“Are you sick?” A million worst-case scenarios flew through my mind. Cancer. Some sort of autoimmune disease.
“I’m not sick.” She turned back to the mountains she always seemed to look to for reassurance.
“What is it then?” I was pushing my luck, and I knew it, but I had to try.
“I was in a car accident in high school. It was pretty bad. My body’s never been quite the same since.”
“I’m sorry.” The words were incredibly lame, but it was all I seemed to be able to come up with. “Doctors can’t do anything else to help?”
Laiken shrugged, focusing back on me. “I’m sure they’d love to cut me open again, but every time they do, it makes something worse. I’ve learned to live with it.”
My jaw tightened, my back teeth grinding together. “You still come up to the mountains by yourself.” Even though her body could give out on her. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t been here today? What if she fell on a trail and broke an ankle? There wasn’t exactly cell service up here.
“I do it because it’s important.”
“I get that. But what if you get hurt?”
“Then I get back to my car however I can and call for help.”
A muscle in my jaw ticked. “Is Gizmo going to carry you?”
Laiken laughed, the sound warming that place in the cavern of my chest that had been so damn cold for so long. “If I had a cart, he probably could.”
I looked down at the tiny Chihuahua currently chewing on a bully stick half the size of his head. “He does seem determined.”
“We can all learn a little something from Gizmo.”
“I don’t doubt it.” I scanned all the gear on the ground plus Gizmo. “Did you carry all of this up here?”
“I’m not an invalid.”
“I know that. But it has to weigh a fair amount.”
Laiken’s jaw worked back and forth. “I make it work.”
“What if you could make it work better?”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “How?”
I gave Laiken my most charming smile. “How would you feel about an assistant?”
12
Laiken
“An assistant?”I parroted.
“You know, someone to boss around and make carry all your stuff. I have to think you’d get more accomplished with someone helping.”
I’d lost count of how many times I’d wished for just that. Times when I’d been in tears after a long day, just trying to get my body to cooperate in the ways I wanted it to. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Boden’s smile fell. “Why not?”
A million different answers flew through my brain, but the one that stuck was:I don’t want to rely on you.If you always leaned on someone, you became dependent. When they weren’t there anymore, figuring out how to walk on your own again was the hardest thing you’d ever have to do.
“I’m taking that silence as you not having a reason. I’m an excellent partner in crime. I can send you references if you’d like. You’re welcome to run a background check to make sure I’m not a serial killer.”
I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips. “Maybe you’re a good serial killer. One who’s never been caught.”