He slapped at it, opened his eyes to the gloom and considered doing what any sensible man did on a rainy morning. Sleeping through it. But a few hours’ cozy oblivion didn’t seem worth the smirk and snippy comments Olivia would lay on him. Maybe it was pride, maybe he had something to prove to both of them, but either way, he rolled out of bed. He stumbled into the shower, which brought him up one level of consciousness, stumbled out again, then dressed for the day. He decided anyone planning on tromping around in the trees in the rain had to be crazy. He figured out Olivia had known it was going to rain, had probably arranged for it to rain just to pay him back for being a jerk. He groused about it all the way down to the lobby, where he found several small groups of people suited up for the day and helping themselves to the complimentary coffee and doughnuts the inn provided for early hikers. Most of them, Noah noted with complete bafflement, looked happy to be there. At seven, riding on a caffeine-and-sugar high, he felt nearly human.
