Wilderness Passion by Lindsay McKenna Read Free Book Online Page A

bacon frying and of bread being toasted. Dan placed before her a plate with three eggs, six pieces of bacon and two large slices of sourdough bread on it.
    Libby’s mouth dropped open and she gave him a shocked glance as he sat down opposite her with his plate.
    “This can’t be mine! I’ve never eaten this much before in my life.”
    “Eat as much as you can, Libby,” he advised between bites. “We’re going to be hiking most of today and your body is going to be needing the carbohydrates, believe me. Come on, dig in.”
    “I’ll get fat!”
    He gave her a knowing grin. “No, you won’t. The first week you’ll probably lose weight.”
    Running out of excuses, she picked at the food. “I don’t normally eat breakfast,” she confided. “I never have.”
    “You’re not in the city now. The oxygen is sparser because of the altitude and you’re going to burn up the sugar in your body a hell of a lot faster. You don’t have any fat on you to use as excess energy, so you’ll get hungry even faster,” he promised grimly.
    How did he know there was no fat on her body? She shot him a disgruntled look, trying to remember that this outing was not a vacation but work. Somehow she was too excited to consider it work. And despite Dan’s warnings, she was anxious to get started and sample the fare that the mountains promised.
    As the first rays of the sun slid across the peaks of the range, Dan pulled the Jeep to a halt. Throughout the two-hour drive Libby had listened attentively to his instructions on the gear they must carry. Two large backpacks were in the rear of the Jeep. He seemed pleased that she had worked up to five miles a day in her hiking boots, and she felt a glimmer of pride. Getting out, he laid a map of the region on the top of the dusty hood.
    “We’ll be taking a logging road from this point to forty miles northwest of here. We’re at sixty-five hundred feet now and will be climbing steadily to about seventy-three hundred before we crest that ridge yonder and go down into some of those valleys that hold the mature stands of timber.” He glanced over at her. “Ready?”
    She nodded, a smile forming on her lips. “Let’s do it.”
    Libby was amazed at the amount of patience he took with her as he fitted the thirty-pound backpack to her body. He stood close, fingers running the length of her shoulder straps and adjusting the hip padding to ensure a snug but comfortable fit Stepping back, he looked her over critically.
    “Well, how does it feel?”
    She walked around a little bit. “Fine. Are you sure this thing weighs thirty pounds? It doesn’t seem like it”
    “It will in a couple of hours,” he promised. “Bend over,” he instructed, “as if you were tying a shoelace on your boot.’’
    Libby gave him a puzzled look but obeyed his command. The nylon strap at her waist cut into her stomach and she rose quickly, frowning.
    “That’s what I thought,” he muttered, quickly loosening the buckle and easing the strap tension slightly. “Do it again.”
    This time she did it with ease. She came up smiling. “Feels good.”
    Dan turned, shrugging into his pack, which seemed a great deal larger and bulkier than her own. “Remember the procedure, because I’m not going to be checking on you every time you put that pack on.”
    She ignored his derisive tone, too excited about actually beginning the climb up the gentle wooded slope in front of them. Keeping her notebook and pencil handy, she made a few preliminary comments about the immediate area and then tucked it away. She had tied her golden hair back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. Wispy bangs lay across her forehead, barely brushing her wheat-colored eyebrows.
    “Here, another gift for you,” he said without preamble. He handed her a red bandana.
    “Thanks. What is it for?”
    “Put it around your forehead. You’ll be working up a sweat real soon.” He tied his around his darkly tanned throat and gave her an expectant