Enjoy the View (Moose Springs, Alaska #3)

by Sarah Morgenthaler

“Easton, I don’t care how heavy you are. You and I are going to get to our tent. We are going to get warm. And safe. And we’re going to get back down tomorrow. Because I’m not freezing on a mountaintop thousands of miles from home with a man who doesn’t even know my real name.” “What’s your real name?” a masculine voice rasped. “Now you wake up?”

As he watched Ben hook River up to a harness, lifting her to safety, Easton knew he had made the right choice helping her summit. Some things were worth fighting for. And for him, River had always been worth the risk.

River needed rest, but as she smiled at the playful banter, it occurred to Easton that there was something she needed more than rest. Sometimes family was the one you were born into. Sometimes family was the people you kept close, the people who mattered. Keeping her tucked to his chest, he turned to the family he had chosen.

“The Locketts are lovable people. Strange, pushy, and occasionally off-putting, but lovable.”

“Easton saved my life, and I saved his. That’s the kind of shared experience that leaves two people connected. I’m grateful for everything he has done, and I ask for everyone to please respect his privacy. He didn’t ask for this, and he didn’t sign on for cameras shoved in his face. He’s a man who did his job.

“You look pretty,” he muttered, dropping down to sit on the edge of her bed. “That almost sounded like a compliment. It’s hard to tell, though, because your beard is glaring at me.” “Don’t let it get to your head. I’m still mad you let all of them in here and kicked me out.” “Then I suppose I’ll have to make it up to you.”

“The way I see it, we can leave things where they’re at. What happened on the mountain can stay on the mountain.” River offered him a sad look. “Easton, I love it here, because you’re here. But my life—my career—it’s not in Moose Springs.” “Do I get another option?” he asked quietly. “The other option is what happened on the mountain doesn’t stay on the mountain. But that’s going to be short, messy, and complicated. I won’t ruin us, Easton. Tomorrow, I’m getting on that plane, no matter how much I wish I weren’t.” “River, every single minute I’ve spent with you has been messy and complicated. I wouldn’t trade any of it. Not for anything. Whatever this is, let’s see it to the end. Even if that’s only twenty-four hours from now.”

“I didn’t want to share you.” This time, Easton’s voice was stronger, surer. “I know they all want to see you, but I want you the most.”

“You’re everywhere,” Easton rumbled softly, dipping his mouth to her ear. “You’ve completely taken me over.”

Coming home didn’t feel like home. It hadn’t for a long time.

“Because we thought we were going up there to film about Moose Springs. But every shot, every scene, there’s this stuff.” Jessie pulled up another file, snow blindingly white as they stood high on the southern face of Mount Veil. Easton’s arm around her waist as she took in the vista. Then another file, with River yelling at him for putting himself at risk in the Veil and Easton growling right back. “It’s you and him.” Jessie shrugged. “Everywhere, every scene. This is a real-life love story, River.”

“Okay, you’re right. It was real. And now it’s gone. It’s done. What Easton and I had was one of the best things I’ve ever known in my life, and I won’t let you make this into some sort of sideshow. I can’t do this to him. Let’s stick to the original plan.”

As she left the studio, River knew that whatever they’d had, it was going to stay on that mountain.

“Sometimes messy is the best part. Sometimes it’s worth it. You always were for me. I’m betting you were for River too.”

“Figured you could do with a reminder you aren’t alone, buddy.” Graham clamped a hand down on Easton’s shoulder as Jake pressed tight to Easton’s leg. “L, the first round is on you.” “Of course,” a feminine voice said kindly. When Easton turned in his seat, he saw Lana standing behind him. Lana gave him a sad look, then she hugged him, all but disappearing in his arms when he hugged her back. “I’m so sorry, Easton.” Lana’s arms tightened around him. “If there’s anything I can do, tell me.” There was nothing anyone could do to fill the gaping wound in his chest where his heart used to be. But Easton was a pack animal and always had been. He took comfort from having the people who mattered surrounding him. The only problem was his mate was gone, and…well…wolves mated for life.

“Wish she coulda been more like Z-Bear. Or the marmot. The marmot was all in. Shoulda been a marmot.”

You have to follow your heart if you want to find happiness.

“You can live without her, East. I’m just saying, if you don’t have to, then don’t. I don’t know River very well, but if you love her, put on your big boy pants and do something about it.”

“She won’t do anything to sacrifice your privacy or destroy your trust.” Jessie looked seriously at Easton. “This is up to you.” For a long time, Easton sat there, thinking about it. Then finally, he nodded. “If this is what will help her, and if River agrees to it, then do it.” “Are you sure?” Jessie seemed to need stronger confirmation. “She’s not wrong that pulling this trigger could affect your life. The media will find you, no matter where you are.”

“Hey, Jessie. Where in LA is she?” “River? I figured she would have told you.” Jessie shook his head. “She decided it was time to move back home. She’ll still fly out for work when she gets her next job, but our girl’s in Wyoming now.” “Why?” “When you lose the love of your life, what else do you do? You go home.” Jessie waggled the laptop at Easton, where it had paused on them at the summit. “Hey, out of sheer curiosity, what did you say to her up there?” He didn’t have to answer him, but Easton was done fighting this. Heading for his truck, Easton replied over his shoulder, “I told her I’d love her with every last breath I take.”

As for River, the only thing close to climbing was riding. Even if she couldn’t sit down tonight, she was exactly where she wanted to be.

“I earn most of my money guiding climbs in the summer back home.” He cleared his throat. “Can’t leave my dad alone at Christmas. As for the rest of it, I figured wherever you were at seemed a whole lot better than missing you alone.”

“Christmas in Moose Springs?” “It gets interesting.” His beard flashed her a quick grin. “Will they want me there?” “I want you there. And if you make that movie the way it deserves instead of for the Alaskan Tourism Board, they’ll like you a whole lot more.” “The Old Man’s about to become a lot more popular. People are going to want to find their own adventure up there. Maybe even fall in love with their own mountain man. Think you can handle it?” “As long as they know I’m spoken for.” “The marmot?” River teased. “I figured I’d see how this went first, ma’am.” They shared a smile, and in that moment, River knew she’d found her home. Wyoming, Alaska, it didn’t matter. Home was where Easton was. “Ma’am me like you mean it, big guy. Kiss me too, since you came all this way.”

No matter where they went, no matter what they did, they always found something worth climbing. And in the rare places they couldn’t, they had all they needed in each other, with River climbing into his arms.

“So, what do you think?” River asked him randomly as they settled in on a rock ledge together. Ticktock and Chance were tied off a hundred feet below, along with both their boots. This time, River had remembered her chalk and climbing shoes. “What do I think about you?” She should already know. He’d spent all morning and half the night before showing her that she was the perfect woman for him, that she was everything he’d never known he wanted and absolutely all he would ever need.

“I’m not sure I have the ability to sit through two hours of them teasing us for acting like lovesick teenagers on a mountaintop.” True. Besides, he didn’t need to watch them falling in love. He’d been there. Every single moment with her was etched in his heart, and he’d never forget it. But there were more mountains to climb together, more adventures to be had. Easton had never been the type to dwell on the past. They had their whole lives ahead of them.

He had always been a man of few words. But as the sun dipped below the mountaintop, bathing them in soft reds and pale gold, Easton took her hand in his, squeezing it tight. Together they could do anything.

You don’t always know where you’ll end up in life. All that matters is that you’re next to the right person for the journey.