Page 42 of Landon

He kept his watch vigilant but neither saw nor heard anything remotely suspicious or dangerous. With the downed trees behind them where they’d left the vehicle and the mudslide still ahead, they didn’t come across any other people for the first hour they walked.

His phone vibrated, and he grinned when he saw Devil’s name. “Hey, man. You make it to Jamaica?”

“We’re here. Sadie sent your location. Looks like you're on the old mountain pass road.”

“We’re not to the mudslide yet, and I have no way to tell if there’s more than one place the road is impassable.”

“Let us worry about that. According to what we can find out, that’s the only one that has the road closed, and some locals are already trying to dig out enough to get at least one lane passable. Frazier and I came in with Cole. The charter that couldn’t wait for you isn’t here, but Cole’s got a Gulfstream, so we’ve got plentyof room for heading back. Although if Pamela plans on coming, too, she might have to fly on the wing.”

Landon barked out a laugh. “Don’t think that’ll be a problem. It’ll just be us, Noel, the kids, and Mike Westerly.”

“We didn’t stop at the resort. We got a vehicle and started up the road as soon as we landed.”

“It’ll be good to see you.”

“I’ll let you know where we’ll meet.”

Disconnecting, he looked at the interested faces of the others. “One of my people. They’ve made it to Jamaica and are in a vehicle on their way up the mountain. Hopefully, we’ll meet up with them soon.”

They continued their steady pace, the quiet of the morning broken only by the rustling leaves and the occasional call of a distant bird. After a while, Penny’s soft voice rose above the ambient sounds. “It’s pretty here, isn’t it?”

Landon glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of Noel’s gentle smile as she looked over at the young girl.

“When we first arrived at the resort, I thought it was beautiful,” Penny continued. “All the flower gardens, the perfectly trimmed trees and shrubs, the mowed lawns, and those beaches with the little thatched huts for shade. Even the servers bringing snacks to the beach seemed… nice.” She wrinkled her nose, her tone shifting. “But it’s all for show, isn’t it?”

Tad tilted his head, curiosity piqued. “What do you mean?”

“It’s like our ranch,” Penny explained, her voice gaining confidence. “Daddy always says it’s a working ranch. It’s beautiful, sure—big barns, open paddocks, and wide fields. But it’s real. I remember Mom once said she wished it was more… glamorous. She’d been to one of those vacation ranches and liked how they brought wine to the guests while they rode horses. She didn’t get why Dad wouldn’t turn our place into something like that.”

She snorted, shaking her head as if the memory was ridiculous. “Dad said he wasn’t about to have tourists sipping wine while his hands were out there busting their butts doing real work.”

Tad nodded, his gaze sweeping the dense jungle surrounding them. “I get it now. There’s nothing wrong with those fancy places, but this… this is the real Jamaican jungle, isn’t it?”

Penny’s face lit up with understanding. “Exactly. It feels so real out here. The trees are tall and wild, and you can hear the birds calling from deep in the forest. I’m not happy about what happened… but now that we’re safe, it’s kind of amazing to see this part of the island.”

“I’ve just got to say that I think you two are the neatest kids I’ve met in a long time,” Noel said, smiling. “Totally and completely resilient.” Then she looked at Tad. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told your sister this morning. What you went through is traumatic, and we’re going to make sure that you have a counselor to talk to about it. And I am always available. But you should be so proud of how you are handling everything. There’s no shame in being upset, but I think it’s amazing how resilient you are.”

Landon nodded in agreement, his deep voice steady. “I second that.” He reached out and clapped Tad on the shoulder, his touch firm but reassuring. “Your dad and grandparents are going to be so proud of you both.”

His phone vibrated again, and he looked down at the message, then his head shot up. “Look ahead,” he called out. Before them, the road was blockaded with mud and rocks, but they could discern a group of people with shovels and tractors with loaders moving the debris from the outer lane.

“Oh, my goodness!” Noel cried out. “There are so many people working to clear the road!”

“It’s a main road through the area,” Landon said. “People depend on it being passable.” As his footsteps moved through the mud, he reached over to take Penny’s hand, proud to see Tad do the same with Noel. They made their way past some of the people working, waving as they called out their thanks and greetings.

A small boy was running back and forth, pushing his shovel along the rough asphalt, helping to clear the path. Penny stopped and reached inside her pocket, offering the last protein bar. The little boy ducked his head and then smiled as he took it. A woman to the side hurried over and held out a basket with fruit. “Please, take some.”

Penny looked at Landon, and he nodded his permission. Penny took a mango and then offered one to Noel. Thanking the woman who now had moved to stand near her young son, they continued past the work area.

Landon looked ahead and grinned, tossing his hand into the air. Ahead of them, among the line of cars and buses, was a large SUV, and standing outside were Devil and Frazier.

“Those are your friends?” Noel asked, her eyes wide.

Landon swung his head around, a strange gut-punch of jealousy hitting him. “Yeah,” he said, eyeing her carefully.

Her attention was riveted on him. “Well, thank God they’re as reliable as you. I had no idea they’d get to us so quickly.” Shoulder bumping him, she smiled, her gaze not wavering from his face.

He shook his head and grinned in return.No pretenses with her. She’s as real as they come.He had no idea how he could be so sure after only knowing her a day, but there was no doubt.

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