by Holly Ford
Unable to trust her voice, she nodded into the phone.
‘The second this cloud clears, we’ll have Lizzie out.’
‘What if it doesn’t?’
‘The team will head up on foot from here as soon as it’s light. She’ll be home tomorrow.’
There was a long pause.
‘What’s it like where she is?’ Ella managed. It came out almost as a whisper. ‘I’ve — I’ve seen the photographs. But what’s it really like up there?’
Carr hesitated. ‘It’s a basin,’ he said. ‘It’s sheltered. Out of the wind.’
‘Is there any … Are there trees?’
‘There are rocks. Big rocks.’ He paused. ‘They overhang.’
‘Like,’ Ella sniffed, ‘like a cave?’
‘Yeah. Like a cave.’
‘She can get in there and be safe?’
‘Yes, she can. Absolutely.’
Ella heard voices in the background.
‘Listen, I’ve got to go now,’ Carr said. ‘We’ll be in touch as soon as we know anything, okay?’ He waited. ‘Ella?’
‘Okay.’
‘You need anything, you just call Charlie and Rob.’
‘Okay.’ She hesitated. ‘Carr?’
‘What is it, love?’
‘How long will they stay there? The rescue team?’
There was another pause. ‘The chopper team will stand by here until dark. Then the guys will head home for a while, get some sleep, so they’re ready to go in the morning.’
Ella swallowed. ‘Could you call me? When they leave tonight? Just so I know it’s — so I know not to expect anything.’
‘Okay.’ She heard his intake of breath. ‘Listen, if we don’t get up there tonight, don’t read more into that than you should. What I said earlier — I was angry with Hayden, that’s all. I’ve been pulling people off mountains for twenty-five years. You’d be amazed what they can get through.’
‘Thanks.’
Ella put the phone down. She wished there was someone else she could call. Someone other than Charlotte and Rob. At the thought of him, she felt even more like crying. God, she’d like someone to hold her right now. Her mother, preferably. But until that could happen again … Closing her eyes, she imagined leaning her head against Rob’s chest, his arms tightening around her. It would make it so much easier to believe that everything was going to be okay.
An hour later, the phone rang again. Ella tripped over the ottoman as she ran to pick it up. ‘Hello?’
There was a long pause. ‘Hello,’ said a faraway voice. ‘I’m calling to tell you about a new service—’
Ella hung up. Putting the phone in her pocket, she walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. The sight of food just made her feel ill. Reluctantly, she closed the door on the wine. She might have to do something. It was important to keep a clear head. She checked her watch. There were still a few hours of daylight left. And it was still too early to call London.
The next time the phone rang, she had a couple of seconds of panic before she remembered where it was. ‘Hello?’
‘Lizzie?’
She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘No, it’s Ella.’
‘Ella, sorry. You sound like your mother. It’s Luke.’
‘Luke …’
‘Is Lizzie home? I’ve been trying to reach her cellphone all afternoon, but it just goes straight to voicemail.’
‘She’s—’ Ella burst into tears.
‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
Eventually, she managed to get the story out.
‘I’ll be there in two hours,’ Luke said.
‘No … you don’t have to do that.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he snapped. ‘You can’t sit there by yourself.’
She sobbed into the phone.
‘Okay, I’m hanging up now. I’m on my way.’
A little under two hours later, Luke’s Aston roared up the drive. Ella walked out to meet him. It was nice to have something to do.
‘Hi,’ she smiled, eager to show she’d pulled herself together since they spoke. ‘You really didn’t have to come all this way.’
Putting his hands on her shoulders, Luke looked into her face. ‘What’s happened? Have you heard anything?’
Uh-oh. So much for pulling herself together: Ella sobbed into his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she managed.
‘Shh … For what?’
She dabbed at the damp patch she’d made on his beautiful silk tie.
‘Come on,’ Luke smiled gently, ‘let’s get you inside.’ He glanced back at the car. ‘I’ll just get my bag.’
‘You’re staying?’
‘Yes,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m staying. Until Lizzie gets home.’
