Page 1 of Her Mountain Man Rescuer

1

AUDREY

The sun beginsto dip behind the mountains as I drive, turning the sky a rosy shade of pink. The evening light makes everything look soft around the edges: the forests, the rivers, the towering peaks of Crave County. Even a city girl like me can admit it’s pretty out here.

I hang a right and begin the winding ascent up Cherry Mountain, my car groaning in protest as I follow the twisting road uphill. Lila’s home is now only thirty minutes away, and I want to reach it before dark. My best friend used to live just a block away from me in Denver, but everything changed when she visited the mountains for a weekend break and met a man called Ridge. Now they’re engaged and living together in his log cabin. It’s been two months since she moved out of Denver, and I miss her like crazy.

I wanted to visit Lila sooner, but work has been kicking my butt. When I tell people I’m a freelance social media manager, they assume my job consists of waking up, scheduling a couple of Instagram posts, and going back to bed.

I wish.

In reality, I’m in charge of the social media pages for several companies across Denver, including a trendy nightcluband an athletic wear startup. I develop marketing strategies, run ads, engage with customers, and make an endless number of graphics and videos for each company every day. It’s a heck of a lot to stay on top of, but I’ve been working well into the night for the past two weeks, and now I have three days free to spend with Lila.

I wish it could be longer,I think to myself, trying to ignore the pang in my stomach. I’m thrilled that Lila found love, and she sounds so happy whenever we speak on the phone, but it’s still hard to adjust to life without her. We used to do everything together back in the city, and now it feels like there’s something missing. I still can’t get my head around the fact that she lives out in the sticks, miles and miles away from the nearest Starbucks or McDonald’s.

Seriously, who would choose that?

I guess it’s safer out here, at least. Lila probably doesn’t even have to lock her doors anymore. Not like in my neighborhood…

No, don’t think about that now.

My grip tightens on the wheel as I force the thought away.

I continue for another few miles, stopping once for an elk as it ambles across the road, its antlers jutting like branches from its head. The pink sky has merged with swirls of purple and gold, and the view is so gorgeous that I pull up at the side of the road to take a photo. My phone says I’m only fifteen minutes from Lila’s cabin now, leaving me plenty of time to get there before dark. I take my time getting out of the car and stretching my legs, breathing in the crisp mountain air.

At the edge of the road is a rocky ledge, which slopes down toward a dense forest below. Over the treetops, mountains rise out of the evening shadows, waterfalls lining the rocks in silvery streaks. Above it all, the sunset burns in vivid colors, casting the vista in a warm glow. I hold up my phone, squinting as I focus the camera and take a photo. I frown at the result. The sky iswashed out, more white than pink, and the trees look like dark, shapeless blobs.

I lift my phone again, taking a step toward the ledge. Gravel crunches beneath my feet. The ground seems to groan, rocks skittering, and I stumble backward.

“What the?—”

The ledge crumbles, and the world drops out from under me. A scream rips from my throat as I slide down the rocky slope, grabbing wildly for something to cling to. My hands scrabble at the loose gravel as I tumble to the bottom of the slope, reaching my hands out to break my fall. I land hard, my wrist twisting painfully, knees aching. It takes me a minute to get my breath back. Cuts and scratches mark my palms, and my clothes are torn and bloody, sliced apart by the jagged rocks.

“Crap,” I mumble, hissing with pain as I gradually push myself to my feet.

I’ve landed at the edge of the forest, bushy pines stretching in front of me as far as the eye can see. Every bone aches as I turn back toward the slope, grimacing. It’s not a sheer drop—I’d be flat as a pancake right now if it were—but it’s too steep and unstable to climb back up. I look from the forest to the slope and back to the forest, fear clawing at my throat.

What the heck do I do now?

Breathing hard, I instinctively reach for my pocket, expecting to feel the reassuring weight of my phone. But it’s not there.

No, of course it isn’t. I took it out to take that stupid photo…

It must have slipped out of my hands when I fell. My heart is hammering as I scan the ground, my knees throbbing painfully as I walk along the bottom of the slope. I find my phone a few feet away, the screen cracked.

Oh, God, please work.

I let out a shuddering laugh of relief as the screen flickers on. The cuts on my hands burn with every movement as I navigate tomy contacts with one hand, my left wrist too painful to move. I click on Lila’s name. But when I try to call her, nothing happens. I don’t have cell service. Not a single bar. It’s like a punch to the gut.

“HELP!” I shout, my voice swallowed up by the unforgiving trees. “PLEASE, HELP!”

Silence.

The sky is darkening above the forest, and the temperature is dropping fast. I turn back toward the slope and try fruitlessly to scramble back up, bitter tears pooling in my eyes at the pain in my wrist. But it’s no use. I’m no rock climber, and there’s no way I’m getting back up. That only leaves the forest, and I don’t dare to go in there. There’s no way I’ll ever leave again. I saw the sheer size of it from my viewpoint on the ledge; I could walk for days and never find a way out. All I can do for now is stay put and pray someone finds my car beside the road. Maybe they’ll alert the authorities or mountain rescue…someone. My little Honda Civic is the only trace of me that’s visible from the road, and I need to stay close to it for as long as possible.

But if nobody comes, the forest will be my only option. It’s the only place I can go to find water.

Please let someone find me before it comes to that…

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