“Because there is nothing like this feeling. And there is no way to describe it that comes close to being enough. No book, no movie, documentary. It just…is.”

“This is your life,” River whispered.

“This is your life too, whisky.” Tightening his hold on her, Easton braced his legs apart in case the wind gusted unexpectedly. “When you’re at the top of the world, everything feels smaller. Your priorities shift. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend the rest of your life chasing this feeling.”

“Is that so bad?” she asked softly.

A lifetime of this…a lifetime of this with her…no. The idea wasn’t bad at all.

“Easton? If I told you I loved you, would you run screaming down the mountain?”

“You barely know me.” Even now, even here, he couldn’t imagine being lucky enough to have this woman’s heart.

She turned in his arm, raising those glorious eyes to his. “So?”

The top of the world was no place to play games. And it was not the place to announce to the world how he felt. So it was with entire seriousness that Easton whispered in her ear, words for her and no one else. And when he was done saying what needed to be said, he went back to the camera, lifting it and pointing it at her.

“Okay, River. Right now, you’re standing thousands of feet above Moose Springs. You’ve seen everything there is to this place. You’ve argued with our mayor, eaten from our best restaurant, flown in a helicopter, snuggled with a lovelorn marmot, survived the Veil, and you know firsthand how terrifying it is to sleep in avalanche country with Jessie snoring.”

Even though he felt like an idiot saying it, Easton had heard Jessie and Bree enough to know exactly what he should say. “Tell us why someone should come to Moose Springs.”

For a long time, River couldn’t say a word. Then she finally whispered into the wind.

“Because it’s where I found you.”

• • •

The climb down was slower than the climb up. River wasn’t sure why until she looked at her mountaineering watch. The wind had picked up, and even though the direction wasn’t buffeting them, the temperature sensor on her watch read that with the windchill, the temperature dropped from negative five degrees to negative fifteen degrees.

“How close are we to camp?” River called ahead.

“Not far. Another hour if we keep up the pace.”

He didn’t say she had fallen off the pace he tried to set, but River knew Easton kept having to wait for her. He’d taken the lead, and she was more than happy to let him. Being able to summit first had been one part of an absolutely amazing experience, but now they were headed back down, she could feel the adrenaline dump coming.