Ella tried to think of something normal to say. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘Sit,’ Luke ordered, inside. ‘I’ll make us a drink.’ He pulled a bottle of scotch from his bag.
‘I can’t,’ Ella said, as he reached two glasses out of the sideboard. ‘I might need to … think.’
Luke put a glass down in front of her. ‘Mountain Rescue can handle the thinking.’ He looked around. ‘Have you eaten?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘You should eat.’ He strode off to the kitchen and opened the fridge. ‘What do you feel like? I’ll make us something.’
‘Nothing, really.’
Luke grinned. ‘My specialty.’
As he rifled the pantry, Ella watched the sky. It was getting dark. It wouldn’t be long now before Carr called. She shivered.
Luke looked over at her. ‘I’ll light the fire,’ he said.
Ella dissolved into tears again.
‘Hey.’ Coming back to sit beside her, he put his arm around her again.
‘Mum will be …’ She choked. ‘Cold. It’s getting dark, and she won’t have a fire or anything to eat … or …’ Looking away, she put her hand over her mouth.
‘All the more reason,’ Luke said firmly, rubbing her shoulder, ‘for us to have the fire going and some food on the stove. So it’s ready when she gets home.’
‘No! You can’t say that! Look at it out there!’ Ella shook her head. ‘You know she’s not coming home tonight.’
Gently, Luke turned her face towards him and looked into her eyes. ‘So we’ll keep the fire going until she does.’
She stared at him.
‘Now,’ he said, firmly, ‘I’m going to light the fire first. And then I’m going to make a carbonara. For three. Okay?’
Ella rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Okay.’
‘Good.’ He stood up.
‘What can I do?’
‘Have you talked to your father?’
‘Not yet.’ She checked her watch. She could call Tom: it was after six in the morning now. And Jules, too. She was always an early riser. And then … should she call Richard? Not wanting to tie up the landline, Ella picked up her mobile. She paused. ‘Luke?’
Squatting on his heels in front of the fire, he looked back over his shoulder at her.
‘Carbonara won’t reheat very well. You might need to make a fresh batch when Lizzie gets home.’
Tom’s phone just rang and rang. He must have turned the machine off again. Giving up at last, she hung up and tried his mobile. Straight to voicemail. She pulled up Jules’s number. Voicemail again. Ella left a message. Where the bloody hell was everyone? That just left — Richard.
To her surprise, he picked up right away. ‘Ella!’ His voice sounded almost as rough as last time she’d heard it. ‘Sweetheart.’ He coughed. ‘Are you still in New Zealand? How are you?’
‘Richard, it’s—’ She felt the tears well up again. ‘It’s Mum. It’s Lizzie. She’s …’
There was a second of ghastly silence. ‘Christ, Ella — she’s what?’
Hurriedly, she told him.
‘What do you mean they can’t get to her?’ Richard demanded, furi
ously. ‘What’s being done? What do they need?’ Ella could hear him pacing his hardwood floor. ‘I’m coming over. I’ll be there in—’ He broke off with a groan of frustration. The best part of thirty-six hours …
‘No, it’s okay,’ Ella soothed. Crikey, he was in a worse state than she was. ‘Don’t do that, there’s no point. They’ll reach her tomorrow. She’ll be home before you’re halfway here.’ Oh, she hoped that was true. ‘I just … I just thought I should tell someone. I mean, you.’
‘Sweetheart, of course. Of course you should have called me.’ There was a pause. ‘Are you all right? Who’s with you? You’re not there alone?’
‘No — I’m with a friend.’
‘You call me back the second you hear anything. Okay? I don’t care what time it is. Just call.’
‘I will.’
‘The second. Promise me.’
‘I swear.’
Ending the call at last, Ella looked up from her phone and realised that the last of the light had gone. Luke had turned the overheads on, but outside the windows it was now wholly and inarguably dark. She felt sick to her stomach. That was it. The rescue effort was over tonight. Her mother wasn’t coming home. The landline started to ring. Ella looked at it.
‘Aren’t you going to get that?’ Luke strode over.
‘It’s Carr.’ Ella hugged her knees. ‘Calling to tell me—’ She shook her head. ‘Will you get it? Please. I … I can’t hear what he’s got to say right now.’
