The Love That Saved Him

by Sophie Barnes

  Sniffing, she stuck her hands in her pockets and gave a curt nod. “I think I’ll go check on how the boys are getting on, if you don’t mind.”

  He said nothing further, though she could practically hear him thinking coward as she exited the shelter and made her way to where Jack was managing the digger. Busying herself with the mining process would offer a welcome distraction for all her unnecessary ponderings about Pierce. And it did, until he suddenly came striding toward her a couple of hours later.

  “I need your help,” he said, eyes bleak and hopeless and…

  She dropped the bucket she was holding, dirt spilling onto the ground as her heart lurched with the instinct of looming tragedy. “What is it? What’s happened?”

  “It’s Frank.” He shifted, crossed his arms and then uncrossed them again. “He’s gone missing, and I…I honestly don’t know who else to turn to. Jenny’s beside herself with hysteria. It’s been three hours, and he’s not at the old cabin where he said he’d be going. I’ve checked there already and—”

  She placed her hand on his arm, startling him as though he’d been lost in thought. “I’ll help you look,” she said, deliberately meeting his troubled gaze. “We all will. Just stay here. I’ll be right back.” She ran to Jack and called up into his cabin before continuing along the dirt road the bulldozers had dug to where Klaus and Peter were working. “There’s a man missing,” she called to them both. “Drop what you’re doing and help me find him.”

  Ten minutes later, she’d gathered the crew in the shelter and was filling them in on the details, her heart pounding at the prospect of Pierce enduring yet another loss. “Peter and Klaus can head out on foot to cover the dense and rocky terrain. Take a blanket along for Frank and flashlights in case it gets dark.” She gave them each a radiophone so they could get in touch with each other, then addressed her grandfather. “You’re with Jack in the pickup. I’ll go with Pierce in the Argo.”

  Everyone nodded and began heading out, but as Thomas passed her, he gently caught her by the arm and whispered close to her ear. “We’d best hurry. It’s getting late, and the nights out here are still very cold.”

  “I know that,” she quietly agreed. “Now go.”

  When they’d all gone, she grabbed her own equipment and hurried over to Pierce’s home where she found him waiting, the Argo already roaring loudly as though eager to get on the way. “Were you able to ease her concerns?” Sarah asked, referring to Jenny.

  “I don’t think so,” Pierce said. He took the bundle she held, tossed it into the back, and offered his hand to help her in. “She won’t calm down until we find him.”

  Which of course was understandable, Sarah decided as they took off in the direction of the Murphy’s old cabin. If someone she loved went missing up here in the wilderness at this hour, she’d be worried sick too.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As twilight settled in producing a hazy glow from the headlights, Pierce and Sarah wove their way through the forest, dodging trees and occasionally stopping to check for broken twigs, flattened brush, and other signs Frank might have wandered in the direction they were heading.

  “He’ll freeze out here,” Sarah said, mostly speaking to herself while she drew her jacket tighter.

  “I know.” Pierce’s voice was grim with concern.

  A crackling of the radiophone caught their attention, and Pierce halted the Argo and let the engine idle. “Jack?” He asked. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah,” came Jack’s choppy voice from the other end of the phone. “We’ve driven five miles. I doubt he could have gotten much further on foot, so we’re heading back via another route. Maybe we’ll catch him then.”

  “Okay,” Pierce told him, his tone just tight enough to convey his frustration. “Keep us posted.” He revved the engine and got them moving again while Sarah tried to think of what to say. She wished there was something she could do to ease his concerns, but the truth of the matter was she was just as anxious as him, perhaps more so because of her familiarity with the perilous landscape. And that was without considering a possible bear encounter in the dark. So they continued in silence, each with their own thoughts clogging their heads until Pierce eventually stopped the engines.

  “He wouldn’t have gotten this far,” he said into the silence.

  “Perhaps he’s closer to home than we thought,” Sarah suggested for the sake of saying something that might sound uplifting. Instead, her words felt uncomfortably flat. “We could do as Jack did and head back another way.”

