Chapter 33
Alison
“So now I don’t know if she’ll ever speak to me again. I finally have the sister I’ve always wanted, but now I’m afraid I
will lose her before I really have the chance to know her.”
In the passenger seat of the ranch pickup truck, Xander sent her a compassionate look. “I’m sure she’ll come around. It must
have been a huge shock to her.”
Ali sighed, making the last turn toward the trailhead. It had taken her the entire drive after she picked up him, his gear
and his brother’s horse to tell him everything that had happened at the cabin the day before.
“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell her before! She didn’t need another huge shock right now.”
“All you can do is wait, I guess. Seems like the timing isn’t the greatest for us to take this trip. Do you want to forget
about it?”
She had considered it several times during the mostly sleepless night she suffered after telling June everything. Now, as
she drove through the dawn mist toward the mountains, she was glad she hadn’t backed out.
“We’ve been planning this for a week. I wasn’t going to cancel on you. A few days’ wait before we take the DNA test to verify
our connection won’t make any difference. And maybe some time apart from each other will do us both good.”
She hoped she hadn’t pushed her sister away completely. Maybe when she returned to the ranch, she would find June had fled
and wanted nothing more to do with her.
No. June wasn’t someone who ran away from her problems.
“So how was your date the other night?” Xan asked. “Was Clint everything you ever dreamed?”
With all that had happened since then, she had almost forgotten about going out with Clint.
“It was fun. We didn’t have a chance to talk much, since we were so busy dancing.”
“Did Tank and Smitty stick with you all night?”
She made a face. “Not the whole night, thank heavens. They met up with some Danish tourists who were much more interesting.”
“Are you seeing him again?” he asked, his tone unreadable.
“He wants to go to dinner some night this week. I told him I wasn’t sure of my schedule.”
“Ah.”
She sent him a sidelong look before returning her attention to the road. “Grandma gave me a big lecture when I got home about
how I have to be careful of cash-poor cowboys like Clint, now that I’m a trust-fund baby.”
“Probably good advice,” he answered.
She didn’t have a chance to respond as she slowed down to turn in to the parking lot at the trailhead as the sun crested the
mountains.
“You’re still okay if I shoot our trip?”
She probably looked exhausted, nothing like his usual lovely companions, but she knew he wanted to make a video for his travel
channel of the trips available closer to his home.
“I guess,” she said.
She had already agreed and didn’t want to back out now, even if she did have bags as big as horseshoes under her eyes.
Xander set up two different tripods and cameras to record them unloading the horses from the trailer, saddling the two they
were riding, Nan and Robbie, loading up their packhorse, Hutch.
Finally, when everything was ready, she locked up the truck and trailer, stowed the key where she couldn’t lose it in her saddlebag and waited while he gathered his cameras again and set them up before she mounted Nan.
“Where are we and where are we going?” he asked her, holding up another camera for her to answer for the video.
“We are at the trailhead which will eventually lead us to, among other places, Hidden Lake, in the Wind River mountain range,
which is in the Bridger Wilderness of western Wyoming.”
“How far will we be going?”
“It’s about ten miles of hard riding into the lake, with spectacular scenery along the way.”
“You’re from this area, but you’ve been going to law school in Utah,” he said. “How long since you’ve been on a horse?”
If he was going to film every minute, she really should have put some makeup on, though that probably would have looked stupid
for a trip into the wilderness on horseback.
“I’ve been trying to ride every day since I came back earlier this summer, but those have all been pretty short rides, no
more than an hour or two. What about you?”
He turned the camera back to himself. “I’ve been a few times this summer, but I’m definitely out of practice. I’m hoping it
comes back, like riding a bike.”
She smiled. “For what it’s worth, I am slightly more experienced on a horse than on a bike. And don’t worry. Nan and I will
take pity on you and try to set a slow pace.”
“Thanks.”
He grinned and she thought how cute he looked in his trucker cap, jeans, boots and, like her, a zippered hoodie they would
both probably be shedding within the hour as the day heated up.
For now, it was brisk and refreshing as they started up the trail. This was her favorite time in the mountains, early morning
in the middle of summer, when the wildflowers blanketed the meadows and the birds chattered noisily in the trees.
She was glad they had decided to ride horses instead of hiking in, even though it was logistically more complicated. They had to haul in certified weed-free feed for the horses, all their tack and any other emergency supplies they might need for them.
A ten-mile hike through the rugged terrain probably would have taken them most of the day. On horseback, they could be there
in a few hours, set up and still have all afternoon and evening to fish, as well as the next morning before they had to ride
back out.
They rode single file up the narrow track to avoid damaging plant life and unintentionally widening the trail, with Hutch
on a lead rope behind her, and Xander bringing up the rear.
The first few miles, they climbed steadily deeper into the mountains, though Xander stopped them several times so he could
set the cameras up to record video of them as they rode past, and twice so he could put up his drone to follow them from above
before they reached the actual wilderness area, where drones were illegal.
His videos always seemed so effortless, she never really thought about how complicated the process of making them must be.
After an hour or so, they stopped to stretch their legs and let the horses have a drink from the creek running near the trail
before they led them away to stake them on a picket line away from the running water.
