“Hey, you’re crying. I can tell. I twisted my knee a bit, but I’m fine. Mason found me.”
“Mason? Isn’t he the boy you…”
“Yes, that’s the one. Are you and Melanie doing okay?”
“We’re at Sarah’s. She’s really nice. Melanie’s husband is coming to get her tomorrow morning.”
“I’m sure she’s happy about that. What did you think about Kaillar? Have you met Justin yet?”
“Is he the other brother?”
“Yeah. You’ll like them all once you get to know them.”
Mason listened to the conversation, his eyes never leaving Becca’s face. She wasn’t arguing with Gracie, but her expression said that getting to know him or his brother was the last thing on her list of things to do.
“What about you? Are you going to be okay until I get back there? I may have to have surgery on my knee to fix it. I think it’s torn.”
“Uhm…I need to get back home…Surgery…what…”
“Becca, slow down now and breathe with me. Come on. One, in. Two, out. Keep going. One, in. Two, out.”
The sounds of Becca breathing and Gracie counting ensued for several more minutes before Gracie lowered her voice, “Better?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
“Good. Look, I don’t want you trying to get back by yourself. I’d say borrow my car, but the keys are up here with me. Can you stick it out until I can get them to you? You can take my car back to Denver. I won’t be driving it until my knee heels.”
“Gracie…are you really going to be okay?”
“Yeah. I am.” There was a brief pause and then Gracie asked, “Can I talk to Melanie for a minute?”
Becca silently nodded and handed the radio back to Kaillar. She made sure their hands didn’t touch, and she refused to meet his eyes. Kaillar was more worried about her now than before. She seemed to have shut down before his eyes while talking to her friend. The exact opposite reaction the phone call was to have had.
“Gracie wants to talk to you,” he told Melanie, handing her the radio.
“Gracie?”
“Hey, Mel. What’s up with Becca?”
Melanie briefly explained what had happened on the way down the mountain. “She’s losing it, Grace. Completely shutting everyone and everything out.”
“I wish I was there to help. You need to get her to sleep. Can Michael stick around until I get off this mountain? I don’t want her left alone.”
Melanie smiled, “Your compassion is what makes you the perfect person to be a doctor. Yeah, Michael’s debriefing ended early. He’s officially out as of today. He was going to drive over and surprise us anyway. Now he’s just coming in without the element of surprise.”
“I’m happy for you. See if you can get Becca to get some sleep tonight.”
“I will. Justin offered to call the doctor if you think it would help?”
“Only if he’ll give her some sleeping medication. She needs to break the cycle of terror her mind is caught up in right now. But just going to sleep might only make it worse. She needs to sleep so deeply that her mind has to turn off for a bit.”
Justin gestured for the radio and Melanie handed it to him, “Gracie, its Justin.”
“Hi Justin.”
“Hey, I’ll call Doc myself. Do you have a recommendation for what might help her?”
Gracie rattled off two different sleeping medications she’d used on Becca before when she was like this, and she even gave him the dosages she would recommend if she were there. “Don’t forget that Doc has a lot more experience than I do. If he suggests something else or a different dosage, follow his instructions, not mine.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you know Becca better than he will.”
“I’m sure. I trust Doc to make the right decisions.” Gracie sounded confident, and that was good enough for Justin.
“Okay. I’m on it. You and Mason doing okay up there?”
“Just dandy .He just made me freeze-dried soup, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it wasn’t half bad. Not something I’d want to eat on a regular basis, but not bad.”
“Good to hear it. Tell Mason we’ll be up as soon as we can. Right now, the storm seems to have stalled over the mountains, and doesn’t look like it’s going to be moving on anytime soon.”
“He’s right here and heard you. Thanks for taking care of my friends.”
“No problem. Talk to you guys soon. Be safe.”
Justin turned the radio off, and called the doctor. After explaining to him about the incident on the hike down and Becca’s reaction, he also told Doc about Gracie’s recommendations. Doctor Matthews seemed impressed with her recommended treatment, and promised to get the prescription filled and bring it by Sarah’s in the next half hour.
Meanwhile, Justin and Kaillar could head on up the mountain. He’d check on her when he delivered the sleeping medication, and then Sarah and Melanie could take turns sitting with Becca until she fell asleep.
With a plan in place, Justin and Kaillar headed home, with Sarah promising to call if she needed help of any kind. Melanie’s husband was en route, but with the storm, it would be hours before he arrived.
Sarah promised, and Melanie thanked Kaillar again for coming to their rescue. The two brothers headed out, making their way back up the mountain through the ever deepening snow. Justin could tell that Kaillar’s mind was still on the frightened woman, and he hoped that they’d have a chance to meet one another when she wasn’t quite so terrified. She seemed like a sweet kid, and Justin had seen the look on Kaillar’s face. There was more than a passing interest there.
Justin wasn’t sure if it was her vulnerability, or how fragile she seemed, that had sparked Kaillar’s interest. Growing up, Kaillar had always had a soft spot for those in need. He always championed the underdog, and he tended to be the good looking guy who asked the mousy secretary type out because no one else would.