With a worried look at her, Luke lifted the handset and walked away out of earshot. Ella curled into a ball and pressed her face into the cushions.
‘Ella!’ Luke pulled her out. ‘That was Mountain Rescue.’ Her heart stopped as she looked up into his face. ‘They’ve got Lizzie. She’s safe.’
‘They’ve got her?’ Ella brushed at the tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘She’s down?’
Luke hesitated. ‘Not exactly. Not yet. They got a helicopter in there, but’ — he gave a little smile — ‘they can’t get back. The pilot’s got Lizzie with him. She’s fine.’
The pilot? Carr! Carr was there. Carr had Lizzie. Ella hugged her knees again. She felt suddenly certain that everything was going to be okay.
‘Mountain Rescue said not to worry — they’re well supplied up there. They’ll walk out in the morning if they need to.’ Sitting down beside her, he searched her face. ‘It’s okay. She’ll be home tomorrow.’
‘I know.’ Ella threw her arms around him. She buried her face in his neck, feeling the solid warmth of his skin press the tears away. His hands stroked her hair. Noting the lack of collar against her cheek, she realised he must have got changed at some point — she hadn’t even noticed. ‘Oh!’ she said shakily, leaning up. ‘I have to call Richard!’ She wiped her eyes.
Luke brushed another tear from the line of her jaw. ‘You missed one.’
She laughed.
‘Here.’ He handed her the phone. ‘I’ll go get the pasta on.’
By the time she’d finished talking to Richard, Ella was actually hungry. She wandered over to the kitchen. A track she didn’t know was playing low over the speakers, and she smiled to see Luke’s phone docked on the bench.
‘You look good in there,’ she teased him, watching him tip spaghetti into two bowls. ‘Domesticity suits you.’
‘I don’t know.’ Luke dabbed a spot of sauce from his T-shirt. ‘I think I could do with an apron.’ He picked the bowls up. ‘Table or sofa?’
‘Sofa, please.’
‘Excellent choice.’ He nodded at the bench. ‘I opened a bottle of wine.’
‘Oh, thank God.’ Ella carried it over. Curling up on the sofa while Luke poured, she tucked into her bowl. ‘This is good.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Leaning across her knees, he put a glass down beside her. ‘What?’ Noticing her expression, he paused, his head to one side.
‘Nothing.’ She smiled. ‘It’s just, well, you’ve got a bit of sauce’ — she skimmed it from his cheekbone — ‘there.’
The green eyes glinted.
‘And there.’ Dropping his gaze, she brushed another from the base of his neck. ‘You’ve also got a mascara stain …’ She touched her fingers to his shoulder, ‘… here.’
‘Yes. Actually, I’m collecting those.’ Luke waited. ‘Anything else you feel you should mention?’
Ella looked him over slowly. ‘I don’t think so … No.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ She went back to her pasta.
Sitting up slowly, Luke reached for his bowl. As she brought a loaded fork to her mouth, his knee nudged hers. Smile widening, Ella re-twirled her fallen spaghetti. She left her knee resting on his.
Ella woke to Luke’s voice in her ear. ‘I’m taking you to bed,’ he was saying. Sighing, Ella nestled her face into his chest. ‘No, come on,’ he told her. ‘You can’t sleep out here.’ She groaned as he sat her up. ‘Thattagirl.’
‘What time is it?’ She clung to his neck as he lifted her off the sofa.
‘Past midnight.’
‘Did I go to sleep?’
‘In your pasta, I’m sorry to say.’ Luke shouldered open the bedroom door. ‘I’ve been trying to get you to bed ever since.’
Ella felt the sheet under her back. ‘Here I am.’
‘Indeed.’ Luke pulled up the quilt.
‘Stay with me.’ She held onto his neck. ‘Don’t go.’ Feeling him beside her again, she curled into his body. His jeans dug into her. With a sleepy groan, she moved her hand over his hip, hooking her fingers in a belt loop. ‘You should take those off.’
Whatever reply Luke made, she didn’t hear it.
