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“Sure.”

They exchanged phones, and Gabe typed his number into hers before handing it back. Gabe Roper. Mara looked at the name on the screen for a moment, then put the phone away. It shouldn’t have felt like much. It did.

The drive back to Bear Creek seemed shorter than the drive out. Far too short, really. By the time Mountain View Bakery came into sight, Mara felt as though they had only just left the mountain.

Gabe parked the truck, got out, and came around to open her door before she’d even reached for the handle. She slid out, her legs unsteady.

Because of the hike. Not because of the man standing before her.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Gabe leaned in close enough that Mara had to lift her chin to look at him. His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth. Oh. She wanted him to kiss her. The realization arrived with alarming clarity. She had known him less than a day. She had ended an eight-year relationship less than a week ago. Neither fact appeared to be having any effect on the part of her that wanted to know what kissing Gabe would be like.

“I should go.” Yet she could not tear her gaze from his.

Then he broke eye contact and stepped back. “Drive safely.”

“I will.” She took a deep breath and stepped away.

“Mara?”

She turned.

“I hope to see you tomorrow.” And when she met his eyes once more, she read the truth of his words in them.

“Me too.”

Mara walked to her car in the late-afternoon sunshine before she did something reckless, like going back and kissing him anyway. The thought stayed with her all the way to the lodge.

The cabin was quiet when she let herself in. She took off her jacket, and something crackled in the pocket. The leaf. Mara eased it out. One edge had curled during the afternoon, but it was still bright red. It’ll last longer if you press it.

She went to her bag and took out her planner. She carried it everywhere, but she hadn’t opened it since arriving. Mara turned to today’s page. It had been filled in months ago, in her own handwriting, back when there had been two of them going. Breakfast in bed at the Lodge. The creek trail in the morning. Dinner somewhere in town. None of it had happened.

Mara laid the leaf carefully across the old itinerary, closed the planner on it, and rested her hand flat on the cover. Her phone lay on the table beside it, Gabe Roper saved in her contacts.

A red leaf from a trail she hadn’t known existed yesterday. A phone number she hadn’t expected to have. And possibly another walk with Gabe tomorrow night.

No. There was no possibly about it.

CHAPTER 6

Gabe

You’re smiling again, Gabe’s bear said.

Gabe glanced toward the dark window over the bakery sink. Dawn had only just begun to lighten the sky beyond it, and his reflection looked back at him faintly from the glass. I’m allowed to smile.

I know. I like it. I’d like you to keep doing it. His bear sighed wistfully. Just as I’d like Mara to keep making us smile for the rest of our lives.

Gabe smiled wider. I’m working on it.

He slid a tray of rolls onto the cooling rack. His bear had been just as pleased since Mara left the bakery yesterday, although he had one complaint.

His bear snorted. And that complaint stands. We should have kissed her.

We nearly did, Gabe replied.

That isn’t the same thing, his bear told him with a huff.

No. It isn’t. Gabe closed his eyes for a moment and conjured up the image of Mara and the way she’d looked at him, inviting him in. Inviting him to kiss her.