55Later that evening, the swing in front of the inn creaked in the darkness while insects buzzed in the trees. Neither Noah nor Becca spoke as they stared at the sky above the mountains. Both sipped from plastic bottles of water.
Noah furrowed his brow and glanced sidelong at Becca. There was a tension that, despite moments of humor and confidence, hovered around her. He scratched his neck and searched for a neutral topic. “I loved this place when I first came here. I was a graduate student at ASU and I was on an internship.”
“And what did you do here?”
“I was working on my master's project that had to do with saving riparian habitats.”
“And does this river need saving?” Becca nodded in the direction of the Salt.
“Parts of it do. Invasive species are taking over. You know about the gi
