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“Cassidy!” her voice quivered, her stormy eyes full of desperation and innocence.
Her legs dangled over the edge, her stomach pressed against the wailing animal cocooned beneath her, keeping him trapped between ground and her body. The only thing keeping us from tumbling to our death was my one hand, which was clinging to her while my other fingers and my boots hooked into the mud.
My muscles cramped, straining against hundreds of pounds. The force threatened to tear my limbs apart.
“Let go of the calf. We can rope him later,” I commanded.
She shook her head, fear etched into her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just sorry!”
We shifted another inch.
“Briar, just let him go before he goes over the side. He will bunker down like he already had been, and I’ll be able to pull you up.”
“I’m so sorry. I-I-I-My dad and I…” Her hold tightened. The calf let out a massive bellow and jerked around.
And my fingers lost hold in the mud as the clay slid away beneath my boots. The devil’s hand was coming to cash in the dues that were owed.
Dues that I owed.
“LET GO!” I tugged on her arm, hard, snapping it toward me as everything dragged us toward the deep abyss below. Water and muck sprayed everywhere. Her hold loosened, and she rolled toward me, finally releasing the calf from beneath her body. The little animal bolted upright and darted away.
I heaved one last time and hauled Briar into my own body, rolling away from the cliff edge just before we went over.
And I simply held her.
Rain pelted against us, but I remained still.
I closed my eyes, breathing heavily.
Her body suddenly jolted, trembling violently in my arms.
“I’ve got you, Goldie,” I whispered.
Every cell in my lungs burned, exhaling the rush of adrenaline that had pulsed like a madman through my veins. Briar’s chest rose and fell as her convulsions slowed, the cold was practically non-existent due to the adrenaline rushing stiffly through our veins. Her figure shivered in tandem with mine from the settling of what had just occurred.
I wrapped my arms tighter around her, holding her for reassurance as the wet droplets continued to pelt against my face. As they trickled across my skin, dripping into every crevice that was exposed, I simply laid still.
Once again, an accident that nearly took someone’s life was my fault. Just another check mark in the book that held all of my sins.
When I glanced at the woman I clutched tightly against me, her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if the water that trailed down her cheeks were from the rain or tears. Her blonde hair was no longer as bright as the noonday sun; instead, it was covered in a film of everything we’d nearly been consumed by. Her slicker was merely a waving flag on the branch it had torn upon, and her hat was lying in mud some feet away from us.
I exhaled a shaky breath, the cloud pluming in front of me and across the side of Briar’s face. She shuddered, and I pulled my lips between my teeth, relieved she was safe.
“What were you thinking?” I whispered, not upset that she’d gone off but that she’d nearly died. I inhaled deeply.
Keeping my voice soft, I repeated my question. “What were you thinking?”
“I already said I’m sorry!” she snapped and suddenly pushed herself out of my arms.
I didn’t fight it, despite the cold that swamped my frame as she rose to her feet. “That’s not what I mean,” I replied, knowing she had to be thinking I was accusing her or blaming her or scolding her. The tension that pulled every inch of her face taut confirmed my thoughts. I knew she was merely trying to prove something. Closing my eyes as another bolt of lightning darted across the sky, it was easy to shut out the fact that I’d nearly gone over the edge with her.
“Then explain what you mean, because I feel like you don’t trust me to do my job.” Her voice slipped through the booming thunder.
“Again, that’s not it.”
“Cassidy Duke! I am not some helpless woman who—”
“THAT’S NOT IT!” Snapping open my eyes, I jumped upright, ignoring the mud that sloshed down every exposed inch of my skin, and marched right up to her. Could this woman be more insufferable? She stirred way too much concern within me. I’d known her for five days, and I was already tangled in this web of mystery she was weaving.
