Lyle got back to Rocky Peak just past sunset. The peace of the forests and the snowy faraway peaks relieved some of his tension. The vastness of the wilderness, its grand scale made his own worries seem trivial. When he’d decided to stay here, he hadn’t thought about that sort of thing, but right now, it was just what he needed.
The quiet was almost unnerving, since he’d always lived in cities. The first trip he’d taken into the wilderness—hunting with a prospective business partner—had been a revelation. No car alarms, no engine noise, no brawling neighbors. He’d loved the experience of being surrounded by the purity of the wilderness. That trip had sparked his passion for the environment, which had led Nicole to contact him about investing in the lodge, which led him back to Isabelle, s
