Meant for You (13 page)

“We won't know until they can get up there and rescue them. Getting angry isn't going to help matters, Gabriella. You'll need to remember that when we meet up with the tour people.”

She glared at him. “I'm not going to sit back and be fed a line of bull, Ethan,” she snapped. “If something doesn't sound right, you can be sure I'm going to speak up. Zach deserves to have us all down here fighting to get him the hell out of there and make sure he's safe.”

Summer had been sitting back and listening for as long as she could before her own temper flared. “That's enough!” she yelled and then took a moment to let everyone calm down. “We're all a little freaked out right now, but arguing amongst ourselves isn't helping anything. Let's go meet with these people and ask them what we want to ask and go from there, okay?” Ethan and Gabriella both nodded. The remainder of the drive passed in silence.

Once they arrived at the tour company's office, however, the three of them walked into a loud, chaotic scene that only got louder once they all started asking questions. Summer's head was spinning with all of the commotion, and finally Ethan let out a loud whistle to get everyone's attention.

“I'm Ethan Reed and I'm looking for Mike Rivera!” Several things happened at once: the noise level went down a bit and a tall, harried-looking man stepped forward and held his hand out to Ethan. “Mike?” Ethan ventured a guess.

“Good to meet you, Ethan. I'm sorry about the circumstances.” He nodded to the opposite side of the room. “Let's go into my office where it's a little quieter.” Without thinking, Ethan took Summer's hand and pulled her along with him. Gabriella followed behind them. When they were all seated in the office, Mike sat down behind his desk and addressed them all. “Is the rest of your family on the way?” he asked, and Ethan nodded. “I cannot even begin to imagine what you're feeling, but let me tell you that we are doing everything we can to get to the team.”

“When will that happen?” Ethan asked.

“We're working with a team of meteorologists right now to figure out when our best chance is of getting up there and getting everyone out before the weather turns again.”

“And what are they predicting?”

“The window of time we need and the window of time where there's a break in the weather aren't working to our advantage. We need two to three hours to get up to where the team is, evaluate injuries, get everyone loaded on the helicopters, and get back down. Right now, we're looking at weather conditions that are only going to allow us maybe an hour to get it all done.”

“Can't you at least try to go and get the injured climbers?” Summer asked. “By waiting, you could be endangering the lives of those who are injured even more than they already are.”

Mike shook his head. “Our experts are evaluating—”

“You could drop off supplies for the rest of the team,” Summer interrupted. “Get them blankets, food, and working communication equipment.”

“I can understand your concern, Miss…”

“Montgomery. My brother Zach is up on that mountain. All of this waiting isn't cutting it, Mr. Rivera. We need to get someone up there now. You've already lost an entire day with your waiting-for-the-weather tactic. You need to take action!”

“Summer,” Ethan warned.

“No, I'm serious!” she cried. “If climbers are injured and the weather is treacherous, then you need to be doing something actively right now to get them out!”

Mike Rivera looked to Ethan for help. “Summer,” Ethan began patiently. “They know what they're doing. They need to make sure no one else gets hurt; you can't just send people out into a storm.”

“Why not? It seems to me like they've already done that. ” She turned back to Mike. “You clearly ignored the weather warning and just went about your business. Why not just do it again? Or is it because now you'd be risking more of your own people?” She stood and braced her hands on the man's desk. “What's a couple more lives to someone like you? You've already been paid in full by the people you're leaving up on a mountain to die!”

“
Summer!
” Ethan snapped.

She spun around to face him, her eyes filled with fury. “That is my brother and your best friend up there. Why are you just sitting back and taking this nonsense?” Before anyone could respond, Summer stormed from the room.

Getting through the crowd of people wasn't difficult—especially when she didn't care whom she shoved to do it. She was trembling with anger as she plowed through a maze of hallways before finding an exit and practically kicking the door from its hinges. It wasn't until she was outside and unsure of where to go that she found Gabriella right beside her.

“Are you okay?” Gabriella asked gingerly.

“No, Gabs, I'm not. I'm abso-freakin-lutely not! They sent my brother out there knowing there was the possibility of dangerous weather, and now they're too scared to do anything about it. What if he's injured? What if he badly needs to be in a hospital right now? What if the temperature drops and he gets hypothermia? I mean, how can they possibly expect us just to sit idly by?”

Gabriella grabbed one of Summer's hands in hers and tugged her in close for a hug. “I'm just as frustrated as you, and if you hadn't spoken up, I would have. I don't know why Ethan isn't making more of a fuss in there.”

“Ethan never makes a fuss,” Summer grumbled. “He doesn't like to rock the boat. Ever.”

“Is that why he waited until Zach was firmly out of the picture before finally acting on his feelings for you?”

Summer took a couple steps back and grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Sounds cowardly.”

She wanted to disagree but couldn't. Unfortunately, now wasn't the time for talking about relationships. “I know, and if it were any other time than right now, I'd be harping on it, but I can't. I have to focus on Zach and getting him back safely.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Gabriella curbed the need to vent her own frustration.

Summer shrugged. “I'm not sure. I know these guys know what they're doing, and I haven't a clue. There's only one team that specializes in this kind of rescue, and I don't have a choice but to defer to them, but I don't have to like it. And I certainly don't have to keep my mouth shut about it either.”

Gabriella couldn't help but smile at Summer's attempt at being rebellious. “Okay then. Do you want to head over to the hotel? Or do you want me to leave you alone?”

“Not really. I think I need a couple more minutes to cool off before I go back inside. Otherwise I'm bound to want to punch somebody in the face, and I can't decide if that somebody is Ethan or Mike Rivera.”

A laugh escaped before Gabriella could stop it. “I'd pay good money to see that happen.”

“To which one?”

