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Viper
“Have you ever spotted her while running on the trail to the peak?” I turned my attention towards Allison, my curiosity piqued. Allison had a way of speaking that made you want to listen. It used to drive me crazy. But that’s what sisters were good at, making you a little crazy.
“Who the hell are you talking about?”
Allison's eyes held a glint of mystery as she replied, “The woman up by the peak, not far from Carly's place.”
I leaned in, my interest growing. “Who is she?”
“A few months back, I went up there to check on Widow Harlow and witnessed the woman running as if her life depended on it,” Allison continued. “Widow Harlow claims she's hiding from someone, insists there are traps scattered all over the Peterson's property where she's staying.”
I couldn't help but be intrigued but also skeptical. “She’s been there since last spring, only venturing into town every couple of months. She wears a hoodie so no one will see her face, but Widow Harlow swears she saw her skinny dipping by that natural spring swimming hole on Steel’s property.”
“It sounds like you and Widow Harlow have written your own book about an innocent woman living on the mountain,” I retorted, growing frustrated. “Are you so bored with life that you must concoct stories about people you don't even know?”
Allison leaned in, her voice low and conspiratorial. “You should check her out and see if she is hiding from someone.”
“And why the hell do you persistently refer to Carly as 'Widow Harlow?” I inquired, getting irritated with Allison.
“Because that's what she prefers to be called,” Allison explained.
“Carly's younger than I am. If you keep calling her that, she'll never find another husband.”
Mischief sparkled in Allison's eyes, and I knew she would say something outrageous. “She is the widow Harlow. Jim died two years ago. Why are you so concerned about her love life? Do you want to ask her out?”
“Don't be absurd; she's like a sister to me. Call her Carly, or she'll age prematurely. When I go for a run tomorrow, I'll pass by the Peterson's cabin and see if I can spot the woman hiding from someone.”
Allison's expression grew serious. “Good, I want to come with you.”
I hesitated momentarily, then replied, “No, if she's hiding, she won't appreciate anyone snooping around. She won't even know I'm there, so you stay put. If a dangerous person is hunting for her, I don't want them to find you. Now, here I am, gossiping just like you and Carly. Why hasn't she moved from that cabin up there? She gets snowed in every winter. How did Jim die?”
“He had a heart attack while he was at work, and he couldn't make it to the hospital in time,” Allison explained. “Carly says she enjoys living in her little house and has a gun in every room. And you know Carly will shoot anyone trespassing on her property.”
“Carly is all talk. Tell me more stories from when I was held in that stinking prison for four years. What possessed two of my brothers to get married?”
“They fell in love, Cole. People do that, you know.”
“Have you ever fallen in love?”
“No, I’m like you. I’ll never fall in love with anyone.”
“Really, no one?”
“That’s right, no one.”
I refrained from pushing Allison further; I was already aware that she believed she had been in love with James Bellmont since she was thirteen. She cried all night when he took another girl to the prom, shattering her heart. He was a senior, and Carly was in middle school.
Puppy love could be agonizing, or so I’ve been told. Given how James used to look at Allison after she grew up, I thought they’d be married by now. However, when she went to Medical school, James joined the Marines, after college.
But that was Allison’s life, not mine. She stopped sharing her life with me after going to college. I wondered what my family had been up to when I was confined in that miserable prison in Iran with Weston Evans. Now, I was going to be an Uncle, and Sean was going to be a father. My family had believed I was dead for four years. Now, they thought something was wrong with me because I had no plans for the first time in my life.
Ryan remained unmarried, traveling the world as a freelance journalist, coming and going for four years before returning home. I had always thought he wanted to leave the mountain and explore the rest of the world, but he said the Mountain was his home. Now he’s been with the same woman for six months; they don’t appear to be in love.
I had often thought he and Carly would end up together, but then Carly married Jim Harlow five years ago after she came home from college. Carly is a writer, and a lot had changed in four years.
For one thing, Ryan and Patty have nothing in common; they never display affection in public, unlike my friend and fellow prison mate Weston and his lady Shannon, who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. But that was Ryan’s life, not mine. I wanted my family to be happy in their relationships, and I had no intention of meddling in Allison’s or Ryan’s love life.
