Texas Heroes: Volume 1 (45 page)

“Thank God.” Her voice quivered slightly.

“Okay, sport. Now we have to climb back up. You ready for a little adventure?”

Davey’s eyes were as big as saucers, his small arms tight around Mitch as he clung. Something slow and sweet moved inside Mitch’s chest. But faith shone in Davey’s gaze as he nodded, his voice only quavering slightly. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m going to put you on my back the way you like to ride, but I’m going to rope you against me so you can’t slip.”

Davey nodded.

Mitch had to smile, speaking gently. “First, son, you’re going to have to let go.”

Davey nodded again but didn’t move. Then he squared his little shoulders and moved away, if only a few inches.

“That’s right. Edge around to my back.” Mitch scooted away from the rock face. “Want to practice tying the knots I taught you?”

The voice grew smaller. “I’d rather let you.”

Mitch chuckled. “That’s just fine. You can practice more when we get back.”

“Mitch?” A small head brushed his neck.

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall.”

Mitch swallowed. “I know you didn’t.”

“Mom didn’t get mad. You’re not mad?”

Mitch turned, the ropes not yet tight around them. He looked straight into the uncertain blue gaze. “I’m not mad. I don’t want you ever running off alone again, though. These mountains are not a playground.”

The blond head ducked. “Yes, sir. I promise I won’t.”

Mitch nudged Davey’s chin upward. “I know you won’t.” He smiled, and a small smile greeted his.

His chest tightened, but Mitch steeled himself against feeling too much. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Fingers that had been cold for too many hours rebelled, but Mitch simply ignored them and forced his body to respond as he needed, refusing to acknowledge the cold or the fact that he hadn’t eaten since this morning. This was all that mattered, the little body that nestled against him, believing that he would get them back up safely.

And he would. This time would be different. He wouldn’t let his emotions win—
he
would win this time, by keeping himself carefully neutral, concentrating only on the next step, pulling them up to the next knot on the rope.

Finally, they could see Perrie. Worry and fear gave way to joy on her lovely face. Mitch could see her straining against the urge to run to her son, but she held fast and stayed back as he’d asked.

At last they were over the top and safely away from the edge. Perrie dropped to her knees beside them, reaching for Davey, throwing her arms around both of them.

Mitch could feel her trembling. His own hands were none too steady as he untied the knots binding Davey to him. Once Davey was free, he scrambled into his mother’s arms, finally giving in to his tears. Mitch felt the loss of her touch as she gathered Davey close.

Perrie rocked him, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Then she opened them and looked at Mitch, her gaze naked and vulnerable as she gripped Davey so tightly her knuckles were white.

A lifetime passed in seconds as Mitch felt himself opening to her, too. He ached with a power far beyond what had strained his muscles, had stretched his control, had unraveled the edges of his distance.

For a moment, he felt the pull of belonging. Something powerful and intimate had happened to them, that would leave them never again the same.

Then he snapped back to reality, to who he really was—and what was possible for a man like him.

However much he understood her terror, shared the sense of narrow escape from an unbearable loss, Mitch also knew that the sharing was only temporary.

He was, as he had been, on the outside looking in. No matter how precious the child had felt, clinging to him, no matter how his heart had reached out when Perrie had drawn them both close—he was temporary. A port of call on a journey that would carry them away. Perrie and Davey would always share the bond that, for a few brief moments, he had been privileged to touch.

They would forever be together.

And he would forever be alone.

If the thought ripped into his too-open heart, Mitch still accepted what must be. He rose quickly and gathered up his gear, itching to get away, to be by himself.

“We’d better get back.” Too curt, but he couldn’t afford softness now.

Perrie flinched from his tone. Rising to her knees, she held onto Davey, who had settled into exhaustion against her.

“Here, let me carry him,” Mitch offered, reaching out.

She pulled back and shook her head, climbing shakily to her feet.

He put out a hand and steadied her, then stood carefully back. “If you get tired, let me know.” He picked up his gear and started off.

Perrie’s legs felt like spaghetti, but she clung tightly to Davey and concentrated on the ground in front of her.

When she tripped again, Mitch plucked Davey from her arms. “Don’t be foolish. You don’t have anything to prove. You’re out on your feet.”

She wanted to protest, but it was all she could do to keep walking. In the adrenaline’s wake, she was a rag doll whose stuffing had vanished.

“Come here.” Mitch pulled her into his side. She resisted only because he was already loaded down with Davey and his gear. She should be able to walk back by herself, but she wanted nothing more than to crawl into his arms right beside her son.

Thinking about what could have happened still had the power to unnerve her completely. If Mitch hadn’t come after them…if he hadn’t been there at all…

Perrie shuddered and grabbed onto Mitch’s waist, squeezing her eyes shut. When his arm tightened around her shoulder, she wanted to weep in relief.

