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“Without actually leaving.”
He agreed and I watched the woods thicken up and the road became narrower and steeper. “I can’t think of the last time we were up here.”
“It was a few months before you left.”
I agreed, not sure how he remembered so much, but I couldn’t help but feel flattered over it. He was paying attention or had in some respect. My mind was whirling with what I was doing here with him anyway. I had feelings for Jeff, had being the key word, but seeing him at the pier made me realize that I still had feelings for Jeff. It was just as impossible, of course. Nothing had changed, but that didn’t mean that my body cared what was possible or not. I’d loved him since I was in my early teens, and it had only gotten worse as I’d gotten older. Apparently, that was a trend that was going to keep on.
“So, do you like it up here?” I asked, trying to get my mind off of the tangent it was trying to go on.
“It's even quieter than down in the town. I like it well enough. There are only a few people that live up here, and I don't consort with any of them, so it can be quiet up here.”
I wondered if quiet was synonymous with lonely. He didn't strike me as the lonely sort. Jeff always had a mission in mind, and he was very focused on his goals. I wondered what his goals were now and how many of the previous ones he had been able to get accomplished. In loving him, I had become a friend, just so I could be closer to him. I missed that closeness and the friendship that had resulted from it. I was just going to have to not let it get twisted in my mind. We weren't meant to be together. We weren't going to be together, so friendship was all there was.
“What about you? Do you miss the noise and hustle-bustle of the city?”
I sat back and looked at the trees around me. It was dark, but there was still a lot that was easily seen through the moonlight.
“I can't say that I do at the current moment. How much further up are you?”
“Not far, another couple of miles. You just got to take it slow because the road isn't that great. You would think with all these damn rich people up here, they would be able to get a proper road made, but I guess not.”
I couldn't believe that he lived on the mountain. Jericho was a small town, but it had many things to love for most anyone. There was the beach, even if it was just a couple of miles on each side, and then there were mountains. Jericho was in the valley, seemingly protected from the harsh outside world. I had never seen the small town from up above, but when we got out of the truck, Jeff took me to the outskirts of the yard, and I felt my stomach flutter from the straight shot down.
“It's like the pier, and only a little bit higher up.”
I agreed with the higher up part, but the view itself was spectacular. I must have taken a step forward because his hands snaked around my waist and pulled me back. “The difference with here and the pier is you won't make it if you fall.”
I felt his hard body and beating heart against me. “I know, it's just wow. It looks even tinier when you see it from up here. Can you imagine, our whole lives were encased in that tiny place?”
“Mine still is. You got out of here, remember? Why don't you tell me about it?”
I agreed that I would, but then I also mentioned the fact that I was promised a drink and water.
“You're finally old enough to drink?”
He was alluding to a time when I would ask for some of their beers and Jeff would give me one when my brother wasn’t looking. My brother would always say that he wouldn't contribute to the delinquency of a minor. I wasn't a minor anymore. I wasn't a young, impressionable girl anymore either.
“I’m older than I was when you snuck them to me before. I am sure that it will be fine.”
We went inside the two-story cabin, and I had to make fun of him a little bit. For all his money, he still lived simply, and I spied several half-greased bags from O’Henry’s.
“I see you still don't cook,” I observed.
“Of course not. What is the point when I could never make anything as good as O’Henry’s anyway?”
I had to agree, accepting the beer that he handed to me and going back to the window. I saw the pond he was talking about in the distance, and I had to ask how much land he had up here. It was strange to be in such a rich area, so high up from anything that I’d ever seen before. It didn’t seem right or real.
“As much as I could get when I got the money back from the insurance. I thought dad would like it, me buying a piece of the rich people’s property out from underneath them. It was poetic, taking out a chunk for ourselves.”
I didn't exactly know what happened to his dad, but I certainly wasn't going to bring it up. It seemed like everything I did made him think of his dad who had died. I was going to leave it alone for now. Jeff had other conversations that he wanted to have anyway. He wanted to know what I'd been doing in the city. I didn’t want to talk about it, but I knew I must. I’d been home a few days now and I wasn’t going to move on if I couldn’t even talk about it.
Jeff smiled at me and sat down beside me. “So, you going to tell me what happened that brought you back here, of all places?”
I shrugged. “It's not really that big of a deal. I got a job, I got a place, met a guy, fell for the guy, married the guy-”
“Wait, you got married?” He looked shocked and I told him that I had.
“Is it that hard to imagine that someone would marry me?” I asked wryly.
