When We Met (Hqn)

by Susan Mallery

  At the third one he found a girl who was maybe eleven or twelve. She was crouched at the base of a tree, crying. Angel took her by the arm and pulled her to him. Rain poured over both of them.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he told her.

  The girl shook her head. “I can’t swim.”

  “Then heading away from the water is the best plan.”

  She trembled but didn’t move. Angel didn’t bother to argue anymore. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the main trail. At the base of it, he found Taryn waiting.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded loudly.

  “Making sure you get out, too,” Taryn said. “Don’t worry. The Acorns are all safe. I did a head count before I came back.”

  He swore under his breath, then thrust the girl at her. “She’s in shock. Get her to the top and out of the cold.”

  “I will.”

  He wanted to say more, but he had three sites to check. The rain fell hard and he could hear the water even from here. It was rising fast.

  “Go,” Taryn told him. “I’ll take care of her.”

  He nodded. In the distance came two sharp explosions. Trees, he though grimly as he hurried along the muddy path. The water had reached the tree line.

  He couldn’t see very far in front of him. Rain blinded him and he was cold to the bone. Still, he checked the last of the campsites. They were empty. He turned to the main trail only to find it was now covered in water that rose visibly every second.

  As he watched, a couple of coolers floated by. There was a chair, then an air mattress. He moved faster. He hoped to hell Taryn had gotten the girl off the trail, because it wouldn’t be very long until there wasn’t a trail.

  He waded through the rising water. Something hard hit him and he nearly went down. He grabbed a nearby tree branch and managed to stay on his feet. But there was no way he could get back to the trail.

  He did the only thing possible—he went straight up the mountain. Hand over hand, dragging himself under branches and around bushes. Mud and debris seeped into his clothing, but he kept moving. There was a rumble as part of the mountain started to give way. Then he was up over the side and pulling himself to his feet so he could get to the parking lot and do a head count.

  He arrived there a couple of minutes later. There was chaos everywhere. Parents ran around frantically looking for their girls. Angel brushed the mud from his face and realized the rain had stopped. But the flood waters would keep rising.

  “People! Please!” Denise Hendrix yelled, trying to get the group to pay attention.

  Angel walked over to her, put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loud enough to wake the dead. Everyone turned toward him.

  “Everyone get over here,” he yelled. “Parents, line up in rows of ten. Stop crying and screaming and get over here—now! I went through the camps myself. The tents are empty.”

  By now they were all gone, but there was no point in mentioning that now.

  “Line up,” he repeated. “Only in groups of ten. Girls, stand with your grove. Grove Keepers, show them where you want them.”

  The number didn’t matter, but he knew from experience that if people were busy figuring out how many were in their line, they would be less inclined to panic.

  Everyone started to do what he said. Soon they were sorted and the head counts started.

  He walked around, looking for his girls, only they weren’t there. None of them. His chest tightened and breathing became impossible. Then he heard the second scream of the night.

  Angel went running. He found several of his girls at the trailhead leading down to the lower campsite. But Taryn wasn’t there. Neither were Chloe or Regan.

  “Regan lost her bracelet,” Allison told him, grabbing on to his hand. “She and Chloe went to look for it and when Taryn found out, she was really mad. She went after them. They haven’t come back yet.”

  Angel told her to get back. Other parents came and took charge of the girls. He started down the trail. The ground shifted under his feet and he was forced to retreat.

  “Angel?”

  He heard the small voice, so faint it nearly faded into the wind.

  “Chloe?”

  “Angel? We’re here.”

  He followed the sound and moved to the right. He could hear the water but couldn’t see anything. Several parents moved close and turned on their flashlights. Then Angel spotted movement. Regan and Chloe were clinging to a tree. Taryn was with them. Water lapped at their feet.

  “We went to get my bracelet,” Regan admitted when she saw him. “Taryn said to stay with the others, but we didn’t. We’re sorry.”

  Something Angel would deal with later, he thought as he started down the muddy side of the mountain. He braced himself against a still-standing tree and reached for Regan. She grabbed his hands and he pulled her to him.

  Behind him several other Grove Keepers drew her up to safety.

  “You’re next,” he told Chloe.

  Nearby another tree snapped and the ground beneath them shifted. Chloe screamed.

  “I’m here,” Angel told her. “I’m not going anywhere. Just move up the tree and I’ll grab you.”

  Chloe nodded and inched toward him. He leaned forward as far as he could, but it wasn’t enough.

  “Here!”

  He felt something hit his back. A rope. He tied it around his waist, then felt it tighten as the others hung on to him. He leaned forward and reached for Chloe again. This time he grabbed her.

  She clung to him like a monkey. He stepped back and felt them both being hauled up a few feet.

  “Come on, Chloe,” Denise Hendrix said firmly as she stuck out her hand. “I’ve got you.”

  Chloe reached for her, then scrambled to the top. Which left only Taryn.

  Angel adjusted the rope at his waist, then moved toward her. The ground shifted and she screamed as the tree she was on cracked and bent. The night was dark and the flashlights didn’t reach this far. He could only see shapes rather than details, but he knew she was watching him.

