“Truck...” Roy sat straighter and put his hands on the steering wheel. “I gotta pick up Josh. And...the lady.”
“I’m the lady. And I don’t have time for this. Get out! I need the truck.” She stretched across the inebriated foreman to unlock the driver’s door, then circled the vehicle again to open the door. When Roy stared at her blankly, she grabbed his arm and dragged at him. “Get out!”
Moving slowly, Roy slid from the front seat and wavered as he tried to stand. The cold air and chilly rain seemed to shock him, and his eyes widened. “Josh...”
“Is at the bottom of the cliff, waiting.” She nudged him aside and cranked the engine. Throwing the F-350 into reverse, she backed as far as she dared toward the edge of the drop-off and climbed out with the motor idling. The extended cab truck had a bumper hitch, and she used it to tie off the ropes that snaked over the cliff. Walking back to the rock ledge, she peered down to find Josh. He was holding on to a boulder, floodwaters to his waist, battling the current.
Her heart rose to her throat. “Josh!”
He glanced up.
“I have a truck to pull you up!”
He pointed to his ear and shook his head.
“A truck!” She shouted again in frustration. Then inspiration struck. She hurried back to the driver’s seat and laid on the horn.
When she returned to the edge, Josh was smiling and giving her a thumbs-up.
“Ready?”
He nodded.
She blew him a kiss and hustled back to the front seat. Her body ached, but having the end in sight, having a means to help Josh buoyed her flagging spirits and reenergized her.
“Go slow,” she told herself, knowing that a quick ascent would bump and scrape Josh along the rock wall. He needed to be able to orient himself and push off the rocks with his feet or hands, guide his path.
Holding her breath, she put the truck in gear and eased off the brake. The F-350 crawled forward, stalled. She tried again, giving the slightest tap to the gas pedal. She rolled forward a couple feet, faster than she’d intended. She winced and whispered an apology to Josh. Jerky stops and starts weren’t good for him either, so she pushed the gas again, barely. The automatic transmission caught, and she inched forward, fighting her own impatience to get Josh up faster.
“Please, please...” She wasn’t really sure what she was wishing for, what her pleas were seeking. But she knew this mess wouldn’t be over until Josh was safely above. A shiver rippled through her as she nudged the gas pedal again, watching the rearview mirror for signs that Josh was up. Should she stop and check on him, make sure the plan was going right? That seemed wise.
Putting the truck in park, she returned to the edge of the cliff. She peered down and spotted Josh dangling a few feet out of the water. As she watched, he managed to use a hand to turn himself and brace his feet against the rock. He glanced up, saw her and gave another thumbs-up.
Releasing a tense breath, she staggered back to the driver’s seat, fueled purely by adrenaline. As she prepared to inch forward again, she heard a man shouting, “Josh!”
She glanced in the rearview mirror and spotted Roy Summers, standing at the edge of the drop-off, wobbling as he tried to look over the edge.
Terror streaked through her. Irritated as she was with the foreman, she couldn’t let him tumble drunkenly over the cliff. Damn, damn, damn the man!
She slid back out of the truck and stumbled tiredly to Roy. “Get back, Roy!”
Her mother had been a schoolteacher, a strict disciplinarian, and Kate had learned the tone of voice that commanded attention and respect. She employed it now as she seized Roy by the arm and tugged at him. “Get away from the edge!”
“Josh...is hurt?”
She dragged him toward a fallen tree and shoved on his shoulder. “Sit. Down.”
Roy fell more than sat.
She aimed a finger and a stern warning glare at him. “Stay. There.”
Roy fumbled to sit up. “Josh—”
“I’ll help Josh. You stay put. Got it?”
“I—”
“Stay. Put!” she shouted.
Roy frowned at her but nodded.
She shook from fury, cold, exhaustion, frantic worry, muscle fatigue—God only knew which, but probably a brew of them all. Kate climbed back in the truck and shifted into drive again. Eased off the brake.
