AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Withher blood pressure issues she was determined to stay active.Especiallynow that she was newly unemployed.
Oh, what she wouldn’t give to have seenChelsea’sstunned face when she said she wasn’t coming back to work.
Herphone dinged with a text from the hike leader giving directions to the trailhead.Sheconsidered invitingLilybut knew she had work to do.Namely, fighting an uphill battle against the local community members.
Anewspaper materialized beneath her door.TheSummitSentinel’sheadline caught her eye.Shelifted it off the floor.
BreckenridgeMayorStepsDown
Fastwork on the community’s behalf.
Sheread the first paragraph.Anelection would be scheduled to fill the seatBillingswas vacating.
“Ishould run for office,” she said to the empty room, making herself laugh.Shewas about to have a lot of time on her hands.
Gaylequickly got dressed in jeans, a long sleeved dri-fit shirt, andTimberlands.Shecouldn’t recall the last time she had worn them and made a promise to herself not to let that happen again.Shewas starting fresh today.
Sheswiped on some lipstick, grabbed her backpack, and headed out the door.
Bythe timeGaylereached the park, reality began to set in, an itch growing rapidly in the back of her mind.
WhathaveIdone?
Pangsof panic nearly paralyzed her.Gayleforced herself out of the car, debating if she should turn around, go back to the hotel and begChelseafor forgiveness.
* * *
Loufollowedthe turn in the dirt path.Hewould be there in eight minutes.Thedecision to hiketothe hike was an easy one.Hisrental house was literally sitting on the same trail system.Hewas proud of himself.Hecould have easily driven.Butwouldn’t that defeat the purpose?Allhe had to do was follow the app and he’d meet the others.
Wyatt’ssuggestion to find a sixties-plus hiking group paid off in spades.Ittook him no longer than a half hour of online research before he found this group.Hewas looking forward to making new friends.
Loulooked around at the aspen trees, the sun still low in the sky, filtering through the foliage.Atthis early hour, there were few other hikers.Nowthat he came to think of it, he had seen only one couple walking in the opposite direction and that was ten minutes ago.
Upahead he heard a noise.Asoft whimper.Maybea hurt animal.Heknew moose liked to feed early.Ormaybe it was a bear.Feelinga flurry of nerves,Loushook his hiking stick, the bells jingling.
Hewas about to shout, hoping to scare off the animal when his boot hit a rock and the ground fell away.
“Oomph.”
Landingon his forearms,Louwas dazed, the breath knocked out of him.Hetook a moment, lying there, assessing if anything was broken and glad when he realized the only damage was a bruise on his arm.Andhis ego.
Tomorrow, the arm would be black and blue.Feelinglike a fool, he brushed away the leaves sticking to his pants.Wyattwas right.Hecould have easily broken a bone and needed to call for help.Aftertoday, he would never hike alone again.
Louslowly rose, then bent down, reaching for his hiking stick.
“Areyou okay?”
Awoman’s nervous voice came out of nowhere.Thewhimper.
“I’mfine.Justclumsy,” he said, embarrassed.He’dbeen scared of another hiker.
ThenLoulifted his head.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Louwas caught in a time warp.Hewas back in science lab, sitting across from her, trying not to stare, his buddyCliffsnapping his fingers in front ofLou’sface, teasing him, saying, “Snapout of it.”
Loushook his head, clearing the spell, teleporting himself back to the present.
