Colton frowned as Noah dashed inside. They were leaving? The disturbing information his mother had relayed sent him rushing inside after Noah. He pulled up short at the sight of Kendra in a pair of jean shorts and a tight black tank top covered with an unbuttoned short-sleeved white shirt.
She glanced up from the backpack in her hands. “Are you coming along?”
Tension eased from his shoulders as he recalled Joel mentioning a hike for this afternoon. But, what else was he supposed to think after finding out they had another brother who was looking for them? With facts straight from Noah’s mouth, now he had confirmation something was not right with these two…although physically, there was nothing wrong with her. His gaze traveled down her bare legs, to a new pair of hiking boots.
“Colton?”
He snapped his attention back up to her face, where her shining mass of wavy hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Even with all the questions running through his mind, he couldn’t deny his physical attraction to her. The smart thing would be to stay home and try to dig up some answers.
“I’m coming, I just need to change.”
He could do just as much digging on the hike, right?
Right.
****
Kendra sat in the back seat with Colton and Dustin on the thirty-five minute drive to Estes Park, the town where Britt and Joel first met. She was thankful for Dustin between them because as it was, Colton’s arm stretched along the back of the seat left her hyper-conscious of his fingers inches away from her shoulder. Imagine if their bare knees rubbed against each other with every sway of the vehicle as Joel navigated another hairpin curve?
She attempted to focus her attention on the breathtaking views as they wound back and forth along the sides of the mountains, but the turns only made her more nervous. Then Britt distracted her with information about the town and the Rocky Mountain National Park, and she became intrigued.
Her interest increased as they began the hike from the Bear Lake Trailhead to Black Lake. Noah peppered the air with endless questions about the rocks and trees and plants along the trail. Kendra couldn’t help but laugh as Cody and Dustin enthusiastically competed to see who could answer first. Joel began keeping score, much to their delight.
In an effort to keep her attention off Colton’s lean body and muscled calves, she listened and laughed at the boys’ game while focusing her gaze on anything but him. After awhile, though, everything but the breath-taking scenery faded into the background.
It didn’t matter that her legs began to throb or that her lungs tightened from the altitude, nothing took away from the wonder that sprang forth time an
d again when they rounded a corner on the trail, revealing another viewpoint of the wild valley below.
JBM Ranch was in just such a valley, but this vantage point gave her a new appreciation for the peace and quiet so different from New York. Birds twittered and soared on the wind currents, lakes sparkled deep emerald green hundreds of feet below, and the sun filtered through the canopy of trees overhead. In the open, the rays streamed into the valley, bringing life wherever they shone. The vast beauty made anything seem possible.
Her hiking boot caught on a rock in the path and she stumbled, barely catching her balance in time to keep from sprawling on the ground. A pair of boots appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She jerked her chin up in surprise.
Arms crossed over his chest, Colton grinned down at her, clearly amused by her gracelessness. Heat flared in her cheeks, and she gave thanks for having kept her footing at the very least.
“Hey,” she said self-consciously.
“Hey, yourself.” He didn’t move out of the way. “We thought you were lost.”
“Why?” Looking past him, she realized they were the only two in sight. “Where is everyone?”
“About ten minutes up the trail.”
Her eyes widened. “They are not.”
“You need to tell someone when you stop to rest.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know—that’s why you got left behind.”
“No, I didn’t stop to rest. I just…” She paused, glancing first at him while searching for the words to explain, and then out over the pristine valley with the next mountain rising majestically on the other side. “I think I fell in love.”
“What?”
She laughed at herself, waving a hand over the view before them without looking away from the sun-kissed landscape. “With this—all of it. The mountains, the streams, the lakes down there in that amazing shade of green…”
She faced him again, wondering if he could possibly understand. His eyes were trained on her, the exact color of the lakes she’d just professed to have fallen in love with. Her breath caught in her throat until he blinked, then frowned.