“Not exactly lost. More freely walking wherever the impulse took me.”
“The impulse took you into the path of a mountain lion. And if you’d carried on walking to the left you would have fallen off the mountain. It’s steep, and the trail ends at a big drop-off.”
“Good to know.” She licked her lips. “Should we get away from here, in case that lion has friends? And shouldn’t he be hibernating or something?”
“Mountain lions don’t hibernate, but it’s rare to see one in the middle of the day. They tend to be more active at dusk and dawn. The heavy snowfall we’ve had the last couple of weeks has probably driven him down from the mountains. Or maybe he followed his prey, a deer or an elk, and then came across you.”
“Great.” Katie shivered. She’d been prey before, and it wasn’t an experience she was in a hurry to repeat.
“They’re not usually interested in humans. It’s food they’re after, but it’s good to be alert. You didn’t answer my question. What were you doing all the way out here?”
She hadn’t even realized she’d come this far. She’d been so upset she’d walked without thinking. “I needed time to myself. I didn’t realize it was dangerous.”
“There’s other things more dangerous than that mountain lion.” He shifted his backpack. “You could find yourself up to your neck in snow, or you could slip on the ice and bang your head. Take someone with you when you hike. And if you meet a mountain lion, make yourself look large. Look it in the eye so that it knows you’re not afraid.”
“I wasn’t afraid. What makes you think I was afraid?” She saw a gleam in his eyes.
“Great. In that case I’ll say goodbye.” He turned and started to walk up the path away from her and she stared after him in disbelief.
Was he really going to leave her here? No, he was trying to annoy her. Making a point. Any moment now he’d turn round and walk back to her.
But he didn’t. He kept walking, his long powerful legs making it look easy.
“Jordan!” She wasn’t proud that her voice shook.
He turned. “What?”
It almost choked her to say it. “Don’t leave me.”
There was a pause and then he strode back toward her at a considerably slower pace than he’d walked away. “Let’s be clear about this so there’s no mistake. You’re asking for my help?”
She gritted her teeth. “Yes, I’m asking for your help.”
“You’re admitting that you’re lost and that you can’t do this by yourself?”
The man was maddening. “Yes, I’m admitting that.”
“Wow.” He folded his arms. “I bet this is a first for you.”
There was humor in his voice and normally she would have made a smart retort, but she didn’t have one available. She felt lost and sad and totally unlike herself. She didn’t want to go back to Snowfall Lodge, but she couldn’t keep wandering in the forest. “Point me in the right direction and I’ll walk home by myself.”
“What if you meet another mountain lion?”
“I’ll handle it.”
He reached out and gently removed her sunglasses. “You’ve been crying.”
“I have not. The cold makes my eyes water.”
All traces of humor vanished. He slipped her glasses into his pocket, pulled off his glove and stroked her cheek with his fingers. “You’d rather die than show vulnerability, so it must be something bad. Did something happen? What’s wrong?” He studied her face and then glanced back down the trail. “What are you doing all the way out here?”
“I told you. I was walking.”
“Because you’re upset. You wanted to get away, and you didn’t even care where you were walking.”
It started to snow again, huge fat flakes that settled on her hood and her jacket.
The world obviously hated her.
He frowned. “Did you know a storm was forecast?”
“I wasn’t thinking about the weather. The sky was clear when I left.”
“It’s not clear now. It’s snowing and it’s going to get heavier. We should move.” Instead of walking back down the path he continued upward.
“This isn’t the way to Snowfall Lodge.”
“We’re not going back to Snowfall Lodge.”
“Where are we going?” She stumbled in the deep snow and he paused and held out his hand.
“My home is closer.”
She hesitated and then took his hand. It was that or face plant in the deep snow. “You live here? On the trail? There are houses here?”
“Not houses, no. My cabin is a ten-minute walk from here. We can shelter and wait for