Bursting With Love by Melissa Foster Page A

where they were headed, but it frightened her, too. They’d have plenty of time to think about that later in the evening.
    They joined the group, and Savannah couldn’t shake the feeling that Jack had something big on his mind. She could only hope that it wasn’t about not wanting to carry their relationship past the weekend.
    Back at the fire pit, they listened to Jack explain how to make a shelter using materials indigenous to the mountain and woods.
    “Key elements to remember are length, warmth, wind direction, and of course…what?” Jack looked to Aiden for the answers.
    “Be away from animal dens,” Aiden said. He looked at his mother and then his father with a proud smile. Elizabeth pulled him close and kissed the top of his head.
    “Right. Excellent. All we really need are sticks and leaves. Later I’ll show you how to use mud and vines to secure and insulate a shelter, but for now, we’re focusing on the basic structure. The first thing I want you to do is to gather sticks about yay high.” He held a hand up to his chest. “We’re going to place them at an angle, so be sure they’re not too short. Remember, no one goes alone, so grab a buddy and take off.”
    Aiden rushed to his side. “Jack, after we do this, will you help me pack my own survivor bag with rope and stuff?”
    Jack raised an eyebrow in his mother’s direction. She shrugged, then nodded.
    “Sure, buddy. We’ll do it as soon as we’re done,” Jack said.
    Elizabeth appeared by Savannah’s side. “Ready?”
    “Sure.” Savannah took one last glance over her shoulder at Jack as they headed off in search of sticks.
    Finding appropriate sticks was not as easy as Savannah had thought it would be. Most were too short, some were too heavy, and others snapped like brittle bones. They grabbed the few appropriately sized sticks they could find. In her mind, she toyed with the idea of her and Jack in a homemade shelter in the woods. We wouldn’t need any insulation at all.
    “How are you holding up?” Elizabeth asked.
    “Fine, why?”
    “I don’t know. Tonight’s our last night here, and Lou said he and Jack talked with Pratt and that he had the feeling Jack needed help finding his way back to his family as much as Pratt did.”
    Savannah had already pushed the thought from her mind. She didn’t want to think about it being her last night on the mountain with Jack. “What do you mean?” Savannah asked as she reached for a stick.
    “He didn’t say much. Just that when Jack talked about how he handled things with his family after his wife’s death, he seemed a little stressed.”
    “Well, that explains why he seems a little distant today,” Savannah said. “How did you know about his wife?”
    Elizabeth looked away.
    “Elizabeth?”
    Elizabeth sighed. “You can’t say anything, okay?”
    “Okay. I promise,” Savannah said, not knowing if she could keep the promise.
    “Linda’s family has been really worried about him. I know her younger sister, Elise, but we weren’t really close before Linda died, so Jack and I had never met. Anyway, Jack sort of dropped off the face of the earth, and now Linda’s father is not well. He’s got terminal cancer.”
    “Oh no, that’s terrible,” Savannah said.
    “Really sad. He’s a good man, and they’re really worried because the last time Jack saw him they had a blowup, and Ralph—that’s Linda’s father—said things to him that he shouldn’t have. Mean things. And he wants to apologize before he dies. Anyway, Lou and I registered for the trip, and when I told Elise, she asked if we’d let her know how he was doing before they, you know, pushed their way back into his life.” Elizabeth shrugged.
    Savannah chewed on the information for a minute before responding. “So you’re here to spy on him?”
    “No. We’re here because Jack has the strongest reputation in the business, and we wanted to come on this type of retreat. We thought it would be good for Aiden and good