She allowed the truck to roll forward at a turtle’s pace, though everything inside her wanted Josh up top now. Faster. Hurry. She fought the impulse to gun the engine. Forced her breathing to slow. Patience. Easy does it.
Finally, Josh’s dark head crested the drop-off, and he hauled himself the last few feet before dropping on his knees and sagging like a rag doll.
Slamming the F-350 into park, she slid from the front seat and raced to him. “Josh! Are you okay? Did I go too fast? Ohmygod!” She nearly knocked him over as she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I’m fine. You did great.” He returned a strong one-arm hug, kissed her cheek, while she clung to him. She felt a shiver roll through him. He’d been in frigid, waist-deep water for several minutes on top of the chill from the rain.
“You need to get warm,” she murmured in his ear. He nodded, but didn’t move from the hold he had on her. He seemed as reluctant as she was to let go, but when Roy’s voice broke the bubble of intimacy around them, Josh raised his head.
“Josh, you’re hurt?”
Josh backed from their embrace.
“Roy, hi. You have no idea how good it is to see you.” A warm smile lit his face, then Josh stood and extended his right hand to help Kate to her feet.
Sliding the backpack from his shoulders, he opened the main compartment, lifted out the wet rabbit and set it on the ground. “There you go, Bugs. Find shelter, buddy.”
After a brief stunned moment, the bunny came around and bolted toward the nearest scrubby bush.
Roy blinked as if he thought he was seeing things before he turned back to Josh. “The zip...zip line...” To her surprise, and clearly Josh’s, too, Roy began to weep. “You were hurt. She said you were hurt. You coulda died...”
“Hey, whoa. I’m okay. Just reinjured my shoulder. The one I dislocated a few years back. But it wasn’t on the zip line. We had a close encounter of the bad kind with a mama bear.”
Roy stumbled closer, and with his head hanging, he put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son. I didn’t... You weren’t...”
Josh sent an awkward glance to Kate, and she mouthed, “He’s drunk.”
Closing his eyes, his expression darkening to disgust and annoyance, Josh backed away from Roy’s grip. Roy staggered, swayed but stayed on his feet. Barely.
“Let’s get out of here.” Josh turned to her. “Kate, I hate to ask, but...can you drive? Between his inebriation and my bum shoulder, you’re best suited for the job. I’ll sit in the back and keep an eye on him.” He jerked his head toward Roy.
She blinked against the rain and swiped a hand across her nose to wipe away the tickling rivulets dripping from her bangs. “Uh, sure.”
“Come on, old man.” Josh shoved his good shoulder under Roy’s arm and led him toward the idling truck.
“Josh is hurt...” Roy mumbled again, then shook his head. “No...he’s ’kay.”
When he reached the passenger door, Josh wrinkled his nose and scowled. “Damn it, Roy! It smells like a distillery in here. What the hell?”
“Sorry. Sorry...didn’t mean to...”
While Josh loaded Roy in the back seat of the extended cab, Kate arranged the front seat to her liking, adjusted the mirrors and buckled her seat belt. Then turned the truck’s heater on high, the fan to full blast. She rubbed her hands together in front of the stream of warm air and sighed tiredly. “That feels so good!”
Josh closed the passenger door and settled
in the back seat. “There’s a dirt-and-gravel road that leads off this mountain. It’s narrow and windy, and with all this rain, it’ll be muddy and slick.”
Kate met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Just when I thought the dangerous portion of the trip was behind us.”
He flashed her a rueful grin. “I’ll make it up to you.”
She lifted both eyebrows and the corner of her mouth in a flirtatious grin. “Oh, yeah? Do tell?”
Shifting into gear, she headed for the narrow road, following Josh’s verbal directions. He hadn’t been kidding when he said the road would be twisty and slick. Kate clutched the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip as they wended down the steep embankment for several miles.
She could feel the tires lose traction once or twice in the mud, causing the back to fishtail slightly, and each time, her pulse would spike.
