Ben stretched out his hand to her, “Sure!” She said with determination, she took his hand and he helped her over the log that was in between them. It was not much of an actual obstacle but Sara, who had begun to take more notice of Ben and his peculiarities. surmised that after walking up a mountain all morning, she had proven her competence on the trail. He probably offered her his hand out of courtesy because he was polite. It was not because he was looking for a reason to pull her closer to him. CERTAINLY it was not because he knew that when their hands touched she would feel a warm, tingling numbness as he gently led her over. The feeling caused her hand to linger and slowly pull it away awkwardly. She was glad she had her sunglasses on.
“Alright then, you two take care of each other! try and be back by nightfall!” Ian said as he took Bill under the shoulder and began to carry him.