fingers through her wet hair. “An adorable mess, maybe.”
“Do you want me to go down to your bedroom and find you something else to wear?”
“I don’t think I left any clothes here. Besides…” She gave me an impish grin. “I rather like being surrounded by your scent.”
I groaned. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, so I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say that.” Time to change the subject. “We need to get your hands wrapped up, but I don’t have the right supplies up here. Do you want to come downstairs with me, or do you want to stay here?”
Thea leaned against my dresser, suddenly looking beat. “I’d love to stay up here forever, but I know I need to go downstairs and face what happened sometime.”
“Then, we’ll face it together.”
We found Susan in the kitchen, and the older woman immediately pulled Thea into a tight hug before insisting that she sit. While Susan worked on her hands, I wandered out to the front of the house, where a number of men and women in uniform were gathered, red and blue lights casting an eerie glow over their solemn faces. Spotting Detective Dyck among them, my shoulders tensed. Would I never be free of that man?
My gaze strayed to the open back of an ambulance and to the dark head of my brother, who was being examined by a paramedic. I headed that way but was intercepted by Leo.
“Thea?” He didn’t have to say anything else for me to know how worried he was about her. His expression said it all.
“She’s okay. Susan is with her.”
He released a ragged breath and closed his eyes briefly. “Thank god.”
I nodded my head toward Hayle. “What about him? Is he all right?”
“Physically, yes, but he had a pretty severe case of shock, and they insisted on checking him out.”
“Did he tell you what happened?”
Leo’s brows drew together. “He just kept muttering that it was his fault and that he should have tried harder to save her.”
“Jesus.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Thea was really shook up too. Whatever happened, it wasn’t pretty.”
“I know. Is it wrong that I want to throw them both over my shoulder and steal them away from here?” He gestured to the chaos surrounding us. “This circus is the last thing they need.”
I tried not to laugh at the image of him carrying Hayle and Thea over one shoulder but didn’t fully succeed. Slapping him on the back, I said, “You have big shoulders, but maybe you should let me carry Thea, at least.”
“Deal.” He glanced around us. “Have you seen Dad?”
“I was getting ready to ask you the same.” We’d planned to have dinner with him, so he should be around here, somewhere.
We weaved through the police and other emergency vehicles parked in the driveway, searching for him. Though I hated to admit it, his presence would be a welcome one right now, since he could take charge of this mess better than anyone.
“Looking for me, boys?”
Leo and I both spun in unison to find the man in question standing directly behind us. Instead of his usual business suit, he wore black slacks and a relatively casual sweater under a wool coat. But his attire wasn’t the most surprising thing about his appearance. It was the stunning woman standing by his side, holding his hand.
He gave her what I could only describe as an encouraging smile before turning back to us. “Leo. Tristin. I’d like you to meet Glinda Goode. My wife.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Thea
“What happened next?” Detective Dyck asked without looking up from where he was making detailed notes about everything I said.
I tugged at the bandage on one of my hands. He’d probably only been questioning me for an hour, at most, but if felt like we’d been at this for days. “Hayle told me to go back to the boulder where I’d originally slid down the side of the cliff, and he was going to get help.”
“He said he was going to go for help instead of calling for it?”
I replayed his exact words in my mind. It had been dark, and my entire body had been in pain from my effort to stay on that damn ledge. Still, every detail of those moments was burned into my brain like a cattle brand. “Yes. I remember him saying that he would be right back.”
“Did you tell him you had a phone and had already texted Leo for help?”