Page 33 of Expecting an Argument
Titus started barking above me and I rolled my head through the grass toward the noise. I had lost my glasses in the fall, so his large white body was little more than a blurry speck at the top of the hill. The manor looked like a dollhouse from where I sat in the grass—I might as well have rolled down the side of a mountain.
I checked my hoodie pocket, then the pockets of my joggers. My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized I had left my phone on the couch.
Shit, shit,shit!
Titus barked again and disappeared back toward the manor, where he barked some more.
A shiver went down my arms. Light was fading and the temperature was about to plummet. I had to get up the hill.
I rolled onto my hands and knees and tried to stand, but my vision went sideways again. I pushed myself up with all my might, but my body refused to cooperate.
I gritted my teeth and crawled upward, one fistful of grass at a time. Titus ran down the hill and bit my hood, pulling me up as hard as he was able. He gave my arms a little reprieve, but Iwas too heavy for him to drag me to the house.
Titus dropped my hood from his mouth with a booming bark. He ran back up the hill and barked over and over at the patio.
“Beau isn’t here, boy!” I shouted. “Come here, don’t leave me alone!”
But Titus kept barking.
I groaned and slowly kept working my way up the hill. The sun disappeared behind the horizon and soon I could only see the white skin of my hands reflecting the moonlight. My arms trembled with exhaustion and my belly dragged against the ground, but I couldn’t give up. Iwouldn’tgive up.
My foot found a small ledge, so I stretched my leg against it to raise myself a few inches. Instantly, my calf muscle exploded with pain and I screamed. The muscle still throbbed with pain as I gripped the grass. My left leg twitched, utterly useless. My arms were about to give out, but I had to be close to the patio…I had been crawling for so long.
Tears filled my eyes as I looked up, finding only the faintest yellow glow of the Christmas lights from the window of the media room. The manor was still so far away…and I couldn’t move.
“Titus…” I cried weakly. “Titus!”
Instantly, the barking stopped. Grass crunched beneath his paws as Titus bounded down the hill. He plopped down next to me and I wrapped my shaking arms around him. I buried my face and chest against his soft fur, taking in his body heat. If I held him tightly, I wouldn’t freeze through the night. Once the sun rose, I could try to make it up the rest of the hill. Margot would come in the morning if I failed. I might not have known any French, but everyone screams in the same language. Hopefully, she’d find me.
My back muscles shivered as I clutched Titus, but then he suddenly sprang to his feet. He ran up the hill, barking all theway.
“Come back!” I cried. “Titus, come back!”
Titus’s barking at the patio got louder. A light from within the manor brightened the night.
“Olivia?” Beau shouted. “OLIVIA?”
My heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t have been there, it wasn’t possible.
Titus ran through the grass and the silhouette of a man who could be no one else but Beau Fontaine sprinted down the hill behind him.
Beau’s large hands wrapped around my arms and flipped me onto my back. He grabbed my face and made me look at him. His face came into a soft focus and I caught his blue eyes darting around as they examined me.
His breath came out in a curl of mist as he spoke. “Breathe for me, OK?”
My heart raced, but I managed to nod.
“Where does it hurt?” he asked.
My throat shook as I answered, “E-everywhere.”
His hands slid beneath me and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me like I weighed nothing.
“Come on,” he huffed, “I’m taking you to the emergency room.”
I buried my face in his neck as he sprinted up the hill. He smelled like barbecue and cheap beer. I had no idea how he had known I fell, or how he had arrived at the manor, or even where the hell he had been.
I only cared that he was finally there.
