You sound good.
I was quiet for a moment before I responded. It wasn’t as if things had been easy since I’d arrived in Cedar Ridge, but they’d most certainly been good. And I guessed, at the end of the day, the two weren’t mutually exclusive. You could have the achingly difficult with the profoundly beautiful. Sometimes, the hard made you appreciate the good more.
Me
I am. Really good.
Emerson
No one deserves it more. Love you, Hallie.
My eyes burned, chest cracking with the force of my love for my brother—the one who had always been there, no matter what.
Me
There aren’t words, Em. Love you more than I loved kicking your ass at Sorry!.
Emerson
Retribution is coming.
I laughed as I kicked off my shoes. Curling up on the couch, I opened my e-reader app and started back into the world of fallen angels. But it wasn’t long before my eyelids were drooping, and the world faded away.
* * *
A hand curvedaround my shoulder, shaking me gently. “Hallie.”
The voice was deep, coated in sandpaper, but somehow, I only wanted to get closer. “Hmm?”
I blinked against the low light of the living room. Lawson’s face filled my vision. His scruff-covered jaw, his piercing blue eyes. I jerked upright. “You’re okay?”
His lush mouth curved. “Still gettin’ feeling back in my toes, but I’m just fine.”
“How did it go?”
All hint of humor fled Lawson’s face as he lowered himself to the couch. “We didn’t find her. We’ll reassemble tomorrow after first light.”
It wouldn’t be light until at least seven in the morning. “Will she make it through the night? It’s freezing.”
Lawson stared down at his hands before looking at me. “If she found shelter, she has a chance. The friend she’s in town with says she always hikes with an emergency kit.”
“Why wasn’t the friend with her?”
Lawson’s fingers worried the seam of a couch cushion. “Not much of a hiker. One went to hike this morning, the other set off to poke around town, then they were going to meet for lunch and an afternoon at the spa.”
A painful ache settled in my chest. “It was supposed to be a fun trip.”
Lawson nodded.
“Do you think you’ll find her?”
He stared back at me, not breaking the connection. “We’ll keep trying for as long as we can.”
I knew they’d looked for me for far longer than they should have. My parents had made donations and pulled strings to ensure it. The initial search had lasted over a week. After that, they’d sent out teams every few days to check different areas of the wilderness near where I’d disappeared.
“But, usually, they won’t let you search for long,” I surmised.
Empathy filled Lawson’s expression. “Resources are limited. But Holt does everything he can to give us our best shot.”
