AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m really proud of myself that I don’t have to call Nina to find the road. Soon, I’m on my way over a long field and toward mountains. I have to say that I don’t feel any real stress or worry. I don’t know if the one-night stand drove it all away. All I know is that I’m not worried about the future. I’m excited and eager to spend time with Nina. I’m silly enough to chalk up the attitude to the one-night stand. I mean, it’s easy to do. It’s easy, in fact, to just attribute everything to it.
I know it doesn’t make sense. I’m not going to be able to give any logical reasons for the way I feel. I’m most certainly not going to be able to defend any conclusions. Here’s what I think it is, though. When I decided to move in with Nina for a while and reset my life, that was completely out of the box for me. It’s totally out of character but once the decision is made, I feel absolutely empowered, if that makes any sense. I guess I feel similar empowerment because of the night with Jacob.
Damn. I can’t believe I’m trying to say changing the course of my life before I get trapped into a career I don’t want and getting fucked hard in a motel have the same importance.
Yeah.
Wow.
Time for me to calm down, right?
That keeps me laughing most of the way to the mountain road. I find it pretty easily and only a mile head, just like Nina said, there’s a little restaurant. I stop there and give her a call. She’s already almost there, so I go in and get us a table. It’s such a… I don’t know how to explain it. I mean, quaint might be the right term. Anyway, it’s such a lovely little restaurant. It seems like the place is from another world. There are probably a dozen people at the tables, and they’re all happy and relaxed. I don’t know how to explain it. I sip my iced tea and look at everyone. There’s none of the constant movement of the city, the unending hustle and bustle that seems to just scream in your ears all the time.
Okay. I think I’m full of shit.
I don’t think these people are doing anything at all that I can point to one way or another. They’re just people enjoying themselves in a restaurant. It’s me. I’m different. I mean, I know this is a strange thing but it’s like my entire outlook on life has changed now. It’s like everything is completely different and that includes something as simple as looking at the people around me and seeing them in a new, happier light.
Yeah, I got fucked into a good attitude.
I giggle as the thought occurs to me. That attracts the waitress, so I order an appetizer platter so I can pretend I’m not just a goofball sitting around and acting silly. I have to say, even though I’m never going to see Jacob again, I think it’s fair to say that I’ll look back at him as one of the most important people in my life. I mean, I think sleeping with him really marked the change in my life from feeling trapped in one plan and feeling free to move to another plan.
And then, I’m not thinking about anything but Nina.
Our arms are around each other and I’m crying a little. We grew up together all the way until high school when she moved to Pinecrest Peak to live with her grandfather. We never stopped being best friends and never slowed down in terms of keeping in touch.
I finally push her back and say, “I have so much to tell you. I totally screwed a stranger on the drive here.”
She stares at me for a second as though she needs to process what I’m saying and then she grabs my wrists and pulls me back to the table. Soon, she’s getting all the details and she’s listening with rapt attention as we much potato skins, fried chicken strips, and chicken wings. Catching up with Nina is absolutely wonderful and even if it seems kind of silly for me to say this, I just know that my brand-new life in Pinecrest Peak is going to be wonderful.
Chapter Four
It’s pretty neat to take a sip of coffee while watching two rabbits playing in the distance through the window. After only a day or two of thinking about it, I can already tell that this is where I want to be. In fact, after only a few days in the mountain air, my outlook on everything has changed. My parents have some accounting work they need to get done and asked me if I could do it remotely, and I don’t even mind the idea of doing it. I guess the environment really does make a big difference in things.
“Enjoy it now while you can,” Nina says as she sets a big platter of scrambled eggs on the table, “because after a while it just keeps getting better and better and better.”
I giggle as she starts dishing out the food. “As long as a personal chef comes along with it,” I say, “I’m a hundred percent in favor.”
A knock at the door surprises me. I glance at my phone. Seven. Nina smiles at me and says, “It’s cool. It’s just Savage. They’re taking care of the yard today.”
“The yard?”
She laughs and says, “It’s the land this house is located on. Some people even split it up so there’s a backyard and a front yard.”
“Dork,” I say.
“Come on,” she says, “I’ll introduce you to the guys. The moment you start walking around town you’re going to meet them anyway.”
I steal a forkful of eggs first and then get up, carrying my coffee cup with me. I notice, as I have since getting here, that Nina is always so relaxed. Even walking to the front door is like some kind of soothing moment of respite for her. Maybe it isn’t Pinecrest Peak that has made me so happy with my new environment. Maybe it’s just being in the constant presence of my friend. Who knows? It’s pretty hard to be negatively worked up about anything at all when she’s around.
When she opens the door, she says, “The garage is already unlocked.”
I recognize the voice that says, “Thanks, Nina.”
I don’t know where I recognize it from but I do. I hurry forward to investigate and then end up frozen in shock, staring at the man on the front porch. Nina smiles at me and says, “Mira, this is Savage. Savage, this is Mira. You’ll meet the others he brought with him today as they show up.”
“Jacob,” I breathe out.
“Miranda,” he says with a smile that seems to have as much shock and surprise in it as I feel. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
