Chapter Eight
TY AND AIYLA kept up a brisk pace during the first few hours of the GPS-driven hike. There were people ahead of them and behind, but while they’d started out as a group, everyone had found their own pace. Aiyla was surprised at how spread out the group had become. She didn’t want to slow Ty down. She knew if he’d been racing on his own, he’d have remained at the front of the pack. She felt as grateful as she did guilty about his sticking with her, but selfishly, she was thrilled to have more time with him. Today they were hiking as far as they could in the direction of the finish line, and then they’d make camp for the night. Tomorrow they’d trek to the top of the mountain and cross the finish line, which was on the grounds of the Sterling House, an old rustic inn. They’d spend the last night of the event at the inn, where the awards ceremony would take place the following day. Aiyla was excited about having creature comforts at their fingertips, but she preferred sleeping outdoors. Besides, all the luxuries in the world wouldn’t be better than simply being in Ty’s arms, no matter where they were.
The blazing late-afternoon sun slowed them down as they headed up a steep, rocky incline absent of trees or shade. Ty and Aiyla passed a water bottle between them and noshed on protein bars, talking about the places they’d visited over the years and the places they hoped to go together. Their lifestyles and dreams were so in sync, it might be scary if it weren’t so beautiful. Clouds hovered over the crest of the mountains like puffs of unruly hair, constantly moving and shifting. Birds of prey circled and dove for their next meal, and as they reached the top of the hill, they came upon a forest of conifers. Towering lodgepole and ponderosa pines brought a mix of earthy and sweet vanilla scents. Hiking with Ty made the experience even more enjoyable. They’d been playing I Spy on and off all day, and Ty caught her up on each of his siblings. When he talked about them, he got this calm look in his eyes. She recognized that look from when he’d first told her about his family back in Saint-Luc. She had a feeling they centered him in a way that other people couldn’t. She understood that, because she felt the same way about her sister and Ms. Farrington.
As they trudged up the hill, it struck her that most people would think there was nothing glamorous about hiking from sunup to sundown. But as the afternoon sun dipped below the horizon, bringing rise to cooler temperatures, Aiyla couldn’t think of anyplace she’d rather be or anyone she’d rather be with—despite the throbbing ache in her leg.
When they reached the ridge of the mountain, they walked single file, the land falling away on either side, giving them a spectacular view of flowering meadows, and forests, as far as the eye could see.
“How’s your leg holding up?” he asked for the millionth time.
“Pretty well.” She’d taken another dose of medicine about an hour ago. “I don’t even think about it unless you ask.” That was pretty much true, except when the pain flared up. “Let’s go back to playing I Spy.”
“I spy something roundish,” Ty said from behind her.
“That’s your big clue? Roundish?” She looked over her shoulder, and he blew her a kiss. Her stomach fluttered, and she wondered if she’d ever get used to that feeling.
“It’s edible,” he said with a coy smile.
She looked around, perplexed by his clues. “A flower?”
“More beautiful than a flower.”
“Roundish…” She pointed across the meadow to a patch of trees. “The woods over there?”
“Nope. Actually, it’s a little heart shaped.”
She looked up and inspected the clouds, but they weren’t even close to heart shaped. “You’ve got to give me more than that.”
His hand covered her ass and he gave it a squeeze. She spun around, smiling despite trying her best to scowl. “Seriously? My ass? That’s not part of nature.”
He hauled her against him and kissed her hard. “Baby, you’re all I see out here.”
“How do you do it?” she asked, though she knew he had no idea what she meant. How could he, when she was still getting used to how different he was with her than with everyone else? He continued to show her a side of himself that she had a feeling not many people got to see. Sure, he said things off-the-cuff, but it was the way he looked when he said them that was different. Like he meant every single word.
He reached around her and squeezed her butt again. “It’s a hand action. You curl your fingers and press with your thumb.”
