Chloe is fucked. Totally and completely fucked. She’s trying not to cry again, but her ankle is twisted up in the tree root, and she’s in the middle of nowhere. Stupid map, stupid fucking Axel hiding from her, stupid Danielle for dragging her to Montana. Now she’s lost and alone and can’t get her foot out of this fucking tree root.
She had a map of the trails. But she’d been irritated and frustrated, and was walking for who knows how long before she realized she was off the trail. She estimates she’s over an hour away from the lodge, but it could be longer. She didn’t tell Danielle where she was going. The front desk had been empty when she left the lodge, so no one there would know she was gone. She figures no one will come looking for her till at least after nightfall. And even then, how will anyone find her?
She lies back as best she can, foot still twisted up in the tree root, back supported by the tree trunk.And she waits. There are birds singing in the trees, but not much else. She wonders if she stays really still, if she’ll see a deer. It’s times like these in the quiet where her thoughts become too much. Axel has lost so much, first his father and now his business. It’s not lost completely, and maybe he can get the money back that Maury stole. Maybe he can get the land back. But where does she fit into all of that? He was so distant after she told him what she found. And then he basically took off and has been avoiding her. She fell asleep in the sitting room, waiting for him, and woke up in the middle of the night with no Axel.
What kind of relationship can they possibly have? He lives in Montana, his business and brothers are here. She lives in New York City, that’s where her life is. And if she gets partner, nowhenshe gets partner, she’ll be in New York indefinitely. She hadn’t taken a vacation in years, probably won’t anytime soon. So, when would they see each other? Would long distance really work?
It’s a fling, that’s all it is. He doesn’t even want to have sex, he’s saving himself. Even without sex, it’s still a fling. Kissing, cuddling, sharing moments. It’s just for when she’s here on vacation. He probably does it with a lot of women. She rips some grass up at this thought. He treats her like she’s special. Like she means something to him. But what if she doesn’t? What if he does this with every new batch of guests? A tear slips down her cheek. Not from the throbbing, relentless pain in her ankle but from the idea that she doesn’t mean anything to Axel.
There’s a sound in the forest. It takes her a moment to recognize that it’s not a normal sound. An animal? Hopefully not a bear or mountain lion or something equally as likely to maul her. Then again, but louder. Her heart rate picks up. She thinks about yelling out, but it sounds wild. There’s another crash in the forest, louder and closer this time. She scoots closer to the tree, and her ankle throbs. Out from behind a large bush comes Axel. He’s barreling towards her, a wild look in his eyes. He crouches in front of her, and she notices his flannel shirt is torn at the shoulder, with leaves stuck in his messy hair.
“Chloe, are you alright?” he’s feeling around her leg gently.
“How did you find me?”
He ignores her, focusing on her leg.
“Are you injured anywhere else?”
She shakes her head no, and he flicks his eyes up to roam over her face. She wants to kiss him. He found her, in the middle of the damn forest, he found her. He grips the tree root between his hands and snaps it, only jostling her leg slightly in the process. He must be extremely strong, that root was six inches across at least, and she couldn’t move it at all, let alone break it. Before she knows it, he’s scooped her up in a bridal carry in his arms. She forgot what it felt like for him to carry her. Like she weighs nothing, like she’s precious.
He moves, carrying her through the forest in silence. She tries to protest, saying he can put her down, that she can walk. But he ignores her. When she tears up, he stops walking immediately.
“What’s wrong?” he asks in a soft voice.
“You found me. I was lost, went off the path. And you found me.” It’s too much, she curls inward intohis chest, and he kisses the top of her head. A quiet rumbling sound comes from his chest, and she just buries herself further into him.
“I’ll always find you,” she hears him say after a couple of minutes. She’s exhausted and in pain and doesn’t say anything, doesn’t ask him how. Just rests her head and closes her eyes.
There’s the sound of a door clicking, and she feels her body being moved. It’s only when she opens her eyes that she realizes she had fallen asleep. It’s dark now, he carried her for a long time, let her sleep.
“Where are we?”
“My cabin. It’s closer than the lodge. I want to get some ice on your ankle.”
He takes her inside, setting her carefully on the couch. The cabin is made of all logs. She’s in a large room with a stone fireplace and can see the kitchen off to the side. It’s more rustic than the lodge. It fits him. Axel kneels and carefully undoes her boot, sliding it off her foot. He’s so gentle that his removing her boot barely hurts. When he pulls down her sock and her foot hits the cold air, she hisses. The skin is red and it’s swollen from her ankle down her foot.
“This might hurt a bit,” he says as he takes the bottom of her foot in his hand. She nods yes when he looks up at her. He moves her foot, up and down, then side to side, and rotating it. She bites her lip and tries not to cry out. It hurts, fuck it hurts. When he finally releases it, she huffs out a sigh, and he makes an apologetic face.
“It’s not broken, just sprained. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you some ice and something to wrap it with.”
“Ok, thanks.”
He disappears into the kitchen and then further into the cabin. Returning after a couple of minutes with a bag of ice and an elastic bandage.
“Lie back,” he tells her as he positions pillows on the couch for her head. Once she’s comfortable, he props her foot up on a pillow and sets the ice on it. It’s too cold at first, but after a moment it starts to feel better.
He settles down on the floor by her feet, one hand resting gently on her uninjured leg.
“We need to talk,'' she tells him.
Chapter Nineteen
Axel
‘We need to talk’ has never meant anything good. It’s coming, he knows it is. Why has he been avoiding her? How did he not know Maury was stealing from him? What does he plan to do now? But when she says ‘how did you find me?’, well, that’s not what he thought she was going to ask.
“What?”
