Page 101 of Bailey

Reeves shook his head. “Nah, we’d build a wind blind, and I’ve got two emergency blankets in my backpack that would cover all four of you kids.” He grinned around at the group. “This is what I do, you guys, when it’s me against Mother Nature, I bring everything I need to make sure I can win.”

“But you just told us down there that we wouldn’t win,” Corrine said.

“If you don’t have the things you need, and if you lose your head,” Reeves said. “Then you lose. But we haven’t done either of those, have we?”

She shook her head and popped another cheddar and sour cream chip into her mouth. Luke got out two bottles of water from his pack and passed one to Corrine.

“Eric, where’s your water bottle?” he asked.

The boy started shifting around to get to his backpack. Luke knelt up to pull it out of the pocket, and he handed it to the boy. “I want everybody to eat and drink.”

“All right,” Lars said. “I finished my update to my daddy.”

Reeves nodded at Lars and then Eric. “Give Eric the phone so he can talk to his dad too, and then we’ll let Luke and Corrine talk to their momma and wife.”

“Okay.” Lars passed the phone to Eric, and Reeves started to relax, despite the continuing rain. It wasn’t nearly as violent as before, with the drops turning smaller the longer it went on. Reeves wondered if the wind might become the real enemy. Wind obscured vision by kicking up dust and debris, and if someone was wet, the wind only chilled them faster.

He finished his bag of Fritos and looked over to Lars. “Let’s go around and say one thing we’ve done this summer that we’re really proud of, and one thing we’re scared of right now. I’ll go first.”

He grinned around at the group, surprised at the things flowing through his mind that he might share with them. Then he remembered that OJ had called him Uncle Reeves, and he’d seen the way Bailey interacted with her family, and how the Youngs had shown up to help her after the flood.

They shared with one another. They showed up. They did hard things together. They laughed and they cried, all of it forming a bond and a tether that Reeves recognized was missing from his own life.

“This summer I started dating Bailey McAllister,” he said. “And that was pretty hard for me, because I don’t really like being recognized in public.” All eyes came to him, and Reeves swallowed down his nerves. “But I like being with her so much that I’ve had to figure out how to take her to fancy restaurants and busy places, and deal with whoever looks my way and says, ‘Hey, are you the Teton Mountain Man?’”

“My daddy doesn’t like being recognized either,” Corrine said.

“You should see Uncle Trace glare everyone away,” OJ said. “My daddy just smiles and shakes hands.”

“That’s what I’ve tried to do too,” Reeves said. “But it was scary and really uncomfortable for me. But you know what? I’m really proud I did it. I really like being with Bailey, and though it was hard for me, it was something I needed to do.”

“Is that your thing you’re proud of, or the thing you’re afraid of?” Eric asked.

“That’s the thing I’m proud of,” Reeves said. “Let’s go around and do that first.” He reached for his water bottle and tapped OJ on the shoulder. “You’re up, bud.” He needed a few minutes to come up with something he was afraid of that wouldn’t reveal too much or scare the kids.

“I’ve been working hard at the K9 Academy this summer,” OJ said. “And I’m real proud that I’ve learned a few words in another language, and that I have one dog that will listen to me and do what I say.” He looked at Lars, who looked at Reeves with wide, scared eyes.

“I don’t know if I have anything I’m proud of,” he said.

“Sure you do, my friend,” Luke said, his deep voice joining the conversation and further grounding Reeves. “You’ve been taking driving classes this summer, right?”

The boy nodded, his eyes too a little too wide for Reeves’s liking.

“And I know your mom has been taking you to those lifeguarding lessons too, so you’ve been learning all kinds of things you should be proud of.”

Lars took a breath and seemed to swell with confidence from Luke’s words. “You’re right, Uncle Luke. I’ve learned how to drive this summer, and I only hit those logs out in front of my house one time, and I’m pretty proud of that.”

Reeves chuckled, beyond grateful for this little glimpse into these teenagers’ lives. It told him a lot about their mothers and fathers as well. His emotions surged when Eric passed the phone to Corrine, and he said, “I’ve been working around my uncle Denzel’s house and shop this summer, to help him get it cleaned out from when he used to be a mechanic. He started teaching me a little bit about cars, and it’s been fun.”

He looked at Reeves, and he seemed slightly nervous too. “And I didn’t think that I was proud of it, but I am. Uncle Denzel doesn’t talk very much, and sometimes I wondered if I was bothering him.” He swallowed, and the sweetest tears filled his eyes. “But then, the other day he bought me my favorite ice cream and hugged me and told me that he was real happy that I’d been coming to help him.”

Luke sniffled, and that was Reeves’s near undoing. He’d texted Bailey off the Young family thread, and he thought of her response. Thankfully, OJ hadn’t read that out loud.

Oh no, this is terrible news. I’ll pray for you. You’re more than capable of handling the weather and the mountains—and those kids. You’re my favorite person in the world, though, so please let me know as soon as you’re safe.

He didn’t know how she had given him the exact response he needed, but she had.

“You’re a good boy, Eric,” Luke said. “And you should be proud of going to help your uncle, because sometimes that’s not very fun work.”