  “Yeah. You’re probably right.” But rather than start the engine, Pierce remained completely still, and Sarah realized then how helpless he felt and how similar that feeling must be to the one he’d experienced with Caroline just one year earlier.

  So she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Pierce. We have to keep on looking. We cannot return to Jenny without him.”

  He nodded, but the gesture lacked confidence. “Yeah,” he repeated and started the engine once more. Turning the Argo about slowly, he headed back, shoulders slumped and back arched against the cold night air. The darkness opened and closed around them as the headlights broke through it, lighting trees that seemed to rise out of nowhere, their foliage a bright green hue for a second before fading into the shadows. If Frank had wandered between them into the denser areas… Sarah tried not to think of that as her hand clenched the side rail she was holding. She scanned the ground, looking for signs, increasingly discouraged by the blackness of night. It was as if a curtain had been pulled before her eyes, only parts of it pierced by the flashlight she wielded.

  “Anything?” Pierce shouted over the sound of the engine.

  “Not yet,” she shouted back. “Keep going.”

  He did so, setting a course directly toward the cabin but via a different route than the one they’d thought Frank might have travelled. A bump and a swerve sent Sarah sliding across toward Pierce, her shoulder and thigh slamming into his. He didn’t react, his attention focused on his purpose, so while the sudden contact had jolted her senses, she swiftly recovered, aware of what was at risk. Regaining her balance, Sarah braced her feet more solidly against the floor and followed the beam of her flashlight, squinting at briefly illuminated areas until a bit of the light caught a flicker of blue and red between the trees.

  “Hold on,” Sarah shouted, elation shooting up inside her with the knowledge of what she’d probably just seen. Those colors could only signify one thing all the way out here. “I think we’ve found him.”

  Perce didn’t need a second telling. He directed the Argo to the spot Sarah pointed at until the headlights settled on the outline of a person slouched against a tree. “Oh no.” Pulling up, he placed the Argo in park before vaulting from the vehicle, leaving Sarah with the difficult task of keeping up.

  “Please, Frank, please,” she heard him pray as she came up behind him, her breath catching in her frozen lungs.

  “Is he…” She dared not finish the question while she knelt down next to Pierce and allowed the glow from her flashlight to land on Frank’s face.

  “I don’t know,” Pierce choked. He pulled off his glove and placed the palm of his hand against Frank’s cheek. “He’s so cold, Sarah. Like ice.”

  “Frank,” Sarah said, employing the toughest no-nonsense voice she could muster under the circumstances. He didn’t respond, so she spoke his name again, this time following it with a rough shake of his shoulder. Frank’s eyes opened slowly, lazily blinking as though he might fall unconscious at any second, and his breaths were slow, barely visible at all.

  “He’s alive,” Pierce rasped as though scarcely believing their luck. “Oh God, Sarah. For a moment there I thought…Jesus!”

  “We have to get him home as fast as possible.” As relieved as she also felt, she kept her voice firm and steady, aware that they couldn’t risk wasting another second with Frank no doubt already suffering from hypothermia. “Can you lift him if I help?”

  Nodding, Pierce pu
lled Frank forward and wound his arms around his chest. He then dug in his heels and started to rise while Sarah did her best to hold Frank steady, preventing his feet from slipping out underneath him. “Have you got him?” she asked, huffing and puffing with the strain of holding a grown man upright.

  “I think so,” Pierce said, “but I’ll need you to guide me back to the Argo and help get him into a seat.”

  “Right.” She grabbed onto Frank’s right side, his weight almost toppling her sideways. Shoving her shoulder against his armpit and winding one arm around his back, she eventually managed to counterbalance Pierce’s efforts until little by little, they made their way back to their vehicle. “We need to turn him around so we can get him seated,” she said, stating the obvious.

