My sisters would be beside themselves if they knew. I’d been badgered more times than I could count about burying myself in the campgrounds instead of going out there and actually socializing like any normal twenty-eight year old.
But what ‘normal’ twenty-eight year old was running a million dollar company, along with a non-profit on the side?
Not many. At least in this area.
“You good?”
Looking over to my left, I spotted Lydia walking over to me with a water bottle in her outstretched hand. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, slightly curled at the ends from the humidity, and that bounced with each step.
The hike up had been long but nice; a good kind of burn had settled into my legs not long after we’d reached the end of the trail and had come among Mt. Craigleith’s twin waterfalls. Thedraft coming off of the water’s spray was cool, as was the small area we had all settled in to rest and take photos of the water.
Marlow had wandered off not long after we arrived, leaving me to check in with the rest of our group, along with sending back a report to dispatch that we’d made it all in one piece.
“All good,” I said, taking the water from her and cracking the top off. “Why?”
She shrugged, watching me toss back the bottle and drain half of it. “You looked lost in thought. Didn’t know if something happened down at camp before we got up here.”
Yeah, my libido suddenly rose from the dead.
“Nope, all good.”
She eyed me carefully but kept her mouth shut once I had the cap back on the bottle. Lydia was a smart cookie, especially when it came to backing off on subjects that weren’t any of her business. She was my survivalist expert, specializing in all things wilderness camping, hiking, and off trail exploring.
Coming out here was her bread and butter, andtechnically,I was encroaching on her territory. She was just nice enough not to say anything, or rather, was curious to find outwhyI’d volunteered myself when I should’ve been back at camp preparing for next week’s batch of kids that were coming for the water obstacle course challenge contest we were hosting.
Ugh, I’m going to be up all night catching up on my planning...
“You look stressed, Blake.”
I was. Especially now that I was out from under the umbrella spell that was Marlow fucking Knight. “Yeah...”
“You need anything? I can handle everyone if you want to head back.”
My gaze darted over to Marlow immediately.
He had his phone out to record the spray coming off of the side of the cliff, his body moving slowly while he panned the lensto capture the entire beauty of this small slice of paradise. I’d overdone it volunteering for this activity. There was hardly any imminent danger that called for an extra pair of hands, not like belaying while rock climbing or camping out in the forest would call for.
Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair to push the pieces falling over my forehead back. “You mind if I check in with Talos?”
Without another word, she unclipped the radio from her pack and handed it over to me, the frequency already tuned down to base camp.
“Talos,” I said into the walkie.
There was a pause on the other end before a familiar voice responded. “Go for Talos.”
“Can you switch to four?” Lydia stepped away to reconvene with the group as I tuned the radio to a private channel and waited for Talos to pop over onto it.
“What’s up?”
“Everything okay down there?” A stupid question considering my second-in-command wouldn’t delay in paging the ever-loving shit out of Lydia’s walkie until I answered him. But I still asked anyway.
“All smooth sailing. How was the hike? You haven’t been up there in a while.”
Turning to face the water feature, it occurred to me how right he was mentioning that. There wasn’t a particular reasonwhyI never took the time to spend more than an hour or two outside nowadays, other than using the excuse that I was too busy. Since taking over after my granddad’s retirement, I’d been crushed under the overwhelming need to fill his shoes.
A tall order, if I was being honest.
Having been in this position for a little less than five years, only now was I starting to feel like I was getting the ropes of itwithout default to calling my granddad to verify whether or not I was making the right decision.
