The Most Wonderful Time

by Fern Michaels

  Josh let himself breathe. “Let’s go.”

  “Hang tight,” Gray said. “Colt’s coming over.”

  “Why the hell are we wasting all this time?” It was freezing temperatures. If, God forbid, Hannah was stranded in the elements she didn’t have much time.

  He finished putting on his jacket, grabbed his keys, and rushed out into the cold.

  “Josh,” Mary called from the doorway. “At least take a radio.”

  He turned around, went back, and took the two-way from his mother.

  “You should wait for your father and brothers, Josh.”

  He kissed her on the forehead. “This is what I do, Mom.”

  “Keep in communication with everyone. The last thing we need is everyone tripping over one another up there on the mountain. And, Josh, be careful.”

  “I will.” He got inside his truck and headed for 22, continuing to call Hannah’s cell on his Bluetooth. The calls went straight to voice mail. Not a good sign.

  Despite being away for so long, he still knew how to navigate these mountainous roads in blizzardlike conditions. It was a deadly time to be driving and the possibility that Hannah could be out here somewhere, injured, made his gut clench. When he got to the barricade there was a CHP officer rerouting traffic. Josh rolled down his window.

  “We’ve got a missing woman likely trapped between here and Royal Ski Resort.”

  “Sir, I need you to turn around.”

  “It’s an emergency. I’ve got—”

  “Sir, turn around.”

  The idiot wouldn’t listen. Josh kept trying to explain the situation and the cop, like a parrot, kept telling him to turn around. In another minute, Josh was going to get out of his truck and have a real confrontation with the guy. Except Colt cruised up in his police rig, flashed his creds, and suddenly Officer Moron was all ears.

  Next thing Josh knew the chippy moved the barrier. Colt came over to Josh’s truck before he could drive through the opening, and banged on his window.

  “What the hell you going rogue for? We should be doing an organized grid search, not you going off half-cocked.”

  Josh knew his brother was right but they were talking about Hannah here. He couldn’t wait while the local SAR team put new batteries in their flashlights and pored over maps. He needed to do something. Now!

  “I’ve got a radio,” he said lamely. “What channel are we using?”

  Colt didn’t hide his annoyance but told him the frequency. “Stick to the road, don’t go off exploring in this”—he looked up at the snow-covered trees blowing like it was a hurricane—“you hear me? If you see something, radio.”

  “Roger that,” he replied, knowing how sarcastic he sounded. But Colt telling him how to conduct a search and rescue was beyond absurd. And the fact that Hannah had been missing for three hours made him angry at the world.

  He took off, trucking up the hill, looking for any signs that Hannah’s Ford had been there, hoping like hell she’d discovered that it was too dangerous to continue and had pulled over to the side to wait for the weather to let up. If she had enough gas she could keep the heat running. The problem: There weren’t a lot of turnouts and the guardrails on the sheer-drop side of the road were no real protection from heavy impact. It was near impossible to see them with the snow coming down so hard but he kept his eyes peeled, using his headlights to check for damaged rails. If she’d gone over the side . . . ah, Jesus, he didn’t want to contemplate it.

  At the first turnout he pulled over. Not easy when you couldn’t see shit. A pair of NVGs would come in handy about now, though they didn’t really work in the snow. He got out of the truck, grabbed a pack he kept in the backseat, and rummaged through it for a flashlight, sweeping it over the roadway. No skid marks that he could see. Next, he checked the guardrails.

  “Colt,” he called over the radio because his cell was useless. There was a crackling sound and then his brother’s voice. “I’m at mile marker forty-seven. I don’t see anything up to this point. I’m going the rest of the way on foot, that way I don’t miss anything. Warn the guys, would you?” He didn’t want to get hit by one of the search-and-rescue team’s vehicles.

  “We should section it off . . . you can’t cover all that ground by yourself. I’ll radio you as soon as the SAR folks get here.”

  “Colt, do me a favor, second-check the territory I’ve already gone over. She could have slid down the side of the mountain where there isn’t a guardrail. The way the snow is coming down the skid marks could be covered by now.”

