Chapter Twelve
At the sightof Sadie and the dogs crossing the glacial till, Bjørn tucked into the gap he’d found in the glacier’s wall. Good. She’d come by herself. Excitement rushed through his body like jet fuel igniting as the beautiful blue ice surrounded him.
He didn’t go far, maybe just a hundred yards in. He hadn’t really made a plan beyond giving something for the dogs to hunt up and, hopefully, getting Sadie alone without the camera crew. Which was so unlike him, he wasn’t sure if he should celebrate the deviation or go get checked out at the clinic. Originally, he planned on just finding a copse of trees or a jumble of rocks to wait by, but when he’d spied the glacier, he hoped it would give the dogs a challenge.
The sound of Reggie baying bounced loud off of the ice walls and echoed around Bjørn. So much for his hiding being a challenge. Would the dogs run right in? He stopped at a spot that widened and turned to face the way he’d come. Eagerness to see Sadie’s reaction charged him, making his insides quiver with nerves and a silly smile to stretch across his face.
He scanned the ice walls and marveled at the way the sun filtered through the glacier. Various colors of turquoise, dark blue, and white filled the space. It was almost like he was underwater, but backward with the way the ice formed peaks like small waves above and around him. Some might even say the small cave was romantic. He certainly couldn’t wait to show Sadie what he’d found and explore a little deeper in together.
Reggie’s baying picked back up, and Bjørn bounced on his toes in anticipation. Less than thirty seconds later, Rowdy’s smiling face bolted from around the corner. His tongue hung from his mouth, and his short, brown tail wagged like crazy. Reggie quickly followed him, letting out a loud bay that made Bjørn tuck one ear against his shoulder.
“Good boys. You found me.” Bjørn bent down and rubbed each dog’s ears.
Grabbing the dog treats from his pocket, he had them sit before handing them the reward. He peered toward the opening. Why was it taking Sadie so long to get there?
Rowdy’s entire body froze, his head cocking back the way he’d come. All at once, the hair rose on Bjørn’s scalp, sending a sinking feeling to his gut. Rowdy took off for the entrance, and Bjørn raced after the dog.
A scream full of agony ricocheted off the walls, sending a fresh wave of goosebumps across his skin. He shouldn’t have come into this cave. He should’ve stayed where he could monitor their approach. Predators riddled this area. Shoot, he’d left a trail of crumbs leading right to her.
He’d almost reached the entrance, each step pummeling his brain with what danger had befallen Sadie, when he turned a corner to find her huddled over her feet. Her hands wrapped tightly around her head, and she rocked back and forth. Crap. He’d forgotten about her fear of being trapped. He rushed to her side.
“Bjørn, help.” Her terrified voice pricked his eyes with tears.
“Sadie, I’m here. It’s okay.” He bent down beside her, but it was like she didn’t hear him. He rubbed his hand down her back. “Let’s get out of here.”
She curled further in on herself, a tremble shaking her entire body. “Help.”
“Hey. I’ve got you.” He wrapped her in his arms and lifted her up. “I’ve got you.”
Her sobs broke his heart as she buried her face in his neck. Her hand clung to his sweatshirt, pulling the fabric tight against his body. How could he have possibly forgotten something so important? This is what happened when he didn’t follow his plans.
“I’m so sorry, Sadie.” He choked out the apology through a tight throat.
Emerging into the warm sun, he rushed to a boulder close to the entrance and sat. She clawed up his body like she tried to get to safety. He did this to her. His hand trembled as he pushed her hair that had fallen from her ponytail away from her face.
“Sadie, it’s okay.” He cupped his hands on her cheeks, and she stilled. “Hey, babe, it’s okay. We’re out. You’re not trapped.”
Her eyes widened and darted around, as if just realizing she was in the open. Her hands flexed and opened where they pressed flat against his collarbones. She shuddered and buried her face back in his neck, her body heaving in silent sobs.
Wrapping his arms around her, his own tears threatened to fall. He’d been so focused on impressing her with a difficult situation for the dogs’ training that he hadn’t even taken her into consideration. He’d just thrown any trust she had in him out the side door of the chopper at thirty-thousand feet.
“I’m so, so sorry.” His voice came out ragged with emotion, and he leaned his face against her hair.
She took a deep breath, her head moving from side to side. “Not… your… fault.”
“I’m such a bonehead.” He loosened his arms from around her. The guilt made him want to throw up. “I should’ve thought about you not wanting to be boxed in.”
“No.” She sat up, her reddened eyes darting everywhere but his face.
He’d really messed things up. He let his hands fall to rest on the boulder. What he wanted to do was hold her, wipe away her tears still tracking over her freckles, but he’d lost the chance to do that. She’d realize it as soon as the terror completely left.
“This isn’t your fault.” She ran a finger over the tear-soaked spot on his sweatshirt, her touch making his skin beneath the fabric tingle. She took a shuddering breath, and he wanted to capture her hand in his and comfort her. “When I was eleven years old, I went on a winter camping trip with my dad, my best friend Melinda, and her dad. We got dropped off in this basin where a national park cabin is. Our dads went for a hike to check out an area up the mountain, but Melinda and I stayed behind.” Her face wavered in a sad smile. “We were having a card game competition and didn’t want to stop.”
She swallowed, and the action looked so painful it made Bjørn’s throat hurt. She didn’t need to tell him all this. He wanted to stop her from living through whatever horror she was about to reveal, but he also knew that telling others, no matter how painful, could be healing. So he kept his lips firmly pressed together and his hands clenched against the boulder.
“It was a warm spring day, and about thirty minutes after they left, a rumbling started shaking the cabin.” Her voice hitched. “The avalanche smashed into the cabin, pushing the walls against each other in a jumbled mess. I tumbled in snow and logs until it stopped. The cabin walls had created this pocket of space within the snow, with me cemented in cold on one side and Melinda on the other. It covered her almost all the way up. She couldn’t breathe. I kept telling her it’d be all right. I lied.” Her face scrunched as fresh tears pooled in her big brown eyes. “She didn’t make it.”
“Oh, Sadie, I’m so sorry.” Bjørn reached up and rubbed her tears away with the back of his fingers, not able to keep from comforting her any longer.