Page 38 of Love By a Landslide

His instinct was to deny the good-natured accusation, but what would be the point?

“Fine. Yes. Sometimes I do.” He rolled his eyes. Then he implored, “But please never let her know that. I’d never hear the end of how she got me hooked on double-chocolate-covered-strawberry-mocha-frappes.” Jonathan hung his head with mock shame.

“I like her already.”

“She’d definitely like you.” Jonathan meant it. He tried to convince himself it was because Lucy was naturally likable. She was, but it was more than that. There was something about her. He hadn’t felt this drawn to anyone in a very long time.

Keep your distance.

“What does Frankie do for work?”

Grateful for a neutral topic, Jonathan said, “She works for me as a guide, but her dream is to be a social worker. We were adopted after a few years in foster care. I was nine, and she was seven. She has a soft spot for kids stuck in the system. Despite my constant nagging, she’s been sitting on her grad schoolapplication for months.”

What was it about this woman that made him spill his guts? He’d never discussed being adopted with a customer, mostly because he didn’t think of his mom and dad as anything other than Mom and Dad. But also, because he typically kept personal information to himself.

He’d never survived a landslide or been stranded with one either, so . . .

Shaking himself, he focused on breakfast. After divvying up the scramble, they ate quickly. Once done, Lucy washed dishes while Jonathan put out the fire.

“If you bring me your Nalgene and hydration bladder, I can fill them while you take down your tent,” he said, pulling out a water filter from his backpack. Taking everything to the creek, he began the arduous process of pumping potable water into their bottles and reservoirs. “I assume you’ve used one of these?”

“Yep,” she assured him. “My dad taught me when I was a kid. I have it drilled into my head that you bring more than enough water and have a backup plan just in case. There are two LifeStraws in my pack.”

Fifteen minutes later, camp was packed up, and Lucy and Jonathan knelt around a paper map spread out over a boulder.

“We are here. This”—Jonathan said while circling a region southeast of camp—“is where the landslide happened. We’re assuming anything near here is unstable and must be avoided. Immediately west of us”—he dragged a finger leftward along the map—“is very rocky with a number of cliffs. We may have to traverse along the edge a few times, but we’re going to stay away from drop-offs as much as possible.”

“No complaints from me.”

“Good. Our best course of action is to head north. Up over the summit and down the other side. It’s the longer route by atleast half a day but will also be the safest way to go.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “How long do you think it’ll take? Following a different trail shouldn’t take that long, especially going downhill.”

“You’d be right”—he hoped his apologetic smile offered some reassurance, but he knew she wouldn’t like what came next—“if there was an established trail on that side of the mountain.”

“How could there not be another trail from the summit?”

Jonathan shrugged. “The forest service crews don’t tend to cut new trails unless it’s necessary. The goal is to keep the parks as natural as possible. A complex spider web of trails not only imposes on the natural habitat, but it can also confuse hikers.”

“Ok, so I’ll ask again. How long?” There was an edge to her voice.

“Expect to camp two more nights out here.”

Lucy didn’t respond. Instead, she dropped her head in her hands and let out a ragged groan. Her weariness and frustration were not lost on Jonathan. He was right there with her in a cloud of worry, but he had to keep it together for both their sake. There was a mountain ahead of them, literally, and they needed to work together to make it safely back to town.

“Would it help if I pointed out the upsides?” he ventured.

“Upsides? As in plural.” Her head remained down as she mumbled through her hands.

“Yes. One, when we don’t return home tomorrow, search and rescue will assemble.”

She looked up, skepticism smeared across her face. “Please tell me they’re Avenger-level superheroes.”

“Oh, they’re superheroes in their own right. Hard-working, dedicated, and they know the region inside and out.” He had an incredible respect for the people on the local crew. Miguelhad asked him to consider a career in search and rescue before Jonathan’s dad got sick. But the need to keep the family legacy going made the decision an easy one. Even if his dad had survived cancer, he preferred the free flow of guiding rather than working in life-or-death scenarios every day. Especially after what happened to Cynthia. He couldn’t handle that level of responsibility, dealing with people on arguably the worst day of their lives. Nope. Guiding was better, more laid back, less severe.

Usually.

“What’s the other silver lining?” Lucy’s face relaxed, and she appeared more resigned than irritated.

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