Why not Wyoming? (Wyoming Wilds Series Book 1) (25 page)

“Do they know we’re missing?”

“I was in contact with the Sheridan tower. They know we were
having icing problems, and I told them I didn’t think we were going to make the
airport,” he admitted, lowering his gaze from hers. “They were searching for
other options when things went bad.” 

Annie peered into the gloom. From what she could see, it
appeared they’d somehow dropped smack into a narrow clearing before clipping
the trees along the side. It was a hell of a shot.

“It looks like you pulled off a regular Miracle on the Hudson.”

“We were lucky,” he said simply.

Burrowing her nose down into her scarf, Annie closed her eyes
and tried to will her body to radiate more heat. What she wouldn’t give to
cuddle up to CJ about now. Her brain was still slogging through the effects of
the crash. Thinking took a lot of effort. How come they went over what to do in
the event of a crash, but not what to do after? Maybe they didn’t expect any
survivors. The thought made her shiver more.

Annie wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked to dispel
the morbid thought. They’d been in contact with the tower. So by now, the
airport knew something was very wrong. Did CJ know? He would’ve been at the
airport waiting for her. What had they told him? Had anyone been waiting for
her travel companions? The question made her want to cry. Ducking her head to
the top of her knees, she rocked harder. What was she supposed to do? The
simple fact was that nothing prepared you for this.

“What are the chances of them finding us here?” she finally
asked.

The expression on the pilot’s face was not encouraging. She
wished she’d kept her face in her knees, or the question to herself.

“The weather is going to hamper search efforts tonight. They
won’t risk anything in the air after this. So you’re looking at snowmobiles and
old-fashioned horse power. The temperature is dropping and the Big Horn
National Forest covers over a million acres.”

It wasn’t an answer, but yet it was. That sounded like
somewhere between slim and none. She let her forehead fall back to her knees
and swallowed against the lump of fear growing in her throat. Panic prickled
over her skin. What she wouldn’t give to be back safe and sound in her tower. Why
had she thought this was a good idea? CJ’s bearded face swam before her clenched
eyes along with his dimpled smile. Oh yeah. She’d had a very good reason for
leaving her cocoon.

Snapshots of their time together flashed through her mind. She couldn’t
help smiling into her scarf. He was the best thing that had ever happened to
her. CJ made her feel alive again. She wasn’t ready for that to end. There had
to be a way out of this mess. She glanced back at the pilot. He looked
resigned. That wasn’t going to work for her. Her parents hadn’t raised a
quitter. They just needed to find a way to stay dry and somewhat warm until
help came. Help would come. Slim and none was for people whose boyfriend was
not Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett all rolled into one sexy teddy bear of a
man.  

Stabbing the thick branch into the snow, Annie pulled her
back leg free and pushed forward another step. Her muscles quivered with
exhaustion. She had never wanted to sit down more in her life, but a little
voice in her head warned that if she stopped now, she might never get back up.
Did that voice know her or what? Her first meeting with CJ flashed to mind.
Stocky and sexy, he’d ridden up to the rescue on a snowmobile. His smile had
rivaled the sun with its sparkle, but there had been no judgment when he asked
if she was ‘all pooped out.’ CJ was real. From that first minute, he’d put her
at ease. She’d never met anyone, male or female, that she wanted to just be
around, spend time with, like CJ. The fact that he was adorable and amazing to
cuddle with just made it even better. She added that to the list of things to
tell him when she made it out of here.

Something hidden under the snow snagged her boot and she
sprawled on her belly with a grunt. Trying to catch her breath, she weakly kicked
to free her foot. A little sigh of relief whispered from her lips with freedom.
She didn’t want to picture being trapped out here. Just being alone out here in
the dark was bad enough. Her eyes darted around at a stray beam of light. It
was probably just the moonlight reflecting off the ice and snow. More of Mother
Nature’s sense of humor. Scraping the grasping branches and snow away from her
laces, Annie cautiously rotated her ankle to check for injury. Her knee was
next. When both joints passed the test, she pushed to her feet with effort and
stumbled on.

The wind was playing tricks on her too. Several times, she’d
thought she heard voices. Every noise, every shadow, made her heart pound
beyond what the physical exertion was already doing. Annie winced. Out of shape
and a chicken shit to boot, a heroine she was not. She was doing her best. At
least she hadn’t sat down and hyperventilated yet. That was something. Proud of
herself for not giving in to a panic attack or not, even she had to acknowledge
the ‘yet’ in her thoughts. Grimly, she shook her head. There was no time for a
meltdown. She needed to keep moving.   

