Staring at him now, her stomach churned and she felt sick. He’d changed his mind so quickly. And he was still single—did that mean anything?
Blood rushed to her head and pounded in her temples. She closed her eyes against the pain. Nate believed in being an honorable man. He wouldn’t have lied to her. He wouldn’t have hurt her like that, even if he thought he was doing the right thing.
Would he? She stared at him in disbelief.
“I, um, better turn in,” he said, looking as shaken as she felt as he strode to the door. “I have an early morning. You coming? I—” He cleared his throat, not meeting her eyes. “I don’t really like leaving you out here by yourself this late.”
Bethany didn’t move. Couldn’t move. “I’ll be in shortly,” she managed to say. “Don’t worry about me.”
His brows crinkled and he inhaled sharply, meeting her eyes with his pain-filled ones. She thought he was about to say more, when he nodded, pushed the door open and left her alone on the porch.
Alone with the first viable reason of merit for his devastating actions so long ago…. She stared at the closed door, dazed by this new bit of the puzzle. It confused her more.
There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight. And the only reason she hadn’t said something to him was out of self-preservation. She had to know how she felt about this before she asked him if this revelation had any truth to it. If he shocked her and told her it did, what exactly did that mean to her?
What did she want it to mean?
Chapter Ten
Had he taken the coward’s way out? Nate asked himself the question over and over the next morning. He’d reached the top of the cliff, working his way from a lower trail from the cabin upward, toward the top of the cliff. He studied the side of the mountain as he went, seeing the dark crevice that he would be lowering himself down to.
His thoughts churned with things from the night before that had left him questioning himself. He’d always believed, as his dad did that hard work and a man’s honor were the most important things in life. If a man didn’t have honor, then he wasn’t much of a man. Nate couldn’t stop thinking about Bethany—had he been wrong to let her go without telling her why? Should he have told her the truth? Was telling her he didn’t love her the cowards way out? The thought was a punch in the gut.
He told himself all these years that the lie had been the only way. That God understood that a man had to do what a man had to do. But his conscience pricked.
He reached the top of the cliff and stood on the edge of the rock and looked down. It was basically a straight drop, with rough areas on the face. His grandfather had made this drop, determined to see if his hunch was right about the treasure’s hiding place. He made the drop with makeshift equipment and lack of experience, and he’d died because of it.
Nate pulled his rappelling gear from his backpack. He chose a solid tree with deep roots, and set to work anchoring his rope around it securely. Bethany’s concerned face hovered in his mind as he worked. She’d looked as if she still cared. The thought made his internal conflicts even that much harder to counter.
She’d come here for closure. Not looking to reopen their past. Not hoping to take up where they’d left off. But for closure. She hadn’t been able to move forward any more than he had. Closure was best for both of them.
If she got married, it would help bring closure to him.
If she loved someone else he wouldn’t feel this temptation to tell her the truth. His hands shaking, he pulled on his harness and tightened the straps. He couldn’t tell her.
It would serve no purpose. None at all.
“Are you sure this is the way he went?”
Bethany nodded at Ely. She hadn’t been able to stand the thought of Nate out there, climbing around the mountain with no one else around. She’d been about to head out after him when both Ely and Robert had come outside and asked her where Nate had gone.
Bethany had never been so happy to see two people in all her life. Worried, she’d quickly told them what Nate was doing and asked if they would hike to the rock face with her. Both agreed, and after Robert had alerted Shelly where they were going, they’d headed out after Nate.
He was about thirty minutes ahead of them, but she knew he’d have to get his gear together before he made his way over the edge of the cliff. She hoped they would get there before he did it. Just the thought of him hanging on the side of that cliff by a rope made her sick.
She’d never been one to think any kind of rock climbing was good. She didn’t have the disposition for it. Especially thinking about someone she loved taking the chance of plunging to his death—and yes, despite all the reasons why she shouldn’t, she knew that she still loved Nate McMann.
She’d lain awake most of the night after she went to bed, and thought long and hard about how she felt about him. And also about her startling hunch that he might have broken her heart so that she wouldn’t have to choose between him or her career. Had he done that?
The very idea infuriated her. And the more she thought about it the more it fit. He’d known in his heart that he wouldn’t be going to San Francisco, or any other large city where she would need to go to make it big in the wedding industry. Knowing him like she did, she also knew, looking back, that there would have been no way that he would have asked her to give up her dream. No way at all. How had she not realized this?
Had she been too tied up in her pain to realize it at first—and then too tied up in her anger at him after that to see past the resentment she felt? It made sense.
It was her only explanation. And she couldn’t figure out how to react to it—even if she was wrong. The only thing she knew was that Nate was alone on the mountain, and she couldn’t stand the thought.
Did she love him still?
Yes.
But that would forever remain her secret. It was one thing to acknowledge it, but an entirely different thing to let him know. Following him now was simply out of concern for him. It would tell him nothing more.
Robert and Ely were concerned for him, too. That was why they’d gotten up. When they’d heard him get dressed, then pick up his backpack full of rappelling gear—which they’d seen him going over the night before—they’d been curious about what he was doing. She felt strength from their support and concern for him.
