Page 13 of Christmas Hike With The Mountain Man
Besides, Jameson would be so pissed if I broke our cardinal rule. And the one thing I needed to do for my parent’s sake was to keep things good with my business partner.
Nothing good was going to come out of this.
Katie wasstrictlyoff-limits.
My mood sank as we started hiking. Not even the bounce, bounce, bounce of her delectable ass could cheer me up.
Chapter 8
Katie
Boone had been quiet for most of the hike.
For a minute there, sitting at the base of the mountain, eating reindeer cookies with the man, I thought we’d been sharing a moment. Arealmoment.
But whatever I had said earlier had upset him.
It was obvious because his conversation had turned to basic grunts and growls.
But that didn’t matter, because I was so grateful to be heading back.
Back to what? I wasn’t sure yet.
I knew I needed a big change in my life. A whole-life overhaul.
And this trip hadn’t shown me the answers I’d been hoping to find. The only thing I knew for sure was that I needed to put in my notice at work. It was time for something new.
Oh, and I probably should get laid. Two years was long enough.
But the hike wasn’t a total failure. It had reminded me that I could do more than I told myself I could. It was the best failureI’d ever had. I might not have made it to the other side of the mountain, but I hadtried. And that was more than I could say for the last ten years of my life.
Even now, hiking in silence through the white, white woods dusted in snow with this quiet, surly mountain man, I felt more alive than I had in years.
He’d shown me how to pack my backpack this morning and attached my tent to the base of it. He’d still held on to my sleeping bag, insisting he had plenty of room for it.
After we’d been hiking a while in silence, I asked, “Can we go to Deeproot Cave?”
Lauren had mentioned it yesterday. She’d gone on and on talking about the real Arkansas quartz in the cave.
Boone was behind me on the trail, and I looked back at the same time he let out a small, affirmative grunt.
“Lauren said the drusies are amazing. The best she’s ever seen. And I don’t even know what a druzy is. I’d like to find out.”
When he didn’t say anything, I added, “Lauren and I exchanged phone numbers. We’re going to keep in touch. I really clicked with her.”
Boone grunted again.
“You’ve known her a long time?” I asked.
“Yup.”
“She said her husband Gabe is a local park ranger. Did you know that?”
“Yup.”
“Are you friends with him? Because I didn’t see you chat with him much.”
He let out a breath and barked at me. “I’ve known Gabe for years. We’re good. We don’t need to run our mouths every time see each other.”