  “Ten-four,” Colt signed off.

  Josh pulled his wool cap over his ears, strapped the pack to his back, and began the trek up the mountain road. His bad leg stiffened in the cold but he continued climbing, undeterred. Every few feet he did a sweep with the flashlight. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. He tried his cell phone again and got zero bars. At least someone at base would continue trying to call Hannah. With any luck she’d made it to Royal Resort and was sitting next to a toasty fire in the lounge, drinking something warm. But his gut told him it wasn’t likely and he had to fight hard to banish the images that kept popping in his head.

  At the fifty-mile marker he stopped to rest, the cold cutting through his parka and burning his face. His breath hanging in the air like a puff of smoke. Although Hannah had probably dressed warmly for the outing, she wouldn’t have been equipped like someone skiing. If she were lying somewhere, unconscious . . .

  He took another sweep of the area and continued up the road, keeping his senses attuned to the environment. Listening, smelling, feeling. The radio crackled with Colt’s voice.

  “You find anything?” Josh asked, about ready to jump out of his skin.

  “Nothing yet. The team is here. TJ and Win are gonna drive the road to the resort, then double back. If you want they’ll pick you up.”

  They were worried about his goddamn leg. “I’m fine. It’s better to have boots on the ground.”

  “All right but listen for TJ’s truck. The last thing we need is for you to get hit.”

  “Will do.”

  “And Josh, we’re gonna find her. Don’t do anything rash.”

  “You and I both know we’re running out of time. She’s in a tin can of a car, probably wearing some kind of fashion jacket. Can’t we get a sheriff’s copter . . . cover more area.” He was specifically talking about getting light down in the ravines.

  “In this storm it would be a suicide mission,” Colt said. “We’re not even positive she took Route Twenty-Two. Mom’s trying her family. Maybe she got called away on an emergency.”

  “She would’ve called me, Colt.” Not only was Hannah responsible that way but she knew how important the ski down Royal Slope was to Josh. Hell, she’d been sitting through his dull nightly workouts for days. She wouldn’t bail without at least leaving him a message. She’d know he’d be worried.

  “As soon as the weather calms down I’ll try to get a bird up in the air.”

  Hannah didn’t have that kind of time, which only made Josh search harder, paying as much attention to the copse of trees on the left side of the road as he did to the drop side. They were closing in on ten o’clock already. And even with gloves on, Josh’s fingers were numb. At least visibility had increased. The wind had let up and with the sun fully out, the road wasn’t shrouded in white anymore.

  From a distance he heard a car engine and moved as far off the road as possible. TJ’s Range Rover crested the hill, slowed down, and stopped next to Josh.

  TJ unrolled his window. “Anything?”

  Josh shook his head. “Nope.”

  “Hop in, get warm, and you can hike down when we get to the top.”

  “I’m good,” he said, and started to walk away.

  TJ caught up. “Don’t be an idiot, Josh. Rest your leg for a few minutes.”

  “Hannah doesn’t have a few minutes.”

  “We’re not gonna stop looking for her.”

  “You’re wasting t
ime.” Josh waved them on. “Go!”

  TJ banged on his steering wheel but took off up the mountain. Josh crisscrossed the road, looking for any sign of a disturbance. Although it seemed impossible that someone could disappear into thin air, he’d seen it happen many times before in the Hindu Kush.

  Colt came over the radio. “You’re a stubborn jackass. How good you think you’ll be to Hannah when your leg gives out or we have to take you to the hospital for hypothermia?”

  “What are the searchers doing?”

  “They’re spread out along the road. We’d like to get down the side of the mountain but with the snow . . . Jesse Phillips is bringing his dogs. They can get down there.”

  Josh was heartened by the news. Search dogs were good. “You need something of Hannah’s for them to sniff?”

  “Deb brought a few things from her house.”

  “I hope he’s getting here soon.”

