They drovefrom Scarlet Springs along the Peak-to-Peak Highway, the scenery taking Vic’s breath away—snow-capped peaks, aspens with their white bark and tiny green leaves, meadows filled with wildflowers. Lexi, Chey, and Austin pointed out landmarks and named the peaks for her, the landscape something they knew well.
Then it dawned on her. “This is your office, isn’t it, Austin?”
He grinned. “Not bad, eh?”
“Pretty fantastic, I’d say.” What would life be like if she never had to set foot inside an office building again? She couldn’t even imagine it.
Almost an hour later, they drove through the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, stopping so that she could get out of the car and take photos—and gawk at a herd of elk that had taken up residence in the middle of the road.
“A Colorado traffic jam.” Eric came to stand beside her. “Check out that rack.”
Was he messing with her again, or was he talking about the elk’s antlers?
She refused to let Eric bait her. “He’s huge.”
“You should come back in the fall. During the rut, the bulls bugle and fight to establish dominance over harems of cows. You can stand here and hear bugling coming from all over this valley.”
“How like males to strut and brawl and make a lot of noise to get attention.”
He chuckled. “How like females to fall for that shit.”
She started to object, but hadn’t she done that with Stewart? Yes, she had. Stewart had put on a show and lured her right in. He’d had her like a fish on a hook the first night she’d met him. How could she have been so stupid?
She changed the subject. “How did it go last night?”
“It was just someone running the Scarlet Midnight Triathlon.”
“There was a triathlon last night?” Something didn’t make sense here.
Or maybe that was just her headache, which was getting worse.
Eric laughed. “The Scarlet Midnight Triathlon is made up of three events. First, you get drunk in Boulder. Second, you roll your vehicle into Scarlet Creek. Third, you run away.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but she didn’t find it funny. “Someone rolled their car into the creek and ran away?”
Eric nodded. “We found him hitchhiking a couple of miles up the road.”
“He’s lucky he wasn’t killed. What a stupid thing to do.”
“Honey, if we could cure stupid, I’d be out of a job.”
* * *
Eric parkedat Forest Canyon Overlook, the parking lot overrun with tourists, snowflakes drifting lazily from an overcast sky. He glanced over at Britta, who was wearing only a tank top and shorts. “You want my jacket?”
Britta laughed. “I’m the idiot who didn’t bring a coat. I’ll be fine.”
They climbed out of the truck and met Lexi, Austin, Chey, and Victoria at the trailhead that would take them over the tundra to the actual overlook.
Vic snuggled into a purple fleece jacket, her hands in her pockets.
“Even the city girl had enough sense to bring warm layers,” Eric teased.
He got a laugh out of Britta, but Victoria didn’t even look up.
They headed up the trail, now above eleven thousand feet elevation. Lexi, Austin, and Chey were in the middle of a conversation about the wedding reception and didn’t seem to realize that Victoria was falling behind.
Eric held back. “Hey, are you okay?”