Page 27 of Honoring Lena

Fifteen

Marshall joggedto keep up with Lena as she led him and Carter on a hike down the mountain. Carter pulled Marshall’s hair like reins on a horse from where his son sat on his shoulders. He was glad of the chance to get outside and explore but would probably have sore shoulders the next morning.

When they’d gotten settled, had lunch, and Carter’s level of energy hadn’t wavered, Lena had suggested going on a bear hunt like in Carter’s favorite book. Marshall wondered if her sudden suggestion had just as much to do with her own restlessness as it did Carter’s. Since Bjørn left, she’d been antsy, which made him anxious.

“So, Lena, I’ve been meaning to ask you about the cabin.” He stepped up beside her as they pushed through an alpine meadow. Bright pink fireweed filled the area and drenched the hillside in cheery color. “How in the world did y’all build it on the mountaintop? Does your family use it for business, or is it just a personal cabin?”

“Well … the cabin is mine, actually.” Lena’s interest in the ground before them became more intense.

“Yours?”

“Yeah. I built it in high school.” She shrugged like constructing a cabin in the middle of nowhere in your teens was no big deal. “My plan was to run a hunting-guide operation out of it after I got out of the military. You know, get the big game like sheep and grizzly away from the normal hunting spots.”

“You had that all planned out in high school?” He’d had a plan for his future, but while she’d been building a luxury resort, he hadn’t done more than get good grades and excel in basketball to put that plan in action.

She shrugged again and shifted the rifle slung across her shoulders like she was uncomfortable. Why would she even go into the military if she’d already had the cabin built? The more mysteries he unearthed of her, the more confused he got.

“Why not just start guiding right after high school?” Marshall eased Carter’s fingers loose when their grip got too tight on his hair. “Why even join the army?”

“Hunting can be dangerous, and being way up here, even more so. I knew I’d need medical training in case of emergency, so I figured I’d let the army do that for me and get paid while doing it.” She chuckled, and the tension eased from her shoulders a bit. “I really wanted to be a PJ, pararescuer with the Air Force, like my older brother Gunnar was, but I quickly realized my likelihood of getting through the training to be a PJ was pretty much non-existent. I mean, if Gunnar almost failed, there was no way I could pass.”

While in the Air Force, Marshall had often wondered what it would be like to be the bigger-than-life heroes of the military world. PJs rescued downed SEALS while Marshall had analyzed data. His military career never seemed as lacking as it did when measured against the Rebel family.

“You became an army medic so you could be prepared if the worst happened hunting.” Marshall’s forehead scrunched in confusion. “If that was the point of enlisting, why didn’t you come here after you got out?”

She sighed, and the tension bunched back in her shoulders. Maybe he should just keep his questions to himself.

“After Ethan died and I left the army, I just couldn’t bring myself back here.” She scanned the meadow, looking everywhere but at Marshall. “We had planned on coming up here together, to build a couple more cabins and really make a go of it. When he died, I never thought I’d come back again. Had actually been planning on selling it to Tiikâan for his guiding business.”

Guilt coated Marshall’s throat and made it hard to swallow. First, he’d been responsible for her fiancé’s death. Then, his situation had forced her to face the one place she didn’t want to be. Hadn’t he felt the same every time he’d walked into his and Amara’s bedroom back home after her death? It was the reason he’d moved to the room down the hall. If the house hadn’t been in her family for generations, he would have sold it within the month of her dying.

“And now my situation has forced you to come here.” He adjusted his grip on Carter’s legs to keep from reaching out to her. “I’m sorry, Lena. I’m sorry for everything.”

She turned her face to him, her mouth tipping up on one side. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

Why did her words seem like they held more weight than they should?

“Daddy, ook!” Carter wiggled and pointed down the slope, almost falling off in his excitement.

An orange fox with a white-tipped tail stood in the center of the meadow, staring at them. When its head cocked to the side like it wondered where they’d come from, Carter squealed again and tried to get down. Lena stepped closer to Marshall and placed her hand on Carter’s leg to settle him.

“Carter, if we’re real still and quieter than a mouse, the fox might hang out a while.” Lena glanced up at Carter, her voice a soft whisper. “Think you can do that?”

“Like when we payed lions and ’nuck up on Mrs. White and ’cared her?” Carter’s return whisper was so full of thrill, Marshall wasn’t sure what the kid was more excited about, the fox or the memory of freaking the cook out.

Marshall turned his face to Lena and lifted his eyebrow in question.

“What?” Her face held the expression of false innocence. “The nannying business got a little boring, so I figured we’d spice it up.”

“By frightening a seventy-year-old woman?”

Her lips scrunched like she was holding in a smile. “When she threatened no more treats if we did it again, we moved on to harder targets. The guards are more fun, anyway.”

Carter covered Marshall’s mouth with his tiny hands. “Ssh.”

Lena leaned in so her mouth was close to his ear. Her breath tickled, sending warmth down his skin as she spoke. “When we get back home, you need to overhaul your detail. They were far too easy to scare.”

Why did her calling Kentucky home leave him feeling like it should be? He turned his head to see if she was joking. Everything seemed to sharpen and blur at the same time. The meadow faded away as he zeroed in on Lena. Her soft lips were slightly parted in a smile. Wisps of black hair had pulled free from her pony and fluttered gracefully in the breeze. Her no-nonsense scent of soap and the outdoors grounded him, making him feel like just a regular person again.

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