Gabby looked up at him, tail wagging.
He opened the screen door, laughing when she darted outside—and came to an abrupt halt. “Yep. Snow. You live in the mountains. Get used to it.”
The puppy sniffed the snow, barked at it.
Yeah, that was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “It’s okay. It’s just snow.”
Kenzie hadn’t told Conrad what to do in case of snow, and he wasn’t going to call her at this hour on a Sunday to ask.
He spotted a shovel leaning against the wall near the back door to the garage. “I have an idea. Hang on, Gabby.”
He grabbed the shovel and cleared the snow off a few square feet of grass, then watched while Gabby took a few tentative steps, sniffed, and finally did her thing. He gave her a treat, praised her. “Good job, Gabby. Good girl.”
The puppy couldn’t get back inside fast enough.
“I suppose you’re hungry, too.”
She looked up at him expectantly, little tail wagging.
“Okay. How do eggs Benedict and coffee sound? No? Okay, kibble it is then.”
He mixed kibble with warm water and set the bowl on the floor, wondering whether he should try to get more sleep or whether he should suck it up and make coffee. He looked down at Gabby. “Are you ready to go back to bed?”
She picked up her favorite squeak toy.
“Okay, fine. Let’s play. Who needs sleep?”
He played with the puppy and took her out into the snow again, both for a potty break and so that she could start getting used to it. When she was worn out, he made himself a big pot of coffee and got to work breaking down cardboard boxes and straightening up the place. Kenzie would be dropping by later, and he didn’t want her to think he was a lazy slob—even if that’s precisely what he was.
If it weren’t for the puppy, he would still be in bed.
He got a text message from Kenzie just after nine asking him how the night had gone and how Gabby had handled the snow. He answered, sending her another photo of the puppy, curled up and sound asleep.
SEE YOU AT 2?
SURE.
Conrad crashed for a while, getting a little sleep, and then it was time to meet Esri. He packed the puppy’s crate, grabbed his laptop with his photographs of Tengboche, and drove with Gabby to the café. Snow had transformed the Indian Peaks, which rose like white titans against a blue sky.
He would never get tired of that view.
He found Esri waiting for them at a table near a sunny window.
She stood, gave Conrad a hug. “I thought the puppy might like some sunshine.”
“She didn’t know what to make of the snow this morning.” Conrad settled Gabby and then ordered himself more coffee—yes, God, please—and the eggs Benedict he’d been thinking about all morning.
Esri ordered fruit and a chai. “I’m sure you’ve got some mixed memories of Tengboche, but I’d love to hear whatever you care to share with me about life there.”
Conrad showed her photos and told her how the monks had taken him in and let him have a small room so that he didn’t have to live year-round in his tent. He told her about the monks’ daily routine and his conversations with the Lama. He told her about the work he’d done for them and for some of the villagers.
As he spoke, he could almost smell the incense, hear the monks chanting, and feel the cold wind on his face.
“The view from the monastery—Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Everest…” A rush of emotion, unexpected and unwelcome, made his throat go tight. “I looked up at Everest every day, knowing they were still there. Somehow, being nearby made it seem like I hadn’t left them behind. But now…”
He swallowed—hard. “I think some part of me kept waiting for them to walk into Tengboche and ask me why I’d gone on without them. That probably sounds stupid.”
Keep it together, idiot.
