She tried to laugh, but it came out weak. “Twice in one day. First a bear, then a wolf pack. Is this a sign? Am I supposed to cancel all future hikes? Start a bakery? Become a mall-walker?”
“No.”
“Open a pottery studio? Raise sheep? Build furniture out of twigs?”
“No, Sienna.”
She waved a hand. “Maybe the universe is saying: Sienna Harper, you’re no longer meant to be in the woods. There is a big, burly guy willing to take it over at the lodge.”
“The universe is not saying that,” I said firmly.
“Oh, really?” She gestured at the empty trail. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like a big flashing billboard.”
“It isn’t.”
“How do you know?”
She wasn’t challenging me. She needed something like reassurance and an anchor.
She needed a reason not to spiral, and God help me, every part of me wanted to give that to her.
“Because you’re the most capable guide I’ve worked with,” I said.
Her eyes flicked to mine, startled.
“And because nothing out there scared you,” I continued. “Not the bear. Not the wolves. Just the idea that you didn’t react perfectly.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and gulped.
And in that moment, I saw something soft break through her surface. Something tender that reached out toward me without meaning to.
But she blinked and rebuilt the wall in a split second.
“Okay,” she said abruptly, straightening her jacket as if reassembling her armor. “So… thank you. I mean it. But I’m good. Really. We don’t need to… talk about feelings. Or whatever that was.”
She looked away, forcing herself back into motion.
She walked past me, motion brisk, breath fogging faster than before.
And I understood something all at once:
The danger didn’t scare her.
The closeness did.
Her walls snapped back in place, her tone shifted, and her banter returned like a shield polished to a shine.
“So,” she said with forced lightness, “should we call the dry run? Return to the lodge? Tell them nature is plotting against us?”
“No,” I said immediately.
She stopped. “No?”
“We keep going.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Even after bears and wolves?”
“Especially after bears and wolves,” I said. “We need to assess the trail. And this is exactly the kind of information we need before we bring guests.”
