The pressure in her voice told him she was thinking about what he’d told her last night, about Adele.
“It’s true, John,” she said quietly. “Even if it weren’t for a rescue squad consisting of a worthless sheriff and a sorry-assed volunteer fireman.”
He chuckled and reached up to touch her shoulders.
“Lila! Go ahead and send down the rope. Make sure to loop and knot it before you tie it off. Loop it over the tree branch to take some of the pressure off the lip of the hole.”
“I’m one step ahead of you,” Lila said, her voice sounding muffled and cranky from a distance. A moment later, he heard the subtle swoosh of the rope falling through the air. He put out his hand, and Jennifer placed the bottom loop of the rope into his palm. He leaned down over her.
“Are you sure you don’t mind waiting for a little bit?”
“I’m positive.”
He listened for a tremor in her voice, but heard no trace of it.
“The thing is,” he said quietly, “I don’t want you to stand here. In case the rope causes another cave-in, I don’t want you to be beneath it. I want you to go to the edge of the cave, the one farthest away from the mine collapse. Can you do that?”
“Yes. I’m not as afraid of the dark anymore. Not after last night.”
What a fucking amazing, miraculous woman. He leaned down and seized her mouth for that, quick and fierce.
“I’ll see you next topside. Go over to the edge of the cave,” he said, sliding the crook of his cane through a belt loop on his jeans. “We’ll both be out of here before you know it.” He waited, listening to the sound of her retreating footsteps. When she’d gone a safe distance, he slid his boot into the bottom loop and reached for a knot in the rope. As his muscles contracted as he pulled himself up, he could still feel the imprint of Jennifer’s lips on his mouth.
They were returning to the real world now. He couldn’t help but wonder if that had been their last kiss.
He frowned at the thought and pulled himself steadily out of the dark hole, heartened to feel the ground holding steady beneath the rope. Most would have considered it a hellish experience, being trapped beneath the earth with no escape. John couldn’t help but feel differently, though. If they got out safely, he’d remember the experience for the rest of his days. He’d remember Jennifer—her warmth, her humor, her sensuality and her generosity.
But he was returning back to earth now, where miracles were rare, brilliant and short-lived.
* * *
Jennifer watched John rise up the rope, his big, lean body bunching with effort and dangling in a ray of sunshine. Seeing him leave her sent a strange feeling through her, like she’d never see him again. Her heart jumped in alarm when a chunk of earth crumbled near the rope, breaking apart and spraying John with dirt and rocks. He paused in his ascent, coughing.
“You okay?” she called anxiously.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
He continued up the rope. She wasn’t sure if she drew breath until she saw his boots finally disappear over the edge of the hole.
John pulled the rope up after him. “I’m up, Jennifer. Hold on while I find the most secure place to pull you up.”
“Okay.”
A few minutes later, the rope snaked back down the beam of sunlight, but the end of it didn’t look the same anymore. Instead a sort of harness was there, with several knots above it.
“Step into the
harness and get it beneath your hips,” John called. She yelled back when she’d done what he instructed. “Now reach around the rope and hug it to you. Don’t try to hold on to it with your hands, just grip your elbows with your hands, so that your forearms, upper arms and chest make a sort of square around the rope, then hug tight. Don’t break the hold for anything. Do you understand?”
“Okay,” she called when she’d endeavored to follow his directions.
“Sit down in the loop. Give the rope your weight,” he shouted.
She did so, swaying in the air when her boots left the ground. It took more muscle tension than she would have expected to keep her body balanced on the rope.
“Feel secure?”
She bit her lip nervously.