She flashed me a surprisingly wicked smile. “I never said I wanted to show it off, but you’re not wrong. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.”
“Show me.” I whistled as we walked in, genuinely surprised that she’d done all this herself.
While it was clear that there was a lot left to be done, with paint cans standing in random places on the floor, rollers resting in trays, and the floors covered in sheeting, I could also see spots where she’d already fixed the roof and the flooring, some new cabinetry in the kitchen, and new fittings in the bathrooms.
“This is incredible,” I said once we’d made it through the house and back to the porch overlooking the Airstream. “You’re right to be proud.”
“And you’ve earned yourself a beer for being so nice about it,” she joked, then disappeared into the trailer and came back a minute later with two beers already uncapped. “Welcome to my humble abode, I guess. All I’ve got right now are camping chairs, but it’s got a pretty good view of the sunset.”
I turned toward the mountains, and although I’d been here a while now, I still wasn’t quite used to how the sunsets here, while real, looked so damn fake. Raquel and I sat down in mismatched camping chairs, drinking our beer while the desert turned shades of orange and gold that didn’t seem physically possible.
As the sun started dipping below the mountains, I stretched my legs out in front of me and looked toward the pass in thedistance. “You know, if you showed this property to wealthy people in any city, they’d label it as a wellness retreat and charge nine thousand dollars a weekend.”
She snorted into her beer. “They’d die out here. The first scorpion would send them running for the hills.”
“You’re not wrong, but you could make good money before that news hit the press.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, tucking one leg underneath herself. “So, what about you? Don’t you have family somewhere wondering what happened to you?”
I took a slow sip of beer to buy myself a second, but not because I didn’t want to tell her. I just didn’t want to become somebody else in her eyes quite yet, and when people heardWestwood, things inevitably changed.
It was strange, but most conversations I’d had back home felt structured, everybody already knowing who I was before I even opened my mouth. People expected things from me based purely on my name, but out here, I got to just exist without any assumptions involved.
I didn’t want to ruin that here, especially not with her, but at the same time, I didn’t want to lie to her.
“Yeah, I do,” I said finally. “They’re not wondering, though. They know where I am and about the bike. My brother thinks I took it apart myself just as an excuse to stay on the road.”
She chuckled. “You have a brother?”
“I have five.”
“Wow.” Her eyes widened as she turned to face me. “There are six of you?”
“Seven. I also have a sister.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember you saying you had a little sister too,” she murmured, her head shaking. “I can’t imagine having that many siblings.”
“I try not to imagine it either,” I joked. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them to tiny little bits and pieces, but it can be overwhelming at times.”
“Just having Avery can be overwhelming at times,” she said. “It must be so much worse when there are so many of you.”
“Yeah, I spend most of my life being bossed around or fussed over. It just depends on the day. I do miss them, though. As annoying as they might be.”
She smiled. “To be fair, I spend most of my life being bossed around or fussed over too. I think that’s just a sibling thing. Are you all close?”
I shrugged. “As close as we can be. We talk often, if that’s what you mean, but they’re all busy. Work. Kids. Life.”
“God, you must have so many nieces and nephews if all your siblings have kids.”
“I do.” I chuckled as I thought about them all. “They’re the best, though. But hey, enough about me. I’ve heard people talking about this hiking trail through the canyon. Is it all it’s hyped up to be?”
“We’ve barely started talking about you, but okay. I’ll bite. The canyon trail is great. I can take you sometime, if you’d like. It’s an awesome view of the sunrise.”
“You’re on. Tomorrow?”
“Aren’t you eager? But okay. I never say no to that trail. Miley will probably want to come too, if that’s okay. She loves the canyon.”
“The more, the merrier.” I drained the last sip of my beer and reluctantly stood up. “I should head back before Frieda reports me missing. Thanks for the beer.”
