Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (no david read aloud .TXT) 📕

She said her sister might go. She told me she just wanted to know where the hike was. I swear!”

“And so you told her the hike was on the Devil’s Path?”

Her mouth dropped open. “How did you... I mean, I didn’t know she’d actually go.”

“And you remember clearly? You told her Devil’s Path? What else did you tell her?”

“I think I told her we were camping at the Devil’s Tombstone. But I didn’t think she’d actually go. I mean, after she had that ruffie, you’d think she wouldn’t go on a two-day hike.”

He pinned her with his eyes. “Who told you that? Who told you she had a ruffie? You were there weren’t you? It was you!”

“No... No, I...”

Gherring loomed over her, his entire body shaking. Spencer wondered if he was going to hit her. “I’m going to deal with you after I find my daughter. Attempted murder is a serious charge!”

He turned to Spencer. “How do we get out of here? We need to get to Devil’s Tombstone now.”

“Don’t you have a helicopter or something?”

Gherring laughed bitterly. “No, only a jet. But I might buy a helicopter after this, just in case.”

“It’ll take us three hours to get back out of here, and over an hour to drive to Tombstone Campground. It’ll be dark by then. I hate to say it, but we need to send Charlie. They could drive straight to the public campground and search from there. It’ll still take them probably two and a half hours to get there.”

“Anne can’t go,” Gherring stated, “and Charlie shouldn’t go by herself.”

“Grace. Grace will go with her. Maybe Charlie can borrow some hiking shoes from my other sisters.”

With a groan, Spencer dropped onto a nearby rock and buried his face in his hands. “That hike... Do you know that hike, Mr. Gherring?”

Gherring sat beside him, pulling out his sat phone. “I do.” He squeezed his lips together, shaking his head. “It’s one of the hardest hikes I know. Maybe the toughest.”

“Do you really think she could make it on her own? I mean, she could be anywhere on the trail. Or off the trail, for that matter.”

“Despite some of her recent decisions, she’s usually a smart, resourceful girl. She’ll be okay. Her note said she had supplies.”

“She just got out of the hospital after almost dying from a drug overdose.”

“She’ll be okay.”

“She’ll be okay,” Spencer repeated. “And when I see her again, I’m going to kill her.”

“Me first,” Gherring said with a wry grin.*****

Emily stood on the trail with Josh and Brad, looking at the fork leading to the Tombstone Campground. It was six o’clock—almost eight hours of hiking. No, not hiking. Crawling, climbing, scrambling, stumbling, falling, with a small amount of walking. She’d never hurt so much in her entire life. And the temperature was beginning to drop. She’d already had to add a layer for warmth. On the last climb, her ankle started aching, so now she was limping.

“I know you’re hurt. Will you take a pain pill if I give you one?” asked Josh.

“I don’t know.” Emily hesitated, but her ankle had settled into a constant throb. “I tend to over-react to drugs. I don’t take much medicine.”

“Let me see your ankle.” He pulled up her pant leg to probe around on the tender area.

“Ouch!”

“You see—you need to take something. Your ankle’s already swollen. There’s no way you’ll be able to hike tomorrow.”

“I will, too. I have to. How else will I get home?”

“Fine. Then at least take something for the pain.”

“All right. At least my ankle is making me forget about all the other places that hurt.”

“Are you allergic to codeine?” he asked.

“No, but it makes me sleepy.” She accepted the pill from Josh and downed it quickly with some water.

“Too bad we don’t have any anti-inflammatories,” Brad commented.

“Yeah,” said Josh. “We really need to ice it, too. You should seriously consider abandoning this hike. We could get Smiley’s Taxi to pick you up here.”

“Please, I can’t leave now. I need to talk to him first. Maybe I could leave in the morning.”

“I still don’t get why you’re doing this hike,” said Brad. “What guy could possibly be worth this? If we hadn’t happened along, you might still be out there.”

“I know, and I’m grateful. I really am.”

“I still say this guy’s a jerk,” Josh insisted.

“No, he’s not. I was the jerk. I went out with this other guy, and he saw me. But now I know it was a mistake. I only want the chance to tell him.”

“And you had to do this hike just to talk to him?” asked Josh.

“No. I... Oh, I’m stupid, I guess. I wasn’t going to have a chance to talk to him until Monday. And I was afraid if he went on this big weekend hike, he’d hike me right out of his system. And I wanted to prove he was important to me.”

“You’re not stupid,” said Josh. “I think you’re really brave. And really cute. And I hope you drop this other jerk and date me instead. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not.”

“Josh, you don’t even know me. But thanks for the sentiment. That’s really sweet.”

“Are you sure that’s where your friends are going to be?” asked Brad, indicating the trail to the camping area. “It’s a public campground, and it’s usually full in the summer. The backpackers usually camp up here on the trail.”

“I don’t know. I thought they’d probably catch up to me on the trail.” She blinked back a few tears, angry with herself for losing control.

“Look, Emily,” Brad said. “We’re going about twenty minutes from here to set up camp. If your friends don’t show up, you can camp with us.”

Josh and Brad exchanged a look. “I don’t think we can leave you here,” Josh said. “We’ll walk down with you and make sure you find your friends. If they don’t come, you’ll camp with us. We can set up in the dark. We’ve done it before.”

She nodded mutely, swiping