to know Eva is being taken care of so well.”
“That’s not just me. You’ve been a big part of it too. Not only have you become a true sister to her, but I haven’t worried about her ankle as much knowing you’re looking after it. You’re calm and levelheaded, and I know I can trust you to tell us if we need to stop, even if you don’t want to.” He paused. “I heard you were going to go to med school once upon a time.”
Maybe Eva had told him that. “Yes, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do anymore.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t really know.”
“Well, whatever you do, I know Wes would want you to be happy, Angela.” Marc sat and stretched his legs in front of him. “He lived to make you and those kids happy. I think that’s why he took to extreme sports so well.”
“Now, that I don’t understand, Marc. He said it made him come alive, which to me meant that we weren’t enough for him.” Sure, Angela had made her peace with Wes, but she still didn’t have the answer to that crucial question.
And she’d come to terms with the fact that she never would.
Marc fixed her with a serious gaze. “He and I talked about it once, how there’s something about challenging the odds, placing yourself firmly in the grip of the Divine. We know full well that anything could take us from this life at any moment. Cancer. A heart attack. A car accident. Wes didn’t see doing extreme sports as putting himself needlessly in harm’s way. He saw it as living fearlessly. And in those moments, when he was suspended in the air or exploring the depths or racing down a mountain, that communion with the spiritual was something that filled him up, overflowing his heart. And then he was able to bring that joy home to you and the kids. I think it made him feel like a better husband and father, because he had more to give you.”
Had Wes felt empty before he’d started his adventures? Now that she looked back, she could see how he’d whistled more once he began to have those experiences with Brent. Laughed more. Spent more time playing with the kids. Tried to plan date nights with Angela.
But she’d been too worried, too angry, too negative to see those things then. All she could see was him living a dream when she was stuck in the monotony of life. Abandonment instead of an invitation.
“Why wouldn’t he have just told me that?”
“Maybe he didn’t know how.”
And maybe she wouldn’t have listened. Hadn’t been ready to. But now . . . now she was.
Her soul whispered a silent thank-you for an answer she’d never expected to receive.
* * *
Pure grit was going to carry her through today.
Eva rolled up her sleeping bag and secured it to her rucksack, then surveyed the surrounding land in the light of day. Everything looked wet, and the darkened sky in the distance promised an encore of last night’s performance. Frigid ground let off the smell of loamy earth fresh after a rain.
She spotted Marc peeling off from where he sat with Angela to talk to the two male checkpoint workers. Eva approached her sister-in-law. “You guys about ready to head out?”
“I am. Marc just wanted to ask about the latest weather update first. How’s your ankle?”
“Still puffy, but the ice, pain relievers, and rest made a bit of a difference.” So far this morning it had proven painful to walk on it only if the terrain was angled, and supposedly they’d be blessed with a fairly flat landscape today.
Marc joined them. “They say there’s another storm headed our way sometime this afternoon or evening.”
“In that case, let’s go.” Eva hoisted her sack onto her shoulders. The added weight didn’t do her ankle any favors, but what choice did she have at this point? She just needed to keep going and embrace the pain.
But the thought didn’t hold the same appeal it had months ago.
They set off after Marc spent five minutes double-checking her resolve to continue on. She didn’t really mind him taking care of her—he wasn’t patronizing, just concerned. The walk was slow going as they headed down from the mountain and into a valley, thankfully still fast enough to reach the end of Stage 5 on time tonight if they were able to keep up this pace.
Marc regaled them with tales of his