Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Dana Mentink (e books free to read TXT) 📖

Nora lifted her cheek ever so slightly from his chest, her fingers gliding over his forearms. “I think I’m grieving over Maya’s choices. I know they’re her choices, but I hate feeling like I can’t help.” Her smile wobbled. “It’s probably time to figure out what a healthier relationship with Maya looks like. New boundaries and all. This might be a rough road ahead. And then there’s my aunt…”

She stepped away from him, the phone light illuminating the blush in her cheeks. “Well, my hand was about to be forced anyway. Lizzie Hartman and a bunch of the guides decided to move to Frank’s company. I can’t blame them. The pay is better.” She sighed.

He wanted to encourage her, but still fought to stay quiet. Without Maya or her aunt keeping her at the rafting company, would she leave the area?

“I’m afraid of being selfish,” Nora said with a sigh. “I want to be the type of person who helps the people I love, but I’m also tired of being taken advantage of. And right now, I’m certain of one thing.” She looked into his eyes, searching.

He held his breath for half a second. “What’s that?” he whispered.

Her eyebrows jumped as if surprised she’d spoken aloud. “Uh, that I want to get out of this freezing cave before I completely melt down.”

He forced a laugh, troubled that despite his resolve, there was a part of him that had started to hope for a new start. Today he’d realized they work better together as a team. And maybe Nora would’ve been able to see that if not for Maya’s reminding her of the rocky times. It served as a reminder for him, as well. They’d lost their chance of a future together long ago, and the faster he accepted that, the better. He turned back to face the never-ending hike in the darkness.

The terrain of the mine shifted and started a sharp decline. Henry shifted in front of her. Her hands gripped his shoulders at the most precarious dips as his shoes barely gripped the ground among the shifting shale. They walked quietly for what seemed like an hour. He kept his eyes directed at the ground, fully conscious of the fact Maya had been mistaken about one vertical shaft. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“How did you figure out the boundaries with your parents?” she asked suddenly.

“I think I’m still practicing. I tend to swing the opposite of you. You will bend over backward to rearrange your priorities just to make someone smile, whereas I often mistake the desire for teamwork as people trying to control me.”

“You used to be proud of your assertiveness. I volley between doormat and stubborn bull with not much middle ground.”

“I was going to say ‘guard dog.’”

She laughed. “What?”

“You’re usually trying to protect someone else when you get like that.”

Nora gasped, and his heart jumped. “What? What is it?”

“I don’t want to get my hopes up but…” She clicked the phone off and darkness draped them except a sliver of light. “An exit.”

They slid down the remaining rocks and the light engulfed them. Nora held a hand up to block the sun from her eyes, squinting and smiling. Henry hated to hold her back, but he had to be certain. “Please. Wait here for one second.”

Her smile vanished. “You’re worried it’s a trap.”

“I’m being cautious. I don’t have any way to protect you right now.” He found a foothold and vaulted through the opening. Brown and green rolling hills held patches of thick snow and the rest of the expanse was dotted with spruce, fir and lodgepole pines. He turned back to see how the mine had been hidden. The opening reminded him of a whale’s mouth, narrow and wide. The sun hit the rocks and produced a green and yellow hue. But he was at such a sharp incline, anyone walking or driving on an easier path would never see the opening.

He reached out a hand and guided Nora outside. She exhaled in relief. “I’ve never missed the sunshine so much, but it’s a little closer to the horizon than I’d expected. We’ve been gone most of the day.”

His throat objected to leaving the humid confines of the tunnels, reminding him of how long it had been since he’d had a glass of water despite hiking for miles. A motor revved in the distance and they both froze, staring at each other for half a beat.

“The radio,” she whispered, holding it up with a question in her eyes.

The revving sound grew louder and he spotted a cloud of dust in the distance. He wanted to believe it was a group of friendly ATV drivers, but with snow still on the high hills, they’d need to be pretty determined to venture up this high. Most people waited until July when all signs of snow had disappeared from the mountaintops. He turned around and spotted the summit where Copper City was located. How many hours had they been hiking and stuck in that cave?

He stepped behind a grouping of trees. If the ATVers came around the bend, he and Nora would hopefully be hidden. “Go ahead and call, before they get any closer to overhear.”

She swiveled the knob on the sat radio Maya had given her. Rapid-fire, with bursts of static in between, male voices sounded off updates in terms Henry didn’t understand. They were using a code of some sort. Nora raised the radio up to her mouth. At the first break of silence, Henry nodded his encouragement.

“Going inside.” Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “Sorry, I mean, going deep. Mountainside update in four.” She snapped the radio off and clamped her lips closed. “Maya would’ve never apologized.”

He was thinking the same thing, but he reached out his hand with a smile to take the radio. “We’re finally in my neck of the woods.”

“You know where we are?”

He