In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

Lauren turned to see him holding Mona and Deborah holding him.

She looked down the hill, expecting to hear Everette tell them to let go, but he remained silent. So it was by any means necessary. All righty then.

“We’ve got this, guys. Just don’t let go.” To Jackson she yelled, “You’re doing great, buddy. Get your footing and try again.”

He did so and when his hand gripped the barrel, Lauren let out the breath she didn’t realized she was holding.

“Good job. Pull yourself up and once you feel yourself get level with the barrel, you should be able to reach the chair arm on your left.”

When his hips were even with the barrel, his left arm flailed about, finding nothing but air.

Lauren was pulled forward again, and Mona’s arms tightened. She patted the woman’s wrist. “I need to breathe.”

“You want to breathe or you want to live?”

If she hadn’t been in such a precarious position, Lauren would have laughed at the contradictory question.

“Slow movements, Jackson,” she called. “Come up a little higher. There you go. Okay, the handle is right there.”

His hand connected with wood and his head dropped with relief, but they still had another fifteen feet to go. This is where the objects spread out more so she had to decide whether to keep him in the middle, trusting his ability to climb without the handholds, or chance sending him closer to the edge to find assistance.

Deciding he would be the best judge, she said, “Jackson, do you think you can climb up using just the sand?”

After a brief hesitation, he said, “I can try.”

The man was the definition of a team player. “I need you to be certain. It’s okay if you need the extra help to pull yourself up. I just need to know what will work best for you.”

“I need the help,” he replied. “There’s a metal ring somewhere close, isn’t there?”

He must have studied the course while everyone else went up.

“Yes. It’s about two feet above you, but nearly three feet to your left.” Dropping his belly to the sand, he pushed up and slid sideways, using the barrel as a step. “That’s good. You’re almost there.”

Strong fingers touched metal and he yelled, “I’ve got it!”

She talked him past two more objects to reach the most difficult section where the remaining items had been embedded much farther apart. A wooden post jutted out of the sand on his right, but was perilously close to the edge, while the small tire on his left was farther away from his current position. Without something to keep his feet planted, Jackson could easily tumble down the hill, taking the rest of them down with him.

“I need you to move very slowly through this next part,” she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible. “There’s a peg on your right.”

“It’s too far out,” Dodge whispered. “Send him the other way.”

Lauren shook her head. “He can do this.” Raising her voice, she said, “Push yourself up a little higher, and crawl your fingers over the sand up and to your right.”

Despite his best efforts, the post was still far out of reach.

“Change to put your left foot on the plank so you can scoot more to the right.”

“I can’t watch,” Penny said.

“No, I think she’s right,” Deborah said. “If he takes his time, he can do this.”

Jackson set his forehead on the sand as he edged his right foot off the support and quickly switched to his left. He then flopped once more, extending his right arm as far as he could. A second later his fingers grazed the post, but missed, sending his body weight hurling toward the edge.

“Come back!” Lauren screamed. Mona cursed up a blue streak but held on tight.

Jackson caught himself, lying still except for his head lulling back and forth on the sand. “I’m not going to make it.”

Lauren refused to give up on him. “Yes, you are. Stay right there and run your right hand across the sand to the left. That’s right. Slowly. You’re so close.” His hand found the peg and this time took hold. “That’s it. Now pull up and you’ll feel another peg just above your left hand.”

Jackson pulled himself up between the two pegs and Lauren scooted sideways to get closer to him.

“What are you doing?” Mona said, panic in her voice.

“We have to reach him. Lower me down a little bit. Everyone hold on to the person in front of you and whatever you do, do not let go.”

Picking up on the closeness of her voice, Jackson said, “I’m almost there, aren’t I?”

“Yes.” She reached out her hand, ignoring the tiny pebbles digging into her knees. “Take my hand.” She smacked her palm on the sand to help him locate it. “Keep stretching. We can do this.”

Moments that felt like hours passed before they finally made contact.

“That’s it.” With a strength she didn’t know she had, Lauren yanked hard and yelled, “Pull, everyone!”

In an instant, Lauren was on her back, Jackson’s hand still in hers and the others were leaping for joy around them. She worked to fill her lungs and could have cried with relief. She’d done it. They’d all done it.

Deborah and Brit helped Lauren to her feet while Axel got Jackson off the ground. High fives were exchanged before Mona said, “Well, shit. Now how do we get down?”

Ignoring the profanity, Everette called up, “Turn around.” They spun as one to find a giant, inflatable slide coming off the other side of the hill. “Grab hands and take a leap,” he said.

Pilar’s kitchen staff exchanged uncertain looks before Lauren held out both hands. “You heard him. Let’s get the hell off this hill.” Hands were joined and when they were all at the edge, she said, “On the count of three. One, two, three!”

Lauren jumped, landing on her bottom, and laughed all the way down the slide.

11

Nick had just removed the chicken from the oven when, as promised, Lauren