He’d had plenty of chances to find a girlfriend while working at the local ski resorts. Justin had seen him flirt with the snow bunnies, and yet, he never let the interaction go beyond the ski slopes. It had been the same way in high school. Kaillar had been more interested in playing football than girls, and Uncle Jed had fostered that situation as much as possible.
Now that Kaillar was an adult, Justin knew that he’d been feeling the same pull to settle down and find a wife. To raise some kids. But so far, Kaillar hadn’t shown more than a passing interest in anyone he’d met. Until now.
Something about the woman with the pixie face and sad, bruised eyes had gotten to him.
Chapter 7
Monday morning….
Gracie woke up, stretching inside her sleeping bag as she listened for signs of the storm outside. The wind had continued throughout the night, and she and Mason had done their best to stay warm and not worry about how they were going to get back down the mountain in the morning. Mason had continued to feed the fire throughout the night, and she made a mental note to thank him.
They didn’t have any cell phone service on this side of the mountain, but they still had the radio, and Mason confirmed that they were only about a mile from the position where he and Kaillar had found her friends.
Gracie tried to shift around, her body clamoring for her to get up and take care of nature’s call, but each time she tried to move her leg, the pain in her knee stole her breath away.
“Hey! You doing okay?” Mason asked softly, wanting to let her know he was awake and yet not startle her.
Gracie turned her head and looked at him with a half-smile. “Morning. Did the storm stop?”
“I think so. To tell you the truth, I’m almost afraid to look outside. You girls sure didn’t plan this trip out very well, did you?”
“That’s my fault, I guess. Although Melanie and Becca were already planning to come up here regardless. I simply asked to tag along, and then ended up driving us here. I should have checked the w
eather myself instead of relying on one of them to do it.”
“Well, don’t beat yourself up about it. The mountain seems to have already done a credible job of that.” Mason slipped from his sleeping bag, the ultra-low-temperature bags having been part of the accommodations they found in the line shack.
He squatted down next to her, and then checked her forehead, “Hurt?”
“Just a bit. Uhm…well, I hate to ask, but is there any way you could…”
“Don’t say another word.” Mason scooped her up from the sleeping bag, after unzipping it and assuring himself she wouldn’t freeze by spending a few minutes outside in the cold.
He carried her to the door of the shack and then nodded, “Open that, will you? My hands are full at the moment.”
Gracie couldn’t help but smile in the face of his silliness. She tried not to notice how right it felt to be in his arms. Or how little tingles of reaction shivered up and down her spine. Or how nice he smelled…Girl, get your head back in the game here. Survival. That’s where your brain should be. Oh, and …
Mason carried her a short distance away from the shack and then propped her up against a tree. “Hang on a second,” he urged her, using his booted feet to scrape the majority of the snow away from the base of the tree.
“Just hold onto the tree for balance. When you’re finished, holler out and I’ll come get you. Do you need anything else?” he asked, shoving some tissues into her hand.
Gracie blushed and shook her head, embarrassed beyond imagination. Mason took himself back towards the shack, and Gracie answered nature’s call as quickly as possible.
She tried to reason with herself that this was a simple bodily function, but her modesty and sense of propriety wasn’t buying it. Come on, you dealt with more embarrassing situations in med school. This is nothing. Only what you make of it.
She finished her business, and then righted her clothing once more. “Mason?” she called out more softly than she intended.
“Right here, sugar. Ready to get back inside and out of the cold?”
She tried not to think about how much she liked his use of the endearments. They made her feel special. Cared for. Dare she say loved?
Gracie nodded and tried to take a step towards him, but the pain in her knee when she put the faintest amount of pressure on it was staggering and swift.
“Ow!”
“Hang on, there girl. Let me carry you back inside.” He scooped her up for the second time that day, and Gracie felt her heart speed up at his closeness.
Mason was a gorgeous man, both inside and out. She hadn’t seen him in eight years, and had only been reacquainted with him for twelve hours, but his goodness shone like a beacon in the dark. The Mason she’d fallen in love with as a young teenager still existed. And from what she could see, he’d only perfected with age.
As he carried her back into the shack and settled her on top of the sleeping bag spread out before the fire, she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over his face and shoulders.
“How come you’re not married?” she murmured, wishing now that she’d had the guts to ask Sarah about Mason and his brothers.
“Never found anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. No sense in dating someone you know isn’t the one. I didn’t want to waste my time or my affections. My heart was given away a lot of years ago.”
His heart was given away a long time ago? How long ago? Could he mean... Gracie watched him, and then searched his eyes, “How old were you?”
Mason met her eyes and then gave her the only answer he could. The truth. “Fourteen.”
Gracie sucked in a breath, unwilling to dare to believe that Mason had felt as strongly about her as she had him. True, they’d promised to be there for each other for the rest of their lives, but they’d been so young. No one had really thought they knew their own minds back then.
Now, eight years later, Gracie found herself trying to adjust to the knowledge that Mason might still have feelings for her. Feelings that might mirror the ones she still held for him? Was it even possible? She had no problem reminding herself how much Mason had meant to her back then, but she’d never in a million years figured that Mason would care the same way still.
