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“We’re heading to Mom and Dad’s in a few minutes, but I have some news that I didn’t want to wait to share.I’m especially glad for it now, since it’ll give you something else to think on while traveling rather than shitty men who don’t appreciate your awesomeness.”
I chuckled, taking an exit off the highway.“What’s the news?”
“Remember the hunting cabins we used to go to with Dad and Uncle when we were teens?”
“Yeah.”I grinned, imagining the small one-room lodges we’d crammed into the night before the first day of doe season at the old run-down campground northwest of the cabin.The last time we’d gone had been when I was fourteen.So much shit had happened in my life since that I’d forgotten about the place.
“The property is for sale, and you should see how much the campground has expanded since we were kids.They’ve added more cabins.Full hookups for campers.They even built three heated bathrooms.The roads are paved, and the house acting as the office was partially renovated a couple of years ago—it’s a fucking gold mine.”
He went on to remind me of how deep in the woods the place was even though it lay in perfect proximity to Big Bear Lake, a tourist attraction that brought hundreds of people to Maine all year long.Boating in the summer, hunting in the fall, ice fishing in winter… How much there would be to tinker with, to keep a man busy while making other people comfortable.Something I’d always enjoyed doing.
Owning such a business would also provide income for whoever wished to live a lifestyle more in tune with nature rather than a big city.
“Tell me more,” I demanded, my mind already back in the deep woods, even though I had a few hours’ worth of driving ahead of me.And with the day before Thanksgiving traffic, I knew I’d be lucky to get to the farm before dinnertime.
“The owner hasn’t put the place on the market yet.”
“How’d you learn about it?”I pulled into my parking spot at the apartment complex and shut off the engine.Cold immediately began to creep through the glass and metal which sheltered me from the cold wind slamming into my SUV.
“Amy’s cousin is best friends with the owner’s daughter.She told Amy that her dad was ready to sell and was hoping to get someone they knew or a friend of a friend buyer they could trust to take care of the property and love it in the same way he has since he bought it twenty or so years ago.”
“Any idea how much he wants for it?”
“Not nearly what it’s worth in this market—but only if it’s not to some stranger.Otherwise, he’s going to ask for top dollar.”
We discussed my finances briefly before moving back into our memories from the campground and the surrounding woods.It had been my first weekend of hunting with the “men”.I’d chickened out when it had come time to pull the trigger though.
None of the guys with us that first year had made fun of me for refusing to kill an animal—even if it would help feed my family through the winter—and I hadn’t realized until later how accepting they’d been.They’d allowed me to be comfortable with my limits.
Jacob had taken that shot but hadn’t ever rubbed it in my face in all the years since.He’d always had my back, even when I’d come out to him as bi when I’d been in high school.
Talk about unconditional love.
I’m making the right choice,I told myself again when I climbed back into my SUV a few hours later, the sun disappearing on my left as I hauled the trailer containing all of my meager belongings northward.
I’d texted Mom earlier that morning before hitting the mall, letting her know I was returning home.She’d simply sent a heart emoji and promised to have dinner on the table for me.I would end up arriving later than I’d planned or had even told Jacob, but being the loving mom she was, she wouldn’t care about my tardiness.
She would be happy just to have me be with the rest of them because my presence held worth in the other Roberts’ minds.Especially the kids who would be climbing off the walls after eating all the candy I’d bought for them.
Boston faded in the rearview mirror, and although the sting of leaving JJ behind still made my chest ache with emotion I would at some point have to face, the path before me was the right one.
Absence made the heart grow fonder, but in my circumstance, distance would bring healing.
Eventually, I hoped.
Chapter32
JJ
When I got to the cabin around ten on Tuesday night, I knew immediately that Kellen wasn’t there.No SUV sat out front.No welcoming light from the living room window.No lazy smoke crawling into the sky like the time I’d been there before.
Sitting in my idling car, gaze on the silent house sitting in the cold dark, I chewed over the predicament I found myself in.
If Kellen wasn’t in the sticks, he’d gone to his parents, which meant he had cell service.Why hadn’t he texted back telling me he missed me too?I knew he did—there was no fucking way the emotions painted on his face the night I had left him weren’t real.
I’d been waiting for him to respond but had figured he couldn’t.
So why the fuckhadn’the?