Neither she nor Josh spoke as she maneuvered down the mountain. She was focused on driving, and he was either allowing her to concentrate or too exhausted to make conversation. When she finally reached the paved road, she glanced over her shoulder and with a humorless grunt said, “Well, that was fun.”
“You handled it expertly, though. Good job.” Josh reached over the front seat to squeeze her shoulder. “You’ve risen to the occasion every time it was needed over the last few days.”
She shifted on the seat, awkward with his praise. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment. Really.”
“Didn’t think you were, but you deserved the truth. You’ve earned my compliments and much more.”
Another backward glance told her that Roy had passed out again. He snored softly, mouth slack, and not likely to wake again anytime soon. Kate debated whether she should say anything about the foreman’s inebriation. The man’s drinking and job performance were ranch business and none of hers. Except that Roy’s intoxication today meant he’d been no help in rescuing her and Josh. And the alternately concerned, furious and frustrated looks that Josh gave the sleeping man proved how important the matter was to Josh.
What was important to Josh was now deeply important to her. Her stomach flipped realizing how much she’d grown to care for Josh. “So...” she said softly, and Josh’s eyes met hers again in the rearview mirror. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time he’s gotten drunk on the job.”
Josh puffed out an exasperated sigh and twisted his lips as he studied the foreman. He seemed to be debating whether to say anything, but after a moment he said quietly, “We’ve known for years that he drank heavily in the evening. It started when his wife died back when Brady was a kid. Brady says his dad’s drinking got worse January before last, when Brady’s brother and sister-in-law were killed in a car accident.”
“How could his drinking not affect his work?”
Josh shrugged. “I think Brady covers for him. Roy confines his drinking to the evenings...usually.” Josh glanced at Roy and frowned. “Somehow, for the most part, Roy’s managed to keep his drinking separate from his job performance.”
She nodded. “I believe the term is functional alcoholic.” Her gaze darted back to the rearview mirror in time to catch Josh’s eyebrow lift in intrigue.
“You have experience with alcoholism?”
“Not in my family, but my best friend since childhood has had to deal with it with her mom. We’ve discussed her struggles many times.”
Josh nodded and shifted his attention to Roy, who grunted, smacked his lips, then nodded off again. With another heavy sigh and a frown, Josh added, “There was an incident a few months back at my parents’ anniversary party where he showed up drunk and made a scene.”
Kate said nothing, waiting. She could tell there was more on Josh’s mind, but she gave him the space to tell it at his own pace.
“He’s like family, Kate. No...he is family. He’s been our foreman for longer than I’ve been alive. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”
Using the mirror, Kate studied Josh’s pained expression. “Have you, or your parents—someone—talked with him about it?”
“Brady has, I’m sure.”
“Tell me if I’m overstepping here and I’ll butt out, but...it seems to me, if he’s like family...and he needs an intervention...you, meaning your family, should insist he get help.”
Josh’s face reflected defeat...and agreement. “Yeah. I know. We’ve been kicking that can down the road for a while.”
“Avoidance isn’t a solution. If you care about him—”
Josh was nodding. “I do. We do. You’re right. It’s just...hard. And touchy, you know.”
“There are organizations out there to support you all, his family, too. Use them,” she suggested with an encouraging tone. “And...if you want someone to listen, I’m here.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Josh said no more, and she took the cue that the subject was closed. Instead, he instructed her where her next turn would be to get back to the ranch.
They debated whether she should drive them to the ranch first or if she should go straight to an urgent care clinic for Josh’s shoulder. His priority was getting her back to the ranch and into warm, dry clothes. But Kate was worried more over Josh’s injured shoulder. And since she was literally in the driver’s seat, she won. She made one stop at the first diner she found to get them all cups of hot coffee. When she returned to the truck, Josh was on a cell phone, presumably Roy’s, talking to someone at the ranch, reassuring them that the two of them were safe and would be back at the Double M as soon as the doctor saw to his shoulder.