  As expected, maneuvering a two-hundred pound man was no easy task. Sarah lost her footing repeatedly, her slighter form no match against Frank’s much larger size. But Pierce held on, his arm steady even as he gritted his teeth with the strain. “There,” he said once Frank finally had been lowered onto a seat. “Climb into the back, Sarah, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  She tossed the blanket they’d brought with them over Frank’s still body while Pierce called Jack and Thomas with concise updates. Hopping aboard the Argo, Sarah barely landed on the bench before it took off in the direction of Pierce’s home. Scrambling for balance, Sarah let out a yelp as she banged her knee against the side.

  “Are you okay back there?” Pierce called.

  “I’m fine,” she shouted back even though the spot ached horribly, and she knew it would probably bruise. But it was nothing when compared to Frank’s condition, and right now, the only thing that mattered was getting him home where it was warm. “Hang on, Frank,” she shouted. “We’re almost there.”

  When they pulled up as close as they could get to the front door a bit later, Pierce stopped the engine and jumped out as Jenny came running to greet them. “Is he all right?” she asked in a strained voice. “What on earth happened?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” Sarah told her. Ignoring the pain in her knee, Sarah did her best to help Pierce get Frank out of the ATV. “We found him in the woods, about two miles away and in the wrong direction.”

  Jenny’s hands flew to cover her mouth. “Oh God,” she muttered. “He looks so…” Her words faltered and faded on a gasp of breath.

  Grabbing Frank firmly by the arm, Sarah put as much muscle as she could into levering him into a standing position. Together with Pierce, she escorted him inside and through to the living room where the couch provided a comfy spot by the fire.

  “His lips look blue,” Pierce said. “Let’s get him something hot to drink.”

  “I’ll make some tea,” Jenny said, already hurrying toward the kitchen.

  “You should probably give him a change of clothes and a blanket,” Sarah suggested. “I’ll radio everyone else and tell them to go home and rest. No sense in having them all arrive on your doorstep right now when the last thing you need is visitors.”

  Catching her by the wrist, Pierce stopped her from leaving. “Do you think we ought to take him to the hospital?”

  Pushing aside the delicious feel of his skin against hers, Sarah looked to where Frank was sitting and shook her head. “No, I don’t think that will be necessary. The color’s already returning to his cheeks. My guess is that we found him just in time, and he’ll be much better by morning.”

  “Thank you.” He spoke the words softly, as though he meant them as a caress.

  Inhaling a tremulous breath, Sarah offered a nod of assurance before pulling her arm away and heading back outside. She was just imagining things. Pierce was simply concerned for his father-in-law, and she would be a tremendous fool if she allowed herself to believe there was anything more to it than that.

  “Are you able to tell me what happened?” Pierce gently asked Frank as soon as Sarah was gone. He could still feel the softness of her skin upon his fingertips, could still see the sincere concern that had shone in her eyes ever since he’d told her of Frank’s disappearance. Shaking off the desire to go after her, to seek out her company, her warmth, and her closeness, he made himself focus on what was important. “You gave us all a horrible fright, you know.”

  The words seemed to catch Frank’s attention, and as he looked up to meet Pierce’s gaze, Pierce saw that he was embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.” His voice was a little slurry, and he still looked ready to doze off at any second.

  Crouching next to where he sat, Pierce reached for his hand and squeezed. “For what to happen?” he prompted.

  Frank flinched as if startled. His eyes seemed to focus and he suddenly frowned. “One of the shingles had blown off the old cabin’s roof, so I went looking for it. When I found it, I tried to put it back.”

  Pierce stared at him. “You climbed onto the old cabin roof? Without anyone there to help you?”

  “It seemed like a fairly simple job until I lost my balance and fell.” He gave a slight shrug and stared up at the ceiling. “I must have hit my head or something ’cause I’m fairly sure I lost consciousness for a while.”

  “Jesus!”

  “When I tried to find my way back here, I must have taken the wrong path. I don’t know, Pierce. It was getting dark, my head hurt like hell, and I must admit I was somewhat confused.”

