“Oh my God! She’s a mama!”
“She is,” I confirm with a grin. “Are they sticking their heads up?”
“They are. Good Lord, they’re tiny little things.”
“And bald,” I reply and have to catch my breath when she looks up at me in wonder, her hazel eyes wide and happy.
This is what surprises her? Not sexual innuendos, baby eagles.
“This place is so cool.”
“I’m glad you like it,” I reply and take the binoculars when she hands them back to me.
“I need to get in the shower and ready for class.”
“Wait.” I have absolutely no idea why I don’t want her to leave. She needs to leave. I shouldn’t have brought her in here to begin with.
“What?”
I sigh and shove my hands in my pockets before I do something monumentally stupid, like touch her.
Because once I start, I won’t want to stop.
“Nothing,” I reply and shake my head. “Thanks for letting me show you.”
She watches me for a moment, then shrugs and walks toward the door. “See you in a bit.”
“See you.”
Chapter Three
~Charly~
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this,” Heidi says beside me in the back seat of a Toyota 4Runner as we climb our way into Glacier National Park the next day. I’m in the middle, between Heidi and Violet, another member of Simon’s staff. Simon asked Heidi and me to join them yesterday afternoon after class, and I couldn’t resist my curiosity to see more of the area.
Simon’s driving, and Todd finally shuts the radio off when there is nothing left but static.
“No radio for bears, I suppose,” he says with a shrug.
“How big is this park?” I ask.
“Thousands of square miles,” Simon replies. “We will just do a day hike today, then head back to the hotel this evening.”
“Fun,” Heidi says with a grin. “I hike a lot in Arizona. I’m what you would call outdoorsy.”
“I’m outdoorsy,” I reply with a nod.
“You had to borrow a pair of my shoes,” Heidi reminds me with a grin. “You can’t wear heels to hike in.”
“I’m outdoorsy in that I like to drink on the patio,” I reply, making everyone laugh. Simon eyes me in the rearview mirror and smiles. “Besides, I had my running shoes.”
“You’re going to like this.” Simon winks, and just like that my stomach does that weird flippy thing again that he seems to provoke in me. And when he touches me? Holy bananas, it’s intense.
Before long, we pull into a parking lot that’s only about half full.
“Are all these people here to hike this trail?” Violet asks.
“Yeah, and there will be more,” Todd replies. “This is a popular hike. It’s good that we came early to beat the afternoon crowd.”
“Well, with lots of people around, there shouldn’t be many bears,” I say optimistically and laugh when Violet’s eyes go round.
“I thought he was kidding when he mentioned bears,” she says.
“Nope,” Todd says with a laugh. “But don’t worry, this trail isn’t well known for bear activity.”
“Remind me not to go on the trails that are known for bear activity,” I mutter to Heidi, making her laugh.
The guys shrug into backpacks, loaded down with bottled water, granola bars, and beef jerky.
“Let’s go!” Simon says, his eyes shining like a boy on Christmas morning. This is clearly his thing. I can’t get over how different the wilderness is here compared to Louisiana. Of course, there is no swamp here, thank goodness. It’s warm, but it’s a dry heat, so I’m not immediately covered in sweat. And the trees, these tall, beautiful evergreens, are so close together in some places that you can hardly see through them.
We cross the main road and walk down the clearly marked trailhead to the Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake. The first part of the hike is easy, relatively flat, and gorgeous. Deep green ferns cover the ground, and according to placards along the trail, this is the only place inland from the Pacific Northwest with an active rain forest.
Crazy.
“How are you, love?” Simon asks as he joins me.
Good God, the English and their terms of endearment should have to register with a federal office upon entering the country.
“I’m great,” I reply and clear my throat. “This is beautiful. And surprisingly easy.”
He smiles and nods. “It’s not easy for too long. We’ll start up the Avalanche Lake trail in a minute.”
I shrug. How hard can it be? If tons of people come here every day to hike it, it can’t be that bad.