She sighed, then turned back to Michelle. “Look. See way out there…” She pointed across to a neighboring peak, a long rock formation jutting out of the hillside. “We’re going to camp there. It’s got a grass floor. Very soft, very comfy.”

Michelle looked intrigued. “Really?”

Lily smiled, though it looked a little bit like an athlete on a losing team trying to be a cheerleader. “And wait until mile two, you’ll see huge trout in the river below. Dinner is going to be amazing.”

Michelle swallowed hard. “Trout.”

Jack leaned in. “Vegetarian alert.”

Lily’s cheerleader smile didn’t slip. “Right. So you’ll skip the trout. I have lots of food, never worry. Soon we’ll be walking beneath hundred-year-old lodgepole pines, through big-buck country. Trust me, you’ll love it.”

“Okay.” Michelle zipped up her raingear. “I’ll trust you.”

They all kept moving, up, up, up. Now they were several hundred feet off the meadow floor, with the river winding far below.

As the sun rose, the heat made little pillars of steam rise off the rocks, vanishing into thin air. They passed several impressive waterfalls that thundered and crashed to the valley floor. It was all both alien, and gorgeous. Jared inhaled deeply, the air feeling sharp and pure against his lungs. He’d never imagined himself doing this. As a confirmed city rat, he’d never given it much thought.

But, as he’d learned recently, life was about changes. Thankfully, he thought, this was a good one.

And still they walked…

It actually took him a while to settle into doing nothing with his brain, but once he did, his mind finally slowed. Relaxed.

Enjoyed.

He drew in another breath, and the scent of pine and sage and clean, fresh air filled his lungs again, without a hint of smog or gasoline, without the noise of traffic on busy city streets, without pain.

He really liked that part.

But the part he liked the best…was being right behind Lily. She practically quivered with determination, which he now knew to be a facade for her own nerves.

The woman was a walking marvel.

Even with her pack on, even with the limp, he enjoyed watching her body move. She had a way about her-utterly economical movements, no time wasted, nothing unnecessary, and yet she was so innately feminine, he just wanted to nibble on her.

But more than that, he wanted to hear her story. He had a feeling it would only strengthen her attraction for him.

The trail began to come down a bit in altitude, and he welcomed the easier going. They all settled into the cadence of Lily’s stride. “Look,” she said, and stopped, pointing to prints on the ground. “This one’s a deer, and there are the wolves, trailing it.”

Michelle gasped. “Oh my God. Did the wolf eat Bambi?”

Jack rolled his lips inward and looked at Lily.

Lily looked at Michelle for a long moment. “No,” she finally said, and Michelle beamed.

They cut through a field of mossy grass high as their waist, filled with wildflowers, the splashes of color so bright the scene looked like a painting.

Jared couldn’t believe he’d gone so many years without doing anything like this. After so many years of nothing but work, and then nothing but waiting for fate to decide whether to give him a second chance, just walking all day felt…wonderful.

The day was glorious, not a single cloud in the brilliant azure sky. The jagged, starkly beautiful peaks jutted high and proud, some still white-tipped, as unbelievable as that seemed.

Birds chirped. Squirrels chattered. Beneath their feet the fallen pine needles crunched. From somewhere out in the woods surrounding them came a howl, which Jared could admit, gave him a moment’s pause.

And still they walked.

“I get the feeling I should have taken my wife on a cruise instead of a hike.”

Jared looked over at Jack, who’d caught up with him. “It said ‘strenuous walking involved’ on the brochures,” Jared pointed out.

Jack sighed. “Yeah. Michelle didn’t get the brochure.”

“Well, then, I’d sleep with one eye open tonight if I were you.”

Jack laughed, but the sound was mirthless. “I didn’t pick this trip. See, Michelle’s father…he’s trying to save our marriage.”

Strange way to do it. “Can it be saved?”

Jack glanced back over his shoulder at Michelle, who was muttering to herself about her shoes, about the altitude, looking very unhappy. She’d removed her yellow rainjacket, and tied it around her waist. “She’s a mess,” Jack said. “A sexy, gorgeous mess. Life would certainly be easier without her.”

“You might be finding that out sooner rather than later, especially if she gives up.”

“If we don’t complete this trip, together, then her father is cutting her off. Allowance, trust fund, credit cards, all of it, bye-bye.”

“Harsh.”

“It’s his money.” Jack gave another shrug. “I couldn’t give a shit about it. But she gives a shit. A big one.”