“Why shouldn’t you tie up your horses close to a water source?” Xander asked, his camera trained on her as she hitched the
horses to the line.
“How detailed do you want me to get?” she asked.
“The whole truth. That’s what I try to show on my travel videos, good, bad and in between.”
“Okay. Well, animals tend to poop wherever you put them. If they’re too close to a water source, that can end up in the water that other animals drink out of, which can spread illness or disease. So you always want to find a place away from water sources.”
“How long have you been riding in these mountains?” he asked.
“My whole life. My parents used to bring me up here a few times every summer. My dad and I took a ride not too far from here
last year. It was our last time camping together before he died.”
Her voice broke slightly on the last word, and Xander turned off his camera and reached for her hand to pull her into a hug.
“I can cut that out if you want,” he said.
He smelled really good, she thought again. Even better than he had the night they danced together. Sunshine and leather and
sage.
“I’m not ashamed to express how much I miss my dad. It’s part of me every day. I’ve been away at school for seven years so
you might think I would be used to the separation, but I talked to him every day when I was in school. I still pick up my
phone and start to dial his number, then have to remember he won’t ever answer again.”
He tightened his arms and held her for a moment longer before he released her slightly. She looked up and met his gaze and
was certain she saw something, a little spark she wasn’t sure she had ever seen there before.
He quickly released her and stepped away.
For an instant, she almost thought he wanted to kiss her. Impossible. This was Xander. He didn’t think about her romantically,
any more than she thought about him that way.
But he did have a whole photo album containing pictures of her.
“I brought a PB&J sandwich for you if you want,” she said. “Little midmorning energy boost.”
“Thanks.”
They ate quickly, then Xander recorded some content about the wilderness area they were about to enter and some of the best
trails for beginners and intermediate hikers. While he was wrapping up, Ali left to walk up the trail to stretch her legs.
When she returned, he was readying the horses, leading them back down to the creek to drink again before taking them back
to the trail.
“Did you get enough footage?” she asked when he returned. “I don’t mind waiting longer.”
“Should be good. We’ve only started the trip. I’ll have time for more.”
It was too warm for the hoodies now so they both took them off and tucked them away before they mounted and headed back up
the trail.
Xander stopped along the way twice more to video the terrain they passed through and once when they spotted a black bear and
a couple of cubs far off the trail.
It took them probably twice as long to reach Hidden Lake as it might have if Xander hadn’t been recording content for his
channel, but she didn’t mind. His frequent stops gave her time to enjoy their surroundings and appreciate the beauty and solitude
around them.
They only saw one other group, a trio of guys with big backpacks and fishing gear heading in the opposite direction, who moved
to the side of the trail to let them pass.
“How’s the fishing?” Xander asked them.
“Great,” one of the guys said. “We’ve been up to Lake Solitude for two days and had a great time.”
Xander asked the guys if he could film them for his channel and they were only too happy to chat with him about their hike.
They learned they were high school friends from Idaho who took a different adventure every summer.
Finally, when the horses were growing restless, she and Xander pressed on.
“I hope we find the same good fishing up at Hidden Lake,” he said as they rode.
“Me, too.”
Ali didn’t necessarily love to fish. She mostly enjoyed hanging out in the mountains and savoring the silence and the sheer
joy of being disconnected from technology and to-do lists and study assignments.
When they arrived at the lake, so named because it was in a bowl of mountains accessed only through a narrow canyon, she found
no sign of anyone else.
The only movement was the breeze that rippled the water and sent the aspen leaves trembling.
Some might find the silence and peace disconcerting, she knew. Not Ali. She loved it here, listening only to the wind in the
trees and the occasional birdsong.
“Should we set up there in the trees? It looks like a logical campsite,” Xander said.
The campsite was slightly above the lake on a small plateau surrounded by aspen and pine.
After they had settled the horses with feed and water, they went to work setting up their individual tents. She was grateful
Beck’s tent was basically a pop-up, very easy to figure out. Xander helped her stake it down and attach the rain fly.
They also worked together to hang their food supplies in the trees slightly away from their camp, hopefully out of reach of
any passing bears. Xander filmed her tying up the bundle and hefting it up with the pulley system, asking her questions along
the way about what she was doing and why.
Being on camera left her self-conscious at first, though Xander assured her she was a natural.
“We might be in for a storm later,” he said, pointing his camera to dark, ominous clouds gathering in the sky.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised. I can’t remember a single time when I’ve been up here during the summer when we didn’t have an afternoon shower. How does Robbie do with thunder? It doesn’t bother Nan or Hutch at all.”
“He should be fine. He’s good-tempered and calm, though I’ve never weathered a storm with him. I guess we’ll find out.”
After their camp was set up, including a couple of hammocks strung in the trees, they enjoyed coffee and a quick lunch of
more PB&J sandwiches, then Xander headed away to take pictures from various viewpoints around the lake.
She decided to try out one of the hammocks they had hung between some sturdy pine trees. After rifling through her saddlebag
for the mystery novel she had packed along, Ali climbed in and quickly lost herself in the story as dappled light filtered
through the pine boughs above her.
So far, this had been a perfect day, being alone in the mountains with a dear friend, no distractions and nothing else to
do but savor the moment.