about it at the time, but if he was honest with himself, in the back of his head he’d hoped he ended up exactly where he was. And he hoped her belly grew huge with their baby. It was time. Her, babies, a settled life—God, he loved her. He’d never loved anything in his whole life like he loved her right that moment. Knowing her now, and merging the present with their childhood—perfection. They were soul mates; it was undeniable. She’d see that before long.
But now to start the day.
He stalked to the area he’d heard the sounds the night before. He’d purposely not woken Sara to avoid starting a panic. The snuffling and footfall had been that of a small animal, so he hadn’t been overly worried.
As Sara was stirring, he found the tiny tracks along the outside of the clearing. Skunk. Not deadly, but horribly unpleasant if pushed to spray. Luckily, there wasn’t much chance of that if they stayed still behind the fire.
“I think we should move on,” he said as Sara sat up, groggy-eyed. “Runoff should become streams and rivulets down the way. If we can find one of those, we can get some water and hopefully food.”
Sara’s hand found her stomach. “Sounds good.”
“Eat the rest of those nuts and drink that water. I’m okay for now.”
She shook her head as she stood, hands kneading her back. “That’s for you. I could stand to lose a pound or two.”
His eyes quickly skimmed over her skinny frame. Not likely. She’d probably barely eaten since her breakup. Good news was, she wouldn’t be as hungry now. Bad news was, that asshole leaving her had severely messed up her head. She might be over the man, but she was far from over the trauma of the event.
He bent to get his pack. “Might as well head out now—we don’t have any breakfast.”
Sara reached for her fanny pack. “I’m sorry, Mikey—um, Mike. For everything. I just think that needs to be said.”
“All good things to those who wait.”
She snorted, giving him a smile. That feisty gal was still in there. If anything would bring her out, surviving would. He had to believe it.
They started at a steady pace, careful of the foliage and vines. After a while, though, when he didn’t hear any sounds of water, and Sara started to slow, he paused.
“We have to get out of these trees. Get a survey of the land.” He judged the land and its slope, peering out between the treetops, looking for land above. A hint of grassy slopes had him walking before he thought to clue her in. Apparently, though, he didn’t need to. She followed him immediately, not questioning his choice of direction.
“I’m now trying to find high ground. Get a view of what we’re up against,” he explained.
“Cool.”
“You’re not worried I’m leading you to your death?”
“What’s the difference?” she replied without concern. “At least you’ve got that GPS. Worst case, I’ll hang out with your dead body and get rescued.”
“Wow.”
“When in Rome, as they say.”
He laughed. “There’s survival in you, after all.”
“The desire, not the know-how.”
“Ohhh… I don’t know.”
After another hour with a grisly pace up a gradual incline, she said, “I have a really bad headache. I’m kind of dizzy, too. I figure that’s the hunger.”
Something in his chest dropped, anxiety filling him. Dehydration was no joke. Headache came first, which he also had. If it progressed further, and with the heat, the body would suffer with chills and vomiting. Those were signs the system was shutting down. Further still, and she might not make it through. Not without help.
“We’ll find something soon. Just keep your ears open for sounds of running water. We aren’t in the desert. I don’t think we have to resort to drinking our pee.”
“Oh gross! Geez, I hope not.”
After another few kilometers, she said, “Seriously? Have you drunk your pee?”
He grimaced, thinking back to that stint in the desert. “Yup. Had to. I couldn’t find water. It saved my life—this was before the four-day emergency shoe, when I thought it was okay to go on extreme survival missions without telling anyone.”
After a silent beat, she said softly, “And what if you did have a kid? If one day you might not come home when you had people depending on you…”
Mike stopped suddenly. Sara bounced off the back of him. He turned to her and grabbed her shoulders, so she’d listen. He held her startled gaze. “I would never leave you. Will never. I