  Sympathizing, Pierce stood up and gave him a pat on the back before going in search of a dry sweatshirt and blankets. When he returned, his father-in-law was sipping the tea Jenny had made, while she removed his shoes and socks and propped his feet up on a stool in front of the fire. “Here,” Pierce said, handing Jenny the items. “It will do him good to get his cold shirt off and wrapped up in these instead.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m ever so grateful, Pierce. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

  “Think nothing of it. I’m just glad he’s okay.” Meeting Frank’s gaze he added, “We’re seeing the doctor tomorrow first thing about that bump on your head. No arguments. I want to make sure it’s not serious.”

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” Frank assured him. He was already looking much better than when Pierce and Sarah had found him. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Nevertheless. I insist.” Without waiting for Frank to protest, Pierce went to see if Sarah was still around or if she’d already taken off. To his surprise, he found her standing on the front step with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. “What on earth are you doing? Why don’t you come back inside where it’s warm?” The last thing they all needed was another case of hypothermia.

  “Jack said he’d be by to pick me up soon. I thought I’d wait for him here, since I didn’t want to intrude.”

  “Intrude?” He couldn’t believe she’d suppose herself capable of doing any such thing. “I would have been lost without you today, Sarah.” Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms for a tight embrace and spoke against her coat collar. “You’re welcome in my home anytime.”

  He felt her nod against his shoulder, which for some reason made him smile. And then she leaned back and looked up, her eyes meeting his and her lips parting as though she meant to tell him something. But whatever words might have entered her mind seemed to float off into the night, unspoken, as they held each other’s gazes. And in that moment, Pierce knew that ignoring the attraction between them would be as impossible as choosing not to see the incredible woman who stood before him. The only questions that remained were whether or not to explore it any further and which of them might make the first move.

  A car honked and Pierce instinctively dropped his hold on her. “Looks like your ride’s here.”

  She responded with an awkward laugh as she took a step back, adding distance. “Sure does.” Brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead, she tucked it behind her ear and offered a timid smile that made Pierce’s heart beat a little bit harder. “Give my best to Frank. I’ll be in touch tomorrow to see how he’s do
ing.”

  “I plan to take him into town for a doctor’s visit. Apparently he hit his head pretty bad, so I want to make sure there’s no serious damage.”

  “That’s probably wise.” She stepped down onto the driveway. “Well, I’ll be around, working with the boys. Give me a shout when you get back from the doctor.”

  “Will do.” Waving to Jack, Pierce waited for Sarah to get in and for the car to drive off before going inside. “Caroline,” he whispered, the word like a prayer as he tried to assess his feelings. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel nearly as guilty about the moment he’d just shared with Sarah as he would have expected. Which could only mean that he was managing his grief properly, and that by doing so, he was gradually allowing himself a second chance at falling in love.

  When Sarah walked into the kitchen the next morning, she found her grandfather waiting for her at the table. “Mornin’, Sarah. There’s a pot of fresh coffee and two slices of toast for you. I got your plate ready as well so come on and eat. I’d like to get over to the site as quickly as possible, if that’s okay with you.”

  Blinking, she grabbed a mug from the cabinet before taking the seat across from him. “It’s a bit unlike you to be up before me,” she said as she poured the coffee. “What’s the hurry?”

  “Nothing much, but it’s seven o’clock already, which means it’ll be at least eight by the time we get started on the dig, and with everything that’s happened lately, I’m worried we’re falling behind.”

  “Really?” She grabbed the toast and began adding butter. Then took a bite. “Are you sure that’s what this is about?”

  “Of course.” His brows drew together in a frown.

  She gave a small shrug. “As far as I can tell, we’re doing all right so far, with a pretty good chance of catching up on lost time if we add an extra hour here and there.”

  “Which is precisely what I’m trying to do,” he told her irritably. Downing the remainder of his coffee, he got up and carried his plate to the sink. “I’ll meet you outside in ten minutes.”