Chapter 24
twenty-four
DAGR
Luckily, the wind during the storm last night kept the snow from packing the trails too heavily.
There were still spots that might have been treacherous if Dagr hadn’t been familiar with the terrain.
The two and three-foot drifts easily changed the landscape and could give less experienced map readers trouble.
Undoubtedly, the petite woman walking behind him would have had no problems. Her father had made sure she was a highly competent outdoorsman.
Bébhinn had doused the rest of the fire’s coals with snow while he stacked the remaining firewood against the cave wall that morning. They’d already eaten a breakfast of protein bars and water and dressed.
Before he crouched to lead the way out of the cave, he’d given her a stern look.
“Do you want to talk about anything? About the letter?” he added unnecessarily.
She hadn’t pulled her face mask up yet, so he saw her cheeks pinken.
He hoped she wasn’t embarrassed about sharing such an important moment with him.
She smiled softly and shrugged. “The letter is ... it so encompassed Dad. Wonderful and sweet and exasperating. I’m glad I waited to read it. I wasn’t ready six months ago.”
Bent at an uncomfortable angle, he took an awkward shuffle step back to where she stood upright and took her gloved hand in his. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Thank you for being there. I’m not sure I could have done it without you beside me.”
“You could have. You would have.”
She used her free hand to lightly touch his cheek before saying, “I think we were meant to meet.”
He felt his body shudder and heat. “I agree.” Before he could do or say anything inappropriate, he dropped her hand and backed out of the low opening. “Best get on with the last section.”
They trucked along for almost eight hours at a steady pace, but far from his normal trail running speed. He was no longer in a hurry and had no plan to risk an injury on the covered trail. He was also in no hurry to part with the present company.
He heard a gasp behind him and turned in time to catch Bébhinn’s arms as she stumbled forward.
“Good grief,” she grimaced. “Sorry about that. I didn’t place my foot in your footstep and stepped on a branch or something that shifted. If I don’t pull it together, you’ll think I’m a green hiker.”
Her laughter proved that she wasn’t concerned about his reaction. Even with the shit weather, she was excellent at summiting. Her ability to pinpoint their location and read terrain changes was impressive.
“Yeah, you are so clumsy.” He forced himself to let her shoulders go and step back. Remember, dumbass, you’re entering middle age, and she’s still at uni. “Another hour and we’ll find Conwy. I’m sure my buddy’s son parked your Jeep beside mine.”
“And thankful I am that you did that for me. I wasn’t looking forward to driving a couple of hours to grab my Jeep before driving on to the ferry.”
They began their final descent, enjoying the warm sun on their faces, chatting like old friends. He told her about some of his more extraordinary cases in London, his work for INCC, and his father’s nature reserve passion project.
“My friend Blair is a botany genius. I’ll have to tell her about the reserve’s internship.”
“It’s an unpaid internship,” he warned.
“Besides the fact that it would look crazy good on a CV, Blair would pay your dad to work with wild plants. When I say she is a genius, I’m not exaggerating. Her mother has a successful nursery in Scotland. Catriona and Blair can spend days wrist deep in potting soil without coming up for air.”
“I’ll have Dad send me the information. I’ll forward it to you. In the past, the positions were highly sought and tough to get.”
He smiled when he looked over his shoulder and saw her wave her hand in front of her like she wasn’t concerned.
“Pfft. She’ll get it.”
“What are your plans when you get home?”
“I would like to tell my family that I’m spending one more night in Wales and give myself a few hours to go home, shower, and snuggle in bed with no familial interrogations until tomorrow, but alas, Blair and Gray’s dads own a security firm, and they’ll know the minute I step foot on my block and alert my brothers. ”
When he started to chuckle, she groaned, saying, “I’m not joking.”
“Wow. Your family is…”
“Yeah.”
As the sun melted more snow from the trail, they could pick up the pace until they stood side by side at Conwy Mountain’s summit overlooking the town’s castle and quay.
“How does it feel to complete Wales’s most grueling hike, Miss O’Faolain?”
“Pretty damn good, Mr. Griffiths.”
“I’m glad we met,” he dared to profess.
She remained silent, staring over the picturesque landscape surrounding them. Finally, she said, “That sounded like a goodbye.”
He didn’t dare look at her, keeping his eyes forward. “It wasn’t.”
She made a humming sort of growl in her throat. Acceptance? Agreement?
“Race you to the bottom, old man!”
She squealed and took off before he could trounce her for the “old man” comment. He barked out a laugh before following.
As he raced after the woman throwing smack talk over her shoulder, her long braid beating against her pack as she pelted down the rocky slope, he realized something important. Since he’d ducked into the cave the night before, he hadn’t felt a moment’s discontent.
Somehow, Bébhinn O’Faolain had snatched him out of whatever monotonous trajectory he’d been living.
Dagr upped his pace, easily overtaking her. “Sucks to be short and slow,” he said as he easily maneuvered around her to lead them the rest of the way.
“Hey,” she shouted as he pulled ahead, “a gentleman would have let me win.”
“I’m a man, but I never claimed to be gentle,” he shouted over his shoulder. He was still chuckling as he slid on the rocks leading up to the lot where their Jeeps were parked.
Bending at the waist, he grasped his knees as sweat dripped from his forehead despite the chill in the air. Bébhinn skidded to a halt next to him, her good-natured personality intact but equally out of breath and sweaty.
He couldn’t help it. He tapped the end of her nose before announcing, “I won.”
“Shithead. I’m a hiker. Not a trail runner,” she sniffed, pretending offense.
They stored their gear, and then it was time for goodbyes. Reluctant goodbyes, at least on his part.
When he could no longer comfortably stare at her, he stuck his hand out.
“It was a true pleasure to make a new friend, Bébhinn O’Faolain.
” He inwardly winced at the word friend, but that was what they had become.
He only winced because it sounded like he was drawing a line in their relationship—a line he should have drawn but didn’t want.
She didn’t take his proffered hand.