Excerpt of The Drifter by Kate Hoffmann

Charlie Templeton stood at the top of the world. Literally.
He sucked in a deep breath from the oxygen mask covering his
face. The air was thin at 28,740 feet and after climbing for
nearly twelve hours, all he really wanted to do was lie down
and sleep. But he knew the risks of taking just a moment or
two of relaxation. Many climbers had died ascending Mount
Everest, but the descent was even trickier.

Exhausted, his body depleted of energy reserves, cold,
hungry and mentally numb, Charlie knew all the dangers. The
thought of dying on the face of the world's tallest mountain
had haunted his nightmares. But now that he was here, it
didn't seem all that frightening. He closed his eyes and let
his thoughts drift. Just a moment was all he needed.

Everest was the last on his list of seven summits. He'd
attempted the climb twice in the past, but had been forced
to stop because of weather. But when he'd stepped out his
tent at midnight, ready for the final push to the top, he'd
known today would be the day.

For an adventurer, there was no higher goal than bagging the
seven summits—the tallest peak on each continent. He'd
written about his quest for the adventure Web site
Adrenaline and had done numerous speaking engagements at
college campuses all over the U.S., all to fund his trips.
He had a pair of lectures scheduled in just a few weeks at
the university in his hometown of Boulder and he was banking
on the fact that he'd arrive fresh off the top of Everest,
ready to tell of his adventure.

But now that he'd accomplished his goal, Charlie was left to
wonder what it all meant. He didn't feel the way he'd
expected—elated, awestruck, satisfied, humbled. In
truth, Charlie didn't feel anything.

He unsnapped his oxygen mask and pushed it aside, then
shoved his goggles to the top of his head, taking in the
view and waiting for the impact of the moment to hit him. It
was all there, more stunning than he'd ever imagined it.
Below him was the Rong-buck glacier and the North Col, and
to the north horizon, the vast Tibetan plateau. He slowly
turned, to the west and then the south, finishing with the
most breathtaking view of all—the highest peaks of the
Himalayas, jagged and snow-covered, jutting into the thin
atmosphere to the east.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. An image flashed
in his brain and he gasped. A face from the past. Charlie
brushed it aside. God, he must really be oxygen-deprived to
think of her at a time like this. He hadn't spoken to Eve
Keller in more than five years, not since the night before
he departed for his first attempt at Everest.

Maybe that was it. He'd completed the circle and he was back
to where he'd begun. Or was it something more? Charlie had
learned to live his life without regrets. It wasn't easy,
but he'd had to put aside relationships in order to focus on
his ambitions. It hadn't seemed like a sacrifice at the
time, but now that he'd come to the end of his quest, he had
to wonder if it had all been worth it.

"Evie," he murmured. She'd been the one person who'd
tempted him, the one relationship that might have changed
the course of his life. Hell, if he'd stayed with her, he'd
probably be married with two or three kids by now.

"Charlie!" He opened his eyes to find his Sherpa
guide waving at him. "Come. Up here long enough. We
start down."

"Just give me a few more minutes," Charlie replied.

"Put mask back on," Pemba Ang said, his heavily
accented words muffled by his oxygen mask.

"No. It gets in the way. I'm all right. I am. Don't
worry. Just a few more minutes."

The guide studied him for a long moment, then nodded.
"Few minutes. Stay up here for half hour already. We
must go."

Had it been that long? Time seemed to be slipping through
his fingers at an alarming rate. It seemed like just days
ago that he'd graduated college and now he was fast
approaching thirty.

Charlie turned again, slowly, taking in more of the view. It
was over. He was finally finished. He had the rest of his
life in front of him and no plans for how he'd spend it. Why
hadn't he thought of this sooner? What would he do with his
time? There was always the "Second Seven," the
second-highest peaks on each continent. But was he willing
to invest another five years of his life?

"Charlie!"

The words echoed in his ears. But in the thin air, it didn't
sound like Ang at all. It sounded sweet and soft,
tantalizing. Funny how he still remembered her voice.
There'd been so many other women since Eve, women he'd
easily forgotten. Yet she was still there, indelibly
imprinted into his brain.

Charlie stared down the route of their descent, his
footprints still visible in the snow. He still had to get
down the mountain and he knew the dangers. Fatigue, the
weather, cerebral edema, snow blindness, avalanches,
crevices that could swallow a man in the blink of an eye. A
successful ascent didn't guarantee a safe descent. But what
was waiting for him at the bottom? Would anyone really care
that he'd made it up to the top and back again?

Did she even remember him? Did she think of him at all or
had the passion they'd shared been replaced by the love she
felt for…hell, what was his name? Dave? Dan? Odd that
he couldn't remember. She'd married him, chosen security and
dependability over uncertainty. He hadn't blamed her for
making the safe choice. She deserved better than a man who
warmed her bed every six months in between adventures.

"Charlie! Move. We head down."

"I'm thinking I might stay here," he said, sitting
down in the snow.

"Get ass up!" Ang shouted, grabbing his arm and
tugging. "I not leave you here. You walk down or I
carry. Kill us both."

"Who's waiting for you?" Charlie asked.

Ang reached for Charlie's oxygen bottle and turned up the
flow, then held the mask over his face. "Breathe. Clear
head."

"I'm perfectly clear," Charlie said, waving him off.
"Do you have a wife, kids?"

"Wife," Ang muttered. "We marry last year."

"And she's all right with this? She doesn't mind that
you tramp up and down Mount Everest."

"This my last trip. We have baby. I tell wife, no more.
I save money from many climbs, we open laundry in Namche. We
have happy life. Grow old together." He held out his arm
and pointed to his watch, strapped over his sleeve.
"See? We leave now. You move or I roll you down to base
camp."

"No one would care if I didn't make it down,"
Charlie said.

