GRAE
PAST, AGE FIFTEEN
I twistedmy necklace between my fingers as I tilted to the side from my perch on the boulder, straining to get a better view of the trailhead’s parking lot. I took in the SUV pulling in, and the air left my lungs in a whoosh of disappointment.Not him.
A wet finger snaked into my ear, and I jumped, batting the arm away. “Gross! What is wrong with you?”
My older brother, Holt, laughed as he caught me in a headlock. “Someone’s gotta teach you to keep on your toes.”
I grabbed for the hair on his arm and pulled. Hard.
“Ow! Shit, G. That hurt.”
“That’s what you get for playing with fire,” our eldest brother, Lawson, said with a grin as he walked up.
“She’s like a Tasmanian Devil. Cute but deadly,” Holt muttered.
Lawson ruffled my hair, and I shoved his hand away. “But we trained her that way.”
I scowled at him, but he wasn’t wrong. Having four older brothers meant three things: One, I was the most overprotected teenager in Cedar Ridge. Two, I’d learned how to fight with the best of them by the time I was five. And three, I wouldn’t have a first date until I was approximately thirty.
“You guys are the worst,” I grumbled without any heat. The truth was, I loved them like crazy, but they were equally annoying.
“Youwere distracted. Who were you looking for?” Holt asked, suddenly suspicious. “Heard Rance was coming to train with his dad.”
Roan walked up then, a frown creasing his brow, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my mostly silent brother would be staring my poor classmate down for the entire afternoon during search and rescue training.
I groaned. “No. Rance is afriend. Maybe you’ve heard of those.”
I should’ve just said I was looking for him. It would’ve been better than the truth. Besides, Holt was a freaking hypocrite since he was dating my best friend, Wren.
Lawson’s brows pulled together. “You shouldn’t have friends who are boys. You’re too young.”
“I’m fifteen. Most girls in my class have already lost their virginity,” I snapped as I pushed to my feet.
A series of groans and shouts from the three of them filled the air. Our dad crossed to us. “Hey, what’s going on? We’re about to get started.”
Dad had helped run the Harrison County Search and Rescue team for as long as I could remember. The team got a lot of use with the number of tourists who came to our little town a few hours east of Seattle in search of outdoor activities galore. And Dad had gotten his kids involved with SAR early on.
All of us had fallen in love with it. Being in the outdoors, helping people…there wasn’t a better combination.
Lawson patted Dad on the shoulder. “Trust me when I say you don’t want to know.”
Dad looked in my direction. “Pumpkin?”
Heat hit my cheeks. “It’s nothing. They’re just being annoying.”
He chuckled. “What’s new?” He surveyed the group that had assembled for one of our training sessions. “Nash.”
My youngest brother’s head snapped up from looking at his phone. The worried look on his face had my stomach cramping. It had been doing that for the past week. Probably because I knew this day was coming. My fingers found my necklace again, the tiny metal disc imprinted with a compass that had become my talisman since I’d been gifted it on my thirteenth birthday.
“Get over here,” Dad called. “We’re about to get started.” He looked at the rest of us. “I’m going to gather everyone else. Gear up.”
Nash moved slowly through the trailhead welcome area, and I met him halfway.
“Have you heard from him?” I asked quietly.
Nash shook his head. “He’s not answering my texts.”