  “Taryn,” he said slowly. “Taryn, listen to me.”

  Because the tree she was on was going to be swallowed by the river any second. She was going to have to let go and grab on to him. She was going to have to trust him.

  Defeat settled on his shoulders. There was no way he could convince her. Not so fast. Not with a lifetime of horror to recover from. Her father had reached out and had let her fall.

  The water continued to rise. It was loud and he could see objects floating by. He felt the first waves lapping at his feet. Before long, the tree she clung to would be pulled into the current and she would go with it.

  “Taryn, you have to trust me,” he said, frustrated, scared and aware of the growing danger.

  “You’ll catch me, right?” she asked.

  He nodded. As he wondered if he could simply lunge forward and hang on, she pushed against the tree and launched herself toward him. He caught her just as the tree cracked in half and fell into the swirling water.

  “He’s got her!” someone yelled. “Pull!”

  * * *

  TARYN HAD NEVER been so cold her in her life. She couldn’t stop shaking. It didn’t help that her clothes were soaked and muddy. No matter how many blankets people piled on her shoulders, she knew she wasn’t going to get warm until she could get home and step into a hot shower.

  People kept coming up to her and asking if she was okay. She nodded, and kept counting heads of the grove. Eight heads, she told herself. All the girls were okay.

  Angel stayed close. He, too, was being covered in blankets. He joined her in making sure their grove was all there, then kept his eye on her.

  Regan’s parents and Chloe’s mother had already thanked them both about three times. While the adults looked shell-shocked, the girls couldn’t stop talking about their adventure.

  “The water rose really fast,” Chloe was saying. “It was cold and we were scared, but Ta
ryn kept us safe and Angel saved us.”

  They were all smiles, Taryn thought, knowing she would never forget the horror of turning around and finding the two girls had disappeared. In the second it had taken her to process the information, the stream had turned into a wild river and had risen what felt like twenty feet.

  “I can’t wait until next year,” Regan told her folks.

  Chloe grinned. “Me, too.”

  “I need a drink,” Taryn murmured.

  “Me, too.”

  Angel put his arm around her and led her to his truck. She started to mention that her car was here, then realized she had lost her bag in the flash flood. It was gone, along with her car keys, her house keys, her driver’s license and credit cards.

  She came to a stop. “I can’t get in my house.”

  “I’ll get you in.”

  “I lost my bag. My wallet.”

  “All replaceable.”

  He guided her to his SUV. He had his keys tucked in his jeans.

  She hesitated before sliding onto the passenger seat. “I’m going to mess up the leather.”

  He grabbed her by her upper arms and gave her a slight shake. “You think I care about that?”

  The intensity of his expression made her exhale. “Not really.”

  “Good. Now get in.”

  They drove to his house and collected clothes, then made the quick trip to her place. Angel used lock-pick tools to open her door. It took him about thirty-five seconds.

  “I’m impressed and not the least bit surprised,” she said as she dumped the blankets by the door and pulled off her wet and muddy boots. Her ruined socks followed.

  Angel closed the front door, dropped his duffel on the floor, then removed his boots and socks. They walked down the hall to the master bath. She turned on the shower. As the water heated, she stripped off her clothes.

  She was careful not to look in the mirror. She didn’t want to know how bad it was. She was still shaking and felt a little light-headed. Shock, she thought. Not a huge surprise.

  They went into her shower. Until that moment, she’d never appreciated the second showerhead. Now she turned it on so they were both under the hot, steamy spray. Angel reached for the shampoo and poured some in his hands.

  He washed her hair, then his own. They rubbed soap on each other’s bodies and cleaned off the mud. Somewhere in the rinsing process, she realized how slick his skin was and how his hands lingered on her breasts.

  She turned to face him and saw desire in his eyes. As she reached for him, he stepped close.

  “I could have lost you,” he said right before he kissed her.

  His tongue tangled with hers. His hands roamed over her body, exciting her wherever he touched. She felt his erection against her belly.

  She put her arms around his neck. He lifted her up against the wet, warm tile wall of the shower, then pushed into her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and hung on as he filled her over and over again.

  He supported her by her butt, his fingers digging into her curves. The hot water flowed over them as heat grew inside her. With each stroke, she was more and more aroused and at the same time conscious of the mountain of emotions coursing through her. Relief, shock, gratitude and terror mixed with sexual need. The combination threatened to overwhelm her. She was close but not sure she could make it over the edge. Not sure she wanted to. Losing control now would be—

  Her orgasm claimed her without warning. Pleasure poured through her and she cried out, her voice nearly a scream. Angel continued to fill her, drawing out her release, even as the emotional barriers fell and she began to sob.

  He waited until she’d stopped shaking to finish, then lowered her to the floor and held her until the water started to cool.

  * * *

  ONE CHANGE OF clothes, a quick hair blow-dry, a brandy and a bowl of soup later, Taryn was feeling more like herself. They sat on her sofa, watching HGTV. It was the most normal channel she could think of. It was after midnight, but she wasn’t the least bit sleepy. She was still too wired.

