Ben joined him, the other guide looking as worried as Easton had ever seen him. “Do you think she means it?” he asked.
“Which one?” Easton kicked the snow. There was nothing else to kick.
“Both of them.” Ben grimaced. “Bree needs off this mountain. We have to break camp and move. Can you talk to River?”
“River made her decision. She’s going to stick with it.”
“I mean, you and her have been a thing this whole trip. You can’t…” Ben drifted off, waggling his eyebrows.
“You think I can seduce her into not summiting?”
“You could try.” A quick grin, because Ben never stayed down for long. “Take your hair down. Bree says River has a thing for your hair. Flex your biceps, quote some poetry. Work your magic, man.”
To Easton’s knowledge, he’d never actually successfully worked his magic. But he supposed he could try. Easton didn’t have the ability to drag River down against her will. If there was anything the Old Man stole without remorse, it was one’s strength, one’s speed, and one’s ability to convince fiery redheads to give up.
“I’m not sure she has any quit in her.” If he didn’t respect her so much, he’d be furious with her for agreeing. “I’ll try to talk to her, but I don’t think it’s going to do any good.”
River had started to break down Easton’s tent when he returned. “I think we need to abandon the dining tent,” she told him. “Bree can’t carry any weight, and Jessie looks exhausted. He should have as little as possible. We can fit two in your tent and two in Ben’s.”
“River…”
With no other choice, Easton did it. He pulled out his hair tie, and he let his hair fall down his shoulders.
Now, for the record, none of them had showered since stepping foot on the mountain, which did not make for a good hair day. But River paused midsentence, staring at him.
“You really do go in slow motion,” she mumbled. “Can you do that again?”
“If you’ll go back down with me, I’ll do a strip tease for you every time we stop to hydrate.”
River laughed, a soft, breathy sound that he loved. It had only been a couple of hours since they’d curled up in his tent, tangled together. Too bad they weren’t still there, acclimating for a summit instead of trying to get an injured climber off the mountain.
After a moment, River turned back to her task. “The weather is as good as it’s going to be,” River told him. “You need to leave. I’ll summit tomorrow, and then come back down after you.”
“River, you don’t know the way.” Hunkering down next to her, Easton took her hand, silently asking her to pause in her work to focus on him. “The only safe way up is along the southeastern spine, and it’s a sheer drop on both sides. You need to be with me.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“And it’ll take so long, you won’t have time to get up and get back down before the windchill gets to you. River, I don’t have the right to tell you what to do. But if you go up there alone, years of experience tells me you’re putting yourself at far too much risk.” Taking her face in his hands, Easton drew her dark protective goggles away so he could see into those blue eyes. Then he kissed her. “I don’t want to lose you, River. Give me a reason why I can let you do this.”
“Do you remember that day when we were riding? When you said that up here, you could be yourself? With no one watching?”
Easton nodded.
“I don’t know who I am, Easton. I know who I want to be and who I’ve tried to be. I know who I’m going to be if I head down right now. Going back is the right thing to do. It’s the responsible thing to do, because I know how dangerous it is to keep going alone.” River turned her face to the mountain range and to the clouds clinging to the frozen peaks around them. “But what if this is it? What if this is my only chance? I’ve spent all these years trying to find myself, always feeling like the real person under my skin wanted out. What if I go back down, back to my life, and I never really know who I could have become? I don’t want to be…”
“Trapped.”
He understood. At the top of Mount Veil was where he’d found himself too. And as hard as it was, as much as this went against his better judgment, Easton knew he’d fight for her to have the same life-changing experience.
River wiped at her eyes quickly, voice choked. “Yeah. I’m being selfish, but I can’t help thinking if I don’t do this, it’ll never happen.”
Closing his eyes, Easton inhaled a deep breath. Then he nodded. “Okay, we’ll do this.”
“We? Easton, they need you—”
“I know. And when I’m done helping evacuate Bree and Jessie, I’m coming back to you. Stay here in camp so I know you’re safe. I’ll get them down and come back up again.”
The worry in her eyes warmed him, but the sheer relief he felt when she nodded in agreement took his breath away. “Is that too much elevation change for you?” River asked. “This isn’t worth it if you get hurt.”
“I’ll be okay. I’m used to this mountain.” Which might have been an overestimation of his abilities, but she didn’t need to know that. “I’ll radio Ash to come get us below the Veil. It’s the highest her helicopter can safely fly.”
“Hey, Easton?”
“Yeah?”
“You look really good with your hair down. Definitely keep walking around with your locks flowing in the breeze like this.”
Rolling his eyes at her, Easton still exhaled a breath. “You’re exhausting,” he decided. “I like it.”
“I know. It’s part of my charm.”
Decision made, Easton made short work of breaking down the rest of the camp they were taking with them while Ben finished taping Bree’s ribs to stabilize them. River hugged Jessie goodbye.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, but River shook her head.
“Don’t be. Just get down safe, okay?” Adding a limping Bree into the group hug, River held them both for a long moment. “I’ll get the best footage ever. I promise.”
“Of course you will.” Bree’s faith in River was impossible to deny. “I’m glad SH is going with you. I still think he should stay, but I’m glad he’s not totally bailing on you.”
River nodded. “Me too. I don’t think Easton would know how to bail on someone if his life depended on it.”