Love me till the end

Chapter 21

Luke watched a buck in his prime disappear into the woods before grabbing his ax and turning his attention back to what he was doing. He wondered how long the animal had been standing there watching him before he frightened it away. It wasn't the first time he'd stepped outside his door to surprise one of the many creatures that made their home close to his.

He brought the ax down splitting the first log neatly in two sections. It was a good thing they'd had a stockpile of extra wood the night before. With the generator out they'd certainly used it. He was thankful when he checked it in the morning to find that it had only run out of gas. That was a first, which only showed Luke where his mind was these days. Focused way too much on one green-eyed, auburn-haired beauty with a knockout body.

Luke paused for a moment and let his mind dwell upon Charlie. Thinking about her warmed his blood. They needed to talk. Their relationship had reached a point where it needed to be resolved one way or another. When he woke for the second time that morning with her naked body curled into his, he'd accepted the knowledge that he cared deeply for her.

He released a white cloud of cold air and narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sun on the snow. Off into the distance a tiny object in the sky caught his immediate attention. Luke couldn't hear anything and at this distance it could be a hawk. Something churned in his gut when he could finally make out that it was a chopper coming their way. Within minutes it reached the break in the trees and Luke's cabin.

It hovered directly over them, as low as the pilot dared to bring it without bringing the blades too close to the trees. There was no way it could land anywhere near his cabin. Luke shielded his eyes from the sun and glanced up, recognizing the pilot through the glass as someone from the rescue crew in town. There were two other people in the chopper with him. One was wearing a uniform and the other was in civilian clothes.

Luke acknowledged them with a wave. Then watched as the pilot dropped something to the ground within feet of him. It was a wood box with the kind of top that slid open and inside it he found a note. He opened it and read the single hand-written question, an inquiry that left him feeling as though someone was squeezing the breath from his lungs.

Is Charlie Wayne with you?

The note said to wave once for no and twice for yes. He hesitated, knowing what he wanted to do but ignored the feeling, knowing what he had to do. He glanced up at the occupants and waved twice and waited. To his amazement a rope ladder was tossed from the chopper and then one of the men, the one in civilian clothes, began to climb down haphazardly. It was a gutsy yet dangerous thing to do considering the distance to the ground and the unsteady swaying of the ladder.

Luke moved out of the way as the man neared the end of the ladder, realizing he'd have to jump the last few feet. Surprisingly he landed on his feet and with a thumb up gesture to the men in the chopper turned to Luke. He held out his hand.

"I'm Steve Benton!" he shouted over the noise of the chopper as it hovered over them briefly before turning away.

"Luke Remington."

Luke returned the handshake. His gaze moved briefly over the other man. The resemblance between him and Charlie couldn't be clearer. He was looking into a mirror image of her eyes. This was one of her brothers.

"Where's Charlie? Is she all right?" Steve was slightly out of breath, a huge grin on his face in spite of the seriousness of his question.

Luke had the distinct impression that no matter what he told Steve, he wouldn't be happy until he actually saw her and could determine for himself that she was all right. "She's fine, survived the crash without a scratch."