Realizing things were headed into waters that she wasn’t ready to swim in yet, she looked around and changed the subject. “It looks like something one would find on a Christmas card.”
Mason gave her a sidelong look, but then allowed the change of topic. “We got at least a foot of snow last night. And it’s mighty wet snow at that. Avalanche danger is going to be high in the backcountry for the next several days.”
Gracie nodded, having forgotten how risky wet snow this early in the season could be. “You and your brothers don’t…”
Mason shook his head, “No. Not anymore. We did for a while, but there was an accident a few years back where a park ranger guessed incorrectly about the safe zone. He shot the charges to trigger the avalanche, and ended up dying in it. Now, they contract out with professionals.”
Gracie felt relieved at that knowledge. She felt a chill as the wind picked up and changed direction. Rubbing her arms for warmth she inquired, “Do you think the chopper is coming sometime today?”
“Justin radioed a few minutes ago. It’s already scheduled to be here in a few hours. There’s just one little problem. The wind on this side of the mountain is too dangerous and unpredictable for him to land here.”
“What does that mean?” Gracie asked, sure she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“It means we need to get to a clearing about half a mile from here before he can pick us up safely.”
Half a mile? It seemed like an impossible feat in her current condition. “Mason, there’s no way I can walk half a mile.”
“You won’t have to. I have a plan.” He looked almost excited at the prospect of putting his plan into action.
“This is really not going to be much fun,” she murmured more to herself than the man watching her.
“Are you doubting my ability to get us to our pickup location?”
Gracie looked at him and shook her head, “Not really, just stating the obvious.”
Mason grinned at her and then asked, “Remember what we used to do on days right after a big snow?”
Gracie looked at him, realizing where his thoughts were going and immediately started shaking her head with an incredulous laugh. “No! You can’t be serious!”
Mason nodded his head, grinning broadly, “Oh yeah! I’m serious. Rest up. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Chapter 8
“Okay, mademoiselle. Your chariot awaits,” Mason told her as he stepped back into the shack almost an hour later. He gave her a bow, and pretended to remove his hat as well.
Gracie chuckled, smiling as pure happiness filled her soul. It seemed like forever since she’d felt this happy inside, and it was all because of the man standing in front of her. “Mason…”
She searched his eyes, wanting to tell him how she was feeling, and yet afraid that she’d misread him and the entire situation. Maybe it’s just being in this place that feels so good.
“Hey! Don’t think so hard. This is going to be fun, and I promise not to go too fast.”
Gracie rolled her eyes, “That is so very encouraging, Mario.” She used the nickname his brothers had given him one winter when they were ten, borrowed from a famous race car driver known for his speed – Mario Andretti. Mason loved speed and whether it was a toboggan, an inner tube, or skis – he was reckless and fearless. And Gracie really wasn’t sure he’d changed much. The laughter in his eyes was so much like the younger version she remembered, she wouldn’t be surprised if they both came to regret what was about to happen.
“Hey!” Mason evidently had seen her doubt and the concern in her eyes. He squatted down and cupped her chin, “I promise to go nice and easy. Slow even.” He said the word as if it something horrible, but nodded his head to bac
k up his promise.
Gracie laughed, “Okay, let’s go see this chariot you constructed.”
Mason stood up, and then scooped her up into his arms. Striding to the open shack door, he stepped out into the morning sunshine, “Tada!”
Gracie looked at the rough litter he’d constructed from fallen limbs he’d scavenged and what looked like a…door? He’d laced the boughs together with a length of rope she assumed he had in his pack, and then padded it with fresh pine boughs. “Wow!”
“Cool, huh?”
“Like I said, a regular Boy Scout.” She looked at his creation once more, and then looked at his face, “Just one question, where did you find a door?”
Mason pointed towards the outhouse she hadn’t even noticed sitting behind the shack. “I borrowed the door. No one will be using this area until Spring, and I’ll personally make sure that the door is returned, or another one is installed before then.”
“You made a survival sled out of an outhouse door?” Gracie asked in wonderment as her eyes took in the contraption he’d pieced together.
“Right? I’m a genius, I know. Now, let’s see how well it works.” He sat her down on top of the pine boughs, and then retrieved both of their packs. He handed hers into her hands and then fiddled around with his much larger one until he produced a pair of snowshoes.
“What are you going to do with those?” she asked, not seeing how they were going to help them sled…she broke off when he also produced two nice smooth pieces of wood which he clipped onto the bottom of the snowshoes. “Ah!”
“Clever, huh? I haven’t had the opportunity to play with these as of yet. This should be fun!”
“Mason, I don’t know…”
“Trust me.”
Trust him? “Well, I would love to, but Doc is really counting on me being alive to take over his practice. Maybe you should go meet the chopper, and bring one of the snow machines back up here, or something…”
Mason had finished strapping the shoes to his feet, and slipped his pack over his shoulders. Taking a few small experimental steps, he grinned when he didn’t fall over, but smoothly slid over to where she sat.
Three Brothers Lodge - The Complete Series Box Set Page 14
