Bryony took a sip of tea, letting the mild flavor fill her mouth fully before swallowing. “Did you love her?”
“Maybe, yes. At least a little. But it doesn’t matter, because she never made it back to Sitka.”
She studied the man beside her for a moment, his strong jaw and straight nose, his prominent cheekbones, the light brown hair that fell in golden waves until it brushed his shoulders. She could imagine him sitting at home on a night like tonight, drinking tea at a kitchen table and smiling at his wife before the two of them retired. Could imagine him kissing a little girl with a mop of golden curls good night before sending her off to bed. Could imagine him waking in the morning and setting the coffee percolator on the stove for his wife before she woke.
She could imagine all those things, yes. But she couldn’t imagine him doing them and being happy, not this man who thrived in the wild. “If you had married this woman, then you wouldn’t have spent the past decade leading government expeditions. You wouldn’t be famous.”
He turned to her then, his golden eyes boring into hers. “I never asked God to make me famous. But I ask God every day to help me save lives. So you’re right. Had I married Livy, my life would have looked far different. But it’s not what God wanted, and when I think about it, it’s not what I wanted either. Still, I would have married her out of duty and made the best of things had the situation called for it.”
“I’m sorry she died, but I’m glad you’re here now, with my father and his team.”With me.For some reason she didn’t quite understand, she couldn’t bring herself to say that last part. “I know I asked if you could get us safely back to the river when we first met, but after watching you the past three days, I realize how foolish that question was. There’s a reason you’re famous, and I have no doubt you’ll lead us all back to safety.”
He pushed to his feet, a short, dry chuckle bursting from his mouth. “That only tells me how little you understand of the wilderness.”
Then he turned and stalked to where his bedroll lay on the other side of the cave—leaving her to stare into the fire by herself.
14
They finally reached the snow line around noon the next day, though it didn’t do them much good. Even though the snowfall gradually lessened as they descended the mountain, it turned into a steady rain during the afternoon that soaked them more thoroughly than the two feet of snow they’d plodded through at the top.
Mikhail forced the team to trudge forward though, then pulled the brim of his hat farther over his face, and hunched his shoulders. He didn’t know how long he’d been carrying the front of the trunk for as they headed down the mountainside.
All he knew was that he couldn’t stop images of that first expedition ten years ago from swirling in his mind. Of Livy and the way she’d smiled at him, of the way she’d been so determined to return to Sitka. Of the way they’d survived a bear attack followed by a blizzard.
Of the way she’d looked in his arms after she’d frozen to death, her lips blue and her skin icy.
Of the way the babe growing inside her had died.
He tried to push the memories from his mind, but they clung to him. They’d made a promise, he and Livy, to see each other through the wilderness.
And he’d failed her.
So here he was, leading another expedition with another woman ten years later, hoping that this time, by some miracle, he had the skills needed to keep her safe.
“How much longer?”
Mikhail snapped his head toward the voice beside him, only to find Bryony there. They’d left the snow and had been trudging through the rain for hours at this point. Her hair was soaked despite the fur hood covering her head, and her cheeks were flushed from the biting cold, but her lips were nearly colorless. And were those small shivers racking her shoulders?
Thank heavens he had that extra parka, or she’d be frozen solid.
Still, he didn’t like how wet her boots looked, or her hair. She didn’t have the right hat to shield the front of her face from the rain while still being able to watch where she was going, and it appeared that the rain was running down her cheeks and neck beneath the parka, where it had likely soaked her skirt.
“We’ll find somewhere dry soon.” He didn’t care that it was still afternoon.
Part of him knew that Bryony wouldn’t become hypothermic while wearing a seal fur parka the way Livy had when she’d fallen into the river. But she still looked too cold and uncomfortable for his liking.
He glanced back to survey the rest of the group. Richard silently carried the back end of the trunk, his complaints more subdued after Heath almost died yesterday. Behind Richard, Bryony’s father and Dr. Ottingford trudged along, their heads ducked against the rain, and Heath brought up the rear.
Every one of them was wet, the wool of their coats heavy with the weight of the water soaking them. They were probably colder than Bryony too.
Mikhail squinted through the raindrops, scanning the landscape for some kind of shelter—a cave, a ledge, an overhang, anything that could offer some relief. They had tents to keep them dry as they slept, but that would do them little good if they couldn’t build a fire to get warm.
There, near the side of the mountain, was a stand of trees, and the ground sloped upward to reveal a small hollow sheltered from the wind.
Mikhail stopped, then set down his end of the trunk and glanced back at the others. “Just a minute. I want to see if this will make for a good camp spot.”
He headed off toward the trees, his boots sinking in the sodden earth. The hollow was even better than he’d expected. An overhang of the rock jutted out from the side of the mountain, providing cover from the rain and a space large enough to build a fire and roll out two or three beds.
The trees surrounding the outcropping offered even more shelter from both the wind and rain, and the ground was fairly dry too. It wasn’t as ideal as finding another cave, but it was better than trudging through rain.
