Waiting For Eden (Eden Series) Read Online Free Page A

Guilt perhaps?  Maybe you were glad that he got what he deserved?
    “I loved him,” she whispered aloud to the trees.  “I did.  And he didn’t deserve to die like that. Even if... even if he wasn’t perfect.”
    Her stomach came up into her throat as she tripped over something, and the weight of the pack brought her painfully to her hands and knees.  Her cheek was stinging, and a branch had taken a slim furrow of skin along with it in the fall. 
    Brushing herself off, she rocked to her feet under the awkward pack, suddenly confused.  She had tripped over a small log, and the trail was now narrow and overgrown, if there was a trail at all anymore... where the hell was the trail?
    Alex spun around in a full circle, scanning all the trees in the near vicinity for the tell-tale white dot that marked the trail she was using.  She saw nothing but a brown expanse of bark. Everything looked the same to her, forwards and back.  The mat of leaves beneath her boots had grown thicker, and was now interspersed with living ferns that nodded gently in the breeze.
    “Shit!”  Shrugging off the pack, Alex dug out the trail map she had sent for in the mail while planning her trip.  Getting lost was not something that was supposed to happen.  Refusing to panic, Alex set her mouth in a grim line and snapped open the neatly folded, crisp, new map. 
    She had parked at Ole Bull State park along Route 144... and had probably hiked a good ten… or twelve miles before breaking camp, judging by the soreness in her calves and thighs.  So walking a few hours this morning should have her somewhere in the vicinity of Hogback Hollow according to the map... but where the hell was the hollow? 
    All traces of water had disappeared, and she seemed to be on some sort of ridge…. and high up now.  The trees had thickened and the undergrowth was scrubbier, denser than before... and she really couldn’t see very far in any direction.
    “Shit,” she repeated, softly this time.  But really, in whatever direction she set out, she was bound to run into something… eventually.  This wasn’t the freaking Adirondacks!
    Flipping open her cell phone, it read zero bars, zero G’s , and her heart dropped in response.  She wasn’t going to be hitting up her GPS location anytime soon. 
    Her eyes flew over the map again, and Alex finally spotted the fire-tower, from where James Sheldon must have detected her wicked rebel flames last evening.  If she could get back to it, she could easily find her bearings.  But in what direction should she go? 
    Suddenly remembering her compass, she yanked it from her pack and fumbled with it.  Dismayingly, her fingers were shaking.   The arrow spun dizzily around as she rotated, until she finally located North.               
    “I’ll take a gander on heading west,” Alex muttered, breathing a little easier.  If she didn’t come back across the trail, she would eventually hit Route 144 and hitch a ride back to Ole Bull.  Simple.  But not painless , she thought, squinting at the rough terrain encircling her.  It seemed as though she would be getting a taste of the great outdoors the hard way.
     
     
    ~~~~~~
     
     
    “S-h-i-t.  Shit.  Definition: excrement.  Dung.  Feces. Word of the day.” 
    Sweat dribbled down between the cleavage of her breasts, 34 C’s to be exact, which were smushed forlornly in a too-tight running bra.  Alex halted, panting, and leaned against the rough bark of an oak tree, or a maple, or an ash, who the hell knew exactly. 
    She’d definitely had the shits of the mountains right now.  Like…. definitely .
    Alex reached into her lycra-spandex sports bra and scratched at the maddening droplet of sweat that continued to plague her like a tiny insect.  Oh Christ , it was a bug!  She grabbed it and flung it into the bushes without further inspection.  “Better if I don’t even know,” she muttered.  Now she felt itchy everywhere.
    She had paused