Page 64 of Chasing the Dream

“So, tell me more about this trail.”

He shot her a look like he knew why she’d changed the subject. “It winds up the base of a mountain and has some great views of downtown Flagstaff.”

“And it’s an easy hike, right?” She wasn’t an experienced hiker, and not having slept good for the past two nights, her energy level wasn’t quite up to par. But she’d wanted to come just to be with him.

“Relatively speaking. We can stop and rest as often as you need to.”

She glanced at his profile and saw his lips twitch like he had a secret. In any case, it would be an adventure.

Half an hour later, she stopped to rest for the second time and gratefully accepted the water bottle Gabe handed her. “They need to rename this trail. There’s no way a fat man could handle this!”

“Excuse me,” came a man’s voice from behind her.

“Oops. Sorry.” She quickly moved off the trail to let him pass. Gabe had turned away, and his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

The man who’d passed them must have weighed well over two hundred pounds, and he was wider than he was tall.

Once the man was a safe distance away, Gabe said, “You were saying?”

“Oh, shut up!”

He laughed. “Do you want to quit?”

“Never.” With that, she brushed past him and continued up the trail.

When she wasn’t gasping for breath or thinking about her sore muscles, she was glancing out at the magnificent views.

“Isn’t this great? It really gets the blood pumping,” Gabe said from behind her.

“I can think of a lot of less painful ways to get the blood pumping.”

“Mmm. Do tell.”

“Never mind.”

They walked in silence for a while until they came upon a large rock outcropping that looked like a good place to rest.

“Let’s take a break,” he suggested as if he’d read her mind.

“If you insist.”

To reach the rocky ledge, they had to veer off the main trail and traverse a steep dirt path.

“Give me your hand,” Gabe said, pausing in the middle of the path.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“We shouldn’t be touching.”

He shook his head. “Just give me your hand.”

“Why?”

“Look up.”

She did and saw that the trail became narrower and rockier the further up it went.