Lost and Found (Twist of Fate #1)(47)

I chuckled. “Yeah, kinda. But why haven’t you had any serious relationships? Just haven’t met the right guy yet?”

Xander looked at me with a small quirk of his lip. “Who wants to know?”

Now it was my turn to blush. “Never mind. Let’s change the subject.”

He bumped his shoulder into mine before mentioning that we’d reached the top of the pass. “We need to stop and use the binoculars to make a note of where everyone is,” he said.

Oh, right. The kids. I’d gotten so wrapped up in my hike with Xander, I’d forgotten about keeping track of the boys on their solo excursions. I reminded myself that it was a day to focus on the safety of the kids, but I began to wonder if I could find more time with Xander alone once we returned to the lodge the following day. Our group was scheduled to spend a couple of additional days there before returning home, and I could only hope Xander would be there too.

And that maybe he was feeling the same way… that it wasn’t time to say goodbye yet.





Chapter 23





Xander





I was in the process of pulling out my binoculars when Bear suddenly let out a few sharp barks and took off up a small rise to our right. “Bear!” I called, but he’d already disappeared through the heavy cluster of trees. I let out a sharp whistle.

“Think he heard or saw something?” Bennett asked.

“Maybe,” I responded as I tried to listen for the sound of his barking. I could usually tell a lot by the types of barks he let out. But there was nothing, and that had me worried. “Stay here,” I said. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“No way, I’m coming with you. If it’s a bear or something, I should be there.”

I shot him a glance and said, “So you can do what? Become the bear whisperer and save my ass?”

“Shut up,” he groused. “I had those koi eating out of the palm of my hand. I’m a natural with animals. Besides, it’s not your ass I’m worried about.”

I began climbing up the sharp incline. When I heard Bennett struggling behind me, his boots sliding through the soft dirt, I reached my hand out. He automatically grabbed it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“So you’re coming with me so you can save my dog?”

“What can I say, I’ve grown fond of him. Besides, he smells better than you.”

I chuckled. “My fart factory of a dog smells better than me? Thanks.”

Bennett started to speak, but the sound of Bear barking had us both stopping in our tracks. Once I pinpointed where the barking was coming from, I turned in that direction and practically dragged Bennett behind me. It was several hundred feet up the incline before we reached a small clearing. It took just seconds to locate Bear by a small outcropping of boulders.

And he wasn’t alone.

“Lucky?” I called when I recognized the boy’s red shirt. He was walking towards us, along with Frankie. Both boys looked over at us.

“We’re okay,” Lucky returned as they trotted towards us, followed closely by Bear.

“What happened?” I asked. “Why’d you go off the trail?”

“Um, I caught up to Frankie and we thought we heard something—”

“That’s not true. It was me,” Frankie cut in. “I got scared because I thought I saw something on the trail and just panicked and ran. I couldn’t figure out how to get back so I started calling for help.”

I noticed the teenager’s eyes were red-rimmed. After Lucky had told me he’d seen Frankie crying earlier this morning, I’d done a check-in with Frankie to make sure he was okay, but he’d brushed my concerns aside with a cocky remark about all the shit he’d seen living in the city and these woods being “a walk in the park.”

“Lucky heard me and came to show me how to get back.”

Lucky dropped his eyes and I saw some color seep into his cheeks. “It was nothing,” he murmured. “I marked the map with the alternate route like you said so I didn’t get lost.”

“I’m really proud of you, Lucky. That was good thinking,” I said as I patted him on the shoulder. I turned to find Bennett staring at Lucky with a wide grin on his face. His love for the boy was so apparent that it made my heart hurt to think about how tough it would be for him when he got back home and had to deal with what was happening with Lucky. Not only would he be carrying around a massive amount of guilt, he’d be struggling with having to let the boy go into a whole new situation.

I led the small group back down to the main trail and Bennett and I held back, letting Frankie and Lucky walk ahead of us. I noticed Bear was practically attached to Lucky’s hip the entire time.

“He’s a great kid,” I said to Bennett.

“He really is. I know I’m not supposed to get overly attached to them—”

“Bullshit,” I interjected and waited until Bennett was looking at me to say, “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t get attached.”

He nodded. “Thank you,” he said softly, and then suddenly his fingers curled into my hand. When he linked our fingers, it felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Because it was so fucking perfect.