Mitch squeezed her hand. “Nice.”
A tribute to the Team mattered more to Megs than any personal recognition. She and Mitch had poured everything they had into the organization, growing it from a few volunteers into a world-class rescue operation. By acknowledging the Team, the town was acknowledging their combined life’s work.
Then it began.
Townsfolk stood at the end of their driveways, shouting words of welcome and waving as Megs and Mitch passed. It hit Megs square in the chest, made her throat tight. She couldn’t imagine how Mitch felt. This washishometown.
She slowed down, giving Mitch time to see everyone, hear their greetings, and wave back. It wasn’t easy for him to turn his head wearing that collar.“You’ve had so many people praying for you.”
They headed downhill and through the roundabout into the center of town to find the sidewalks on either side of the street lined with people.
“Sweet baby Jesus.” Megs glanced over at Mitch, met his gaze, saw the emotion in his eyes. “This town loves you.”
“You, too.”
Normally, she would have turned off at the roundabout to head up the mountain to their home. But if she did that, most of the people who’d come out in the cold to greet Mitch wouldn’t get a chance to see him.
“What do you say, love? Is it time for a victory lap?”
“Yeah.”
She went around the roundabout, where Bear stood, waving, a big smile on his bearded face, and headed into town proper, driving slowly. “What’s Hawke doing with the big fire engine?”
Parked on a side street, it was just sitting there. Had there been some kind of emergency, a car accident?
As they drew near, the lights came on, and, with a squawk of the siren, Hawke pulled out into the street ahead of them, followed by Deputy US Marshal Jason Chiago in his service vehicle, his overheads flashing, too.
Megs swallowed—hard. “I think you’re getting an escort.”
Mitch looked this way and that, clearly overwhelmed by the response, his eyes suspiciously bright. “Wow.”
Everyone had turned out. Joe and Rain with Lark and little Angel. Rico. Cheyenne, Marcia, Libby, and Sam from Knockers. Rose. Bob and Kendra Jewell, and beside them Lexi with tiny Kit, all bundled up. The staff of Food Mart. Naomi, Winona, and Old Man Belcourt. Esri, the Team’s trauma therapist. Jesse and Ellie Moretti with their twins Daniel and Daisy and toddler Dylan. Vicki standing with her two little ones and her mother-in-law, Robin. Wendy from the newspaper with her camera. The guy with the bushy beard who owned the marijuana dispensary. Last of all, outside the front door of The Cave—the Team’s headquarters—stood the Team members, applauding.
At the edge of town, Megs followed Hawke and Chiago, turning around in the firehouse parking lot and heading back for a second pass, Mitch waving to friends and neighbors he’d known his entire life.
When they reached the roundabout this time, Megs turned her SUV homeward, honking a farewell to their escort. She turned into their driveway, parked close to the house, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Welcome home.”
God,it felt good to be home. The comfort of familiar spaces. A fire crackling in the woodstove. The stillness.
While Megs ordered dinner from Knockers and put together a grocery list, Mitch did his best to settle in. He put away his clothes, opened his mail, downloaded almost two months’ worth of emails, and visited their social media for the first time. Then, overwhelmed by the thousands of supportive posts from followers from around the world, he wrote his first post since September.
I am home at last. My heart is full of gratitude for all the support, prayers, and good wishes you’ve sent my way. I will forever be grateful to the Black Canyon rangers, the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team, and my doctors, nurses, and therapists for all they did to save my life. Most of all, I’m grateful to my beautiful partner, Megs Hill, for her unfailing love and strength.
Where would he be without her?
He’d been thinking about their life together a lot these past weeks. He supposed that was natural after a person came face-to-face with death. He’d thumbed through his journal, reading random entries. It hadn’t been hard to see the impact that Megs had had on his life these past forty-eight years. With her passion for life and adventure, she had lifted him up, bringing out the best in him, enabling him to become far more than he’d have been without her.
It had made him think about their future. At best, they had maybe thirty years left. That might seem like a long time, but he knew how quickly the years passed. It seemed to him that it was just yesterday when they’d been in the prime of life and hanging in Camp 4. He wanted whatever time they had left together to be special. Most of all, he wanted Megs to know how precious she was to him, how much he loved her.
Megs poked her head into his office. “Dinner just arrived. You hungry?”
“Yeah.” He shut down his computer, his head aching from the screen time.
They talked over the day while they ate, Mitch savoring Megs’ company and his first good meal in what seemed like ages. Words came slowly for him, but Megs was patient. She was also perceptive.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“My h-head … ay… ay.. aches.” He set down his fork, unable to finish.
