Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(33)
“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game,” Melody added, breaking down into a giggle by the end.
Will sighed and came to a stop, pivoting to her. “I don’t expect you to understand why it’s important to me to win, but it is. Please just respect that.”
“Boy, you sure must have—” She stopped mid-sentence, thinking twice about what she’d been about to say. She’d been on the verge of telling him that he must have had a miserable childhood full of disappointing Little League games and lectures from his parents. The problem was, based on the little she knew about Will, that was probably exactly the way things had gone for him.
She shrugged, trying to play it cool in spite of the flush heating her cheeks, and walked on. “Okay. I respect that. We’re going to win.”
She got a few yards ahead before he strode to catch up to her. His face was set in a scowl. It was so out of place in the beauty around them that she shook her head. There had to be some way to get Will to enjoy the hike for its own sake. The least she could do would be to get him to smile.
Neither of them said another word until they reached the top of the ridge. There was a rough trail along the spine of the ridge that they were able to walk for about ten minutes until it opened onto a breathtaking vista.
“Wow,” Melody breathed, raising the camera to take several pictures. “That’s amazing.”
“I thought you didn’t like heights.”
She pulled her gaze away from the postcard-perfect view of the lush, green valley only to find Will staring at the map he’d just opened. “I don’t mind it when it’s gradual like this. It’d be a different story if we were standing at the top of a cliff.”
“We’re not,” Will mumbled, puzzling over the map. “Although it looks like there are cliffs down here.” He juggled the map so that he could point to a set of squiggly lines.
Melody inched closer to him, peeking over his shoulder. “So, where are we?”
He didn’t answer, he just frowned at the map, unfolding it more and more until he held it like a newspaper. With the whole map opened, Melody got a much better picture of what it showed. She hadn’t exactly studied cartography in college, but she knew how to read a map. The part of the forest where they’d been dropped must have been somewhere in the valley at the southern end of several mountain chains, possibly right up against the border with the Bridger-Teton National Forest. If she was right, some of the highest peaks in Wyoming were just to the north of them. That part of the forest would be far too inhospitable at this time of year for an orienteering challenge, so unless Howie wanted to eliminate half of his workforce and his hometown through exposure and accidents, it made sense that they were in the far southern and possibly western part of the forest.
“So where is the finish line?” she asked, pointing to the gold star. “Is it marked?”
“Yes,” Will said, dripping with sarcasm. “It’s marked with a big, gold star.”
Melody snorted. “No, I mean do we know what it is? Or did they just pick a random spot in the middle of nowhere for us to all rendezvous.”
They both studied the map.
“It has to be something, because there are several roads around it.”
Melody shrugged and leaned back. “So it’s probably a ranger station or a campground, or even a private resort.”
Will lowered the map and looked at her like he wanted to say something sharp. He thought better of it, and said, “Are there a lot of private resorts up here?”
“Yes, actually,” she answered with a saucy grin. He’d been about to call her out for being ridiculous when, in fact, he didn’t know what he was talking about. She didn’t know whether to give him points for stopping himself from sticking his foot in his mouth or to smack him for assuming she was an idiot. “Camping is a major business around here in the summer. Look around and you can see why.”
He did look around, but it was with the calculating eye of logic instead of wonder at nature’s beauty. “None of the peaks are labeled on the map, but as near as I can figure, we’re way over here.” He pointed to a spot well north and east of the gold star.
Melody scooted closer to him again and looked over his shoulder at the map, out at the peaks that towered above them on the horizon, as high as their ridge was, and back to the map. She sighed. “Turn that around for a second.” She gestured for him to rotate the map so that southeast was up.
She squinted at the map, back at the horizon, and then back to where Will thought they were. “Yeah. I mean, I can’t tell for certain, but that could be right.”
Will started folding the map. “Let’s assume it is for now and head down to more level ground. The sun will set soon, and we need to make a secure camp.”
“I’m not going to argue with that,” Melody said.
They started down the opposite side of the ridge, searching for a spot that was flat enough to spend the night. As soon as the sun began to seriously dip toward the horizon, a distinct chill filled the air. Melody hadn’t taken off the light jacket she’d landed with—it would have been way too much trouble, since she’d put her backpack on over top of it—and she was increasingly grateful that she’d come close to overheating while hiking up the ridge. That extra warmth saw her through until they finally picked out a spot halfway down the ridge that was flat enough to build a campfire and spread out sleeping bags.