She lifted her cheek from Luke’s shoulder. The room was light. She looked up to find him watching her with a smile in his eyes. ‘You stayed,’ she said.
‘I stayed.’
‘God.’ She pressed her palm against his T-shirt. ‘I’m sorry. You must have been so uncomfortable there. Did you sleep at all?’
‘Don’t feel bad.’ He put his hand over hers. ‘You did offer to undress me.’
‘I did what?’
‘You don’t remember that?’ Luke’s green eyes danced down at her.
‘You’re making it up.’
‘A little bit.’ He grinned. ‘Actually, you just ordered me to take off my jeans.’
Ella blushed. She had an awful feeling she had said that.
His thumb stroked the back of her hand. For some reason, she found herself unable to look away from his eyes. As if of its own accord, her hand slid up his chest. She watched the expression in Luke’s eyes change.
‘Ella.’ His fingers caught her wrist. ‘You do remember talking to Lizzie, though, right?’
Shit. She sat up. ‘That really happened?’ Ella stared at Luke. ‘I thought I must have dreamed it.’ She pressed her hands to her face. ‘She’s actually down? She’s at Glencairn?’
Luke laughed. ‘She’s back safe and sound.’ Sitting up, too, he leaned forward to look out the window. ‘But not at Glencairn — in fact, I’m pretty sure that’s her now.’
‘You’re kidding!’ Ella bolted out of bed and hurried to the glass. ‘It is her!’
As she threw a dressing gown over her T-shirt, her mobile started to ring.
Luke checked the screen. ‘It’s Richard.’ He held out the phone.
‘Did I call him last night?’
Luke shook his head. Grabbing the phone from him, Ella yanked open the door. ‘Richard! She just got home.’
‘She’s all right?’ Richard’s beautiful voice boomed in her ear as she ran across the lawn. ‘Ella — is she okay?’
Ella flung her arms around her mother. ‘Ella!’ She heard Richard say.
‘Here’ — letting go of Lizzie, she pressed the phone into her hand — ‘talk to Richard. He’s been beside himself.’
She turned her attention to Carr, who was standing there next to her mother as coolly as if he’d just brought back milk and the papers. �
��Thank you!’ Ella threw her arms around him. It was rather like trying to hug a bronze. Carr patted her shoulder with one hand.
‘Thank you,’ she said again, drawing back and looking him in the eyes. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but …’ She bit her lip.
‘It’s okay.’ Carr’s eyes wandered over her shoulder.
Sensing his embarrassment, Ella stepped away. She smiled to herself. He might not want to be the hero, but that didn’t change the fact that he was. She followed his gaze towards the house, where Lizzie, phone still pressed to her ear, had paused to hug Luke as she walked through the door.
‘I’d better get going,’ Carr said.
What? ‘You can’t go. Come in. Stay for—’ Breakfast? Champagne? ‘At least stay for a coffee.’
‘I have to get back.’ Carr strode around to the driver’s door of the ute.
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’ve got work to do.’
It was close to a snap, and Ella’s eyebrows rose. Gosh, he really couldn’t handle gratitude at all.
Seeing her face, Carr’s expression softened a little. ‘We’re mustering in a couple of days,’ he explained. ‘There are some things I need to catch up on.’
Of course, she realised, he’d lost most of yesterday. But — Ella glanced at the house again — surely he wouldn’t go before her mother even had a chance to say goodbye? She bit her lip again. Lizzie seemed to have vanished. She opened her mouth to ask Carr to wait, but as she looked back, the ute door slammed. Ella stood and watched him drive away.
Shaking her head at the staunchness of mountain men, she walked back to the house. Her mother seemed to have gone to ground with the phone — apparently Lizzie didn’t do gratitude either. Ella knocked on the bedroom door. She was pretty sure she could hear Lizzie’s voice in there, but her mother didn’t answer. Okay, then. Still, she was pleased that Lizzie and Richard were making up at last. It had seemed so wrong for them not to be friends after all these years; she couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been a part of their lives. It would feel odder than her parents’ divorce if Lizzie ever split up with Richard.
She went into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. It was half an hour before Lizzie emerged to join her.
