Last Summer(32)

Ella picks up the clothes and boots. Looks like they’re going for a hike. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time. I have to get the dogs ready.”

In the bathroom, Ella quickly changes. She wants to call Damien, check in with him. He said before she left that he didn’t know much about the interview, which is understandable. Ella wouldn’t have gone into specifics about what she and Nathan discussed. Everything’s confidential until it goes to print. But what about everything else they did together? Would Damien know for how long they hiked and where? What about what she and Nathan did after? Ella can’t imagine she’d spent the entire fourteen days on the trail. She’s all for being adventurous, but two weeks without a shower and a good meal is extreme even for her.

Ella pulls out her phone, then remembers she doesn’t have cell service. Without Nathan’s Wi-Fi password, she can’t even use FaceTime audio. She looks at the time and does a quick calculation. It’s early evening in London. Has Damien tried to reach her since she left the hotel?

She knows he’s upset she took the assignment. Over coffee yesterday morning, Damien admitted he was finally ready to talk, just come to London with him. Ella wants to talk with him, desperately so, but it upsets her that it took an assignment from Luxe Avenue to make it happen. Almost as if he’d been backed into a corner and had no choice.

Whatever motivated him, whether the interview with Nathan or Damien finally working through his issues with a vigorous workout, Ella had no choice but to meet with Nathan. Only he knows exactly what happened between them when they were on the trail. Ella also has to consider her job. Rebecca’s counting on her, and Paul is breathing down Rebecca’s neck. She had to come to Truckee.

Nathan is inspecting his daypack when Ella joins him by the front door. He’s packed food, water, and emergency supplies.

“Never hike in an isolated area without a compass, SAT radio, medical kit, and a flashlight with a fresh set of batteries,” he instructs her like he would one of his celebrity guests on Off the Grid! “I also pack foil rescue blankets. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to get lost up here. Something can go wrong like that”—he snaps his fingers—“and no one would know.”

“You aren’t going to off me or something, are you?” She laughs nervously, slipping on her gloves.

He zips up a pocket and shoulders the pack. “Don’t worry. You’re in capable hands.”

Strong, wide hands with a dusting of dark hair, she notices. Hands that can do any number of things. She quickly glances away, self-conscious of her reaction. Yeah, he’s hot, but to get hot and bothered from just looking at his hands?

Not cool, Skye.

Nathan opens the door. Fred and Bing, water packs strapped to their backs, bound outside and round the house. Habit tells them the direction they’re headed.

The trail, a slim path that winds through the trees, starts at the edge of Nathan’s property and steadily climbs in elevation. The dogs run ahead, pausing every so often to sniff a rock or tree trunk. They walk for over an hour, Ella behind Nathan, their conversation minimal. The narrow trail makes carrying on a conversation difficult, to Ella’s frustration, since they can’t walk side by side. She tries not to think about how they’re wasting valuable time.

Nathan keeps up a manageable pace, hands gripping the daypack’s shoulder straps. He wears a wool beanie pulled over his ears. Dark hair, longer than the cropped cut he had on TV, curls up from underneath the cap’s edge. He glances at the sky and inhales deeply through his nose. He visibly relaxes with each breath.

“You’re in your element up here.”

“I can’t stand being indoors when the sky’s this blue.”

“Which has me wondering. Why Luxe Avenue? Isn’t Outside a more suitable audience for you?”

He glances at her over his shoulder. “Déjà vu.”

“What?”

“You asked the same question last time.”

She steps over a fallen branch, the needles brown and brittle. “Every question I ask will probably be the same. Remember, patience.”

“I know. Trying.” He whistles for the dogs. They’ve put some distance between them, antsy to run and most likely used to Nathan hiking faster. They lope back in their direction.

The sun rises higher, burns brighter. Light reflects off the snow. Ella feels the cool heat on her cheeks. It stings like dry ice.

“Do you have sunscreen?” she asks.

He stops midstride and Ella bumps into his back with a grunt. “Sorry about that.” He grins and she smiles back.

“Sunscreen’s in the small pocket.” He points over his shoulder.

Ella fishes out a sunscreen stick. She rubs it around her face and offers it to Nathan. He drags the wax stick across his brow and down his nose, capping the tube and handing it back to Ella.

“Women made up over sixty percent of Off the Grid!’s audience,” Nathan comments as Ella zips up the pack.

“Are you expecting to reach the same audience through Luxe Avenue? What about the men? Thirty-five percent is a large chunk to ignore.”

“I don’t care about the men. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about the female audience.” Nathan resumes walking. “Luxe Avenue is Stephanie’s favorite. She reads it religiously, cover to cover. Always has.”