by Pamela Clare
She took the box from him. “Aren’t you a sweet thing? You’re a handsome fellow up close—big, too. All the best to you.”
Then she turned and went inside.
They were almost back to the house, Conrad behind the wheel, when Kenzie’s cellphone rang.
“This is Kenzie. Yes, now’s a fine time, Sheriff.”
Sheriff Pella? Something must be up.
“Are you serious?” She turned to Harrison. “They found the other guy’s body. Some hikers spotted a leg sticking out of the snow at the base of the razor’s edge. He fell off the other side from his buddy.”
That was a relief.
Kenzie went back to her phone call. “Thanks, Sheriff. What? Really? I’m honored, but I didn’t do anything. Seriously you don’t have to… Really? You’re kidding. But I … Yes, sir. November twentieth. Six p.m. Yes, sir. Thank you.”
She ended the call, looked over at Conrad, a strange expression on her face.
“What did Pella want?”
“He said his department and the Scarlet Springs Town Council want to give Gizmo and me Distinguished Citizen medals. That’s bananas.”
“It doesn’t seem bananas to me. You kept your head during a terrifying ordeal and helped investigators recover the money.”
“I was unconscious when the money was found. I didn’t do anything. You, Eric, and Jesse found the money. You should get the medals—and the reward.”
“Reward?”
“The company of the armored vehicle that was robbed is giving me a reward of thirty-five grand. That’s bananas.”
Conrad was so surprised by this that he almost missed their turn. “Thirty-five large. That’s sweet.”
“I only did what the man with the gun told me to do.”
“You trained Gizmo, and Gizmo found the robber’s hideout. That seems like something to me.”
“Well, Gizmo deserves the medal, not I.”
“I guess you’ll have to take that up with the sheriff and Town Council.”
Kenzie stood at the front of the Town Council meeting room in Town Hall holding Gizmo’s leash, her gaze moving over the audience. Everyone was there—or almost everyone. Her friends on the Team. Rain and Joe. Ellie and the twins. The Belcourts—Winona, Chaska, and Naomi. Dr. Warren. Cheyenne and her parents. Conrad’s former neighbor wearing a fine little hat. Even Bear, who had found the table with the cupcakes and had pink frosting on his beard.
She drew a breath, tried not to be nervous.
“For bravery in the face of danger, for unfailing loyalty, and for countless hours of selfless service to this community, I am pleased to present you, Gizmo, with the Sheriff’s Distinguished Service Medal.”
Sheriff Pella bent down and slipped the medal around Gizmo’s neck.
The room exploded with cheers and applause.
Kenzie knelt down, petted Gizmo’s chest. “Shake the sheriff’s hand, Gizmo.”
Gizmo shook.
“Good boy!”
Laughter.
Sheriff Pella reached for another medal and came to stand before Kenzie. “For unshakable courage in the face of terrible danger and for years of service to your community, I am pleased to present you, Kenzie Morgan, with the Sheriff’s Distinguished Service Medal. Congratulations.”
The room burst into cheers and applause again as Sheriff Pella slipped the medal over her head and then shook her hand.
“Thank you, sir.” Kenzie met Harrison’s gaze.
His smile almost took her breath away.
Then Mr. Winslow, the district manager of the armored car company, stepped forward in his suit and tie, a piece of paper in his hands. He introduced himself, talked about the important role armored vehicles played in society, then shared the history of the company until even Kenzie had forgotten why they were all here.
Megs, who was a member of the Town Council, cleared her throat. “Maybe it’s time to move on.”
Mr. Winslow seemed to catch himself. “We are so grateful to Ms. Morgan and to Gizmo for enabling the authorities to recover the money stolen from us in September. As a sign of our gratitude, here is a check for thirty-five-thousand dollars.”
More cheers and applause.
Kenzie took the check, shook his hand.