She laughed, but her insides melted a little more with every playful thing he did and said. “Not that! You’re the perfect combination of sweet and hot.” She gasped, her eyes widening with sudden realization. “Oh my God. You’re tropical heat! You’re my favorite candy!”
“Hell, yeah, I am, baby. Are you hungry?” He waggled his brows. “Let’s find out how many licks it takes to get to my creamy center.”
She unzipped the pack around her waist and pulled out a baggie of Tropical Heat Hot Tamales. “This is you. I’m going to have to start calling you Hot Tom. No, just Tom.”
“First, I can’t believe you still love those. And second, baby, if you call me some other guy’s name, we’re going to have big problems.”
“Really?” She was going to have fun with this. “Then Tom it is. Or maybe Tommy. Or—”
He grabbed her ribs, and she squealed with delight as he tugged her in close, kissing her smiling lips. “Gonna call me Tom?”
“No. But I kind of like Hottie.”
He nipped at her lower lip. “How about you call me Ty?”
She stepped closer, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him down so they were eye to eye. “How about I call you mine?”
“There’s nothing I’d like more.”
He sealed his mouth over hers, taking her in a series of slow, drugging kisses so intense, her knees weakened.
His arms swept around her waist, keeping her close as he gazed into her eyes and said, “I’m falling so hard for you all over again, I can barely see straight.”
“Me too. It’s like nothing has changed and everything has changed at once.”
“For the better.”
He kissed her again and they fell into step side by side, holding hands and stealing kisses. Time passed in a blur of happiness, and before Aiyla knew it, the ground leveled out and the sun gave way to a cool early evening. They hiked for a short while longer before choosing a place to stop for the night. They didn’t talk much as they set up camp, but the emotions billowing between them were as loud and expressive as words could ever be. Everything felt so right and real, she had a hard time remembering what her days were like before she’d spent them with Ty.
In the distance, other hikers set up tents, as if she and Ty had been the ringleaders. Maybe she should feel guiltier for not thinking of the race, but there was no denying that it had taken a back seat to the handsome, rugged man currently spreading a blanket out over the ground. Was she really going to meet his family? That was a huge step, as was revealing how she felt about the future. Shouldn’t she be scared? Nervous, at least?
She took stock of her emotions and realized she wasn’t either of those things. Talking about what they wanted felt like a natural next step for them, even if she had no idea how they would figure out schedules and compromises. Just knowing he felt the same way calmed her concerns and gave her confidence that they’d figure it out.
“Come over here, babe. Let’s take the pressure off your leg.”
Ty slipped his arm around her waist, bearing most of her weight. He helped her down to the blanket and knelt to untie her shoes. She couldn’t remember anyone helping her take off her shoes, ever, not even her mother, although she was sure she had at some point when she was a little girl. But she was no longer a little girl, and she hadn’t allowed anyone to help her with anything in so long that a small part of her still wanted to resist. That part quickly faded, and she began to see Ty’s efforts not as someone helping her because she couldn’t do something herself but rather as a boyfriend doing something utterly romantic just because he wanted to. She was surprised at how that realization helped her to let go of the chip she’d carried since she’d lost her mother. At least where her relationship with Ty was concerned.
He set her shoes aside and began gently massaging her sore leg. She closed her eyes for a moment, overcome with gratitude. She hadn’t realized how fatigued she felt, or how much her leg ached until that very moment, like the emotional crash after taking final exams.
“That feels incredible, but you don’t have to rub my leg.” She reached for him. “You’ve got to be tired, too.”
He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. “I’m good, baby. Just relax. Let me do this for another minute. Then we’ll put a few cold packs on it and eat some dinner.”
She mouthed, Thank you, as he caressed her leg, his biceps flexing even with his tender touch. He pressed kisses along her leg, in the exact places she’d shown Jon that it hurt. The shadow of worry in his eyes made her heart ache and fill up in equal measure.
He was so careful with her in everything he did. When he retrieved the cold packs, no matter how many times she assured him she could handle wrapping her own leg, he insisted on doing it.
