“You just like, hung your butt…” He closes his eyes. “Forget I asked.” Hank opens his eyes again and glances around, taking the area in. “The good news is that we don’t have to march across the island immediately.”
“We don’t?” I stand. “Did you see a sign of civilization?”
“No.” Hank stretches his shoulders, rolling them backward as he looks around. “If you’re lost, the best way to figure out your bearings is to find a high spot. So I’m going to climb a tree.”
I’m both surprised and impressed.
“Hank likes to get things done right,” I say, nodding. “I’m into it.”
Especially if it means I get to skip a long hike.
He tries to frown at me, but I think I spot a slight smile.
“Do you get lost in the woods often?” I ask. “That’s fairly untypical of accountants. Although I know you want to hike that big trail one day.”
He rolls up the bottom of his pants. “I’ve only been lost in the woods once,” he says. “Briefly. But I do hike often, so even before that, I knew the safety protocols.”
I hesitate. He looks confident, but he also looks exhausted.
“I feel like I should offer to climb the tree because I’m younger,” I say.
This time, he manages to pull off the frown.
“Now I’m definitely going to be the one to climb the tree.”
I nod, too tired to laugh. “At least let me give you a boost.”
Hank and I walk up the incline until we reach a high spot and he selects his tree, an evergreen with thick branches, right on an outcrop. He grabs my shoulder, and I cup my hands, giving him somewhere to stick his bare foot as he hoists himself up.
He has such a big foot, I notice. Kinda sexy.
I watch from below as Hank works his way, one branch at a time. The sunlight is warm on my skin, and I manage to summon more optimism.
“You’re doing great,” I call after him, hoping to lighten the mood. “You’re basically like a… A squirrel-man! Your butt looks good, too!”
“Don’t distract me!” he yells back.
I sit down. He’s probably right that it’s inappropriate to joke, but some levity could help us keep going, and my emotions are ricocheting all over the place. Joking lets me vent the fear out, but still, I try to wrestle control back.
It doesn’t take Hank long to get surprisingly high. He sits on a branch, both arms wrapped around the trunk of the tree, and looks out with his legs dangling.
“Can you see anything?” I yell up to him. The wind blows through the trees and over the water, and I don’t think he hears me.
I watch Hank look around, turning this way and that with the sky behind him. He eventually climbs down, almost falling on the last step, and I jump forward to help steady him.
He crashes and nearly pulls me with him as he tumbles to the ground.
“You okay?”
Hank nods without getting up. “Fine.”
“What did you see? Is it too much to hope that you saw a restaurant?” I step back. “Maybe even somewhere with breakfast sandwiches?”
Hank shakes his head. He’s breathing heavy, and there’s sweat on his brow. “No buildings. No people that I could notice.”
“Oh.”
Disappointment settles in my gut.
