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Logan turned and walked to the end of the dirt lot before descending down the side.
Well, I was here now. No going back at this particular point in time. I quickened my stride until I was right behind Logan.
The maroon and beige rocks were extraordinary. Some boulders appeared bright yellow and dark pink, but none of them looked like the image I had seen in my dream. This wasn’t the right place.
I had time.
The crunch of gravel under Logan’s boots was oddly soothing as we zigzagged further into the belly of the canyon.
“Will we reach the wavy rock-sediment things tonight?” I asked, faking my best excited tone.
“Not tonight. Probably tomorrow, if we reach the markers I need to get to,” he said.
Good. That gave me at least a day to figure out what to do—fake a heart attack, break my arm, get bitten by a poisonous snake. That’s all I could come up with on the car ride. By tomorrow morning, I would have a detailed way to get Logan out of the gorge. Hopefully.
I grimaced.
When we hit a long plateau near the bottom of the canyon, Logan turned around. “We can stop here tonight, if you want?” His voice echoed gently through the winding path.
The last time I followed Logan down a rocky trail, I had wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Now, I needed him closer than ever. To protect him.
The only thing that matters is keeping him alive.
Yeah, right, and keeping your hands to yourself!
It was fascinating to watch him do some sort of calculation in his mind. His sunglasses rested on the top of his head, and he squinted his eyes, looking in both directions before pushing a few buttons on his watch. Then he took out a map and etched a few scribbles onto it.
I peered around the cliffs surrounding us. The sunlight was starting to fade, cascading shadows on the walls. It would be a beautiful spot to spend the night. Almost romantic. If I wasn’t terrified my date might die tragically.
He is not my date. He is just a man. Not a friend. An acquaintance.
I slid my pack to the ground and helped Logan start a fire. “I can’t believe you get to spend your days in places like this.”
“Yeah, this is one of the good parts of the job, for sure,” he said while lighting a match over a few pieces of tinder.
“Here.” He threw me a tan meal covered in plastic. Carefully, I read the instructions twice before opening it and setting it over the flameless heater it came with. It appeared to be a version of chicken stew with crackers. I probably hadn’t warmed the food correctly, but I’d never used this type of burner before. And the instructions were a little vague. I normally brought lots of snacks, never full meals when I hiked. Granted, most trips were a two-day max. This was going to be a new, terrifying record for me. If I survived it.
Stirring the soup with a spoon, I caught Logan’s stare.
He was watching me intently. His green eyes showed a flash of concern, and then it disappeared.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’ve never seen anyone read the instructions twice and then refer back to them a third time.” He chuckled. “You are painstakingly thorough.”
“I like to be well-informed. If I don’t understand something, I don’t see the shame in studying it until I do.”
He held out his palms in surrender. “I don’t have a problem with it. I just wonder how you put this much detail into soup and that damn book, but you missed the trail sign on the mountainside.”
“There was a sign?” I asked in astonishment, dropping my spoon.
“Yeah. And a map at the beginning of the park,” he said, shaking his head.
I was usually so good at following directions and worked tirelessly to prepare.
Picking my spoon out of the soup, I nudged the container off the burner and took a spoonful to my lips to cool.
“I didn’t sleep well the night before. I don’t think I was paying attention to much yesterday.” I shrugged, sipping at the stew.
