We crawled into the cave just as another surge of floodwater thundered past below. The sharp crack of snapping wood echoed through the ravine, and I turned in time to see the tree we'd clung to moments ago rip free from the muddy bank and vanish into the torrent.
Charlie flinched at the sound. "Jesus," she breathed beside me. "Lucky we weren't still on that."
"You're not kidding," I muttered, swiping wet hair from my eyes. "Thirty seconds later, and we'd be screwed."
Sunlight slanted through the cave mouth, turning the storm outside into a shimmering blur of silver and grey. Below us, the floodwater raged, a frothing brown beast trying to break free.
We stepped back from the entrance, and the cave swallowed the worst of the storm, muffling it to a distant growl. Wind still howled across the opening, dragging curtains of rain behind it. But in here, it was almost peaceful. Almost. If not for Doug's ragged puffing like he'd ridden a bucking bull.
Charlie seemed unfazed as if she could do it all again.
The cave was bigger than I’d expected. Tall enough to stand in, wide enough for all three of us to stretch out if it came to that. Deep, too. I couldn't see a back wall. Smooth red stone curved around us, shaped by centuries of wind and weather into a hollow that felt strangely deliberate. As though this place had been waiting for us.
I backed up to the nearest wall and slumped down, letting the warm rock press into my spine as I caught my breath and started thinking through our next move. I yanked off my boots, poured out the water, and pulled them back on.
Charlie sagged down beside me, hugging her knees to her chest. Her sodden ponytail curled over one shoulder, the end of it sliding right into the dip of her cleavage like it had a damn mind of its own. As if I needed any help noticing what was already impossible to miss.
Doug, on the other hand, scrambled over to the far side of the cave like I was contagious. Good. The farther away he was, the better.
Charlie swiped her muddy hands down her thighs, trying to do the impossible and get them clean. Her clothes were plastered to her curves like a second skin. She was trembling, probably still battling adrenaline. But hell, if she didn't look more composed than most people would after a near-death tumble through a flood.
She let out a long, shaky breath and turned those honey-colored eyes on me. "Thank you for saving me. Again."
She said it as though I was some kind of goddamn hero. I wasn't.
I just gave a grunt and fixed my gaze across the cave, not trusting myself to say anything that wouldn't resemble bullshit.
Doug finally dropped to a crouch across from me, still coughing and spitting up river water. He didn't say a damn word. He just sat there wheezing like my old man after a day of sucking on his damn cigarettes.
Charlie sat upright and wrapped her arms around her knees again. She'd been through hell, yet the look she gave Doug was pure steel. "You could say thank you, Doug."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the quiet like a whipcrack.
Doug rolled his shoulders and didn't even glance at her. "What for?"
Charlie blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face.
"Say thank you," she snapped, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "He risked his life to save you. You're lucky you didn't drown."
Doug's head snapped toward her, his face twisted with frustration. "We're in this mess because of you."
She stiffened. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"This dig site. You chose it, remember?"
"What does that have to do with basic decency? Say thank you, Doug."
"Fuck off," Doug snapped.
I pushed off the wall and stood. "Watch your mouth."
Doug's head jerked up. "You don't get to talk to me like that."
"Yeah, I do." I moved toward him, slowly and deliberately, my boots grinding into the grit. "You're trespassing on my land." My voice was low, calm … but I meant every damn word. I was one wrong look away from breaking his nose.
Doug scrambled to his feet as if he thought height gave him the upper hand and glared at me with the same blind fury I'd seen in my old man more times than I cared to remember.