I’d also stumbled more than a handful of times and rolled my ankle once.
But Boone had been right behind me each time, catching me before I could fall. His strong arms held me up in place.
And now we were finally here.
The group was settled down around a huge roaring campfire. The remnants of dinner were already cleaned up and put away.
Jameson said, “I saved you both some stew,” as I sank down wearily onto one of the logs, next to the teenage girl.
“That was quite a hike, wasn’t it? Did you see the elk?” she asked.
“No, I must have missed that.”
Every inch of my body was stiff, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to stand up again.
“What about Deeproot Cave?” the pretty woman who was part of the granola couple asked. “Wasn’t it something? I go crazy for rock formations, and it was the best druzy I’ve ever seen.”
Boone was busy erecting two tents, but he heard the conversation well enough to say, “We skipped it. Katie, we can hit it on the way back if you want. It would have added another mile onto the trip.”
Another mile.
I was grateful that we’d skipped it, even if he hadn’t asked me about it.
Boone was thoughtful. He could obviously see that I was out of my league here. And all day long he’d been gently helping me without making a production out of it.
He was more than just his good looks. He seemed like a good man, too.
“I’m Lauren, by the way. And this is my husband, Gabe,” the pretty woman said.
“Nice to meet you, Lauren. I’m Katie.”
Her husband didn’t look like the talkative sort, but she did.
Lauren added, “We were all just talking about what made us decide to book the hike. The Simmons wanted to get out and breathe some fresh air for the holidays. Our cranky trio over there,” she pointed at the three old, grizzled men, “wanted to prove they’re still tough enough. And Gabe and I just wanted to see the cave. Normally we’d do a hike like this on our own, but Boone and Gabe have known each other a long time, and we wanted to support their tour business. Plus, I justlovegetting to know new people. So why are you here?”
Boone put a warm blanket around my shoulders and stuck a hot bowl of soup into my hands, then settled down on a log across the fire from me.
I almost missed having him by my side. We’d spent the whole day together.
But he’s probably happy to get some distance from me.
“Me?” I asked, temporarily out of words.
“Yeah. It’s quite a decision to make. Most people want to spend Christmas with their family or friends. But we’re all the freaks who thought going on a three-day snow hike sounded like the perfect holiday. So tell usyourstory, Katie.”
No one was paying attention except Lauren, the teen girl, and Boone. Everyone else was deep in their own conversations.
“Uh, well… I guess I just needed to do something to shake up my life. I think… I’ve been feeling stuck.”
“What part’s stuck?” Lauren asked.
I blew on the soup and then took a bite. It tastedsogood going down. “I’m a bookkeeper for an auto parts company. And… I think if I have to look at numbers one more day, it might literally kill me. It’s boring. And I realized when I thought about it… that I’m boring, too. Or at least I felt that way the week I booked this trip. I’ve never gone anywhere by myself before. And a snow hike in the Ozarks sounded sooo intriguing.”
The teen asked, “So is it as intriguing as you thought it was going to be?”
I glanced over at Boone, then looked away fast, flushing as we made eye contact. “Yeah. It’s beenveryintriguing.”
Lauren laughed, a loud, braying sound. It was almost loud enough to wake any bears sleeping out here. Then she patted her husband’s leg. “Yeah. I gotintriguedby the Ozarks, too. That’s how I ended up with Gabe.”