Fumbling in her coat pocket, she pulled out her phone. Gloves
made pushing the small buttons difficult, but she was long past removing them. Her
fingertips were numb. She stared at the screen, fighting the urge to sit down
and cry. It had been almost four hours since she’d left the crash site. Still no
signal. Drawing a shuddering breath, she checked her heading and pushed forward
again. Thank God some things worked, even without service. Without it, she
would’ve wandered aimlessly.

Her thoughts followed her footsteps back to the wreckage. Waiting
for the cavalry had ceased being an option when Joe had started showing signs
of shock. Joe. Joe Jenson. The pilot had made sure she knew his name before she
left. His name, and that of his wife and two kids. The knot in her throat tried
to choke her. A sob broke behind the frozen confines of her scarf. Call her a
coward, but she had begged him to let her stay with him. At least she could’ve
seen that the fire had stayed going and done what she could for him. But he had
insisted that this was their best chance. She swallowed another sob. What if he
was wrong about where they were? What if she somehow missed this oasis of a
visitor center? What if there was no traffic on these merging highways he
promised were in the middle of a million acres? Icy tears clung to her lashes.
What if she couldn’t save him? How was she going to explain that to Jill,
Jacob, and little June?

Something cracked to her right. Annie froze. Slowly raising the
flashlight, her eyes probed the darkness. Her heart sounded unnaturally loud in
the quiet. Slowly, she choked up on her makeshift walking stick. She might make
a tasty meal, but she was not going to be an easy one. Her eyes settled on a
dark spot among the tree trunks.  It was just out of range of the flashlight. Her
lungs burned with the need to breathe. The imagination she usually valued
instantly went into overdrive, giving the huge black blob a big bucket head and
round bear ears. It’d be just her luck if one woke from hibernation early.

Inching forward, she gave it a wide berth, keeping her light on
the shape until she was walking backward. It didn’t move. Of course it didn’t
because it wasn’t a bear, or even alive apparently. Annie shook her head at her
foolishness and tried to breathe normally. The heat flooding her face was
welcome but she felt foolish and couldn’t help but wonder if her big game guide
boyfriend would have had a good laugh at her stupidity. It would’ve been worth
the embarrassment to hear his laugh right now.  

The wind howled her name. Her breath froze in her chest. It
sounded so real. Her eyes darted over the shadowy landscape. Was she losing her
mind? Her head throbbed in silent reminder. Was the concussion messing with her
grasp on reality? There it was again. Annie took an involuntary step forward.
Ears straining, she held her breath. She put a hand over her heart, willing it
to quiet so she could hear.

Come on
.

Body tensed, she leaned too far forward and stumbled against a
tree. Still nothing. Tears sprang to her eyes. She wasn’t crazy.

“Hello!?” she shouted, voice breaking in the cold night air.

“Hello!”

Hugging the tree, her heart leapt. That wasn’t an echo!

“H-hello!? Is someone out there?”

“Hey! Over this way,” someone yelled.

Her arms tightened around the trunk. It wasn’t an echo! Something
was moving. No. Not something. Someone! Fear and excitement warred. A light
swung in her direction. Throwing up a hand to shield her eyes, she dropped to
her knees.

“Come on, honey. Talk to me!”

She threw up an arm, waving frantically. “Hello! Over here!”

A horse and rider finally materialized from between the trees. She
ducked her head away from the harsh light.

“Are you from the plane crash?”

Annie nodded blindly, relief robbing her of speech.  

“Are you okay? What’s your name?”

“Annie. Annie Brand,” she whispered as the man squatted in
front of her and lowered the light to the ground between them.

He pulled down his ski mask, a grin visible in the glow. 

“I know someone who is going to be
really
glad to see
you.”

Blinking, she couldn’t help smiling back, her fear trickling
away.

“How’re you doing? Are you hurt?” the man asked again, shrugging
off a pack to drop beside them.

“I-I hit my head. It stopped bleeding for the most part, but
I’m pretty sure I have a concussion,” she admitted, shakily taking a sip of the
coffee he offered in a thermos cap. “You have to help Joe. His leg is bad, and
he was going into shock.” 

“Alright, darling. Don’t you worry. We’re going to get you out
of here, and we’ll find your friend.”

Annie’s shoulders slumped as the older man patted her hand in
reassurance.

“Do you know how far the plane is from here?”

Digging her phone out again, she looked at the time.

“Um, I know it’s four hours west. You have to get to Joe.
There’s a small clearing where he’s at. Can you get a helicopter? They should
be able to see it from the air. We built a fire before I left.”

“Whirlybirds don’t care too much for ice, darling. It’ll take
them down a lot faster than a plane like you were on. Don’t worry. We’ll get to
him,” he said, pulling out a satellite phone. “I’m going to let them know that
I found you and pass on the rest of the information you gave me. Then we’ll see
what we can do to find that boyfriend of yours. That boy is crazy in love with
you.”   