When he finally came to her side, it was with a plethora of food, one of his sweatshirts—which he helped her put on—and a slew of steamy kisses.
He turned on an app on his phone of a candle burning and set it beside her. “Dinner by candlelight for my one and only.”
Thank goodness for solar phone chargers. “Who knew you were so romantic?”
He brushed his lips over hers and said, “No one. Before you, this part of me didn’t exist.”
“WHERE DID YOU go after Saint-Luc?” Aiyla asked later that night as they lay stargazing. “Did you stick to your plan and go to Germany?”
She sounded so sleepy, Ty almost hated to answer. “Yes, for a little while, but honestly, all I could think about was going back to Saint-Luc. It was a rough time. I cut my trip short and went home to hang with my family and to try to figure out how to move forward after falling for a woman who’d sent me away.” He kissed her cheek with a pained expression.
“I’m sorry. It was hard for me, too. I took some of the worst pictures of my life after you left.” She cuddled closer. “We can never break up again, or my career will tank and I’ll start to resent the resort jobs because they’ll be fillers for the photography I really want to do. It would be ugly, so let’s not do that again.”
He leaned over her and gazed into her smiling eyes. “Never again. I think we should plan a trip that will be new for both of us, to someplace remarkable. We can take pictures together, of the elderly and the regions that shaped their lives. A joint project.”
“We can publish a coffee-table book of our travels. Can you imagine how fun that would be? We can plan the trips around climbing adventures, so you don’t miss out.”
“And every year we’ll choose eight weeks to stay put in a cold climate so you can ski and teach.” He lay down beside her, holding her hand. “See, baby? Plan. Compromise. We can do this.”
“I think you might be right, but what if your family doesn’t approve of us as a couple?”
“Are you kidding? Babe, you’re not seriously worried about that, are you?”
She shrugged. “You grew up with an amazing family. You have supportive parents who are still married, lots of siblings, each of whom have done pretty fantastic things. I grew up very differently, and—”
He leaned on one arm so he could see her face more clearly. “I’m proud of my family, but the only amazing thing about any of us is that we are still sane. The pressure of growing up a Braden is huge. My parents expected us to work hard, get top grades, learn to play an instrument, take part in sports.”
“Except for the instrument thing, isn’t that what most parents expect?”
“Yes, but most childhoods are filled with…I don’t know what. Frolicking around? Playing in the dirt? Being a kid. My childhood was built on lessons about taking responsibility, and not just for ourselves, but for each other. We volunteered all the time, went to every community event, stood up for anyone who was being bullied. They taught us well, but man, the pressure to do the right thing was always there. We couldn’t just go out and do something asinine like other teenagers could.”
“Those aren’t hardships, Ty. Think about how different we grew up and where we are today. You’re a world-renowned mountain climber and nature photographer. You’ve done great things. I barely earn enough to do the things I want to do, and I can only do them because I’m careful with money. I always buy refundable airline tickets just in case I get sick or can’t make a trip. I could never just decide to fly somewhere and buy tickets like you did for our trip to Maryland. I’m not complaining. I adore my life and wouldn’t change any of it. But make no mistake, we were raised very differently. I come from nothing, Ty. Nothing. I worked from the time I was old enough to convince someone to pay me to rake their yard, mow their lawn, or babysit their children. By middle school my mom was gone when I got up most mornings, cleaning houses, and she never got to attend my sporting events, because she had to work. Her employer paid for my ski lessons, sports clubs, and all of my gear when I was a kid in exchange for my being her traveling companion.”
“I know. You told me all of this in Saint-Luc. Why is it suddenly worrying you now?”
She looked at him like she couldn’t believe he was missing the point. “Because now I’m going to meet your family and we’re making plans to stay together. I’m not ashamed of my family, or feel unworthy of you, or anything like that. But what will your family think about a girl whose mother cleaned houses for a living and whose sister is a housewife? I don’t want them to think I’m after your money or fame or anything other than your heart.”
