River’s End

relentless.”
    “Funny, I would have said you prefer it to people.”
    “I do. Got your wind back?”
    “I hadn’t lost my wind.” Exactly.
    “If we cross the bridge here, then follow the trail another three and a half miles, we’ll come to the lake area. Or we can turn back.”
    “I can do another three and a half miles.”
    “All right, then.”
    Big Creek Bridge spanned the water. He heard the rush of it as they crossed, felt the push and pull of the wind and adjusted his body to brace against it. Olivia hiked ahead as if they’d been strolling down Wilshire Boulevard.
    He tried not to hate her for it.
    In less than a mile, his feet were killing him and his quads were screaming. She hadn’t bothered to mention the last leg was straight up. Noah gritted his teeth and kept pace.
    He tried to keep his mind off his abused body by taking in the scenery, thinking about the massage he was going to book the minute he got back to the lodge, speculating on what Olivia had brought along for lunch.
    He caught a flash out of the corner of his eye. glanced up in time to see something spring through the thinning trees. “What was that?’“
    “Flying squirrel. That’s a rare sighting during the day. They’re nocturnal.”
    “No shit? Like Rocky? Rocky and Bullwinkle.” he explained when she frowned at him. “You know, the cartoon.”
    “I don’t watch a lot of TV.”
    “You had to catch it when you were a kid.” He craned his neck, trying to get another glimpse. “It’s not just a cartoon; it’s an institution. What else is up here, besides Rocky?”
    “We provide a list of wildlife at the center.” She gestured to a tree where the bark had been stripped and the trunk scored with deep grooves. “Bear. Those are bear scratchings.”
    “Yeah?” Rather than being alarmed as she expected, he stepped closer, examining the scar with apparent fascination. “Are they still hibernating now, or could we run into one?”
    “Oh, they’re up and about now. And hungry,” she added, just for the hell of it.
    “Well.” He ran his fingers down one deep groove. “As long as one doesn’t come along for a midday snack and mistake me for a tree, it’d be interesting.”
    He nearly forgot his aching muscles as they continued to climb. Chipmunks frolicked around the ground, up in the trees, chattering and scolding. A hawk sailed overhead with a regal spread of wings and a single wild cry that echoed forever. There was the glinting black passing of a raven and the first thin patch of snow.
    “We can stop here.” Olivia shrugged off her pack and sent Noah a considering look as she crouched down to open it. “I didn’t think you’d make it, at least not without whining.”
    “The whining was a close call a few times, but it was worth it.”
    He looked out over the three lakes, each one the dull silver of an old mirror. Softly reflected in them, the mountains rippled on the surface, more shadow than image. The air was sharp with pine and cold and the soggy smell of the rain-soaked ground.
    “‘As your prize for not whining, we have some of my grandmother’s famous beef and barley stew.”
    “I could eat an ocean of it.”
    She pulled a small blanket out of her pack. “Spread that out and sit down. You won’t get an ocean, but you’ll get enough to warm your belly and take your mind off how much your feet hurt.”
    “I brought some of my complimentary fruit.” He smiled as he snapped the blanket. “In case your plan was to starve me.”
    “No, I thought about just ditching you in the forest and seeing if you ever found your way out. But I like your parents, and they would’ve been upset.”
    He folded his legs and accepted the coffee she poured from a thermos into a cup. He wanted to slip off her hat so he could touch her hair. He loved the look of it, that sleek caramel cap with the sassy fringe. “You could learn to like me. too.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    He ruffled Shirley’s head when she came over to sniff at his coffee. “Your dog likes me.”
    “She’s Grandpop’s dog. And she likes drinking out of toilets. Her taste is not to be trusted.”
    “You’re a hard woman, Liv. But you make great coffee. If we got married you could make it for me every morning and I’d treat you like a queen.”
    “How about you make the coffee and I treat you like a serf?”
    “Does that include tying me up and demanding sexual favors? Because I should tell you I’ve recently taken a vow of