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Eve kissed his cheek and straightened up. It felt like she was retreating.

“Don’t leave,” he said quickly. His fingers were poised on the keys.

“I won’t. I’m right here.” She took a shuddering breath. “You can do it.”

So he did. Jude wrote one sentence. Then another. And one more.

Then eight final words.

He counted them down as he wrote until he’d reached one more remaining.

He paused. Then wrote it.

He saved his document.

So he was done.

He’d finished his final book.

15

The hike was longerthan Eve had expected.

They started early, taking advantage of the slightly cooler morning air and the gorgeous shadings of the sky against the red rock, and it was almost ten when they reached Havasupai Gardens. The return route was all uphill and would probably take twice as long as the descent.

But Jude was set on hiking the Bright Angel Trail for his Grand Canyon experience, so she wouldn’t dream of questioning the wisdom of such a rigorous hike so soon after recovering from his five days sick in bed.

He was in great shape overall—much more committed to exercising regularly than she was—so there was a reasonable chance that she’d have a harder time with the hike than he would.

As long as he didn’t get a headache.

He’d had a couple of minor headaches in the three days since he’d finished his book. When he started getting one as their flight took off yesterday, she’d convinced him to take a pill just to be safe. But today he’d woken up feeling good, and he was still relaxed and smiling as they reached a rest stop.

It was already getting hot, and the dry air felt a lot different than North Carolina summer humidity.

“You doing okay?” Jude asked her after they’d found a good shady spot to sit and have a snack.

“Yes, I’m fine.” She frowned at him, an expression that would have been more effective had she not just popped a grape into her mouth. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be worried about you.”

“I know.” He reached over to pull her closer to him, leaving an arm around her so they stayed snug. “I’ve felt your silent fussing all morning.”

“I haven’t been fussing!” She peered at his face to make sure he wasn’t annoyed or offended by her concern. His gray eyes were soft and fond. Definitely not annoyed. “You were really sick only a few days ago.”

“I know I was,” he murmured, nuzzling the side of her head. “But I feel fine right now. Maybe not fully back to my normal strength but definitely okay enough to do this hike. I really want to do it.”

“I know you do. So we’re going to do it. And if it gets too much for us on the way back, we’ll requisition a couple of mules to carry us the rest of the way.”

He chuckled at that, his whole body shaking deliciously from his amusement. “Excellent plan. That’s what we’ll do.”

A few hours later, Eve had stopped worrying about Jude and had started worrying about herself.

The uphill hike was much more difficult than the downhill, and she wasn’t having an easy time of it.

Jude appeared to be doing fine. His skin was slightly damp with perspiration, and his cheeks were flushed, but his breathing was steady and his expression relaxed.

Eve’s legs were a lot shorter than Jude’s, so she had to work twice as hard as he did to sustain their fairly leisurely pace. Her face was blazing—from exertion, not from sunburn because she’d rubbed every inch of her exposed skin with sunscreen earlier—and she was having to fight not to breathe in fast pants.

This hike was for Jude. It was the final item on his very short list of things to do before he died. She wasn’t going to slow him down or get in the way of his enjoying every minute of it.

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