  Colt must’ve heard the fear in Josh’s voice because he said, “Any minute. Radio TJ if you want him to come get you.”

  Josh signed off, climbed another mile, and stopped to take a slug of water. Despite the cold, he needed to stay hydrated.

  That’s when he saw it....

  Broken branches, dirt mixed with snow, and flattened bushes just over the edge of the road. Most people would’ve chalked the disturbance up to the storm but Josh’s spidey sense was going crazy.

  It wasn’t a sheer drop, so no guardrail. He attempted to get down the side to explore, but between his injured leg, the snow, and rough terrain, it took every ounce of strength to keep from going down, headfirst. He managed to crawl several yards down when he saw a tree with a big chunk of bark missing from its trunk.

  He pushed himself farther. Behind a cluster of pines he caught something shiny glinting off the snow, like a foil wrapper. Josh followed the shimmer and that’s when he realized it wasn’t a wrapper but a slice of bumper—from a car. Despite his leg, he ran as fast as he could through the snow. A little ways beyond the broken bumper he spotted Hannah’s Ford. Its wheels were straight up in the air and the chassis was covered in snow.

  “Hannah,” he yelled as he got closer, a combination of adrenaline and fear pumping through his veins. “Hannah.”

  By the time he made it to the car his leg was ready to give but through the shattered glass he could see Hannah hunkered inside the roof, her body rolled into a fetal position.

  Don’t let her be . . .

  He reached in through the rear windshield, careful not to cut himself, and started to check for a pulse. Her eyes fluttered and in the faintest of voices she said, “What took you so long?”

  His heart rolled over in his chest. “I would’ve gotten here sooner but you were a little hard to find.”

  He’d already grabbed the radio from his belt as Hannah started to stir. “Don’t move until I check you.” When Colt came over the air Josh gave him his GPS coordinates and asked for an ambulance.

  “Is she . . . breathing?”

  “She’s breathing and talking.” Josh smiled at Hannah reassuringly. “But I’m concerned about broken bones and a concussion. Her car went over the side and rolled at least a dozen times before landing on its roof.”

  “We’ll get there ASAP.”

  Josh used his army knife to remove much of the glass and crawled as far into the car as possible so he could examine Hannah. He wasn’t a medic but had been trained in basic first aid.

  “Anything hurt?” he asked, gently running his hands up and down her back, arms, and legs.

  “Everything.” She sat up.

  “Hannah, honey, I told you not to move.”

  “I’ve been moving for hours, how else do you think I stayed warm?”

  It was then that he noticed that she was wrapped in those hideous sweaters. She’d layered them over her ski jacket, her legs, even over her head.

  He pointed at the sweater she used as foot warmers. “You never returned them, did you?”

  “Nope. I think I have brain damage just from having to look at them all this time.”

  Josh laughed. Other than a few cuts and bruises, he thought Hannah was probably fine. “Here, drink some water.” He pulled a canteen from his pack as well as a blanket to wrap her in.

  “Did you make it down Royal Slope?”

  “Ah, baby, the road was closed due to the storm. I tried to call you. I can’t believe you came out in this . . . you must’ve been scared as hell.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I knew you’d rescue me.”

  “You weren’t worried that I wouldn’t be able to get to you . . . with my leg?”

  “Not for a second,” she said.

  Right there and then, he forgot himself and their agreement to just be friends. He pulled her close, wrapped her in his arms, and let his mouth take over. She clung to him and there inside her wrecked car he held on to her, never wanting to let go.

  “Josh?” she whispered.

  “Hmm?”

  “Thank you for finding me. I think anyone else would’ve given up by now. But not you.”

  “Nope,” he grunted. “I’d never give up on you. Ever. Remember what you told me up on Sawtooth when we were kids?”

  “That I trusted you to get me down the mountain?”

  “Yep. You can always trust me, Hannah.”

  “So why can’t you trust me?” she asked in a faint voice that told him she was fading from cold and exhaustion. “Why do you have to get down the mountain all by yourself?”

