AllFreeNovel
Share Us
TheflighttoOregonwas just the start of our journey. When we arrived at the airport in Portland, we took a cab out of town to drop us off at a lookout point in the mountains. There we met Anna, who bounded out when she saw us.
“I was hoping I’d arrive here the same time you did!” She hugged Celine and then me. “This is going to be so much fun!”
“How’s Wes doing?” I asked.
“He’s fine, he’s with my mom the next couple of days. He loves staying there for an extended thing, my mom really makes a fuss of him and it’s a big deal.”
“And you get to breathe,” Lorenzo said.
Anna nodded. “I’m so glad I can take a break and not feel guilty about it.”
I didn’t know much about single parenting—I didn’t know much about parenting in general—but from what I could tell, Anna worked her ass off to make it work with Wes all the time, and she deserved a break.
“Where are the others?” Anna asked.
I checked my phone. “They’re on the way, Scott and Morgan are already there, and Gino flew in early to set up camp.” My brother loved the camping scene more than anyone. I had a feeling he’d left early this time to escape my uncle and his rampage to get the vineyard ready for the next season—he was more determined than ever before.
“I didn’t know your brother was joining us,” Celine said.
“Yeah, he loves it,” I said.
Celine knew of my brother but they’d never met. I was glad she would meet him now—I wanted to hear his opinion of her and see if she could get along with him. Not that I had high hopes; Celine didn’t get along with a lot of people.
“Oh, here’s Nicky,” Anna said and turned when another cab pulled up, depositing a dark-haired, freckled woman with green eyes and a short stature. “You made it!”
Anna ran to Nicky and hugged her before introducing her to us.
“This is Nicole Avery, one of my best friends since high school.”
“One ofyour best friends?” Nicole asked incredulously. “I think you meanthebest friend.”
Anna laughed. “Slip of the tongue.”
She and Nicole giggled together, and I watched Celine. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking—she had a hell of a poker face—but if I didn’t know any better, I would have said she was jealous of how close Nicole and Anna clearly were. Did she have a best friend like that? I couldn’t remember if she’d ever had someone close she confided in and gossiped with when I’d gotten to know her back in the day.
“Let’s get going, then we can start this adventure,” I said.
“Where are we going?” Celine asked, looking confused.
“Up there,” I said and pointed to a trail that led up the mountain between the trees.
“We’rewalking?” Celine asked, incredulous.
“Only way to get up there,” I said.
Celine looked horrified, but she swallowed it fast and dropped that expressionless mask back in place.
“Fine, let’s go,” she said.
I chuckled.
A rumbling sound made me look up with a frown. There weren’t a lot of clouds in the sky and none of them looked like rain, but that had sounded a lot like thunder.
“What’s the weather forecast?” Anna asked over her shoulder. She’d heard it too.
“Clear for the next couple of days,” I said. “I checked.”
“Hmm,” she said.
