Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Henry had their sat number. “We’ll be monitoring the situation from Bliss. If anyone needs help, we’ll be able to come in via chopper if we need to.”
“We aren’t going to need a chopper.” Kala stepped away from the van and picked up her kit. They’d carefully packed the night before, Kala checking his twice. Not because she didn’t trust him, but because it was kind of her love language. Making sure he had the things he would need so she didn’t worry. Because she would worry. Now he wondered how worried she was about Zach. About the whole team.
Despite all the sex of the last few days, there was something brewing inside his baby. Some storm she wouldn’t talk about until it turned into a hurricane. He intended to calm that storm before it blew them both away. “We’ll be fine.”
He picked up his pack and looked out over the trail. It began behind the store and would take them into the Rockies. Henry had given them a map with the known trails, but both he and Kala knew they would be going off the beaten path. Henry and some of the citizens of Bliss had marked up possible places where she could be camping. And there was a place they shouldn’t go into because of alien mating practices. He hadn’t completely understood what that old dude had been saying, but Kala had listened to him carefully and promised she would allow no aliens to breach Cooper’s… Well, he was pretty sure she’d been talking about his asshole when they’d discussed probing.
It was a weird place. He’d only been to this part of the world a couple of times, when his parents had visited the Taggarts during the summers they spent here. The family owned a cabin in Bliss, and Kala had gone with her dad even after her sisters had stopped.
He’d missed her those summers.
And sometimes he’d been relieved because he didn’t have to be “him” when she was around. His youthful self had enjoyed playing the popular kid who didn’t ask the hard questions, who didn’t have to feel the way she always made him feel. Kala challenged him. She poked and prodded and forced him to be better. When he was younger it sometimes rankled. Now he understood how good she was for him. How she made him a better man. Like his parents had done for each other.
Now all he had to do was convince the most stubborn woman in the world that he was good for her, too.
“We’re hiking the main trail to Big Meadows, and we’ll camp there tonight,” Kala explained. “I’ve talked to the park rangers and they’ve agreed to help, but no one’s seen her since three days ago when she was camped out near Alberta Falls. We can get there in the morning and that’s where we’ll start. Thanks for the ride, Henry, and please tell your daughter I said hello.”
Henry snorted. “Really? We’re pretending I only have the one?”
Kala settled her big pack on her shoulders. “You have a lovely daughter named Poppy, who is the best, and you somehow ended up with Lucifer.”
Henry’s sigh spoke of long suffering as he turned to Cooper. “Lucy. Her name is Lucy. Lucy Brooke Flanders. She’s… Well, she’s actually a lot like Kala, so they don’t necessarily get along. I’ll send her your well wishes.”
“For her hair to fall out,” Kala quipped.
“Well, that’s progress. The last time she hoped for Lucy to get stabbed. And offered to be the one to do it.” Henry slapped his shoulder in a manly fashion. “I’m going to have to go with Kala’s dad on this one. Wear a condom, man. Kids will kill you.”
“Lucifer certainly will,” Kala grumbled. Cooper wanted that story out of her, but it would have to wait because he planned on spending this time they had together talking about the future. And the past.
They began down the trail.
Day One
Hours and hours later, Cooper settled in by the fire Kala had made with a practiced hand. He’d passed all sorts of survival courses, gone camping with his family, and learned how to survive, but Kala thrived out here. She seemed beautifully settled as she stared into the warm glow of the fire. He studied her profile, loving the strong line of her jaw.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
They’d had a shockingly good meal of rehydrated beef stew, and he’d learned Kala made it herself. She owned a dehydrator and apparently tested out new recipes from time to time. It was a hell of a lot better than the prepackaged MREs he bought. He’d eaten the food she’d cooked and felt…taken care of. So often the people around her didn’t realize she was taking care of them in little ways. They only saw the warrior.