Page 62 of Worth the Rush
Where your heart is,
there is my home.
It’s dated five days ago. The one before it is the day before.
She forces me to feel real while
Floating in a daydream
She is as grounding as she is mystical.
She is a tether to my instincts
And a spell cast over my bones.
One after another of beautiful poems, things he thinks but never says. Does he truly feel this way for me? Would he be honest with me about what he wants from me? I guess I’ll be missing my flight tonight. I quickly scribble a note to Alder.
If you truly feel this way,
if what you wrote about in here is about me
then I’ll wait for you, where two other lovers’
story may have ended,
but I want it to be where ours begins.
I place it on top of the book and put it onhis bed.
Driving up the mountain is a little eerie. It doesn’t feel like it did the last time I was here with Alder. It’s probably just my nervous energy. What if he doesn’t come? After I’ve put myself out there again. That would be mortifying. He’ll come through. I know that he will. If he doesn’t, I’ll deal with that then, but we’re going to be hopeful, Ivy. The sky is clear today. I checked the weather for any pop-up storms, and it showed nothing but clear skies. I tried to be as cautious as I could be. As cautious as Alder would be.
When I get to the turnoff, I take one more second to think. Should I really be doing this? Will he think this is as romantic as it is in my head? He may find it odd, and I’ll admit it is a little. I mean, the lore of this place is that two people committed suicide here. That’s not romantic at all. It’s a fucking tragedy. Oh, shit. Maybe I should have thought a little more before leaving the note. I’ll just send him a text and tell him to disregard my note and go back to his house. I park my SUV and pull out my phone, but I don’t have any service.
“Shit,” I say out loud. “Okay, this is fine. I’ll just wait here for a little while, and if he doesn’t show, I’ll leave, and we never have to talk about it again,” I say out loud again to no one. I get out of my car and take in the beautiful view. I’ll probably only be able to last out here in the cold for another hour or so. Especially because the sun sets quicker here, and once the sun goes down, the temperature will follow. I hop onto the hood of my car, watching the clouds float by, and wait.
Shit, shit, shit. Fuck. It plays on a loop in my head. I take a deep breath as I reach the hangar. I cannot panic. Panicking will get me or someone else killed. I walk into the big metal building and see Nate. It’s good to see him. I’m going to need him with me out there.
“Hey, Alder,” my dispatch organizer calls.
“I need to be in the air as soon as possible,” I tell her. Nadine smiles.
“Always eager to help. We don’t have any emergency calls out just yet, but I’ll make sure you’re on the first flight out. Most of the activity has been on the western slope, and it’s clear for now. Teams on the ground have set up barricades. No one’s getting through. We just wanted to make sure?—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I know someone is up on that mountain. I need a team, and I need to get airborne,” I cut her off. She looks at me for only a second. I know she has questions, but I thank my lucky stars that she doesn’t decide to ask any right now.
“Nate, Griffin, Ty, you’re with Alder,” she orders, then looks at me. “Be safe out there and stay in contact.” I nod at her.
“We will,” I respond, and then we’re getting in the helicopter, thankful all preflight checks were done beforehand. Nate gets in the pilot's seat. Good. That’s where I need him today. I need all my focus on scanning the mountain and finding my girl.
“Where are we headed, Alder?” he asks.
“Lovers Leap.”
“Who’s out there at this time of day?” he questions.
“Someone who doesn’t know the area well. Someone I’m madly in love with,” I answer honestly. He whips his head around to me. “I’m serious,” I tell him.
“I believe you. I’m just surprised.” His eyebrows are raised when he responds to my declaration.