She’d thought long and hard about this and knew what she had to do. “Thank you, sir, but I don’t deserve this. Yes, Gizmo and I tracked one of the men who stole your money, but only because the other one pointed a gun at me. It was the Team that recovered your money. They risked their lives in a blizzard to save mine. Without them, neither Gizmo nor I would be here tonight.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Thank you for this, but I am signing the check over to the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team.”
People leaped to their feet, cheering, whistling, the applause deafening.
Megs gaped at Kenzie for a moment, looking utterly astonished. She walked over to Kenzie, hugged her. “On behalf of the Team, which you have served many years, I accept your insanely generous donation. Thank you, Kenzie. You are an angel.”
Conrad drank the last of his beer. “Come dance with me.”
The Timberline Mudbugs were playing tonight, a pre-Thanksgiving show. They had just slipped into a slow dance, a Zydeco rendition of When A Man Loves A Woman.
“Dance?” Kenzie’s face was flushed from a little too much alcohol. Joe and Rain had told her to order anything she wanted tonight on the house. That had included one two many Sex in the Spotlights. “I was shot in the leg. I don’t know if I can dance.”
Conrad slid a hand up her thigh. “The last time you wrapped your thighs around my waist, your leg seemed pretty strong to me.”
Her cheeks got pinker. “Sasha, can you watch Gizmo and Gabby for me?”
Conrad had made good on his promise to Gizmo and ordered him a rib eye, cutting bits and pieces of it off for little Gabby. The dogs were now curled up at Kenzie’s feet in a protein coma, Gizmo still wearing his medal.
Sasha reached down to pet Gabby. “I would love to.”
Conrad led Kenzie through the restaurant to the dance floor, waving to Christa and Amanda, who were listening to the band, drinks in their hands.
They waved back, but their gazes were fixed on Kenzie.
He took her into his arms, the two of them moving to the slow, sensual rhythm of the music, the feel of her sweet in his arms. She followed easily despite her leg and the booze, one of her hands in his, the other on his hip, a tipsy-happy smile on her face.
“You blew us all away tonight. I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. You’re an amazingly generous person.”
“I couldn’t take a reward for something I didn’t do.”
“I thought Megs was going to faint.”
Kenzie laughed. “She looked shocked, didn’t she?”
“Completely gobsmacked.”
Kenzie looked up at him, her smile gone. “Now I understand how you felt when you didn’t want people to call you a hero.”
“What do you mean?”
“At the ceremony, everyone acted like I’d done something remarkable. But the truth is, all I did was get abducted.”
“All I did was not get crushed by ice.”
“That’s not true. You’ve summited mountains. You climbed out of a crevasse and saved yourself. You battled that blizzard and saved Gizmo and me.”
He stopped dancing, caught her chin, lifted her gaze to his. “Don’t you know that you saved me, too? A few months ago, I was barely holding on. I was dead inside. I had forgotten what it feels like to be happy, to wake up in the morning and look forward to the day. You brought me back to the world of the living.”
Every word he’d just said was true. If not for Kenzie…
She shook her head. “I didn’t do that. Gabby did. I hoped she would. That was the whole point. I’d hoped…”
Kenzie’s eyes went wide as if she’d just said something she hadn’t meant to say.
And the pieces came together with a click.
“Well, I … You … Um … No.” Kenzie’s cheeks flushed scarlet, a rush of words spilling from her. “But pets help reduce stress, and I knew you loved dogs. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I cared about you and hated seeing you hurting so I had to find a way to get a puppy into your life so that you’d have someone at least and …”
Her words faded and she looked guiltily up at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. Are you angry with—”
He stilled her with a soft, slow kiss. “Hell, no. I’m touched that you cared so much. But you’re wrong. It wasn’t Gabby. It was you, Kenzie.”
“You mean that?”
He thought of what the Lama had said to him and couldn’t help but smile. “The night before I left the monastery, the Lama told me that, if I hadn’t found my truth there in all that time, then I needed to move on. He was right. You are my truth, Kenzie. You’re my truth and my peace.”
Conrad took her mouth with his, kissing her deeper this time, holding her close, her arms sliding around his neck.
