows, the mountain blocking most of the afternoon sun.

  In front of her, she saw nothing but terrifying desolation, and she couldn't imagine Kaitlyn on this path alone. But then she saw something on the ground, a shiny silver chain, and her heart stopped.

  "Look," she said, pointing to the necklace. "I think that's Kaitlyn's."

  Luke moved forward to grab the piece of jewelry. He brought it back to her, and she closed her fingers around the silver chain with the dove charm.

  Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she said, "Kelly gave this to Kaitlyn on her twelfth birthday. She never takes it off. She has to be here somewhere." She paused and yelled out, "Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn!"

  Luke added his voice, and then they waited.

  At first, all she could hear was the sound of the breeze through the trees. And then she heard a voice, a child's voice, filled with panic.

  "Kaitlyn?" she yelled again. "Whe
re are you?"

  Luke was already moving down the path. She followed as quickly as she could.

  "Kaitlyn," he shouted, stopping to peer down the hillside where it looked like some rocks had recently been moved.

  "I'm here," Kaitlyn cried.

  Liz looked over the edge, and her heart jumped into her throat. Kaitlyn was about fifteen feet down the steep hillside, her arms wrapped around the thick root of a tree that had fallen sideways against the mountain; it was the only thing stopping her from falling onto the jagged rocks a hundred feet below.

  "Oh, God," she muttered, her heart racing.

  "We're going to get you, Kaitlyn," Luke shouted. "Are you hurt?"

  Kaitlyn shook her head, but it was clear she was terrified. "My arms are tired. I don't think I can hang on."

  "You can do it," Luke said, firmness in his voice. "Just keep your eyes on us."

  Luke turned to her, his mouth set in a grim line. "Here's the deal, Liz. I have two ropes in my pack. I can throw one down, but I'm not sure Kaitlyn will be able or willing to let go of the tree and grab the rope."

  "She could fall while she was doing that."

  "Exactly. I'd like to go down and get her, but I need someone up here to anchor the rope, and help pull Kaitlyn back up. I don't think you'll be able to handle her weight."

  She suddenly knew where he was going, and it seemed impossible to grasp. "I can't go down there. I'll fall. I'll kill us both."

  "You won't. I'll tie one rope around your waist. I can hold you, Lizzie. I won't let anything happen to you. You can take the other rope with you and tie it around Kaitlyn. I'll bring her back up and then I'll bring you up."

  "Oh, Luke, I don't know." She felt nauseous at the thought of going down that hill.

  "You don't have time to think about it. There's no one else here. It's you and me. We can do this. We're a good team."

  "Are we?" she asked, her mind spinning.

  "You know we are. If you don’t know anything else, you know that."

  She swallowed hard. "Okay. I'll do it."

  Relief filled his eyes. "Good." He set his backpack on the ground and started pulling out what he needed for the rescue.