"For the last six months, G.o.d's been calling me to the mission field in Cambodia, but I was too scared to give up my comfortable lifestyle. When we met and hit it off, I thought . . ."

"I could be your mission project?" He prayed not.

"No. Of course not. I just thought meeting you, forming a friendship, developing feelings were all signs that I was wrong about where G.o.d was calling me to be. But I see now that, while we were meant to have a friendship, it's not meant to go beyond that. G.o.d has other plans for me, and it's time I started listening."

She was the first woman he'd brought home to meet his family, and they all thought she was great. Now she was leaving.

"I'd truly like to remain friends, to stay in touch," she said, hopefully.

How many times had he uttered those words and never followed through?

She grasped the handle of her suitcase. "Besides, I think it's pretty clear this is where you need to be."

"What do you mean? I am here."

"Not just for weddings, Reef. I think you've been running too-from your family, from where G.o.d wants you. I've always had an ache in my heart for orphans. I hear an ache in your voice, a longing, whenever you talk about your family. Stay here, spend some time with them."

"For how long?" If they stayed in touch, maybe there would be a chance for them down the road. He could make a life in Tahoe, and when she returned- "Move back to Yancey, Reef. This is where your heart is. I can see it all over your face. You belong here. Just like I belong in that orphanage in Cambodia. We can only run from G.o.d's plans for so long. Embrace what He has for you."

He stepped closer and stroked her face. "I thought I was." He'd thought that, for once, he was doing the right thing-dating the right girl, even if the feelings, the sparks, weren't there. He liked Anna, he really did, but if he was being perfectly honest, though there was an attraction, he didn't have deep romantic feelings for her.

"I'm sorry, Reef. I hope you understand."

"Why don't you stay until the end of the week?" They could leave together as planned, and maybe they would work through some things.

"No, I've put this off long enough."

A car horn honked.

"My cab's here." She pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Take care, Reef."

He sunk onto his childhood bed as she closed the bedroom door behind her. What do I do now?

It didn't take long for the patter of Piper's bare feet to echo up the back stairwell. At least Cole and Bailey were on their honeymoon so he wouldn't have to face letting down his big brother again in person. At least not yet.

Piper rounded the corner, sank down on the bed, and put an arm around him, as she'd done so many times in their youth.

"You two are as thick as pea soup" their mom had always said about their special bond.

Perhaps it was because they were the youngest two in the family, or perhaps because they were similar on a heart level. He'd suppressed, or at least miserably attempted to harden, his weakness-his "tender heart," as his mom had called it-for more than a decade.

Losing his dad had been painful, but losing his mom had been excruciating. Why had G.o.d taken them both? Why so close together? Just when he needed them most? It had been impossible to continue the daily routine, as his siblings somehow had. Oh, he knew they'd mourned the loss, but the depth of grief wresting inside him, of anger beating relentlessly through him, had pounded hurt into insolence and pushed his reckless streak to the limit.

He'd burst through every boundary he could think of, taunting G.o.d to take him too with every limit pa.s.sed. He'd longed to feel a surge of life in all its reckless chaos, and to numb his heart to the point of never feeling pain again.

He'd been selfish, immature, unable to look past his own feelings to even care about the needs of others. He'd been a self-absorbed mess, but that had changed.

Piper nudged his shoulder at the silence. "You wanna talk about it?"

He shrugged. "Not much to say."

"Reef." She angled his chin so he was facing her. "It's me. You don't have to pretend." Piper had always "gotten" him, and shockingly, always loved him-no matter what. And she'd demonstrated that in a tangible and irrefutable way when she'd stood by his side during Karli Davis's murder investigation.

He exhaled. "I thought I finally made a good choice."

"You did."

"But it didn't work."

"And?"

"I finally picked a good girl, and she said the relationship was forced."

Piper shifted, bending her leg and pulling it beneath her. "Did it feel forced?"

"Yeah, sometimes." All the time. "But relationships take work." And he'd been committed, for the first time in his life, to making it work.

"Yes, but just because she was a good girl doesn't mean she was the right one."

Of course Piper would hit the nail directly on the head.

She b.u.mped his shoulder with hers. "You still staying the rest of the week?"

The easy way would be to take off, but it was time for him to stop taking the easy way out. Be there for others, not just himself. "Yes, I'm staying. I promised I would."

Relief swept over Piper's face, and the fact that his staying meant that much to her filled him with joy-joy that he could finally bring her happiness after so many years of bringing her pain. Maybe Anna was right. Maybe this was where he needed to be, where G.o.d was calling him.

Footsteps thundered up the back stairs, and Gage burst into the room. "We've got to go. Kayden was caught in a rockslide."

"What?" Piper's eyes widened. "Is she okay?"

"Jake said she's pretty battered."

Piper swallowed. "I'll call Landon."

"He knows. I just got off the phone with him. He said he called your cell, but you didn't pick up. Had a momentary panic attack thinking maybe you'd decided to join Kayden on the climb after all."

