Page 8 of Beck & Coll
“Younger Lake.”
“The water looks so deep and blue.”
I could feel him studying me even as I studied the amazing views around me.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I guess I’m just surprised by how much of a nature girl you are.”
“Itisglorious,” I muttered.
“It is.” He watched me with intensity. “But I feel like it might be more than that.”
I gave him a smirk. “More like what, Mr. Beckham?”
He returned my expression with a smirk of his own. “I thought I told you to call me Beck.”
“Did you?” I fronted.
“Yeah.” His smile was bright… dazzling even. “I told you that all of the beautiful women call me Beck. Anyway, I feel like you may have found your… inner outdoor adventurer.
I didn’t respond. I just grinned. Then I pulled out my phone and began taking photos. I knew they would never compete with the real thing. I also knew that in the months and years to come I could look back and remember that I was once face to face with some of God’s most wondrous creations.
“Let’s use the facilities right quick,” he suggested.
After using the bathroom, I made my way back outside of the visitor center. I took more pictures with my phone, wondering how and why I’d waited so long to see the western part of the country.
His deep baritone broke into my thoughts. “What did you bring for a snack? You should eat it quickly and hydrate as much as you need for now. The rain is expected to pick up even more.”
We headed over to one of the benches that was outside of the visitor center, and both went into our backpacks. I watched Beckham pull out a gallon-sized Ziplock bag filled with what looked like granola.
“You want some hand sanitizer?” I questioned, right before he dug his hand in the bag.
He held out his hand for the dollop of sanitizer I dropped in it. “This is an overkill because I just washed my hands in the bathroom.”
“Don’t think of it as overkill. Think of it as extra protection.”
I pulled out one of my snacks—a pouch of squeezable nut butter and some crackers.
Beckham and I ate and drank in companionable silence. When we were finished eating and had cleaned up after ourselves, I took out my phone. The rain had picked up significantly, but that didn’t diminish the beauty of our surroundings, and I wanted to make sure that I had enough pictorial receipts to make both my mother and her oldest daughter eat their words.
“We should get going. Let’s head down.”
“Okay.” I was distracted, sending a text of the best photos I’d captured to my mother.
“Collins.”
He didn’t yell my name or even really say it loudly… It was the authority for me. My eyes popped up from my phone, finding his eyes trained on me.
“Yes?”
“The ascension is all about moderating your energy output. The descent, being a beginner and in this rain, is about paying attention. I’mma need you to pay attention. So, please put your phone back in your backpack and take whatever final sips of water you need. When we head back down this mountain, I need you to be focused.”
I took a few large gulps of water before putting both my phone and water bottle away. “I’m ready.”
Beckham led us away from the visitor center in the opposite direction from which we had come, setting yet another comfortable pace.
The incline on the descent wasn’t the steepest thing in the world, but it did require careful consideration about where I stepped. I paid way less attention to the beauty around me, choosing instead to stay focused.