“Either.” They both laughed and it felt good to have some of the tension leave their bodies. “It's going to be okay, right?”

Summer nodded but she wasn't sure she believed it. “Okay, I think I'm done cooling off now,” she said with a shiver.

Gabriella pulled her jacket a little closer around her. “You picked the perfect place.”

Summer nodded and hugged her friend. “I'm so glad your brain works the way it does, because if it were left to me, we'd all be standing here freezing. I always manage to look at the high temperatures and never pay attention to the lows.” She chuckled.

“Yeah, lucky me. It's the main thing people notice about me. My efficiency.”

“That's not true. First they notice your scary good looks and killer figure, then the efficiency thing.”

“And that scares them off.”

Summer quirked a brow at her. “Who have you scared off with your efficiency? And for that matter, what kind of idiot would be scared off by that sort of thing?”

Gabriella shrugged. “It doesn't matter. It makes me seem like a freak sometimes when I can think so levelheadedly in stressful situations and can troubleshoot at the drop of a hat.”

“If you ask me, that's a blessing.”

“You wouldn't think so if it were you.”

“Right now? I most certainly would.” She stopped and considered her friend. “How would you troubleshoot this particular disaster? I mean, if it were you up there and had all of the data we've had access to. What do you think they could or should be doing that they're not?”

Gabriella stood silently for a moment. “I think they are doing okay going on the information they have, but…”

“But?”

“But they should have sent the rescue team out already. We're losing a lot of time and have no idea how many people are injured. I understand the need to make sure the weather's stabilized, but…I think that too much time is being wasted.”

With a nod, Summer took Gabriella by the hand and dragged her back into the building. “Then that's where we're going to tell them to begin.”

* * *

As expected, the arrival of the Montgomery entourage was eventful and chaotic.

“It's a damn media circus out there!” Robert Montgomery boomed as he walked through the door to the office. He did a quick scan of the room and assessed the situation immediately. His voice was loud and commanding, and soon Mike Rivera was standing before him with an outstretched hand.

“You must be Robert Montgomery,” he said nervously. He introduced himself and then gave him a quick rundown about the status of the search and rescue. “We've got a team set up at the base of the mountain and I'm getting all of the updates at the same time they are, sir. We should be getting word shortly.”

Robert eyed him skeptically but then chose to focus his attention on his daughter, who was anxiously standing to the side. He strode over to her and he could immediately see she was exhausted; she was pale and she had dark shadows under her eyes, and he felt a mild tug of sympathy. “Are you okay?”

Summer nodded and waited…waited to see if he'd hug her or lecture her.

“All of this could have been avoided,” he said to her and then glared at Ethan when he stepped closer. “The two of you knew that Zach was endangering himself and others, and you didn't stop him.”

“Well…um…” Summer began.

Ethan stepped forward and interrupted. “Robert, we've been over this already. No one would have been able to stop Zach from going. We need to stop playing the blame game and focus on getting him down safely.”

Robert eyed him skeptically as well. He didn't like that Ethan had spoken up when he had been talking to his daughter, but he supposed that he had a point. They couldn't change what had happened, and they needed to focus on finding Zach and making sure he was all right.

Unfortunately, in the midst of all this chaos, there were other things that were going to require their attention. He knew he couldn't do it all himself, and Summer didn't look like she was in any shape to do more than wait for news with the rest of them. He glared at Ethan again and knew he wasn't prepared to have a rational conversation with him just yet. That left Gabriella.

With a nod, Robert turned and began barking orders at Gabriella. “I need you to call the Portland office. Someone may have heard the news by now, and I want you to make sure no one is giving any comments to the press. Once word gets out that it's Zach Montgomery up on that mountain, we're going to have clients and employees alike who are going to start to get antsy. We want to assure them that everything is fine and the people we have left in charge are more than capable of handling things.”

With a quick nod, Gabriella strode away. When she had left the room, Robert returned his attention to Mike and walked over to speak to him privately.

Summer was momentarily relieved, but she knew as soon as her father had exhausted all his options, he'd come back to letting her know how this was all her fault. She was doing her best to brace herself for it but wasn't succeeding.

“Hey, kiddo,” her brother Ryder said as he walked over and hugged her. “How are you holding up?”

Summer almost wanted to cry. There was no condemnation in his tone; he was comforting her, being her big brother, and it was enough to shatter her already fragile state. She took a shaky breath and clung to him until she knew she'd be able to speak without falling apart.

When she looked up at him, he smiled.

And that was when her first tear fell.

Ryder hugged her close again and let her cry it out. When he felt her shudders subsiding, he led her over to an isolated corner and sat down. “You know how he is, Summer; he speaks first and thinks later. He hates not being in control, and this whole thing makes him feel helpless.”

Composing herself, Summer tested her voice. “He basically told me it was my fault if Zach was hurt because I couldn't talk him out of going on the climb.”

Shaking his head, Ryder said, “You had nothing to do with this. There are always risks like this and it sucks. We're all scared, but arguing amongst ourselves isn't going to help Zach. You're not to blame here, and I think Dad knows that. He's worried sick about Zach. He's tough on all of us, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care.”

“He's got a funny way of showing it,” she muttered.

“You
must
be talking about Dad,” James said as he came over to join his siblings. Summer rose to hug him, and he held her just as fiercely as Ryder had. He pulled back and looked at her. “You look exhausted. Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Some,” she said quietly, “but every time I close my eyes, I imagine the worst. I just feel so helpless! Maybe Dad's right. Maybe I didn't try hard enough to stop Zach.”

James chuckled. “Please, we all know that Zach doesn't let anyone tell him he can't do something. It's frustrating as hell.” He noticed the uncertainty on Summer's face, and he placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. “You're not to blame here, Summer,” he said softly.