But she couldn’t. She had to keep a lid on her own emotions so that Davey wouldn’t be traumatized by her terror. Had to calmly check her son over, once she could remove his clothes. Had to feed him and get him into bed.

But all she could see when she closed her eyes was that ledge and the horrible drop just inches away from him.

Her fingers squeezed convulsively into Mitch’s side.

“It’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s over.”

But it wasn’t. This experience had just brought home how impossible it would be for her to stay here with Davey, even if Mitch were willing to give over the cabin. She’d been a fool to even consider it. She might be able to take care of herself up here through a long winter, but there were too many dangers waiting to snap Davey up in their ravening maws.

She would have to leave, no question now. And soon, before winter trapped them. The thought made her tired.

And sad. Because they would have to leave Mitch behind. No matter how much she knew it would be better for him not to get embroiled in her nightmare with Simon, she couldn’t help feeling the loss already.

Davey would miss him, but he would not be the only one.

“Okay, here we are,” Mitch said.

The cabin was only a few feet away, and a sense of homecoming swept over Perrie. She’d never seen a sight more welcome in her life—except for the sight of Mitch when Davey had been in danger.

She forced herself to straighten and make the steps alone, opening the door for Mitch and his burdens. Once inside, Mitch laid Davey on the sofa, and she busied herself undressing him. Exhausted from his ordeal, Davey barely stirred.

Mitch hovered close, checking his toes and fingers for signs of frostbite. “I think we got him in time.”

She glanced back over her shoulder at him. Dark eyes gone soft as velvet studied her son, then turned to look at her.

She couldn’t breathe. He surrounded her like a fortress, his strength her bulwark, his broad shoulders so close and tempting. She gazed at his mouth, so close to hers, then looked up into eyes turned to smoldering coals.

The moment spun out, trembling with something momentous. Around them, the air crackled with electrifying promise.

Mitch tore his gaze away, releasing her from the spell that had held her motionless.

She turned back to her child, pulling off his shirt, crying out softly. “Oh, Davey…” she whispered, but her child slept on.

Mitch had been right. He would sport quite a sampling of bruises, but the layers of clothing she’d forced him to wear had protected him so that no skin was broken.

“I checked his pupils when we were down on the ledge. They were even and responded to the light. I couldn’t find any broken skin on his head.”

“I don’t feel any puffy places. I should probably make him wake up to be sure.”

“Yeah. Let’s see if he’ll eat some of that stew that smells so good. Then we can put him to bed. Kids are pretty resilient. Boone and I got caught jumping off the barn once, even farther than Davey fell. I decided I could fly and missed the hay I was aiming to hit. I saw stars for a while, but they never even had to take me to the doctor. But if you want, we can leave now and head to Pinedale. It’ll take us several hours, but we can get him looked at.”

She gnawed at her lip. “I don’t really want to get him out in the cold again, but…”

Then Davey stirred. “Mom? Mitch?” He sat up and looked around. “Wow, that really happened, didn’t it? You climbed down about a hundred feet and saved me!”

Mitch chuckled softly. “Not so far as all that.”

“I tried to grab onto that branch, but I slipped.”

“Did you hit your head when you fell?”

He shook his head. “No. I landed on my bottom. But then I felt kinda dizzy when I looked out over the edge, so I laid down real quick.”

“How do you feel now?” she asked.

“Kinda achy, like when I fell off the swingset last year, remember?”

Perrie smiled, relief seeping in. She turned to Mitch. “Davey has always had a real affinity for falling on his very hard head. So far nothing seems to have scrambled his brains.” She thought for a minute. “Let’s just keep an eye on him tonight.”

Mitch nodded, his face impassive again.

“Mom, I’m hungry,” Davey wheedled.

She pulled his shirt back over his head, feeling the laughter bubble up inside her. “So what’s new?” She straightened it around his middle and gripped his shoulders.

“You will never scare me like that again, right?”

He cut his glance over to Mitch. “Mitch already told me not to wander away. He said I should apologize, too.” Davey looked truly penitent. “I’m really sorry, Mom.”

She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat every time she thought of what a close call it had been. “We owe Mitch a very big thank you.”

Davey smiled and launched himself off the sofa into Mitch’s arms. “Mitch is the greatest, Mom. Didn’t I tell you?”

The sight of the big man cradling her son so close made Perrie ache for all that her son deserved and had never had, chief among them the love of a good man like this one.

She ached for the same thing. But she knew it wouldn’t happen. Mitch had made it amply clear that he lived alone. Free to drift.

She pushed to her feet to get away from the longing swelling up, threatening to burst free. “I’ll dish up some stew for all of us.”

On shaky legs, she moved across the room.

Chapter Ten

P
errie came out of the room she and Davey shared, wan and exhausted. She hesitated in the doorway as though disturbed by his presence.