pulled up his hood and stepped out from under the tarpaulin, scouting the area until he found a large flat rock on which they could perch without sitting in one of the many rivulets coursing down the hill.
He returned to Aiyana. “Put on your knapsack. I’ve found a better spot.”
“I don’t think I can get it on fully, but I can pull both straps up onto my good shoulder.”
Cody put his pack across his chest and shot his arms through the straps. He positioned himself in front of Aiyana. “Hop on my back.”
“Cody, really, that isn’t necessary.” She stood up and cried out. “Oh, crud. You’re right. I can’t walk.” Again she sounded on the verge of breaking down, but she stiffened behind him. He sensed her bucking up. She tied two of the corners of the thermal blanket at her throat, wearing it like a cape. Next, he took her weight when she boosted herself onto his back. She wrapped her good arm around him and as far across his chest as she could.
He dragged the tarp behind him to the large rock he’d found. He eased her onto the rock’s surface, up out of the water cascading down the slope. Then he set up the tarp as a shelter using two nearby trees and some rope he’d brought with him. Next he took the second still-dry tarp from his bag and helped Aiyana to her feet so he could spread it beneath her across the rock.
When she sat back down, she sighed. “First dry thing I’ve touched since the middle of the night. You came prepared.”
“With Noah Cameron’s help. If I ever get stranded in the wilderness, I want my uncle with me.”
“What can I do?”
“There are sandwich fixings in my bag. Can you make us a couple?”
By the time he finished and sat on the rock beside her under the tarp, she had two crusty rolls filled with salami and cheese.
“Sorry there’s no mustard or mayo.”
“What are you talking about?” She held up a small plastic container of mustard and a plastic knife.
“Wow, the Colantonios came prepared.”
She’d already bitten into her sandwich. “This is heaven on earth. I’ve never tasted anything so good.”
Cody watched her chew with lips that were full and warming up. To distract himself, he took out a thermos he’d filled with the last of the second pot of coffee Mom had made this morning. He’d doctored it with plenty of sugar and cream. He poured half into the lid cup and handed it to her.
“It’s barely warm,” he warned.
She accepted it and took two gulps. “It’s wonderful.”
He poured the rest into the cup and tried to get her to take it, too.
“No. You drink it.”
“I brought it for you.” When she hesitated, he ordered, “Drink.”
She did, sipping this time while she ate the rest of her sandwich. When she finished eating, she brushed crumbs from her lap, her fastidious behavior at odds with the reality of her soaked, mud-covered clothes. Cody hid his smile.
She sighed. “That was the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten.” Her smile warmed him to his toes. All these years later and she was so much lovelier than he could have imagined. All of her realized potential was a miracle, while he’d lost his.
Don’t go there. Concentrate on getting her out of here.
While he ate, Cody took in his surroundings.
“Going up to the ridge here isn’t an option. It’s too steep.” He could do it alone, but not with Aiyana on his back. He kept that last part to himself. “So we’ll follow the ravine along the river until we reach a shallower incline.”
She’d been watching him make his assessment. “You could leave me here and walk out for help.”
She was being brave. His protective instincts kicked him in the ribs. True, in the past, they’d gotten him into trouble—Stacey came to mind—but there was no way he was leaving Aiyana alone.
“Nope,” he said, rejecting her idea.
“Just like that. No argument?” She’d stiffened. “You’re being stubborn. You can’t carry me out of this ravine.”
He set his jaw. “I can and I will. I’m not leaving you. If anything happened to me on the way back, you’d be out here alone for another night. I’m not taking that chance.”
Her mood shifted as if being out here another night alone terrified her. She nodded and said, “Okay. Thanks.” Beneath that simple word hovered profound relief.
Again he disliked the way she looked at him as though he were some kind of hero. He wasn’t. He hadn’t been worthy of that kind of designation in years, not since he’d left his hometown.
He’d left Accord to attend school in California. Many times since then, he wished he’d taken another road, one that had led to a different destination. He should have made better choices.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Let it go, Jordan. Concentrate on this, the here and now.
He roused himself. Now was a time for action, not thought.
“First things first,” he said, rummaging in the bag. He pulled out sweaters and a pair of pants.
It was obvious she’d sensed his withdrawal, but she smiled gamely. “What is that? Some kind of magician’s bag? It seems to be bottomless.”
He grinned, but it probably looked fake. He hated that he’d come to deal with people on only a surface level. When was the last time he’d been himself with someone? Truly himself?
“Now that you’re fed, we need to get you out of those wet clothes and into dry ones.”
Her dark-eyed gaze slid away. “I’m—I’m going to need help. With the shape my shoulder’s in, I don’t think I can get out of these.”
He liked her shyness. “I can help. Let’s start with your jacket.”
After only one touch, he realized how difficult the task was going to be. “You’re hurt pretty bad everywhere, aren’t you?”
“It was a hard fall.”
Five minutes later, with great care, he’d managed to take off her jacket and sweater. He reached for the buttons of her blouse.
She brushed his hands away. “I can at least do that.”
When she’d finished, he took over because she couldn’t shrug out of it without using her shoulder. Underneath, she wore a mauve bra. A livid, dark, round bruise colored her chest between and onto her breasts. Cody hissed in a breath. “How did that happen?”
“I landed on my camera, on the lens.”
“Christ,
