A Match Made in Montana. Joanna Sims

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ cave?”

      She sidestepped a dip in the road. “It’s incredible. But it’s hard to get into. You basically have to crawl on your back along this narrow tunnel that leads to the main chamber. The main chamber is huge—completely dark. Archaeologists have studied our cave for years. There are areas all along the sides of the main area where they believe that prehistoric humans lived. And they ended up finding a lot of artifacts in the main chamber and some of the smaller chambers.”

      “I’ll have to check it out.”

      “I don’t like the crawling part so much... It’s a little claustrophobic. But once you get inside, you feel like you’ve been transported back in time. I haven’t been there in ages, but I can still remember how cold it was inside the cave.”

      At the top of a hill, they reached the fork in the road. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath; she had put in hundreds of hours on the elliptical machine, and the climb was still tough. The change in altitude, the thinner air, impacted her mild case of asthma. Next time she came up here, she’d have to remember her inhaler.

      “Up that way is the cave...” She pointed to the right.

      “I suppose this isn’t the day for that?”

      “I really need to get back before noon. There’s still a lot that needs to get done for the wedding. But, you can head up there after we see the chapel, if you want.”

      Logan shifted his rucksack on his back to a more comfortable position. “We’ll see.”

      In actuality, he didn’t intend to separate from her. This was her ranch, and she knew the territory better than he did, but he had a protective nature. He wouldn’t feel right not seeing her safely back to the house.

      “It’s not too far now,” Josephine said as they started up a new hill. Her thigh muscles were burning from the hike and she couldn’t believe how much protesting her body was doing. When she had been a little girl, she could run up and down these hills without any trouble at all. Now, it was taking all of her strength, physical and mental, to hike to the chapel without taking a ton of minibreaks. If Logan hadn’t been with her, she would have taken several breaks already. But since he was pressing on, she was pressing on.

      At the bottom of another steep hill, the final hill that would lead them to the plateau where her great-grandfather had built his chapel, Josephine paused. Her face felt hot and wet with perspiration. She used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe the sweat from her face and then prepared to tackle the last leg of this impromptu hike.

      “Doing okay?” Logan stood beside her patiently.

      She nodded. “The altitude is getting to me.”

      “You’ve been setting a really tough pace for this hike,” he said. “Why don’t we slow it down a bit?”

      Hands on her hips, bending forward slightly, trying to catch her breath again, Josephine looked at him, surprised. “I’ve been setting the pace?”

      He nodded his head “yes.”

      Josephine laughed a breathy laugh, and then coughed. “And here I’ve been blaming it on you!”

      Logan laughed with her. “No. I’ve had to work to keep up.”

      “You’re kidding?” Josephine laughed again with a shake of her head. “Do you mean that I feel a little like I’m going to pass out and I’ve done it to myself?”

      Logan’s smiled faded as he took a step toward her. “You feel light-headed?”

      “A little. It’s no big deal. Asthma.”

      “Here...” He pointed to a flat boulder on the side of the road. “I think you should sit down.”

      “The chapel is right up that hill. I’ll rest when I get up there.”

      “How long has the chapel been there?”

      “A hundred years.”

      Logan put his hand on her shoulder to guide her toward the boulder. “Then, chances are it’ll still be there thirty minutes from now.”

      It was a point that she couldn’t argue, so she walked over to the boulder and let him help her down to a sitting position. She crossed her legs and gave herself permission to rest.

      One knee on the ground, Logan knelt in front of her and opened his rucksack. He held out two high-energy protein bars for her to see.

      “Take your pick.”

      She chose the peanut-butter bar and gratefully accepted another bottle of water.

      “What else do you have in that thing?” she asked when he joined her on the boulder. “It’s like you’re carrying a mini convenience store on your back.”

      He opened the wrapper of his bar with his teeth. “Did you see the movie 127 Hours?”

      “Uh-uh...” She wished she had time for movies, but she didn’t.

      “It was about a rock climber who had to cut off his own arm.”

      “Oh!” She nodded. “I remember that—the guy in Utah, right?”

      “As a rock climber, first, it kind of scared the crap out of me, to be honest. But second, it reminded me that I have to be prepared because, if a freak accident like that could happen to that guy, a freak accident could happen to me.”

      Then he asked, “Feeling better?”

      “Much.” After eating the protein bar and taking a moment to rest, the light-headed feeling had passed.

      “Ready to get back to it?”

      Josephine nodded. “Sure.”

      Logan stood up and offered her his hand, which she accepted.

      “Thank you for talking me into taking a break—and feeding me.”

      “Anytime.” He hoisted the heavy backpack onto his shoulders.

      She had enjoyed it, as well. Sitting with Logan on that boulder, without another soul in sight, had been perfectly comfortable. It had taken her months to feel comfortable around Brice; he had always made her feel so nervous because he was so brilliant with the law. If she were to be honest with herself, sometimes Brice still made her feel a little anxious whenever they got into a conversation about California statutes or federal law. But with Logan, she was at total ease—not a single nerve in sight.

       What did that mean?

      Josephine forced her brain to stop trying to unravel meaningless life riddles, and refocus on finishing her trek up the steep hill. She leaned slightly forward, bent her knees, ignored the burning in her thighs and lungs, and willed her body to finish the last half of the hill quickly. At the top of the hill, Josephine threw back her head and let out a loud whoop to celebrate her accomplishment.

      “I made it!” she exclaimed happily.

      Logan СКАЧАТЬ