A Town Called Valentine(70)

“Let’s go out onto Mushroom Rock,” Nate said, gesturing toward a narrow path that led out onto the promontory.

“Out there?” she squeaked, clutching his arm. “The view isn’t any different.”

“But then it feels like it’s all around you. Come on!”

He led the way, and she wished she could close her eyes as the sides of the cliff plummeted down either side of the path. But at last they found a rock to sit on, and her vertigo eased enough for her to enjoy herself again.

“Oh, Nate, this is just incredible,” she whispered. “We feel so . . . above the whole world.”

“We hiked a thousand feet higher than the valley, so we’re pretty high up.”

He opened his backpack and handed her a bottle of water, which she drank from greedily. He poured some into a little portable bowl for Scout. Next he opened a Ziploc bag.

“Trail mix,” she said. “Yum.”

“GORP.”

“Excuse me?”

“Good Old Raisins and Peanuts.”

She laughed. “And M&Ms, too.”

They ate and drank contentedly for a while, nodding at another hiker who passed them to go out onto the very tip. Emily shuddered and briefly closed her eyes.

Nate laughed at her. “So tomorrow I help you put up new drywall.”

“If you’re able. There’re certainly other things I can do if you’re . . . moving dams, or whatever Brooke said.”

“Hayfields have to be flooded to help the crop grow. Every morning and evening we move portable dams and flood a different section of each field. You know that hailstorm we had yesterday morning?”

She winced. “You were out in it?”

“You bet. Those things sting. I’ll be glad to get away and only do drywall.”

“Thanks, Nate.”

They ate more GORP, and Emily was so hungry from the hike, she thought she’d never get enough food again. She fed some nuts to Scout, who’d long ago mastered the look of quiet desperation. Then she told Nate she’d revealed the search for her dad to Brooke and Monica.

“I’ve been procrastinating,” she admitted. “I keep wondering if I’m passing my dad on the street. I never had my mom’s attention, and my husband, well, you can see what he thought of me. Part of me is worried that if my biological father rejects me, too, I don’t know if I can handle it. Maybe I’m just a coward.”

Nate put his hand on her knee. “No. If you were, you’d be huddled in an apartment in San Francisco, or maybe you’d still be married to that jerk.”

“No, he left me, not the other way around.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate. She couldn’t share with anyone the terrible hurt Greg had inflicted on her.

“I don’t care about him,” Nate said. “You’re not a coward. You’re trying to find a new way to support yourself, and you eventually want to adopt. You can’t tell me that’s not a brave thing for a single woman to do. How can your biological father not be happy about the way you turned out?”

“Thanks,” she said, turning to smile at him.

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then she leaned in to kiss him, letting her hand cup the roughness of his cheek. Suddenly hungry for more, she opened her mouth to him and let every other awareness fade away.

Until they heard the hiker going by them back up the trail.

She broke away and felt her face get hot. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m sure he’s jealous as hell of me.”

Laughing, she leaned her head against his shoulder. “This has been a great day. You were right—it’s done me good to get away from work.”

“Then we need to plan to get you out again. The mountain biking is fantastic around here. I usually bike these trails we just hiked.”

She gaped at him. “These dangerous, narrow trails? I feel queasy just imagining doing them at high speed.”

He grinned, flashing his dimples. “It’s fun.”

“No, thank you. I have a better idea. I haven’t seen Aspen yet.”

“Then it’s a date. Everyone should see Aspen.”

“Well, that was easy. There must be some daredevil part of the town you’re hiding from me.”

“Nope. I have time to make you try something riskier eventually. And I will.”