  Angel sat next to her, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. She’d stopped shaking and was starting to feel as though the shock was wearing off.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I don’t know how you did your military stuff. Going through this much stress, day after day.”

  “You get used to it.”

  She raised her head and looked at him. “Seriously?”

  His gray eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. “No. You never get used to it. You just get better at faking it.”

  “At least I didn’t throw up.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve always admired your standards.”

  She laughed, then the humor faded. “I’ve never been so scared.”

  He took her hand in his. “You were brave and you kept yourself in the game.”

  “Now you sound like the boys.”

  “I’m serious. You could have freaked out and you didn’t.” His gaze locked with hers. “To be honest, I didn’t think you’d let go of the tree.”

  She knew what he meant. “You didn’t think I’d trust you enough.”

  “That, too.”

  Funny how in that moment she hadn’t thought about her father. She’d understood what was happening and had known she had one chance at escape. So she’d jumped and Angel had caught her.

  She knew he would have done the same for everyone, but she liked to think he’d been a little extra worried about her. She snuggled close again. “I want to call Bailey and Regan’s parents in a bit. Check on the girls.”

  “Good idea. I can’t believe they went down the trail instead of staying in the parking lot.”

  “I know. Regan wanted her bracelet.” She touched her chest. “Just thinking about what happened terrifies me.”

  “They could have been killed,” he said flatly.

  She felt the tension in his body and had a feeling he was thinking they all could have been killed.

  “You’re not going to yell at me for going after them, are you?” she asked.

  He kissed her. “No. You did the right thing.”

  “We are so going to have a talk about following instructions and being sensible at the next grove meeting.”

  “No kidding. We’re also going to talk about how to handle an emergency.” He squeezed her shoulders.

  “I have to say, this doesn’t make me want to go camping with the LL@R guy. I hope he wasn’t expecting to use that campsite.”

  Angel chuckled. “You won’t be going there. It’s going to take a long time to get the campground usable again. Even after the water is gone, it’s going to be a mess. Plus, once an area is known for having a flash flood, people are less inclined to want to spend the night.”

  “I’m sure Fool’s Gold has other camp areas.”

  “You don’t sound thrilled by that fact,” he teased.

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “The groves will want to camp again next year.”

  “Goody,” she murmured.

  God knows there was plenty of wilderness all around the town. Not that it would matter to her, she thought. She’d helped Angel out with the grove because he was helping her learn to be outdoorsy for a client. Next year she wouldn’t have that.

  The realization was unsettling. She liked hanging out with the girls. The meetings were always fun and she enjoyed the various projects. She liked the idea of the grove being together for more than a couple of months. They could come up with a really cool community service project. Not that socializing the puppies wasn’t fun—but next time they could find something that was more involved with life in the town.

  Only there wasn’t going to be a next year for her. Not with Angel and his grove. Because there wasn’t going to be a next year for the two of them.

  They had both been very clear about their relationship, she thought. Neither of them was looking for more than a temporary involvement. He’d been challenged and she’d be
en intrigued. They weren’t young and foolish—they weren’t looking to fall in love.

  Except she had. Sometime when she hadn’t been paying attention, she’d handed over her heart. Maybe that’s why it had been so easy to trust him to catch her earlier today. She’d had nothing to lose.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, then drew back enough to see his expression. “I love you. I’m not saying that because of the flood. I realized the truth before you played hero.” She gave him a smile. “This wasn’t part of the rules or what was supposed to happen, but it did. I love you, Angel. I wanted you to know.”

  She watched him closely, not sure what she would see on his face. She hoped he realized how significant this was for her. She’d never been in love before—had certainly never said the words. She didn’t expect him to say it back to her in the moment, but maybe he could hint.

  Only Angel didn’t look happy at the news. For a second something dark and uncomfortable flashed in his eyes, and then his face went completely blank. It was like staring into a statue.

  He shook his head finally. “No,” he said. That was it. Just no.

  Her body went cold—only this was so much worse than before. It came from the inside, not the outside, and she knew that she would never feel warm again. She willed herself not to react to his rejection, not to say anything. She wouldn’t beg.

  Not when he got up and not when he walked out of her house without saying another word.

  She sat on the sofa, HGTV playing in the background. For the second time in less than a couple of hours, Taryn gave in to tears.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  TARYN WALKED OUT of the Fool’s Gold branch of the California Department of Motor Vehicles office and had to admit, there were advantages to living in a small town. She had a temporary license to put in her new wallet until her permanent one was mailed. After she’d dealt with her credit card companies the day before, the DMV office had practically been easy. Except for her favorite Mally lip gloss and her Hello Kitty mirror compact—okay, and her heart—she’d replaced everything she’d lost in the flash flood.

  It had been two days. Two days of having people ask if she was doing okay and praising her for her bravery. She’d tried pointing out she hadn’t been brave, but no one wanted to hear that, so she’d stopped trying to explain. On the bright side, recent events meant no one was surprised if she was a little quiet or seemed upset. They assumed she was still dealing with the whole flood thing. Which meant she hadn’t yet had to explain about Angel.