Read Online Just Say Maybe: A Thistle Bend Novel by Tracy March - Free Book Online Page A

said, an image of its icy depths flashing in his mind. “The most seasoned man on the team advised against going in.” He rubbed his forehead and dragged his hand down his face. “But we
had
to find those guys. They were husbands and fathers, sons and brothers. Their lives would be cut short, and people would be devastated by their loss.”
    Bryce’s heart weighed heavy from all the times his search-and-rescue missions had morphed into recovery efforts. A sad turn of phrase for the media, but a life-altering tragedy for the families of the victims. He had struggled not to take the failures personally, yet if-only thoughts still haunted him.
    “How do you even make a decision like that?” Holly asked, her brow furrowed. “When your life is just as valuable to the people who love you?”
    He lifted one shoulder. “We were trained to do it—to believe that all of us can survive.”
    She narrowed her gaze and stared at the view, seeming to give this some thought.
    “So another guy and I decided to take the risk,” he said. “It was treacherous and slow-going, but we managed to get down into the crevasse. We probed a ton of ice debris and snow. Came up with nothing.” He scrubbed his hand across his stubbly chin, the frustration fresh even now. “The conditions were pure crap and getting worse. There was no way we could safely keep looking.”
    Holly stared at him, hardly blinking, biting her bottom lip.
    “But I took one last chance,” Bryce said, remembering the final probe. “That’s when I hit on a length of climbing rope.” He could still feel the adrenaline jolt that had energized him. “I started digging like hell. My muscles were on fire by the time I reached James, the guy who owned Los Halcón. I’ll never forget the feeling of seeing him blinking at me—alive and reasonably well, considering. He had a severe hand injury, but we were able to climb out of the crevasse together.” Bryce shrugged self-consciously. “Finding James with that one last probe was just dumb luck, but he credited me with saving his life.”
    Holly nodded slowly. “You did—whether it was with the last probe or the first. Had it not been for you…” She nervously toyed with her necklace. “What about the other climbers?”
    “James’s brother, his nephew, and his nephew’s friend.” A familiar stab of regret tore through Bryce. He rolled his lips inward and shook his head. “None of them made it.”
    Holly’s eyes filled with sorrow, and she clutched his hand.
    “The group’s climbing rope had broken in the avalanche. We calculated from our probes and James’s location that the other three guys had gotten swept deeper into the crevasse. Even if conditions had been good, the snow, ice, and debris farther down were too compacted to dig through. It was bad enough that we lost them, and worse still since we couldn’t recover their bodies.”
    Holly looked a little stunned, clearly having hoped for a happier ending to the story. “That’s so sad—really tragic.”
    “It is. But at least we saved one of them.” He still regretted the loss of the three guys, a loss made more personal as he’d gotten to know James and learned more about the adventures the men had shared. “James and I stayed in touch and he invited me down to Los Halcón every few months.” Bryce mustered a small smile, remembering James—wiry and fit, with a glint in his blue eyes and the sun glaring on his bald head. Always ready with wise advice or a witty retort. “He had a tough time with it all—especially the survivor’s guilt. You’d think the avalanche experience might’ve made him more cautious, but it didn’t. Staying active helped occupy his mind. He was always up for some kind of adventure, and I was always game—white-water rafting, rock climbing, rappelling. He killed it at the highest levels. Amazing for a seventy-year-old guy.”
    Holly set her wineglass beside her on the deck. “But he left you the lodge in Costa