What's His Passion 2 - Climbing the Savage Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

phone between his shoulder and his ear, so he could type in his address on the website.
    “Good. The one you’ve been using is a wreck, dude, and there’s no way it’ll keep you warm enough in Base Camp.” Jigger snorted. “I just emailed the company we’re going through. Looks like there’ll be about eight of us on this expedition, along with three guides. I’m not sure how many Sherpas they’ll be using. Their contact guy is emailing me a list of shit they suggest we take with us.”
    “Are we going to be able to do this, Jigger?” Jensen hit the Buy button then stood to wander to the French doors leading into the backyard. He stared out over the white blanket of snow that had fallen overnight.
    The storm had started yesterday afternoon and had been so bad, Toby had chosen to stay in the city at Simpson’s apartment rather than driving in it. Jensen had agreed with him, not wanting Toby to risk his life trying to get back to home, though he hated how quiet the house was without Toby around to yell at him about the laundry or why the bed wasn’t made yet. He could just imagine the fit Toby would have when he saw the mess Jensen had made in one of the spare rooms.
    He’d pulled out all of his climbing gear to go over and see what he needed to replace. He wasn’t going to go to Everest with old rope or anything that might give out on him while climbing the Khumbu Icefall or along the Hillary Step. Both were dangerous, even with brand new equipment. All of his stuff was strewn across the floor and every available piece of furniture.
    “We can do this, Jensen. This has been one of our goals since we placed our feet at the base of our first mountain and chose to go up instead of down. It won’t be easy, but we knew that.” Jigger cleared his throat. “We’re going with one of the most reputable Everest climbing companies, and we have some experience at high altitudes, plus the three of us have climbed together before. We trust each other. If there’s going to be any trouble, I want to be in it with you and Cat. The two of you will get my ass down off that mountain.”
    He braced his hand on the door then rested his forehead on his biceps. Closing his eyes, he remembered the expression on Toby’s face when he told him about going to Everest. “Toby’s scared to death about this trip. Even more, I think, than any of the others I’ve gone on since we got back together.”
    “Of course he’s scared.”
    Jensen jerked when Cat’s voice came over the phone. Either he was on speaker and didn’t know it or she’d taken the phone from Jigger and heard what he’d said.
    “Your Toby is an intelligent man. He might not be a climber, but he knows that Everest isn’t a cakewalk. I’m sure he’s probably done research on the mountain, especially now that he knows we’re going there.”
    “He needs to know all the information he can on things. Makes him a great investment planner since he’ll dig through all mentions of a stock to make sure it’s the right one for his clients. But it isn’t the greatest trait when it’s something like Everest. He’s going to focus on the accidents and deaths.” He thumped his head against his arm. “He’ll hug me and whisper ‘I love you’ when I leave, while he’s dying inside, worried I won’t come back this time.”
    Cat sighed. “He knows you’ll come back. You haven’t broken that promise yet.”
    Jensen snorted. “There’s always a first time for everything, Cat, and the wounds from me leaving all those years ago haven’t completely healed yet. He knows the odds are against us.”
    “You do know that at some time we all reach a point that what—or who—we leave behind becomes more important than what we’re heading toward. If you’ve reached that point, Jensen, we won’t think any worse about you than we already do.” Cat laughed.
    “Bitch. It’s not that. I just don’t want him to worry while I’m gone. I hate thinking of him pacing the