“This is the way,” she said, knowing the path as though it had been only yesterday that she’d come this way, and not over ten years ago. This spot had torn Nate up as a teenager. “This was one of the last trails I hiked with Nate before I left Treasure Creek. A few more feet and you’ll be able to see the rock face. Hopefully, he’s not to the top yet and we can get there before he secures his rope and drops over the edge.”
As she spoke, they emerged through the dense woods. Morning sunlight sparkled like gold dust on the morning haze. Ahead of them, the rock face rose from the low fog, hovering over the valley that sloped off from where they were standing. From here, the hike was easy, going down into the valley below them toward the slow-moving river.
But upward, to the top of the majestic rock face, was a steep, but very accessible climb to those who were moderately in shape.
Bethany’s gaze went immediately to movement at the top of the cliff just as Nate turned and began walking backwards down the side of the mountain. His rappelling rope swung below him as he worked his way down it, letting it slide through the metal clamp on the harness he wore around his hips.
Her heart lunged into her throat and she couldn’t move. But she could pray. Quickly but fervently, she asked God to keep him safe.
“There he goes,” Ely said, excitement in his voice. “He’ll be okay, Bethany. Nate knows what he’s doing.”
Robert patted her shoulder. “He doesn’t strike me as a man who would do something foolish. From here, it looks like he knows what he’s doing.”
“He does. I didn’t mean to make you think otherwise. It’s just that things happen, and he shouldn’t be doing this al
one.” Both men gave her curious looks. She shut up, knowing full well what they were thinking, and put her attention on the small figure of Nate a hundred and eighty feet above the floor of the valley. Her insides quivered with apprehension. Her mouth had gone dry the minute she spotted him. She stared at the narrow crevice fifty feet below him. “Nate’s grandfather believed that crack in the side of the rock was a cave.”
Robert watched Nate. “Does this have anything to do with the rumor I heard in town before we left, about a treasure that is supposed to be hidden somewhere out here? I heard it had something to do with the owner of the tour company.”
“Yeah,” Ely said, staring at her with eyes that were no longer worried, but filled with the excitement. “Like it belonged to her grandfather or something, back in the gold rush days, and he hid it for some strange reason. Personally, I don’t believe it. I told Lisa a man wouldn’t bury a treasure.”
“Unless it was the safest thing to do.” Robert gave a short laugh. “You have to remember, back then there were cutthroats roaming around, ready to pounce on anyone they thought might have a little gold. Maybe he hid it and planned to come back for it later.”
“Maybe he planned that. But for whatever reason, Nate’s grandfather died trying to find it up there.” Bethany couldn’t take her eyes off of Nate as he reached the opening and slipped inside. Her head was hurting from the strain of worry. She could see light illuminate the darkness and knew he had his flashlight out. She should have relaxed while he wasn’t dangling off the rock, but she couldn’t. Within minutes, he was back out giving Bethany a case of hives as he shoved away from the rock face in a wide arch before his feet connected to the wall like a cat pouncing.
Before, when he’d almost plunged to his death like his grandfather, Nate hadn’t had any experience, and he’d made a careless mistake. Today he looked perfect. He was beautiful coming down the wall. Bethany started into the valley and Robert and Ely followed her. She wanted to be there when he touched ground.
“I think I might want to learn how to do that one day,” Ely said, hurrying behind her.
“Not me,” Robert said. “I love my family too much to take a chance like that.”
“I’m sure Shelly and Cody are glad about that.” She didn’t even acknowledge Ely’s declaration, and had no doubt whatsoever that if he even mentioned it to Lisa she’d curb the idea in an instant. There was something, though, about Nate that was untamable—if he wanted to throw himself off the side of a cliff, to dangle at the mercy of a little piece of metal and a rope, then he’d do it. Of course, he didn’t have anyone at home keeping the home fires burning. So why was she all worked up? Why was she as hot as a grease fire when she pushed through the last thicket that was in her way and found him coiling up his rope?
“What are y’all doing out here?”
“We were worried about you being out here by yourself,” Robert said, giving him a hardy clap on the back. “Accidents can happen, even to the best climbers.”
“I’m fine,” Nate said, his words clipped.
“Did you see anything up there?” Ely asked.
“Nothing.” Nate slid a glance to Bethany. His jaw was tight and his gaze held deep disappointment.
“So it’s not a cave after all?” she asked quietly. She hadn’t wanted him to do this, but she hadn’t wanted him to be wrong either. This was important to him.
“No. Nothing. There isn’t anything there but a crack in the rock that ends in the one fairly shallow area. I didn’t miss anything when I came here the first time.”
Bethany heard the underlying truth of his words, a truth neither Ely nor Robert could hear given the fact that she hadn’t told them everything. “I’m sorry,” she said, placing her hand on his arm in an attempt at comfort. She knew he was thinking once more that his grandfather had died for nothing.
“Let’s head back,” he said. “We’ll be late getting the horses to the pickup zone and meeting the van, if we don’t get started soon.”
Ely grinned, oblivious. “I’ll lead the way.”