The music ended, and still, they stood together kissing, oblivious to everyone around them, unaware of the quiet laughter and smiles.
Up on stage, the lead singer for the Mugbugs took the mic. “This next one is for the couple making out in the middle of the dance floor. Hit it!”
In the next instant, the band broke into Fooled Around and Fell in Love.
But Conrad and Kenzie stayed as they were, lost in each other.
Epilogue
July 28
Kenzie’s alarm went off at five a.m. She turned it off, sat up, found Harrison already dressed and feeding the dogs. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Conrad looked over his shoulder at her, clearly amused. “You promised to have a good attitude, remember?”
“Right.” She hopped naked out of bed. “Let’s do this.”
He chuckled. “That’s better.”
Climbing fourteeners was not on her bucket list. She’d climbed Mt. Evans but hadn’t enjoyed it. Still, climbing was Harrison’s passion. He had asked her to climb Mt. Sneffels with him, and it seemed only right to try.
They’d brought Gizmo and Gabby, who was now ten months old and almost as big as Gizmo. She would be taking her SAR exam next month and loved being in the outdoors. But they’d had to leave little Prince at the kennel. It had broken Kenzie’s heart to leave him behind, but Harrison had insisted there was no way a little Cavalier King Charles spaniel could handle Mt. Sneffels.
Kenzie had brought Prince home just before Christmas after Mari had smacked him on the nose right in front of her during a lesson. She’d decided then that Mari lying to her children would be on Mari’s conscience, but her leaving the poor puppy to be abused would be on hers. Kenzie hadn’t regretted it. There wasn’t a sweeter dog in the entire world.
She, Harrison, and the two big dogs had driven over the Continental Divide and stayed in a hotel in the mountain town of Ouray. They’d had a picnic and gone wading in the Uncompahgre River before heading to their hotel.
Yesterday had been the fun part of this trip. Today was about pain.
Harrison checked his backpack while she dressed and filled their water bottles—four each for herself and Harrison and four each for the dogs. They ate a breakfast of coffee, toast, boiled eggs, and fruit in their room and grabbed the packed lunches they’d had room service prepare last night. Then it was time to hit the road.
Ouray was beautiful, a tiny town nestled in a narrow valley surrounded by steep mountains. It was less than an hour’s drive to the trailhead, which sat just above timberline. They parked, climbed out, got the dogs, then shouldered their packs.
Okay, so Kenzie was carrying a small daypack with trail mix, dog treats, and water. Harrison was the one with the heavy backpack. He had filled it with all kinds of gear they wouldn’t need to help him prepare for the big expedition.
He was training again.
His climbing bug had come back the moment ski season ended, and he’d been negotiating with his sponsors about trying for the Khumbu Triple Crown—alone. No man in history had done that.
It had been Bruce’s big dream to climb Nuptse, Everest, and Lhotse in one expedition, and Harrison hadn’t been able to let that idea go. It wasn’t about ego or achievement this time, but honoring the life and legacy of his best friend.
A part of Kenzie had wanted to rage at him when he’d brought it up with her. What was she supposed to do while he was gone—sit by the phone and wait to find out that he’d fallen or frozen to death or been buried alive in an avalanche? But she had kept her fears and her tears to herself.
She’d known he would want to climb again once his heart had healed. He’d talked about writing a book or opening a store that sold climbing gear, but that just wasn’t Harrison. She loved him for the man he was. She couldn’t take his dreams from him—even when they scared her to death.
More than that, he needed a kind of closure that therapy couldn’t give him, the kind he could only get up there where he and Bruce had spent so much time together. She couldn’t get in the way of his finding peace, even at the expense of her own.
They leashed the dogs and headed for the trailhead. The trail itself was just a skinny path that wound its way upward through talus and dark, jagged rock.
“Are you sure this isn’t the trail to Mordor?” Kenzie joked.
Conrad grinned. “Hey, this is pretty easy going.”
