Page 38 of Wild Child
Kimball made a thoughtful noise, his brow low as he perused the many lines. Finally, his expression brightened.
"I recognize this!"
He tapped to a canyon with lines almost on top of each other, indicating steep walls. Rock and shale, likely, and a stream cut through it. More of a gorge than a canyon, I would bet, but there was some sort of meadow-like place possible in between the lines. Ellie's lips bunched to one side of her face, a sure indication of deep thought.
"I've never been up there," she murmured. "It's pretty out of the way. I believe I've seen that canyon, but never traveled through it."
Kimball flicked the map. "Let's go there."
Ellie turned to him. "You want to gothereinstead?"
"Yeah! Looks awesome."
"But . . . it's two miles out of the way. Miles that don't have a trail. It'll be brush beating and rock climbing and . . . difficult."
"It'll be fine."
Annoyance slipped into her tone. "Why did you have us start this way if you wanted to go there?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. This is pretty and I like it, but I'd like to chase something a bit more . . . challenging. I wanted to give your route a chance first."
Somehow, he'd edged closer to her, and the side of his arm pressed into hers. Ellie glanced down at the space where their skin touched, then back to him in a pointed glare. He scooted away with a murmured, "Sorry," and pointed back to the map.
Atta girl,I wanted to say, then lock my arm around her shoulder and pull her into me. I refrained, however. The last thing Ellie wanted was an overprotective friend, even though I wouldn't mind.
"It's not that big a deal, right?" Kimball asked. "We can find other places to hike around there after we find the cabin. It'll be the same number of days."
"Why?" I asked. I leaned my elbows onto my thighs so I could meet his gaze. He met mine, and despite the flighty personality I'd seen so far, there was something hard as stone in his gaze now.
"Because it's an adventure."
"What if I say no?" she asked.
Kimball's mouth opened to respond, then closed again. He blinked three times before he responded. "Well, of course, I'll defer to your expertise, but I thought you knew this area. We were told we were getting the best guide from these mountains. If a little detour like this is so dangerous . . . well . . . maybe the trip isn't worth the money we've paid."
A lingering note of challenge in his tone drew my spine up, and he pointedly ignored me to stare hard into Ellie's eyes.
Her gaze tapered.
"Are you challenging my professionalism and attention to safety?" she asked in a low voice as hard as granite. "Just because you want to follow an idea that may not even be real doesn't mean I have to agree. I don't appreciate insinuations, so if you have something to say, then say it."
Atta girl!I wanted to say again. Then cuff this loser on the side of the jaw so he had a good, long sleep tonight.
Kimball lifted two hands, a look of contrition on his face now. "Of course I trust your expertise. I apologize if it came off as something else."
"Doyou trust my expertise?" she asked pointedly. "Because I have my doubts for obvious reasons."
"Well, yes. I just . . . I think this could be kind of boring. We came to this alpine place for a bit of adventure."
"Icame to make sure you're safe. If there is a course change, which I can be open to, it will be a safe one."
Kimball nodded and managed to look at least a little repentant. "Fair. I'm sorry if I overstepped."
"You did." Her tone softened. "It's your hike, Kimball and Steve. We can go where you want. But I will not be bullied, frightened, or manipulated into it. Are we agreed?"
"Agreed."
Steve met her gaze and nodded, even though he hadn't said anything. His reluctant gaze from earlier had a bit more curiosity in it now. For so many reasons, I wanted to throw my arms around her and kiss her like I never had before.