“You know CJ,” she said, her confused brain not sure if it came
out a statement or a question. She squinted. The man had indicated twice that
he did. God, her head hurt. 

“I’ve known CJ since he was a kid. I coached him in high school,
and I’ve been on the Search and Rescue with him for almost ten years now.
You’ve got yourself a good one.”

Clutching the blanket her rescuer had draped over her shoulders
Annie nodded, wincing at the twinge in her neck and her throbbing head. She
knew that. CJ was the one. She couldn’t wait to see him, to be in his arms. Her
eyes drifted shut. She was so damn tired. Reality sucked. If this had been one
of her books, the hero would’ve been the one to find the damsel in distress. A
silly smile ghosted over her lips. Millions of acres, how many ever searchers,
and the hero is always in the exact right spot at the right time. Wasn’t
fiction grand?

The feeling of falling snapped her back awake. She groaned. Her
muscles protested as she plopped back on her butt and straightened her legs
out. What she wouldn’t give for a hot bath and a cup of Barrett hot chocolate
right now. Her mind wandered to the hot tub at the lodge. She could imagine
leaning against CJ’s barrel chest, those inky whorls of hair tickling her back.
Annie sighed and her body jerked again. Damn. She put a steadying hand to her
forehead. She really needed to get some sleep.

CJ shoved off the bumper of the Search and Rescue truck and
broke into a run when he saw the horse and riders appear out of the forest. It
took the last of his self-control to slow a few yards away so as not to startle
the animal.

“I think I have something here that belongs to you,” the older
man drawled, easily swinging his mount’s rump around.  

CJ held up his arms and Annie all but tumbled into them. Her
arms locked around his neck and he felt her body shudder. Nosing clothing out
of his way, he sought the comfort of the crook of her neck. Breathing in her
scent, he struggled with his emotions. 

“I love you,” she whispered against his ear.

“I love you too, baby. So damn much,” he choked out. “Don’t
ever do that to me again.”

“No more airplanes. I want to go home.”

Annie’s voice broke and he felt tears hot against his ear. CJ’s
grip tightened. The little girl tremor tore at his heart. He would gladly drive,
hell, he’d walk the thirteen hundred miles to take her home if that was what
she wanted.

“Come on, Barrett. Bring her over to the ambulance so we can
check her over.”

Annie’s hug threatened to choke him. He rubbed her back.

“It’s okay, babe. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right there
with you,” CJ promised.

Reaching down blindly, he hooked the back of her legs, never
relinquishing their embrace. Crossing the base camp, he clambered into the back
of the bus and they closed the doors behind them. With a little coaxing and a couple
of kisses, he settled Annie on his thigh and started helping the female EMT
unwrap the stiff outer layers. Annie was shaking violently. Her head drooped,
forehead bumping against his jaw. She wobbled in the circle of his arm as she
tried to straighten. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so tired.”

“It’s okay. Let’s just let Kay take a look at your head,” he
said, wincing as the paramedic carefully peeled Annie’s hat away from the
wound. “Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“My neck,” she mumbled.

Holding her as close as he could and still allow Kay to do her
job, CJ continued to rub up and down Annie’s spine. It felt so good to have her
back in his arms. There’d been a couple of times tonight when the fear of
losing her had threatened to overwhelm him. The hand on her back shook. Apprehension
knotted his gut. No more airplanes. She just wanted to go home. Did she mean
home as in Michigan or his cabin here in Wyoming? He would live with either without
complaint if he could just be with his Annie.

The shrill of her phone threatened to split Annie’s skull in
half. Fumbling to silence the damn thing, she blindly put it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Why in the hell haven’t you called me back?”

Wincing, Annie yanked the phone away from her ear.

“Seriously?” she whispered.

“I’ve left dozens of messages between your phone and CJ’s. Thank
God you’re okay. Have you talked to anyone yet? The national media has picked
up the story. This is fantastic. I’ve been trying to get a flight out there,
but everything is canceled because of the damn ice.”

Holding the phone at arm’s length, she listened to Cami’s rant in
disbelief.

“You don’t want to give the story away. Don’t talk to anyone
without talking to me first. This could be huge. We could be looking at
60
Minutes
or
Good Morning America
,” Cami babbled on.

Annie flinched as the phone was snatched out of her hand.

“Annie has a grade three concussion. Thanks for asking,” CJ
growled. “She’ll call you back when she’s feeling better.”

Ending the call with a vicious stab of his finger, CJ let out a
low rumble and turned the phone off before placing it back on the bedside
table. Annie bit her lip, trying not to laugh. CJ’s neck cracked audibly as he
rolled his shoulders and then he smiled, dimples and all.