As for the view, it was incredible. O’Malley had never seen such vast emptiness as he looked down on the world below.
“We should take a break,” he suggested after they had walked for a couple of hours.
“I can go on longer,” Hannah insisted.
“I know but we need to pace ourselves. If we take short breaks and rest and rehydrate, we should be able to keep going for longer.” He arched an eyebrow at her questioning look. “It’s true. Believe me.”
“You are the expert.” She looked around and took a couple of steps off the trail to sit down on a large boulder. “It was strange hearing them talk about Karl like that. Telling me things he’d shared with them that he’d never shared with me.”
“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to people who are not emotionally involved in your life.” O’Malley took a couple of energy bars out of his pack and handed one to Hannah. “It’s why people visit therapists rather than just talking to those around them.”
“I thought people visited therapists because they are trained in helping other people.” Hannah’s eyes sparkled with amusement.
“True.” He wagged his energy bar at her. “But it’s also because they can keep themselves detached. They have no emotional investment in what secrets might be revealed.”
“I see your point.” Hannah bit into her bar and chewed. “This is surprisingly good.” She looked down at the wrapper. “I’m sure I don’t want to know what is in it.”
“Just as we don’t always want to know what is inside the people around us.” He chuckled as she shook her head at him. “It’s true.”
“I know.” She sighed and looked out across the barren rocky area below. “There are some things I would rather not know about my family. But they are my family and so you take it all, the happy and the sad. You listen to the good things and the bad. Share the celebrations and the heartache. It’s what makes us family, it’s what stitches us together.”
“Have you found a piece of yourself on the pilgrim’s trail?” O’Malley asked.
“I just might have.” Hannah finished her energy bar and then took a drink of water. “How about you?”
“I found most of myself back in the bar yesterday.” He winked at her as he put his water bottle back in his pack and stood up. “The rest of me was already there. I found it at the bottom of a glass. Although not in the way you think.”
“Your bar.” Her jaw tightened. “I’m sorry I pulled you away from it.”
“I’m not.” O’Malley held out his hand and she slid hers into it. He pulled her to her feet. “This is where I am supposed to be right now. With you. Here.”
“Well.” She leaned forward, her eyes fixed on his. “We shouldn’t be here.” She dodged around him with a laugh. “We should be here.” She took a step forward. “And here.” She kept walking. “This isn’t a sightseeing trip, you know.”
“Yes, sir.” He gave a mock salute and strode after her.
There is no place we would rather be, his cougar said.
Oh, I don’t know, O’Malley replied. I would rather be snuggled up with Hannah under the covers at O’Brian’s house.
But as they climbed higher and talked about the small things in life, O’Malley decided his cougar might be right.
Step by step, he was learning about the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
Chapter Twelve – Hannah
“I think it’s time we tried this tent of yours.” O’Malley’s words were more than welcome. Her legs didn’t want to obey her brain when she asked them to take another step and another step. For the last hour that’s all she’d focused on, putting one foot in front of the other.
It had consumed her as she’d dug deep and found the strength for one more step and then another.
“I can go on further,” she insisted, although she suspected they both knew she was lying.
“The light will fade rapidly. We should find a place to camp and set up the tent before dark.” He pointed to a flat patch of ground just off the trail. “Plus, that’s the best campsite I’ve seen for the last hour.”
“That’s the best?” The area was big enough for the tent but not much else. “Snug.”
“That’s what I thought,” he teased. “Come on. It’ll be fine. We’ll pitch the tent, get a fire going, and have something hot to eat. Then sleep.”
“Sleep I can do.” Hannah stumbled after O’Malley who looked surprisingly full of energy. “This is nothing to you, is it?”
“It’s everything,” he answered swiftly, his eyes leaving her in no doubt as to what he meant.
“I mean climbing the mountain. You could carry on all night.” She screwed her face up and groaned. “I should have let you and O’Brian come and stayed behind. I’m only slowing you down.”
O’Malley began setting up the tent and she helped, needing to feel useful.
“It’s not about speed.” O’Malley fitted two of the lightweight tent poles together. “The search crew and O’Brian and Elvie have been along this trail searching for Karl. All have drawn a blank.”
“So you’re saying this is a waste of time?” They inserted the tent poles into the thin fabric that didn’t look as if it would last one night even though the guy in the mountain store assured her it was strong enough to withstand whatever they might face on the mountain.
“No, I’m saying that you might see something that they missed. You know Karl better than anyone.” He gave her a reassuring smile in the fading light.
“I don’t see what.” Hannah mulled over O’Malley’s words as they finished securing the tent and sorted through their gear.
“One thing we’re taught in the Army is to look for the small clues. The little things that people don’t even realize they do. The