Piper patted her pocket. "I must have left it in the Jeep again."

"I a.s.sured him you were fine. He said he'd meet us at the hospital."

Reef clutched Piper's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He was so thankful he could be there for her, that he could be there for his whole family. "She'll be okay. Kayden's a fighter."

28.

Jake's pulse whooshed in his ears as the paramedics handed Kayden off to the hospital staff waiting on the helicopter pad.

The rotary blades were silent, but he still felt their pounding in his chest.

They loaded Kayden onto a gurney, the severity of her injuries. .h.i.tting him anew. Her leg was swollen. Her head was crusted with dried blood and quickly bruising.

Please, Father, I beg you. Let her live.

As he followed them into the hospital, harsh fluorescent lighting replaced the bright sunlight. The doctor and techs wheeled Kayden down the corridor, the doctor a.s.sessing during transport, calling out orders as the freshly painted taupe walls blurred by.

They wheeled through a set of automatic doors, and the McKennas-Piper, Reef, Gage, and Darcy-and Landon rushed forward, their frantic expressions echoing the fear churning inside him.

"Is she going to be okay?" Piper asked, her eyes full of tears.

"Her right leg is broken and she's sustained a head injury, but the paramedics don't know how severe the injuries are."

Landon engulfed Piper in his arms as tears rolled down her face.

"That's far enough." Peggy Wilson met them at the second set of double doors. "I need you all to wait out here."

Jake knew it was useless to argue with the RN. They all did. Having worked search and rescue, they knew the rules. No family past the second set of doors. The doctors needed s.p.a.ce to work.

"What happened?" Gage asked.

"Rockslide. It came out of nowhere."

"Thank G.o.d you were there." Gage clamped him on the shoulder.

He'd called for help, stopped Kayden's head wound from bleeding, and set her leg by the time the copter arrived. It was ironic, though. Usually Kayden flew the rescue copter. This time she was the victim.

And now he felt utterly useless. He had to move, had to get air. "If you'll excuse me." He bolted for the exterior door and rushed outside, feeling as if he'd been drowning and was finally bursting above the water's surface. He gulped in fresh air.

"You all right?" Landon asked, having followed him.

"Yeah." He paced. "Just needed some air."

He took a few more steadying breaths, and the earth stopped spinning. "This was Patty Tate's doing."

"What?" Landon asked.

"Patty Tate. She was livid we put her son away. She's an expert climber. She could have easily staged a rockslide."

"You really think she'd do that?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Okay." Landon nodded. "I'll get Th.o.r.eau on it."

Jake paced the hall. It seemed the waiting would never end. He stared at the clock above the nurses' station, watching the second hand progress around the dial. How long did it take to cast a leg and bandage a head wound?

His chest tightened, knowing more was involved. She'd taken a hard hit to the noggin.

Please, Father, let her be okay.

Hunger for justice seethed inside. Landon clearly hadn't been convinced Patty Tate had caused the rockslide, but thankfully he was acting on Jake's claim nonetheless.

Jake paced past the nurses' station for what seemed the hundredth time. What had happened to Kayden was no accident. He could feel it in his bones.

Patty Tate would pay for what she'd done. He would see her brought to justice, put behind bars where she belonged. She wasn't getting away with this.

After what seemed an eternity, Dr. Graham stepped into the waiting room.

The group stood, and Jake wondered if they were all struggling to catch their breath, as he was.

"She's going to be fine. She's one tough lady."

The pressure squeezing Jake's chest lightened.

"She has a broken leg-which Jake, here, set perfectly, I might add."

"And her head?" Piper asked.

"She took a pretty good knock and will have a grand headache for a while, but all scans have come back clean. She's awake and surprisingly alert."

"Can we see her?" Piper asked.

"Give us a few minutes to get her settled in her room, and then, yes, you can see her. We'll keep her overnight, as a precaution, but she's fine."

Jake breathed a sigh of relief, and the McKennas formed a group hug.

"She'll be in room-" Dr. Graham glanced at his clipboard-"203. Give the nurses ten minutes and you can head up."

"Thank you, Dr. Graham." Piper turned from her siblings to hug him.

"You're welcome." He pulled back, looking Piper in the eye. "Maybe this will finally convince you to stop climbing."

Kayden and Piper stop climbing? Fat chance. Besides, they could step off the curb and get hit by a car. Risk existed everywhere. Giving up adventure wasn't the answer. Not for them. You trained well and followed all the safety precautions, but you didn't stop living. Besides, the rockslide had not been an accident. It was a direct a.s.sault by a vengeful woman. Jake was positive of that.

"You coming?" Gage asked as they headed for Kayden's room.

"I'll meet you up there," he said, needing to do something.

Gage arched a brow. "Okay."

Jake walked in the opposite direction of the McKennas, moving for the hospital's chapel.

He entered, finding it empty. The chapel was small with brown pews and stained-gla.s.s windows. He stepped to the front and knelt before the altar, a spiritual release of anxiety washing out of him. He lowered his head.