He nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. We’ll need to avoid the steeper section George suggested. It might be unstable.”

That route would save them a half mile, but she had to agree. Better to lengthen the hike than to have regrets.

They adjusted their trajectory up the slope to avoid the worst of the steep section.

The hike was more grueling than she’d expected, but then, she never hiked in these conditions and never before had so many lives depended on her success.

“What about your parents? Are they going to give me the side-eye for trapping you with a baby?” she asked when they were moving again.

“Are you kidding? My mom is going to be thrilled. She’s been on me about grandkids ever since I stopped going on ops. I’m forty and my brother is forty-two. She’s complained about the long wait.”

She felt a flush of warmth. It hadn’t even occurred to her that her baby could have doting grandparents—another thing Audrey’s childhood had lacked.

“And your dad?” she probed.

“He’ll be thrilled too. He retired last year and wants to do the RV-living thing, which my mom has been resisting because she wants to be close to the grandkids, but once she has a grandbaby up here, she might be agreeable, knowing having an RV would mean being able to visit the Olympic Peninsula for longer periods of time.”

Wow. Xavier had really thought about this, and he really had gone all in. Once again, the damn pregnancy hormones made her eyes well with tears. Her baby was going to have a real family.

And maybe, just maybe, Audrey would have a family too.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Her questions about his family lit a fire of hope in Xavier’s chest. Hours ago, when they’d made love, when he’d held her, he’d known she didn’t fully trust the commitment he offered, and now she was probing, asking about the people who were most important to him. The people who would lavish love on their child.

But they wouldn’t just love the baby. They’d embrace Audrey too. And she needed to know that.

“If anything happens to me, if I don’t walk out of this forest, I want you to know my family will love not just the baby, they’ll love you too.”

She stopped dead in her tracks at his words. “We’re both walking out of here. Don’t even think there’s going to be any other outcome.”

He touched her cheek. “I will move heaven and earth for us both to survive this, but at the same time, I need you to know my family will be there for you, just like you needed to write me that letter. Some things need to be said. Some things need to be heard.”

She nodded. “Okay. But let’s focus on getting out of here together.”