An Alaskan Proposal. Beth Carpenter
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holding his head low as though ready to run. “Are you sure? I think he’s wearing a collar.”
“He is,” Leith agreed. “A radio collar.” He opened the car door and reached under the seat, pulling out a pair of binoculars. After focusing, he handed them to Sabrina. “Take a look.”
She put the binoculars to her eyes, and the animal jumped into focus. A black collar with a boxlike attachment under his chin almost disappeared in the dark gray fur. Now that she could see him more clearly, he looked a little rangier than most dogs. He lifted his head to stare straight at her with amber eyes, and then he was gone.
“A real wolf.” Sabrina returned the binoculars to Leith. “That’s incredible.”
“Yeah. You don’t see wolves often, especially this time of day. They’re generally too skittish.”
“Were we actually in danger?”
“Probably not. They had a little trouble with a pack north of Anchorage several years ago following people and attacking their dogs, but I haven’t heard much about them lately.”
“Do wolves ever attack people?”
“Almost never. Every case I’ve heard of is a lone runner attacked by a pack, and in the middle of winter when food is scarce. This wolf seemed to be alone. I suspect he got separated from his pack and that’s why he’s wandering around this morning, trying to find them.”
She nodded. “Does this mean we can’t stay here?”
“I’d suggest we give him a fifteen-minute head start while we make as much noise as possible unloading the equipment, and then carry on with our plans. We’ll keep Tal on a leash today, just in case.”
“Good.” Sabrina walked to the back of the Land Cruiser. “Because this lake is lovely.”
Leith eyed her, his eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“Honestly, I thought you’d be scared.”
“Why should I be? From what you said, a wolf fifty yards away is not much of a threat. Now, scorpions in your bed. That’s scary.”
“You found scorpions in your bed?”
“Once. I didn’t sleep much that night.” Scorpions weren’t the only scary things around the apartment building they’d moved to after Sabrina’s dad declared bankruptcy and disappeared from their lives. She’d seen a cockroach in the hallway that looked like it could take on a Chihuahua in a fair fight. And some of the people living in the building were even scarier than the roaches. But she didn’t like to think about those days. She smiled at Leith. “So, what’s my first lesson today?”
“Eager to get started?”
“Got to get that management position.”
“Right. Well, I figure since your goal is to impress with your product knowledge, we should experience as many different activities as possible today. I thought we’d start with how to load a backpack and take a short hike first. Then we can set up in one of the campground spots.”
“Sounds good.”
He pulled out a red backpack. Sabrina wasn’t surprised to see the Orson Outfitters logo on the flap. “First, I’ll show you how to adjust the straps so that the pack fits you. Then we’ll load it up.”
Once he had all the buckles and belts adjusted, the pack felt quite comfortable on her back. At least when it was empty. He had her take it off and load it up with a tent, a sleeping bag and other equipment, then put it back on. It didn’t feel too bad. “How much does this thing weigh?”
“About twenty-five pounds. Rule of thumb is not to carry more than twenty-five percent of your body weight.”
“I think sometimes my purse weighs this much.” Sabrina buckled the waist strap and followed Leith and Tal along the flat trail that circled the lake. Maybe the climb during the team-builder had toughened her up, because she wasn’t having any trouble keeping up with them.
They reached a Y in the path. Leith looked back at her. “Doing okay with that pack?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Then we’ll go a little farther.” He took the path off to the right.
Sabrina followed. The pack grew heavier, but he’d said it was a short hike, so she didn’t want to wimp out. This path seemed harder than before. Eventually she realized they were climbing steadily uphill. Leith glanced back a few times, but he never slowed down. Sabrina was sucking wind when he finally stopped.
She stopped, too, resting her hands on her knees and drawing in vast lungfuls of air. Tal came to stand in front of her, staring. The dog had probably never seen a human panting so hard. After a few minutes, Sabrina had recovered enough to speak. “Sorry. I can’t climb any farther without a rest.”
“That’s okay.” Leith handed her a bottle of water. “We’re here.”
She gratefully accepted the water and gulped down half the bottle. “Where’s here?”
He offered his hand. “Come see.”
She took his hand and he led her a few steps out of the forest, toward the edge of a bluff overlooking the lake. She dug in her heels several feet from the edge. “This is close enough.”
“What’s wrong?” He studied her face. “Oh. Not a fan of heights?”
“No.” She hated this. It was embarrassing to be the one who couldn’t do something simple, like cross a bridge. The one whose fear inconvenienced everyone in the group. She knew the danger was in her head, but her pounding heart never listened. She tried to shrug it off. “Not from ledges.”
He nodded. “No problem. Here. If we stand on this rock away from the edge, you can still see.”
He climbed onto a boulder and Tal scrambled up beside him. Leith reached down for her. The boulder was at least ten feet back from the edge. Sabrina took his hand and climbed onto the rock. He was right. It did give a magnificent view without that sense that the earth was falling away. And he’d done it without making her feel small.
Sabrina shaded her eyes with her hand and looked outward. The lake stretched out below them, a few puffy white clouds reflected on the deep blue surface. Furry dark spruce lined one edge of the lake. On the other side, cerise buds scattered like confetti across the branches of white-barked trees. “It’s gorgeous here.”
“I thought you’d like it.”
She looked up at him and that amazing smile was back. The blue eyes were watching her again, but now they seemed friendly. It was obvious that Leith was in his element. Sabrina realized she was still holding his hand, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to let go. After a pause, Tal pushed between them and the spell was broken. Sabrina dropped his hand, rubbing along Tal’s head to cover her sudden awkwardness.
“It’s almost worth the climb.”
Leith raised an eyebrow. “Almost?”
Sabrina sucked in another deep breath. “Totally worth the climb. Just maybe not while carrying another fourth of a person.”
He laughed. “You did well.” He jumped down from the rock and she followed. “It will be easier going downhill. We’d better get started if we’re going to cook in camp today. By the way, I brought supplies to make chili. Is that okay with you? I should have asked if you eat meat.”
“I love chili.”
“With kidney beans?”
She grinned. “You trust me with a can of beans?”
“Absolutely. I figure that lesson is one you’ll never forget.”
“You’re right about that. I just wish it hadn’t been such a public lesson. I’m afraid Walter and the others