  He contemplated that, thinking about how she’d been there for him, even though he hadn’t made it easy. How she made him feel whole at the lowest point of his life.

  “Maybe I’ve been wrong,” he said.

  * * *

  After the hospital, Hannah went home and slept ten hours. Josh had drawn her a hot bath, anticipating how sore she’d be. Nothing like rolling down an embankment in three thousand pounds of steel. Then he’d tucked her in like a baby and snuggled up next to her. Frankly, she was too tired to think about the implications of that and drifted off to sleep, forgetting that it was even Christmas.

  The next day bloomed bright and clear with just a smattering of snow. Josh surprised her that evening with a horse-drawn carriage ride. Somehow he’d gotten the coachman to do a personal pickup in front of Hannah’s house and they clopped down to Main Street just as the holiday lights blinked on.

  At first they didn’t say much, just held hands under the plaid blanket, which he tucked tighter around her. Since the accident, he’d been beyond attentive. And sweet. And he’d stopped acting like an island. This morning, he’d actually let her massage and ice his leg. After yesterday it was so stiff he could barely move it.

  “This okay?” he asked, pulling her ski cap over her ears.

  “Are you kidding?” she said, and scooted closer, resting her head on his shoulder. “This is perfect.”

  His breath turned white in the cold as he exhaled. “I love you, you know? I have since high school.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. Love was a big word for someone like Josh Garner to sling around. “You sure that’s not the adrenaline rush from yesterday talking?”

  “Almost losing you knocked a good amount of cold sense into me. But you’ve gotta know that I’ve always loved you. So much so that I had to leave Glory Junction.”

  She closed her eyes, remembering the past, which had become so much clearer in the last couple of weeks. “I think it was easier for me to convince myself that you disliked me. That way I could block out my own feelings for you.” Inappropriate feelings.

  “For me it probably started that day on Sawtooth,” she continued as the driver lapped the long block. “But when I saw you at the VFW Hall . . .” She took in a deep breath and her throat clogged with emotion. “I love you, Josh.”

  Josh pulled her in tighter so that she was practically sitting on his lap. “There’s no guarantee that I’ll ever get full use of my leg again. But, Hannah, I don’t want to lose you.”
<
br />   “You think that matters to me? For goodness’ sake, Josh, my life flashed before my eyes yesterday. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that nothing would stop you from finding me. Bad leg or not. But I can’t be with you if you don’t let me in. I can’t do that again . . . not like with Chip. We have to be in this together. You can’t let your leg define you or it’ll wind up defining our relationship.”

  He squeezed her hand under the blanket. “I know. After your accident, I realized how damned lucky I was. That by some miracle of fate I didn’t lose you a second time. Hannah, I’ve wanted you for so long. . . .” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to screw this up.”

  “Then don’t.” Her eyes filled and she swiped them with the back of her hand. “Let me help you find your way back.”

  “That’s the thing,” he said. “I’m pretty sure you already have. Just knowing you were here, in Glory Junction, brought me home . . . gave me hope.”

  “So we’re doing this?” she asked, and could feel a smile a mile wide open in her chest.

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “We’re doing this.”

  Epilogue

  On New Year’s Day, Hannah took a chairlift up to the top of Royal Slope. The entire Garner clan waited for her so that Josh could ski down the mountain.

  She didn’t know why he continued to insist on taking his life in his hands. The last week had been wonderful, Josh making a concerted effort to take the limitations of his healing leg in stride. It had been baby steps for both of them. Josh learning how to let Hannah in and Hannah learning how to love again.

  And now this.

  Looking down from the lift made her queasy. She abhorred heights but even worse was envisioning Josh shredding three miles of steep trail. His leg was getting stronger every day but this was too much too soon. Even his daredevil family had tried to talk him out of it. But stubborn Josh wouldn’t be dissuaded.

  She got off the lift dressed in layers and a ski hat pulled over her ears. It was cold enough that, even with gloves on, her fingers hurt. Josh met her at the landing with a coffee thermos.

  “You’re sure I can’t talk you out of this?”