Paradise Peak (New Americana 5)

He opened his eyes, and the large window beside the hotel bed caught his attention. The curtains were drawn, but through a small opening in the middle, beneath the dim glow of the rising sun, he could see emergency response vehicles pass along the highway in front of the motel, one after another, in a long line.

Scratching sounds and a high-pitched yip emerged from the foot of the bed near the door.

Travis eased up on one elbow and peered over the bed. Blondie’s big, black eyes blinked up at him, her tail wagging furiously across the carpet.

“You need to go out, don’t you, girl?” he whispered. “Just a minute, okay?”

A soft, feminine murmur sounded, and Travis looked down, smiling at the auburn curls spilled across his bare chest and abs.

Hannah. He hated to wake her.

After her soul-searing kiss last night, he had showered while she’d dressed in a T-shirt. Then he had donned a pair of jeans and joined her on the bed. She had moved right into his arms, reminding him of his promise and kissing him softly one more time before settling her cheek onto his chest.

He had tucked her head beneath his chin and wrapped his arms around her, gliding his palm in slow circles across her back until she’d fallen asleep. Minutes later, he’d drifted off, too, and they’d stayed that way all night.

/> Travis’s smile fell. Yesterday had been the first day in years that he hadn’t sat down to pen and paper and written at least one line to Margaret.

He trailed a shaky hand through Hannah’s hair, unsure of how he felt about the realization. Guilt was there, lurking deep inside him—as it always did. But something else had joined it, warring for his attention.

Hannah shifted against him, nuzzling closer to his chest, her soft breaths sweeping over his skin.

Just breathing doesn’t mean you’re alive.

Her words had whispered through his mind all night, tangling with fractured dreams, and reemerging each time he’d stirred to consciousness. Even now, as he savored the comforting sensation of Hannah’s soft body draped over his, they returned to haunt him, bringing his own assertion with them.

I don’t disregard life....

But he had—and still did. He disregarded his own.

Not only had he stolen Niki’s life from her in a selfish, horrifying way, he’d also destroyed his own life long before his broken existence had ever crashed into Niki’s thriving one. He’d poisoned his body with liquor and drugs and had focused only on who he had been rather than who, given time and effort, he might have become.

Yesterday, he’d faced death again when flames had engulfed Paradise Peak. The violent heat ripping through homes and buildings, scorching the earth and spiraling across the road, had seemed intent upon stealing his soul.

And yet, even though a good man like Ben had lost his life saving others, Travis—a man merely a fraction of Ben’s worth—had escaped it all with no more than a minor injury.

Hell if he knew why he’d been allowed to emerge from his reckless past, busted up but still breathing. Or why he’d survived the wildfire last night with a renewed chance to start over and become someone of value. But he had.

He’d been given a precious gift, whether he deserved it or not, and he’d be a fool to throw it away again.

Travis ran his finger over Hannah’s smooth cheek. It had taken all he’d had not to give in to her last night. The sweet taste of her kiss, the soft feel of her beneath his hands, and the way she’d looked up to him . . . The depth of trust and admiration in her eyes . . .

He had wanted her so much—still did—and for the first time in his life, he could envision how good it might feel to put down roots. To have a home, a family, and be cared for. To love and be loved.

She’d asked him to move forward with her—to not look back—and help her live again. He couldn’t do that without telling her the truth about his past, but for now, he had to set his shame aside and make room for this new emotion springing to life inside him. This sensation of... hope.

Another helicopter whirred overhead, rattling the window, and the pup ran to the door and resumed scratching the wood.

“Hannah.” Travis hugged her close. “We’ve gotta get up.”

She stirred, rubbed her cheek against him, then propped her chin on his chest and looked up at him. A small smile curved her lips, but the beating of helicopter blades grew louder outside, and realization dawned in her eyes, drawing her smile down with it.

“Sounds like a war zone out there.” She sat up, pushing the long fall of her hair out of her face, and looked toward the window. “Where will we go first?”

“The detour from Paradise Peak led here last night, so Red and Margaret had to have come this way. I noticed a lot of people camping in parking lots last night when we came in. They might have pulled into one of those lots.” Travis swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. “We’ll check this motel again and each parking lot on the way into town. If we don’t find them there, we’ll go back to the Black Bear Lodge up the road and look for them there.”

By the time they’d dressed and walked Blondie in the small strip of grass by the motel’s parking lot, the sun had fully risen, peeking between large, gloomy clouds and highlighting last night’s destruction.

The distant mountain range had darkened to a deep grayish black and smoke rose in slow curls above the charred landscape. Each rocky peak and its curving slope resembled a large chunk of coal—large swaths of ground appeared ravaged and barren.