There was movement behind them. Max tried to turn around again and it took me a split second to realize what I was seeing.
An arm reached over the edge, followed quickly by a shoulder. My eyes widened as Josiah muscled himself over the cliff, right behind Hayden.
Our eyes met, and in that instant, we were one. He didn’t have to give me a signal or yell out instructions. I knew. He knew. And we both sprang into action.
I dove forward, hitting the ground so hard it almost knocked the breath from my lungs. But I grabbed the leash and bent my knees to get my feet under me.
Hayden’s snarl of hatred as he tried to keep his grip on the leash was interrupted by a surprise from behind. Josiah tackled him to the ground and the knife flew out of his hand.
Max tried to attack my face with licks. He had no idea this wasn’t over. I unclipped the leash from his collar so Hayden couldn’t yank him over the edge with it and painfully scrambled to my feet.
Josiah and Hayden struggled on the ground, close to the edge of the cliff. Hayden clawed at the ground, his fingers almost reaching the knife.
I ran for it to kick it away but Hayden got to it first. His fingers curled around the handle and I watched in horror as he whipped his arm around and plunged the blade into Josiah’s thigh.
Josiah roared. But the knife in his leg didn’t slow him down; it only seemed to make him angry.
I staggered back to stay out of the way. Josiah rolled Hayden onto his back and punched him. The sound of his fist hitting flesh and bone carried above the noise of the waterfall. I flinched at the violent contact, then Josiah hit him again.
Hayden groaned, writhing on the ground. I watched with my heart racing as Josiah got to his feet.
“Stay down,” Josiah growled through clenched teeth. He looked at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Are you?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t even look at his leg.
Hayden didn’t listen. He rolled over and pushed himself to standing. Blood streamed from his nose and hatred seethed from his narrowed eyes. He looked absolutely unhinged. Josiah charged but Hayden was fast. He shifted to the side and slammed into Josiah’s leg, right where the knife still protruded. Josiah’s leg buckled and he crumbled to the ground with a howl of pain.
Max barked like I’d never heard him bark before. With an aggressive snarl, he charged. He jumped on Hayden, teeth bared, and bit his arm.
Hayden shook him off and delivered a swift kick to his side. Max yelped as he rolled across the ground, and Hayden turned his furious gaze on me.
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
I tried to run but Hayden caught me by the wrist. I fought back, hitting and kicking, but he dragged me across the ground, relentless. His grip was too strong. I couldn’t get free.
Finally, I landed a kick that loosened his hold. I scrambled backward just as Josiah surged in and smashed him across the face.
Hayden staggered under the force of the blow. His feet slipped on the rocky edge and he teetered, almost falling backward.
Josiah reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Hayden looked down, as if contemplating the rocky depths below him. Then his gaze turned to me. His eyes narrowed, seething hatred on full display, and before Josiah could grab his other arm, he wrenched his wrist free and fell.
Gasping, I ran to the edge and screamed. Josiah wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back before I could see. Tears streamed down my face and I sobbed, the horror of it all washing over me in an overwhelming wave.
Josiah held me tight and we sank to the ground. I took shaky breaths and let his strength envelop me. Minutes passed as I cried. Josiah didn’t let go.
“You’re hurt,” I said finally, pulling away. “Are you bleeding very much? We need to get you help.”
“It’s fine.” He cupped my face and looked at me. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I probably had a million scrapes and bruises, but I couldn’t feel a thing. “I don’t think so. Nothing serious. Where’s Max? Is he okay?”
As if on cue, Max burrowed into our embrace, tail wagging furiously.
“I don’t think he’s hurt,” Josiah said. “That fucking bastard.”
“Good boy, Max. Good job getting the bad guy.”
Josiah put his arms around me again and hauled me against him. “I thought he was going to kill you.”
“He tried.”
“Fuck, I can’t calm down. He could have killed you. I swear, I’m never letting you out of my sight.” He kissed my hair. “I love you. Damn it, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
“I mean it, Audrey. I’m shit at romantic stuff but I love you and I’m going to marry you.”
I sputtered. “Do you think maybe you’re getting ahead of yourself?”
“No.”
“So you’ll still mean it even when we haven’t just experienced intense trauma together?”
“Yes.”
I blinked at him. He really was serious. “How about I say yes now and we can have a rational conversation about it when we’re calm and you don’t have a knife sticking out of your thigh.”
“I can live with that. But I’m still marrying you.”
I shook my head, but not in disbelief. I believed him. He was just the most straightforward and yet perplexing man I’d ever met.
I loved him so much.
“But why was the bartender stalking you? Did you even know him?”
“It’s a long story that involves my father having an affair.” I glanced toward the cliff. “Can I tell you the rest later?”
He touched my face. “Yeah.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “We need to call for help but my phone doesn’t get a signal out here.”
“We’ll go that way.” He pointed. “The hiking trail isn’t far. As soon as we get a signal, we’ll call Garrett.”
“And an ambulance.”
“Oh.” He glanced at his leg. “Right. Yeah, that’s starting to hurt.”
“How about you, Max?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
He licked my face.
Josiah started to get up but winced.
“Let me help.” I got to my feet and he steadied himself against me as he stood. “Can you put weight on it?”
“Enough. I’ll be able to walk.”
I glanced at the cliff but Josiah touched my chin and moved my gaze to him.
“Don’t. You don’t need to see it.”
My eyes welled up with more tears. “Why did he do that? He didn’t have to fall.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes people choose darkness.”
“It’s like he was obsessed—too twisted with hatred to see another way. It’s just all so unnecessary.”
“There’s nothing you could have done, Audrey.” He kissed my forehead. “Let’s get out of here.”
I draped his arm over my shoulders so he could lean on me if he needed to. Max trotted along beside us as we made our way toward the trail. Even with both of us limping—and the pain of all my scrapes and bruises starting to demand my attention—it didn’t take long before we found our way. His phone got a signal first, so he called Garrett. He told us to wait where we were, help was on the way.
We sat down on the side of the trail. Josiah put his arm around me and held me close.
“Thank you for saving me,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Always.”
CHAPTER 42
Audrey
Max didn’t understand days off any more than he understood weekends—even when I’d almost been thrown off a cliff a few days ago. He woke me up at six-thirty sharp, so I took him outside to go potty.
I stretched my arms over my head while he did his business. The bruises I’d predicted had definitely come to pass. But I didn’t let the aches and pains bother me in the least. It could have been so much worse.
The events at the falls had sent shockwaves through our little community. And for once, there weren’t any wild rumors. Apparently the truth was dreadful enough on its own.