When he hung up, he said, “My mom insists on meeting me at the after-hours clinic. I told her I didn’t need her to come, but she’s a mother and she’s been worried about us, so...” He lifted a hand as if to say, What can you do?
After removing her coffee, she handed Josh the take-out carrier with the last two cups, and he added, “She’s bringing Piper to drive you and Roy back to the ranch.”
Kate was oddly disappointed not to be the one to stay with Josh at the clinic, making sure he was all right and getting him home. But then, it wasn’t her responsibility, was it? She was the ranch guest. Just the marketing advisor. No more. Even if her heart screamed that she wanted to be much more.
But they’d faced so much together these last few days. Didn’t that count for anything? They’d shared kisses, touches, embraces that suggested a deeper bond than simply guest and tour guide. And yet she had to consider the fact that the feelings could be one-sided. Josh had said he was proud of her for tackling the challenges they met head-on, but he’d never expressed any personal affection for her. Kisses were just kisses without words of love to back them up.
She took a gulp of coffee that warmed her inside, but a different sort of chill had settled in her bones in the last few moments. The physical danger had passed, but a niggling sense of dread warned her a new danger lay ahead.
Chapter 14
“See that she’s given plenty of TLC when you get her home,” Josh told his sister when Piper and his mother met him at the medical clinic. “Hot coffee, one of our best steaks, build a fire at the guesthouse and open the best bottle of wine for her.”
“I know how to be a good hostess, Josh,” Piper countered. “You go be a good patient and do what the doctor tells you.”
Their mother tugged gently on Josh’s good arm, coaxing him toward the exam room where the nurse stood waiting for him.
“And give her a pair of those fuzzy socks you love so much.”
“I will.” Piper laughed and sent Kate a look as they headed out to the parking lot, where Roy waited in the back of the truck. “What have you done to my brother?”
Josh puffed out a sigh and turned toward his mother. Her expression asked the same question Piper had raised. He frowned. “What?”
“Did I say anything?” his mother said with a sly smile.
The doctor’s exam told him what h
e’d already guessed. In addition to mild hypothermia—already improving thanks to warm blankets, hot coffee and the dry clothes his mother brought—Josh had dislocated his shoulder. And although he’d popped it back into the joint, the tendons had been strained, the joint was inflamed, and he needed to ice it, rest it and take anti-inflammatory painkillers for several days. The claw marks left by the bear were also checked and cleaned. After getting a steroid injection, a prescription for an antibiotic because of the claw wounds and a sling for his arm, he stopped at the front desk to settle his bill, while his mother headed out to the car.
“Well, well, well. Josh McCall lives to tell the tale.”
Josh glanced up from the document he was signing. His gut clenched with antipathy when, at the check-in desk across from him, he spotted his high school nemesis—and, unfortunately, his loan officer—Gill Carver.
“What do you want, Gill?”
“Just making small talk with a client. No need to be nasty.” Gill shifted his attention to the woman signing him in. “Mandy has a fever and a sore throat.” He put his hand on top of his daughter’s head. “Dr. Hayward is expecting us.”
The nurse bent to talk to the little girl, then led her down the hall toward an exam room.
“I’ll be there in a minute, sugar,” Gill called as he moved his gaze back to Josh. He gave a quick glance to a form he was filling out, but said, “Word on the street is you had a bit of trouble on your first adventure trip this week. In fact, the way I heard it, you nearly killed a woman.”
Josh gritted his teeth. “Mind your own business, Gill.”
Gill chortled. “Huh. Seems to me, as your banker, the one who loaned you money for this venture of yours, it is my business.”
Restless and irritated, Josh tapped his credit card on the countertop, waiting for the cashier to return and finish checking him out.
“Your accident—” Gill paused, clearly letting the sarcasm in his tone soak in before continuing “—leads me to think you don’t know what you’re doing with your adventure tours.”
“Ma’am,” Josh called, waving his card at the billing clerk impatiently. She held up a finger to signal she’d be there in a minute.
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