The dogs loved it, their noses in the wind, but Kenzie quickly found herself out of breath. She wasn’t used to this kind of exertion. She stopped, put her hands on her knees. “I think you’re going to have to jog to the summit with the dogs a few times to keep yourself from getting bored. I’m slowing you down.”
He stopped beside her. “That’s okay. We’ll take this at your pace. This is about us being together, not about rushing to the summit.”
When she’d caught her breath, they moved on.
The scenery around them was stunning, the valley below them full of wildflowers. Kenzie stopped to take it in, the sight breathtaking. She’d seen wildflowers and mountain meadows before, but she’d never seen anything like this.
“Yankee Boy Basin.” Conrad drank from his water bottle. “It puts on quite a wildflower show in early summer.”
She pulled out her cellphone, took a few photos that could never do justice to what her eyes were seeing.
Maybe climbing mountains wasn’t all pain and misery.
Conrad pulled off Kenzie’s boot. “You’ve got the start of a blister here. A little moleskin will fix this.”
While she nibbled on trail mix, he fished the first-aid kit out of his pack, snipped off a piece of moleskin, and taped it to the hot spot on her left heel.
He wanted this to be fun for her. He was sure she could make it. Mt. Sneffels wasn’t the toughest fourteener by any measure, but he wanted today to be a special memory, not something she wanted to forget.
It was the most important day of his life.
“You should be good now. Put your boot on and see how it feels.”
Her eyes went wide, and she pointed, delight on her face. “Look.”
He turned his head and spotted a fat marmot on a rock nearby. “Hey, buddy.”
The dogs were curled up, napping, and didn’t care.
She fumbled for her cellphone, took a few photos. “He’s so cute.”
“He’s probably used to climbers. He’s hoping we’ll leave some food crumbs for him to nibble.”
She slipped her phone back into her pocket, put on her boot, and stood, taking a few steps. “That’s much better. I don’t even feel it now.”
He stood, shouldered his pack, and grabbed Gabby’s leash. “Come on, girl.”
Clouds rolled in from the west, threatening rain, the sun still shining in a blue sky to the east. They needed to be on a
nd off the summit before that storm rolled in. At fourteen thousand feet elevation, lightning was a real hazard.
Kenzie glanced up at him, looking beautiful, her cheeks flushed pink from exertion. “So far, there’s only one thing about mountain climbing that I don’t like.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s all uphill.”
He grinned. “True that.”
But as they went, it was clear to Conrad that Kenzie was enjoying herself. She took photos of everything they encountered along the way—wildflowers, chipmunks, marmots, pika, the little rivers, lakes, and waterfalls in the valley below.
“It’s beautiful up here.”
“I’ve always said that this is scenery you have to earn. You can’t get it sitting at home on your sofa.”
“Is that why you love it—the natural beauty?”
“That’s part of it.” How could he explain it? “I love the exertion and the physical challenge. I love the fresh air and wide-open spaces.”
“I bet that reminds you of homesteading with your dad.”
“Could be.” He hadn’t thought of that. “Up here, everything is simple like it must have been at the beginning. This is my church—all of this.”
Until he’d met Kenzie, this had been his entire life.
They stopped for lunch in the shade of a large boulder at Lavender Col—roast beef sandwiches, carrot sticks, and apples for them and water for the dogs. From here, the climb got more challenging, and Conrad wanted Kenzie to be rested.
She ate with enthusiasm. “Why does food always taste better when you’ve been outdoors all day?”
Conrad had to laugh. “That rule doesn’t apply to the freeze-dried shit we take on big expeditions.”
After they’d eaten, he talked her through the rest of the climb.
“We’re going to let the dogs off their leashes here. I don’t want them pulling you off balance, and they’ll do better on their own. We’ll head up through this col and then head a little to our left over the talus. There are some big rocks. They can flip under your foot or roll on you and break bones. So watch your step, and watch for falling rock, too. We’ll go through the V-Notch at the top of the talus, which takes us to another, steeper col with big cliffs on either side. If there’s snow, I’ll break out the ice axes and help you with that. After that, there’s an area with a lot of exposure.”