"I would," Ang said. "I never lose client."
He helped Charlie to his feet. "Maybe, you need wife.
Someone who care. Maybe kids. Can't do that frozen to
mountain. You go find happy. Find girl you love."

"No," Charlie said. "I think I had her once, but
I let her go."

"Two years back, I love my girl. Another man love her,
too. I make her see we have happy life together. All is
well."

For an instant, Charlie's mind cleared. What was to stop him? Maybe that's what he needed to do. Go back and figure out if he had made the wrong choice that night five years ago. And if he had, try to fix it. Suddenly, he had a reason to get down the mountain. He'd go see Eve. He'd figure out why it was her face he'd seen.

"All right," Charlie said, clapping Ang's shoulder.
"Let's get off this damn mountain." He snapped his
oxygen mask back in place and pulled his goggles down over
his eyes.

In a week's time, he could be back in Boulder, Colorado.
Back where it all began. Then maybe he'd figure out what he
was supposed to do with the rest of his life.

"Lonely guy at table seven. And he's a hottie!"

Eve Keller glanced over her shoulder at her best friend and
business partner, Lily Winston, then shook her head. "In
case you haven't heard, the Garden Gate is one of the best
restaurants in Boulder according to a recent article in the
Denver Post."

"Oh, yes," Lily teased. "But I hear the chef at
the Garden Gate is turning into a bit of diva. Television
appearances, interviews in foodie magazines, a new cookbook
and a possible television series for the Food Channel. Her
partner has been having trouble finding toques that fit her
ever-expanding head. Of course, she can't be bothered with
something as mundane as a handsome man."

"One of the reasons we've been successful is that we
focus on outstanding food and impeccable service. Not
hitting on the customers," Eve said.

"I'm not looking to date him," Lily said. "I'm
perfectly happy with Will. I'm just looking to…look.
God, he's gorgeous. You should go out there and ask him if
he likes his curried carrot soup."

Eve groaned. Since her divorce three years ago, she hadn't
put much effort into dating. In truth, she'd put more
thought into becoming a NASA astronaut than she had
searching for a new man. Not that she didn't have a
perfectly valid excuse for living like a nun. Her restaurant
was growing in popularity. She'd already published one
vegetarian cookbook and was working on another. Add to that
the seminars she taught at three different cooking schools
on the West Coast and there wasn't much time for a social
life. She was even in preliminary talks with an investment
group about opening a new restaurant in Seattle and hosting
a cable show on the Food Channel.

Men had simply drifted to the bottom of the list of
important things on her agenda. After the mess that had been
her marriage and the bigger mess that had been her divorce,
Eve wasn't sure she ever wanted to allow a man into her life
again.

"Just take a look," Lily said, pulling Eve away from
the prep table. "You've been living in my guest room for
three years. I see your social life first hand and it's
pathetic. Last week you alphabetized the spices on my spice
rack. The week before, you cleaned the grease trap on the
kitchen sink. You need to get a life, Eve."

"I have a life. Here. In this restaurant."

"This isn't life. It's work." Lily gently took the
knife from her hand and set it next to the red peppers Eve
had been chopping. Then she reached up and snatched the
colorful bandanna off Eve's head. "Go ahead," she
said, ruffling Eve's short-cropped auburn hair. "Just
wander on out there, smile at the customers, and ask him how
his soup is." Lily shoved a basket of quick breads into
her hand. "Offer him some three-grain nut loaf."

Eve knew she ought to spend more time in the dining room.
All the best chefs interacted with their clientele. But life
inside the confines of the kitchen was so much easier than
life in the outside world. She peeked though the window of
the swinging door, searching for the object of Lily's attention.

When her gaze finally found the lonely guy at table seven,
her breath caught in her throat. "Oh, God," she
muttered, turning away from the door.

"You don't think he's cute? " Lily asked. "Oh,
good grief, Eve, if you're that picky you're never going to
have sex again for the rest of your life."

"Yes, he's cute," Eve snapped. "But I'm not
going out there."

"Why?" Lily asked, taking a peek through the window.
"Too cute?"

"Too…everything," Eve said, shoving the
basket back into Lily's hands. "Been there, done that."

Lily gasped. "You know him?"

Eve nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. In every sense of the
word. I have seen him naked and trust me, the body matches
the face. Utterly and unbelievably gorgeous." A shiver
skittered down her spine at the memory. There'd been a time
when she'd had that body in her bed, lying on her sofa,
standing in front of his refrigerator looking for something
to eat at three in the morning.

"But…I don't understand."

Eve took Lily's arm and led her over to the walk-in fridge,
then pulled open the door. "Go ahead. I'm not going to
spill my secrets unless we have complete privacy." They
stepped inside and Eve closed the door behind her.

Lily rubbed her bare arms. "If this is going to be a
long story, I'm going to need a jacket."

"Remember that night, after we got the good review in Food and Wine, and we drank those two bottles of Mendocino Monastery Reserve Cabernet? And I told you about that guy, the one right before I married Matt?"

"The 'one last fling' guy?" Lily asked. "That's
him?"

Eve nodded. "Charlie Templeton."

"You dumped him for Matt?" Lily stared at her as if she'd just admitted to serving puppy fritters with kitten aioli to the customers. "Dweeby, whiny, needy Matt?"

"I didn't know he was like that when I married him. He
seemed—dependable. It was only after the wedding I
realized he was looking for a mother, not a wife. And
Charlie was everything a girl is supposed to be afraid of.
After a month of nonstop sex, he told me he was going to be
gone for six months. At the time, I needed a man who'd be
there for more than a bi-annual sexfest."

"Semi-annual," Lily corrected. "And now he's
back."

"Five years later. Five years and not a word. No phone call, no postcard. Now can you understand my decision?"