Page 26 of Return to Me Always

But like it was mocking me and my ridiculous thoughts, the rain began to come down in sheets, pelting me from behind.A strong gust of wind shoved me forward, making me take a few big awkward steps, and I bumped into Tyler which was like colliding into a freaking mountain.

"All right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just the wind is really strong."

"Youcouldwalk next to me, you know, instead of behind me," he said dryly.

"Oh, I thought that was some kind of hiking thing, like someone had to take the lead, and everyone else followed."

He looked at me like I had two heads. "What? No. Maybe if the path is narrow."

Attempting to walk next to him now, I said, "Well, clearly, I don't know much about hiking."

"I might have noticed," he teased.

"Arse," I said under my breath.

He laughed. "I heard that."

"Good."

The struggle to keep up and stay by his side was real. But I was determined to, even if I had to take two steps for every one of his. Not quite, but almost. Being a tall girl did have some advantages.

As I hiked beside him, that's when the real fun began. The wind changed direction, and instead of rain hitting my back, it pelted me in the face—well, what was showing of my face since I had my hood tied so tightly. Seconds later, the rain turned to sleet, icy bits that stung when they hit my cheeks and eyes.

Unbelievable.

Tyler looked at me with a knowing smirk. "Having fun then?"

"Oh, yeah. A real blast. Right up there with being on the run from a deranged cop and being falsely accused of murder."

His laugh warmed me, and we trudged on, taking short breaks to eat often since Tyler said we needed extra fuel today with the cold wind and rain. At one point, we stopped at an empty campground that was just off the trail to fill up our canteens and use their facilities, thank God.

With the rain came lots of small streams and little waterfalls cascading down hills and mountains. Soon, I heard the noise of rushing water, making my heart accelerate as the sound increased with each slushy step.

"What's that?" I asked, glancing toward Tyler.

He tilted his head. "You mean the water?"

"Yeah. Please don't tell me it's a gigantic river we have to cross."

"Er, that's it exactly. But chin up." He shrugged. "There's a bridge."

As we approached the bank, I craned my neck trying to find this bridge. Maybe we had to walk upstream or downstream to get to it? All I could see was two wires leading from one side of the river to the other.

I pointed at the small wires. "What's that for?"

"That's the bridge."

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me? You call that a bridge?"

"It's a fine Scottish bridge."

The water gushed by me, almost mocking me, telling me one slip could lead to an icy drowning. Or I could fall and hit my head on a sharp rock and—

"I can see you're over-thinking it," Tyler said, interrupting my sudden panic. "Just hold onto the top wire with your hands and put your feet on the bottom one. All right?" He looked at me, brow creased. "All right?"

Nodding, I tried to keep my cool. "Sure. Yeah. No problem." At least, it wasn't high up, just kind of skimming the top of the river.

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