Were there wild animals out here? Wolves? Mountain lions?
There were definitely bears here.
I’d seen an educational sign about black bears at the trailhead, but I’d been too busy thinking about Colin and my stupid job to pay attention to the safety warnings.
Then I realized with horror that therealdanger tonight might not be wild critters creeping through the woods. It might be the cold.
It wasn’t supposed to drop below freezing tonight, but I seemed to remember the weather forecast said it would be in the forties.
Turning back to the gate, I gave it one more weak rattle, as if shaking the bars would magically unlock it. Then I instantly started making a to-do list in my head. It always helped calm me down.
Step 1. Don’t panic.
Step 2. Get out of the rain.
Step 3. Don’t panic.
Step 4. Assess the situation.
I’m going to have to sleep in my car.
The thought made my stomach turn. A whole night out here alone, in the dark, with whatever was lurking in those woods.
But this wasn’t a scary movie. This was real life. I’d be uncomfortable and maybe a little scared, but dawn would come like it always did, and then I’d drive out of here with a wild story to tell my friends.
I wasn’t well equipped to spend the night in my rental car. I was only wearing a light cotton sweater and leggings. Not exactly wilderness survival gear.
Surely I wouldn’t die from the cold, though, right? And I had half a tank of gas. I could turn on the heat whenever I got too chilly to help warm up.
A branch snapped somewhere behind me.
I shrieked, spinning around with my hands raised valiantly to fight off the pack of wild bears that were surely circling me by now.
My heart slammed in my chest, and I wielded my cell phone like a weapon.
But it wasn’t a predator.
It washim.
Mr. Mountain Hottie.
The cryptic chainsaw man from earlier on the trail emerged from the treeline, and he looked like something out of a movie.
But agoodkind of movie, not a scary one. He’d play the hero with those thick muscles and his striking blue eyes.
He’d managed to put on his sweater, which made him look halfway civilized, and his eyes sparked as he spotted me, as though he were just as surprised to see me as I was to see him.
Sawdust clung to him, along with a few errant leaves, and he carried the chainsaw in one hand like it weighed nothing at all.
His stride was confident as he crossed the gravel parking lot, and when he spotted me standing there with my hand stillraised like a startled cartoon character, one corner of his mouth twitched upward.
Relief flooded through me. He’d be able to let me out.
“You okay?” he rumbled.
His voice sounded like gravel, and it did something to my insides that I absolutely didnothave time to examine right now.
My cheeks flushed hot despite the cool mist in the air. “The gate’s locked.”
