Hold Me (Fool's Gold #16)(45)

“I like it,” she said, then eyed the steep terrain between where they were and the ledge. “Can we get there from here?”

“I’m game if you are.”

She handed him her tablet and turned so he could tuck it into her backpack. When the flap was secured, she gave him a thumbs-up. “Lead on.”

Aidan set a brisk pace, but she was able to keep up. These woods were not all that different from those in the Smoky Mountains. Trees, underbrush and scurrying animals. She smiled, thinking Grandma Nell would be appalled to know Destiny had reduced her beloved Smoky Mountains to generalities.

She started up toward the ledge, following Aidan. He climbed over a downed tree, then turned back to help her scramble over the huge trunk.

When she put her foot down on the other side, she started to slip on damp leaves. Aidan immediately grabbed her around her waist. When she was steady, he released her.

In that moment of contact, Destiny found herself wondering if she would have any reaction. A tingle or a desire to lean closer. There was nothing. Not the slightest whisper of interest.

They climbed the last twenty or thirty feet up to the ledge. Once there, Aidan pulled two water bottles from his backpack and handed her one.

“What do you think?” he asked, barely winded from their climb.

She looked around at the large, flat area. “I’ll have to measure it, and we’ll need to have a geological survey done, but I think we have a winner.”

Part of the system the town had ordered included adding several cell towers in remote areas. Not only would that help those who were lost call for help, but it would also aid the volunteers by giving them access to the HERO command center and each other.

Cell towers cost about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars each. But because of the difficult location and the extra surveys required, the price of these would be closer to two hundred thousand. But money had been put aside, so Destiny was determined to get the towers in the best locations possible.

She shrugged out of her backpack and pulled out a tape measure. Aidan helped her figure out the length and width of the ledge. She recorded the information on her tablet, then took plenty of pictures and recorded their exact location. Only then did she sit down next to him and take in the view.

They were at about forty-five hundred feet. The air was cooler up here, but still warm. She could see where an old avalanche had taken out the side of a mountain a couple hundred years ago.

She could see trees and sky and mountain, but nothing civilized.

“I feel guilty about sticking a cell tower in the middle of all this beauty,” she said.

“It’s for the greater good.”

“I know, but it’s still too bad.”

“I don’t think the deer or bears will mind.”

Aidan stretched out on the ground. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky.

He was a good-looking guy, she thought. Fit, intelligent and a successful businessman. Shouldn’t she be considering him for her sensible plan? Except she wouldn’t. For two reasons. First, there was something about him that reminded her of the guys she’d known who traveled with her parents. Roadies and band members who were there in part because they loved the music but also to get women. Lots of women. And second, she couldn’t seem to summon any enthusiasm on the “Aidan as the one” front. When she tried, she only saw Kipling.

She shifted until she was sitting cross-legged and facing him.

“Any news on the candidates for Kipling’s second-in-command?” Aidan asked.

“I know there have been interviews. I haven’t heard any specifics.”

“I gave him some names. Not that Kipling wants anyone else to solve the problem.”

She smiled. “You’ve figured that out about him?”

“That he likes to fix things? Hard to miss it. It’s a good quality in someone you work with, as long as you agree with how he wants things done.”

“Meaning you’d never work for him?”

“No way. I like being the boss.”

“Speaking of the boss,” she said teasingly. “Isn’t he going to be annoyed that you’re goofing off?”

“Nah. He’s a laid-back kind of guy. What about you? Anyone going to wonder why you’re not working?”

“I need my guide to get back to the car.”

Aidan shook his head. “No, you don’t. You didn’t have any trouble on our hike today. You’ve spent time in the mountains before.”

“The Smoky Mountains. Different from here but just as beautiful.”

“I agree. Why’d you leave?”

“I was told college would be a good idea.”

“One of the advantages of living here,” Aidan told her. “There’s a community college and a four-year college in town. I didn’t have to go anywhere else.”

“Did you want try living somewhere different?”

Aidan’s expression sharpened for a second before relaxing. “At one time I did. When I was growing up, it was understood that my older brother Del would be taking over the family business. I was okay with that and had no idea what I wanted to do. Then my first year of college he took off. Suddenly, I was the one everyone thought would take over. So I stuck around.”

Family expectations, she thought. Only Aidan had followed through with his. She, on the other hand, had disappointed both her parents with her decision.