Page 14 of When Glitter Meets Gold

And oh, my head.

Why is my head pounding like there’s a tiny marching band parading through my skull? The moment I attempt to move, I spy an enormous, blurrythingtowering over me.

I blink several times to focus. The blur begins to take shape, and I see that it’s not a blur at all, but a person. A man.

Messy uncombed hair, dark stubbly beard,hugeshoulders. Huge everything, really. And I suppose quite attractive?—

Wait. Swollen ankle, headache, man standing above me. Swollen ankle, headache… Man. Standing. Above. Me.

I can’t control the noise that rips from my throat, a piercing scream that echoes and rings in my ears, making my head thump harder. I don’t care though because if it scares off this creep, then I’ll gladly hold on to this migraine for the rest of the day.

The man retreats several steps, hands flying to cover his temples like he’s the one with the headache.

I push up from the gravel, sliding in the dirt as I stagger to my feet. Dizziness consumes me.

“Who the hell are you?” My head jerks down at my bare foot that touches the dirt. “Ew, where’s my other shoe?” I scan my new surroundings, searching for the Jeep which is the last thing I remember. “What did you do to me?”

The man sighs. “Lady, I haven’t done anything to you. I was trying to help.” He looks frustrated. “And you should sit down before you pass out again.”

I look around, then up…wayup at the side of a very steep cliff that looks familiar but obviously isn’t because there’s no way I could have fallen from that.

My hand lifts to my mouth, my stomach turns hollow. Tears threaten to surface as my voice cracks. “Pass out? What just happened?”

The man surveys me with caution. “My guess is you crashed, spun your car off the side of that mountain up there”—he points behind me— “and now here you are. Entirely ungrateful that I just pulled you from a car wreck before it rolled”—he points down the mountain— “down there. And come on, would you just sit down?” It’s more an order than a question.

I ignore his request as I eye him suspiciously, before edging over to the side of the ridge. I keep my eyes pinned on him before peeking over the verge. It’s steep, with too much foliage and underbrush to see anything past ten feet.

Then everything connects, flooding back like a regression hypnosis session gone horribly wrong. The car crashing into something solid, the spinning…the bug spray.

My hand shoots up to my mouth as I inhale a slow, tragic breath.

“That stupid bee,” I whisper, too low for the man to hear.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing,” I say as I brush debris from my back. “You said you pulled me out of the car?”

The man nods.

“Oh. Right. Okay. Well…thank you,” I say, even though I get the feeling I’ve just become the biggest inconvenience to this man’s day.

He reaches for his enormous backpack, tossing it across his broad shoulders.

“Don’t thank me yet, the car rolled before I could get your things out. Your bag, phone, everything, is gone. If you’re hurt, it’s a two-hour hike that way.” He points in the opposite direction than the one he’s currently walking in.

I make a quick assessment of my injuries, surveying my arms and legs before calling after him, “And what if I’m not hurt? What’s that way?” I point to where he’s going.

“More of this.” He gestures around us with both arms. I look above my head, peering at the canopy of trees and dense wilderness that wraps around the small nook we’re occupying. I chew my bottom lip, considering my options. My head hurts, and my ankle’s beginning to throb, but apart from that, I think I’m okay.

He stops me before I reach a decision. “Look, you won’t make it on this trail because itisn’ta trail.”

Indeed, he makes a good point. There’s no path, no signs, and no clear way of telling which direction anyone should be headed in.

“You have no equipment and one shoe. That’s going to hold you back, which means it’ll holdmeback.” He makes a disgusted face.

Ah. So he’s pissed I’ve messed up his precious solo hike.

“Okay, I get it.” I roll my eyes. “But it’ll be dark in a couple hours. And like you said, with the shoe issue it’ll take me a lot longer than that to get help. And not to point out the obvious, but I’m sure being knocked unconscious because I fell from a cliff calls for immediate rescue?” The man casts a weak glance at his pocket before I add, “Or can’t we just go back up there? Back to the road? I can flag down help?”

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