“So you’re doing this for her?”

“I guess I am.”

“Maybe you care more than you think you do.”

“Yeah.” Jack sighed and glanced back at Michelle again, his expression softening as he did. “You know, call me an idiot, but just looking at her makes me ache.”

Jared had been in relationships, but none had lasted. Candace moaned and groaned it was because he’d always worked too much, but honestly? He simply hadn’t met the woman, The One, or at least nothing close to the love he’d witnessed between his parents for thirty years. They were a tough act to follow, and his relationships, while lovely and fun and exciting, hadn’t been magical, or ever made him ache. He’d begun to figure it might never happen for him, but that had been before the Big Change.

Or so he called his near miss with the Grim Reaper.

Now he looked ahead, his gaze snagged on Lily’s trim, purposeful figure as she led them along, her hips swinging as she went.

Now…he was determined not to miss out on anything, especially a chance to find the woman to make him ache. But truthfully?

He had a feeling he might have already found her.

LILY KEPT turning back to face them, talking about the types of trees and plants and wildlife in view. He caught little of what she said, what with his gaze snagged on her sweet ass. As if she sensed it, she craned her neck, and caught him in the act. She did an almost comical double take, as if not quite sure that she’d seen what she thought she had.

He smiled, effectively but silently admitting that yeah, he’d been looking at her.

A breeze blew that stubborn strand of hair across her eyes, and she impatiently shoved it free, then with another long, adorably befuddled glance, turned forward again. Then her fair coloring gave her away when the skin on her neck pinkened.

He was in midgroan over that when from behind him, Michelle screeched.

JACK RAN TO HIS WIFE. By the time he got to her, Michelle was dancing around in circles, waving her hands. At her scream, his heart had jumped in his throat, but she looked okay to him. “Michelle? What’s the matter?”

“Did you see it?” she cried, practically crawling up his body. He liked that part. A lot.

“It just ran across my feet. A rat, a huge rat!”

“Not a rat,” Lily said, coming up to them.

Michelle pulled her face from where she’d plastered it against Jack’s throat. “Well it wasn’t a squirrel!”

“Probably just a marmot.”

“Oh, my God! A marmot?” She looked at Jack, panicked. “A marmot!” She turned back to Lily. “What’s a marmot?”

“They’re harmless. He’s probably scurrying around, snacking on leaves and bark.”

“He was fat.”

“And happy with it, I’m sure. Don’t worry, he doesn’t eat much.”

Jack laughed, and Michelle shoved free of him. “It’s so not funny.”

“A little bit it is.”

They all started walking again.

“Jack,” Michelle said after a few minutes. “Are you tired?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Jack sighed. “Remember when you said I was getting a spare tire around my middle?”

Michelle swiped at her forehead, panting for breath. “I was just kidding.”

“You were?” Perplexed, he glanced at her. Would he never understand her? “I didn’t know that. I started running.”

She blinked. “Is that where you go before the crack of dawn? Running?”

“I always tell you where I’m going.” Always. He’d made sure of it. “Where did you think I was?”

Michelle gnawed on her lower lip.

“Michelle.”

She rolled her eyes and turned away.

Oh, no she didn’t. He grabbed her hand, tugging her around, shocked. “You thought I was cheating on you. Jesus. That’s flattering.”

“With Theresa.”

“The maid? She’s like eighteen!”

Michelle jerked a shoulder and swiped her forehead again.

Jack couldn’t believe it. “I would never…”

“Okay.”

He watched her trying to catch her breath. “Look, why don’t I lighten your pack a little?”

“I’m fine.”

“I thought your Pilates classes were helping you.”

“I, um, haven’t really been taking Pilates classes.”

Jack’s heart stopped again. “So what have you been doing? Or is this one of those things I don’t want to hear until we’re in divorce court?”

“Shopping,” she admitted. “I haven’t been cheating on you either. I’ve been shopping.”

“Shopping.” He chewed on that a moment. “But we’re on a tight budget. Which means…” Ah, hell. “You’ve been using daddy’s money again, when we agreed we wouldn’t.”

“Isn’t that better than what you thought I might be doing?”

Jack sighed, and gave up. But why the hell was he so filled with tension and resentment if neither of them had been cheating?

THE DAY WARMED. As they continued along, insects began to buzz. The dew dried and fallen pine needles crunched more loudly beneath their feet. Lily was hurting, but no more than she’d be at home, after physical therapy.