“I can’t sleep with them out there.” Covering his face with an arm, he yawned. “Yeah, let’s get this going.”

“Do you want a mirror?” Bree asked her.

“Is that a nice way of saying I need a mirror?” River joked.

“You said it, not me. And yes. You really do.”

The glass on the miniature compact kept fogging over every time she wiped it clear, so River settled on letting Bree and Jessie poke and prod her into respectability.

“No one expects me to be at my best, right?” Turning to the cameras as they started filming, River put her actress face in place.

“Speak for yourself,” Jessie said. “I look great for not being able to feel my feet.”

“You can’t feel your feet?” Bree’s head snapped up, filming forgotten. “Take your boots off. We need to check you for frostbite.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t have frostbite.”

“Jessie, we’re not kidding around.” River aimed her best in-charge look. “Take off your boots.”

“No way.”

What resulted afterward wasn’t River’s finest hour, but between her and Bree, they managed to convince Jessie that taking off his boots was more important to his health and happiness than continuing filming. Some tackling and threatening might have been involved.

“See?” he grumped as he pulled his socks back on. “I’m fine.”

“I’m worried about how cold your skin felt. I’ll ask Easton to check you when he comes back.”

Jessie grumbled about that, but when River settled herself back in front of the camera, she grinned at him. “We never turned off the camera. Do you think all the future viewers could hear your squeaks of resistance?”

“I didn’t squeak. And I didn’t want to shove over a week’s worth of stinky feet in your faces.”

“It was rancid,” Bree agreed. “We still love you, but we’ll never look at you the same.”

Nodding emphatically, River added, “I’ve got to go with Bree on this one.”

“Enough about me. Focus, ladies. River. You’re not a professional climber, but you do have climbing experience. If you were talking to an amateur who wanted to come up here solo, what would you say?”

“I would say they’re crazy,” River joked. Then she sighed with contentment. “I’d say, I get it. The longer I’m up here, the more I understand. It’s like…” Hesitating, River closed her eyes. “At first, you want to see if you can. But the longer you’re up here, it’s not about if you can. It becomes this primal need to reach the top. I’m supposed to be focusing on the documentary. But when I close my eyes, all I see is the summit.”

Turning back to the camera, she exhaled softly. “To be honest, I’ve never wanted anything this much in my entire life.”

“Even Easton?” Bree teased.