“They’ll think your mother was a hardworking woman who taught her children the meaning of love and responsibility and who loved you both enough to make sure you knew how to set goals and do the things in life that would allow you to be happy. You told me that your sister loves being a housewife. That she was made to be a wife and mother. How can anyone think that’s not a life to be admired?”
“Do you really think so? I mean, I see my family that way, but…”
“I know so, baby. You see your family as being so different from mine, but we were brought up with the same beliefs you were. We might have had more money and more siblings, but we worked for the things we wanted, and we were raised to see people for who they are inside and how they treat others. Not for the things they have.”
“That’s easy to say,” she said. “But is it really true, or just something you want me to believe?”
“Babe, I know what our family looks like from the outside. People think Cole and his wife, Leesa, live a charmed life because he’s a doctor and they have a beautiful baby girl. But what people don’t know is that when they met, Leesa had been accused of inappropriately touching a student in her hometown. Cole believed in her, and he didn’t let that accusation hold him back—and neither did we. And my brother Nate? I told you that he followed in my father’s footsteps in the military and now owns a bar. How can you top being the son your father has always dreamed of having? Right?” When they were in Saint-Luc, he’d told her that his father had experienced a horrible landing-gone-wrong during an air-jump training mission and he’d lost his left leg from the knee down, which had resulted in a medical discharge. It was no secret that his father had always hoped one of his sons would follow in his military footsteps.
“Well, the side of the story you don’t hear about is that Nate struggled with years of survivor’s guilt for making it out of the war alive, when his best friend—the older brother of his now wife, Jewel—was killed due to an order Nate gave. He damn near disappeared from the family for a number of years, but we didn’t give up on him. And we were there for Jewel and her family years before Nate and Rick joined the military. Jewel’s family didn’t have much. Her mother didn’t have a fancy career. None of that has ever mattered. And if Nate had decided that what he’d gone through was too much and had decided to deliver pizza for a living, we wouldn’t love him any less.”
“Those things must have been horrible to go through,” she said.
“They were, but we were all there for them. And if you think for a minute that my family cares about what you do or don’t have, just look at my sister Shannon. She runs a land trust, and her fiancé, Steve, is a ranger and wildlife consultant who is about as reclusive as a guy can get. They don’t earn much, or have much. Their cabin is freaking tiny. But they love each other to the ends of the earth, and that’s all that matters.”
“They’re the ones who live here in Colorado, right?”
“You remembered. Yes. The point is, if you take away what we do for a living and consider how we live, you’ll see what I mean. I live in tents most of the year. That’s not the sign of a guy who grew up with judgmental parents. You see my life as something remarkable, but, babe, I climb mountains for a living. It’s no great shakes.” He shrugged. “The truth is, I don’t have what it takes to be a doctor. I’m too restless to settle down and run a business and too rebellious to take orders. Something inside me demands new adventures. I’m the guy they all shake their head at. The one they can’t control or understand. But they love me anyway, and they’ll love you for a million reasons, just like I do. My family is wonderful, but none of us are perfect, baby. Not by a long shot.”
He took her hand in his and said, “You don’t need to worry about anyone judging your family unfairly, or judging your feelings for me incorrectly. What my parents will see is the person you are. They’ll see how you treat me, how you look at me, and the way you touch me.”
She wrinkled her nose and said, “I’m pretty sure we can skip that last part. I don’t want them to think I’m like all the other women they know you’ve been with.”
He closed his eyes for a second, wishing he could have known long ago that he would eventually meet Aiyla. Maybe then his past wouldn’t be so checkered.
When he opened his eyes, she wore a serious expression.
“I didn’t mean that like it came out,” she said.
“I know you didn’t. Baby, you’re different from any woman I’ve ever been with, which is what makes you special. My parents haven’t met a girlfriend of mine since I was a teenager. That alone will send the loudest message of all. But when they hear you talk about life, or your family, when they experience you—your adventurous spirit, your humor, your innate ability to see beauty in the things and people others might overlook—they’ll know we are a perfect match, just like I do.”