21. Roni

Ididn't have a response for his answer. All I could do was store that away for later and then obsess over what he meant.

"Where's the boat?" I asked as we stood on the rocky bank. The water was loud as it rushed over the rocks. The current was fast, and by the looks of it, I'd bet the water was cold, coming from glaciers up north. It was beautiful, but there was no boat, and that was a huge problem for me.

"There isn't one. We're going to swim for it."

I stared at the water as it rushed by. I would have thought this would seem easy after spending a whole night floating and swimming in the open inlet, with waters connecting to the Gulf of Alaska. I'd been in the same water that sharks were. Yet as I saw the speed the water rushed by, I had a feeling this would be more difficult. There was no life preserver, and we'd have to carry all of our gear. Add to the fact that I wasn't the strongest swimmer. If I didn't have the inflatable neck float when I went out the boat window, I would have drowned in ten minutes or less.

Diego looked at me as I remained silent. My eyes were still taking in the speed of the water and the sharp rocks all around. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"It could be. I'm not a strong swimmer."

I hated admitting a weakness, but Diego needed to know what I was up against. It was the best way to make sure that I didn't drown. I was going to have to face this fear; I knew it.

"But the other night…"

"Life vest kept me above water after. If it weren't for that, I'd have been fish food."

He nodded, accepting my truth for what it was.

"Then I'll keep you close." He reached out and took the heavier of my two bags and threw it over his shoulder. "I've got you. Sooner we get past this river, the sooner we get to the cabin and can tuck in for the night."

I nodded and took a deep breath. I stepped out of my boots and socks and held them above my head as I stepped into the icy-cold water. Immediately, my teeth started chattering as the glacier waters ran over my knees and then my hips. When it was up to my shoulders, I had to dig into the river bottom with my feet to keep from getting knocked over by the rushing water.

I stumbled when my foot hit a rock hard, and I began falling sideways. A large hand clasped the back of my neck and kept me upright. "I've got you, Roni."

His presence at my back gave me the push I needed to keep pushing through, even as the water fought back. And when the water was only waist deep again, I sighed in relief.

"See? Not so bad." Diego's hand left my neck, and I bent over to put on my shoes.

"Says you! You've got sixty pounds and nine inches on me at least."

He merely smirked as he put on his own shoes, and then we continued marching on.

Minutes later, we approached the bottom of a large cliff. We stopped at its base and looked upward. Barely visible through a line of trees was a cabin that overlooked the river. I could hear it just over the sound of my heavy breathing.

"How do we get up there?" I asked.

He smirked. "If you react this way, hopefully any unexpected visitors will say the same. We don't have to climb straight up if that's what you're worried about. If we keep walking around the base of the cliff, we'll find a path. Helps make the cabin just a little more difficult to access for any unexpected visitors."

My shoulders relaxed. "Oh, thank God!"

He led the way around the base of the cliff until we found the hidden path to the cabin. The overgrown bushes provided enough cover to the entrance that I was confident it would buy us time if we were ever found. I wasn't sure if the placement of the bushes was intentional or not from the previous owner—but it was a positive development nonetheless.

We made our way up the path with little bits of rock and debris falling back down the path behind us. When we were at the top, I was breathless. I closed my eyes and folded my arms over my head to help open my lungs.

"You going to be okay?" Diego sounded concerned. I quickly nodded my head but didn't bother to open my eyes. I felt his palms gently grab my ribs. My heart was in danger of exploding as it beat even harder. I just knew that when I opened my eyes and looked into his, it was going to feel like everything had changed. We were here. Our home for the foreseeable future. With our relationship changing so quickly, I didn't know what this would mean for us.

I stubbornly kept my eyes closed, even as his fingers gently tickled the skin stretched over my ribs. After a moment, he just chuckled and used his hands to guide me to where he wanted me.

I felt his presence as he stepped closer behind me. If I had to guess there wasn't even an inch between our bodies.

"Roni, open your eyes." I shivered as his breath tickled the back of my neck. I gasped. Below us was the forest we'd just spent the day walking through, and off to the right was the river.

"I didn't plan on living here after all was said and done with my protection mission, but this view has me reconsidering." Diego sounded wistful almost, as if this had been his dream all along.

The tall, straight trees created a beautiful canopy that was just about eye level from the cliff. There were empty spaces here and there for clearings. Alder, birch, spruce, Pacific Silver Fir, the forest below looked alive below us, even more so than it had when we walked through it. Birds circled over the canopy singing and looking for their next meal. A Great Blue Heron made a sharp right and dove over the river. Its beak skimmed the water with skill, and when it rose above the water, it had its next meal half swallowed.

"Wow." That one word was filled with a lot of amazement. I'd never seen a view like this.

Diego chuckled. "Wow is right. I was told the house isn't much, but the view was to die for, and it was secluded and hard to access. So hopefully this is a nice place to stay for a while, yeah?"

I folded my arms and smirked. "Jury is still out—I need to see what this cabin looks like before you get a pat on the back."

He grinned. "Fair enough."

It was hard to turn my back to the view below, but at Diego's silent insistence, we made our way to the back door of the cabin. The spruce wood looked a little worse for wear. It could use more chinking to seal the gaps between the logs. The tin roof looked like it was starting to rust and needed a new layer of paint—at least the parts of it I could see. Leaves had fallen on the metal in piles, and moss had grown on top.

I used the key to unlock the door and then had to throw my shoulder into the door when it wouldn't budge. The plume of smoke that assaulted me was enough of a distraction from the slight tweak of my shoulder.

I pulled my shirt over my nose so that I'd stop coughing as I entered the space. There were white sheets on all the furniture—or at least sheets that used to be white. They were gray from years of dust and filth.

"Yeah…the view gets five stars, but the accommodations…that's going to be one star." This place was going to take a lot of work, which was unfortunate. I'd prefer to focus on gathering food and hanging out around the cabin. Even the occasional hike sounded nice. But it seemed like Diego had other plans.

"I had planned on making the Home Alone movies look like child's play. We're going to set up some traps and safeguards that will alert us if anyone comes too close. That will have to wait for tomorrow, though. We've got maybe an hour of daylight left, and this place is a mess. Let's get started." Diego pulled the sheet off the wood stove and was consumed by a cloud of dust.

I bit my lip to hold back a smile. This was going to be interesting.