Denali Dreams Read Online Free PDF

involved. In anything. Because he simply couldn’t handle it.
    Kyle’s figure filled the doorway. “I hear you’ve had quite a morning.”
    “Don’t even start.”
    “John asked me to finish briefings with him today. You’re on equipment duty for Base Camp.” No trace of a smile remained on Kyle’s face.
    Zack swiped a hand down his neck. “Great.”
    “Look, I don’t know what crawled up your shorts, but this is busy season. Everyone needs to be on the top of their game.”
    “I know that, Kyle.”
    “I know you
know
that. I’m trying to be your friend here.”
    Guilt flooded Zack. What was his problem? He knew better than to insult the climbers. “Sorry.”
    Hands on his hips, Kyle looked down. “Taylor, we need to talk. Lunch?”
    As much as he hated to admit it, Zack needed someone to talk to. “Fine.”
    His friend left the room, and Zack stood. How could one woman turn his world upside down just like that? It wasn’t as if he had everything under control, but at least he managed okay. So he liked to take risks on his own time. He’d never put anyone else in any danger. In fact, just the opposite. Didn’t he save lives for a living?
    A stark realization hit him square in the face. All the excuses in the world couldn’t answer the question
why
he couldn’t get enough. Why he risked his life again and again. Kyle was correct, the hole inside Zack couldn’t be filled—it was bottomless.
    Missy rounded the corner and entered. “Hey, Zack, since you’ve been rescheduled to be at Base Camp this week, I need to give you some information about one of our climbers.”
    Back to business. “Okay, shoot.”
    “We’ve got a cancer survivor, age thirty-two, in excellent health and in remission for two years.” She handed him a paper.
    “Any meds?”
    “None.”
    “Good, that makes things easier. What’s the name?” He perused the sheet.
    “Granger. Karon Granger.”

    A chair scraped across the café’s wood floor. Zack didn’t take much notice.
    Karon was a cancer survivor? She seemed so vibrant and positive. So healthy.
    So happy.
    Cancer.
The word alone stabbed his heart. His grandfather had died of cancer. But the cancerous attitude of his mom and dad through the battle had destroyed more than the disease had, in his opinion. Mom and Dad had divorced, Dad moved away and drank himself to an early grave, and Zack’s own relationship with God suffered.
    It hadn’t just suffered. Zack turned away.
    That was when he’d turned to extreme mountaineering. K-2, Everest, Aconcagua, Denali—they’d all been challenging. He’d used up fifteen years of his life looking for the answer—trying to fill the hole in his heart.
    “Hey, man.” Kyle patted him on the shoulder.
    He nodded. Hadn’t even realized Kyle had shown up.
    “You look deep in thought.” His friend sat down. “You ordered?”
    Zack leaned back in his chair. “Nah, been waiting for you.”
    “Good. ‘Cause what I’ve got to say needs your attention.”
    He looked up. “Go for it. I got nothin’ to lose.”
    “You know what I’m going to say.”
    “Yeah, you’re gonna preach at me and tell me the only way I’m going to turn things around is to turn back to God.”
    Kyle smiled. “Preach? Seriously?”
    “Yeah. Maybe one day I’ll listen.”
    That brought a laugh. “Well, you nailed it. You’ve refused to listen to anything I’ve said about God for five years. But it’s true. He’s the only way to get rid of the ache. To fill up the hole.”
    “Easy to say. It’s like a nice little script all good Christians rehearse. But it’s not that easy. It was when I
had
faith that everything fell apart around me. My parents became the ugliest and meanest people I knew. I still hate having conversations with my own mom because of the negativity. Faith in God is what tanked my life. Let me climb a mountain or fly into a blizzard any day.”
    “And
that
makes you feel better?” Kyle crossed his arms and hiked an