Robert shook his head and looked back at Bethany and Nate, as Ely strode off, leaving them to follow. “You better watch your back Nate, this one just might try to take your job when we get back to civilization. Ely’s turned into a regular mountain man.”
Despite his glum mood, Nate chuckled at the idea. “I’ll make sure to do that.”
His chuckle did Bethany’s heart good. She held back as Robert followed Ely. “Are you okay,” she whispered. “I mean really?”
“I’m fine. Been better, but fine. Why did you bring them out here?”
“Like I said, they followed you outside and found me thinking about following you.” She left it at that, not feeling that she had to explain why they’d come after him.
They’d crossed a steep, moss-covered incline on their way into the valley. She and Nate had just reached a point where they could see Ely up ahead of them as he began walking across the tricky path. Bethany was just about to call out and tell him to slow down, when his foot hit a slick spot in the moss. One moment Ely was standing in front of them, the next his feet flipped out from under him, and he was sliding and rolling down the slick, mossy slope. Yelling all the way down.
Helpless, Bethany, Nate and Robert could only watch him go. He rolled the last little bit, hit a slight hump and took air at the base, before flying into the bushes. Nate was moving instantly, half jogging, half sliding on the rubber soles of his boots. Robert followed suit and Bethany did the same, only slower. If they all crashed and broke their legs getting to the bottom, there would be no one to go for help. She took the more cautious choice, just in case.
Nate had just reached the thicket when Ely came crawling out. His face was ashen. “Body—”
Scrambling to get on his feet, he was having trouble, and Nate took one arm, helping him as he pointed back behind him with the other. “Body,” he said. “There’s a body in the b-bushes!”
Chapter Eleven
Eli wasn’t joking. Nate went into the thicket and confirmed his finding. Poor Ely went to the edge of the woods and threw up several times. Nate asked Robert to escort him back to the camp and to take charge of everything, while he and Bethany went to call in the body to Reed Truscott, the town sheriff.
“Do you think this could be Tucker?”
Nate rubbed his jaw and looked grim. “I hope not,” he shook his head and stared momentarily at his boots. “But the body, though badly decomposed, looks like a man about the same size as Tucker. Come on, I need to hike back to the top of the cliff and get an emergency call out to Reed and Gage.”
They were quiet as they made their way up the slippery slope. Bethany kept thinking about the man they’d both gone to school with. Tucker Lawson had been a year ahead of them in school, and he’d left town right after he graduated because he and his widowed dad didn’t get along. “Did Tucker ever make up with his dad?” she asked, her heart was heavy with sadness about the whole situation.
Nate took her hand and pulled her along behind him, up a particularly steep section of the climb. “No. He never came back until the funeral. As far as I know, the rift was still there.”
“That’s horrible. Life is too short.”
“Yeah, it is,” Nate said, and his quiet answer seemed to echo as they emerged from the dense trees into the open area at the base of the rock face. Nate let go of her hand and she followed him along the path leading up to the top. It was only about eight o’clock, but it seemed like they’d been out here for ages. Nate took the trail at a fast clip and she stayed with him. She knew it would be an all-day affair for the rescue team to get here and get the body out, and they would need all the daylight available to them. She was quiet as she followed him, not wanting to slow him down.
“Jake Rodgers is going to take this hard,” he said, after a few minutes. “He’s been holding out hope that Tucker is still alive.”
“And he may still be. This might not be him.”
“Yo
u’re right. And I don’t mean to sound negative, but the reality is that more than likely it is.”
She knew he was right, but there was still a chance….
Even so, if it wasn’t, then who was it? They’d reached the halfway mark and he stopped to pull out his phone, glanced at it and started forward again. It was amazing how many people came into the wilderness and didn’t realize that they wouldn’t have phone access at any given time. Bethany had actually begun to take being connected for granted until this tour, and though she hadn’t given it much thought, she realized that she’d enjoyed time spent without the phone connection. Life here in Alaska was different than life in the lower forty-eight, there was no denying it. Despite the grim situation, she smiled, thinking about how easily she was adapting to the idea of spending the rest of her life here in Treasure Creek. She’d come home.
“So, are you all right?” Shelly asked Bethany, a few hours after they’d made it back to camp. Bethany had been sitting on a fallen tree trunk, off to the edge of camp, waiting for the rescue team to arrive, and Shelly had come to join her. “You’ve been awfully quiet since you got back. It’s understandable. I mean, that is a dead body out there.”
This was all true, but it wasn’t the dead body that had her being quiet. “I’m fine. I mean, I’m praying for whoever this person is and for his family, too.” It was true she was praying. “But…” Bethany paused and watched Cody playing catch with Robert on the far side of clearing. “Shelly, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure, fire away.”
Bethany met her curious brown eyes and smiled hesitantly. “Okay, I want a child. I’ve wanted children all my life, and I’m getting older and I’m still not married. Today it hit me that I’ve come back to Treasure Creek and discovered that this is home.
This is the place I want to raise a family, and I’m tired of waiting on the right man to come along to make my family a reality. I was sitting here, contemplating the idea of adopting a child on my own.
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