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“For Granny,” she explained. “She wants to see everything.”
“If you zoom in close, you can see this bear has been to the blueberry fields.”
“Oh wow.” She took another shot. “You know, I should thank Rosalind. I never would have come out here if she hadn’t given me this task. But it’s so beautiful.” She straightened up and turned in a circle, her head tilted back to take in the tall pines and the sky. With her arms spread wide, she filled her lungs with mountain air.
He loved this moment, when it all clicked for a client. When the deep peace and beauty of the wilderness settled over them, and they felt in tune with nature in a way a person never could when surrounded by civilization.
With Brenda, it meant even more. It meant that she now understood a core part of him—or would, if she thought about it and made that connection.
“I see why you love it out here,” she said.
A smile spread across his face. She did understand. Somehow that made his beloved mountains even more beautiful. The sunlight, filtered through the branches of a white pine, shone on her face and the very air around her seemed to glow.
His heart clenched in his chest with an almost physical sensation.
“Yeah,” was all he said. All he trusted himself to say. He turned away from her and continued up the trail.
The air had shifted. What had started as a gentle, intermittent waft of a breeze now held steady. The temperature had dropped as well. Only a few degrees, but it was enough to tell him that the incoming cold front had shifted. Instead of passing mostly to the north of them, it was headed right for this ridge.
He wasn’t too worried, because the system wasn’t predicted to bring much precipitation. Also, it was moving fast, so even if it dropped some rain, or snow if it got cold enough, it wouldn’t be much. The worst-case scenario would be a light dusting, which would hopefully melt when the temperatures warmed back up again.
Then again, this time of year, you never knew what could happen with the weather. That was why he prepared for all possible scenarios.
But how could he prepare for the scenario of losing his head because Brenda was so close he heard each breath, each footfall, each rustle of her clothing? Now that he knew more about her, his crush had grown even bigger. Brenda was a good friend, the best there could be. She thought for herself instead of following the path laid out for her. He’d learned so many amazing things about her and they’d barely started this hike.
Right now, his crush felt like a curse. He had to focus on his job instead of on the magic of her presence.
Maybe he should tie a bandanna over his nose so he didn’t keep catching whiffs of her fresh fragrance. She smelled as if she’d danced through a lavender field before hitting the trail. If he got really desperate, he’d have to put that bandanna over his eyes so he didn’t keep catching glimpses of her curvy thighs in those hiking pants, or a flash of her auburn hair catching the sun.
Gritting his teeth, he grimly fixed his gaze on the trail ahead. One step at a time.
ten
Something had shifted, and Brenda didn’t know why. One minute she’d been telling him about Maura, and he’d been sharing details from his childhood. The next minute he was totally ignoring her. Had she said something wrong?
Maybe he was embarrassed because he’d told her about his therapist. Galen didn’t seem like the kind of person who cared what other people thought. That was one of the things she found so fascinating about him. But maybe it was unusual for a rough-edged mountain man like himself to seek therapy. Should she tell him that she thought it was wonderful, and not embarrassing at all?
But every time she tried to catch up with him, he maintained the distance between them and kept his focus on the trail. So she gave up her attempt and did the same.
The trail needed her complete attention anyway. The farther into the mountains they went, the trickier the trail got. It would be so easy to trip over the tree roots that rose from the dirt, or slip on moist patches of rotting pine needles. The more tired she got, the harder it was to keep from face-planting onto a stray boulder or one of those rotting logs with mushrooms sprouting from them.
The other problem was that her gaze kept drifting to the man a few yards ahead of her. Seeing Galen on the trail was like watching a seal slide from a rock into the ocean. In town, he always seemed a little uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t completely sure of how he was standing or talking or walking. Here, he flowed like water through the forest. He was so graceful and never seemed to put a foot wrong.
So fit, too. She had yet to see him even get out of breath. He looked as if he could hike at this pace indefinitely. She considered herself to be in pretty good shape, thanks to all the Pilates and cardio she did. But Galen was clearly on another level.
It made her feel safe to know that she was being guided by someone so capable. If they ran into trouble, he could probably run all the way back to Lake Bittersweet for help. Carrying her on his back.
As she smiled at that image, her foot caught a wandering root and she tripped. She caught herself before she fell, but Galen paused and turned around to check on her.
“I’m okay,” she assured him.
“Need a break?”
“Do we have time?”
“If you need a break, we have time.” Then he hesitated. “But I should tell you that I think we have some unexpected weather coming our way. We should consider turning back.”
Maybe that was why he’d gotten so businesslike over the past hour.
