AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This isn’t the South.”
“Are you really going to fight me on this?”
“No.” I spray a few pitiful squirts on my ankles.
“Spray your entire body, trust me,” he says.
Trust me.
I spray myself into a cloud of chemicals, then toss him the can. “So, how ‘off the beaten path’ are we talking about?”
“I told you you didn’t have to come.”
“I’m not griping, just asking a question.”
“About a mile off the trail.”
I watch as Rhett douses himself in bug spray. A mile hike in these woods, where there is not a man-made path, will be brutal. Even I know that.
After locking the Jeep, we set out side-by-side down the trail, immediately engulfed by wilderness. Sunlight spears through the thick canopy of trees, dappling the forest floor in swaying gold dots. The trees are so vivid that it reminds me of an enchanted forest.
I take a deep breath, inhaling the spicy scent of fall. “God,” I exhale, “I didn’t realize how beautiful it was out here.”
I hear him take a slow, deep inhale next to me. I have to fight a smile. This is his version of a kid at Disney World.Thisis what he’s missed—not town, not people, this.
We walk a few minutes in silence, passing meandering hikers, dogs on leashes, and slowly leave them far behind.
“So you and my mom actually had legitimate conversations when you were working for her?” I ask.
“We did. She had a pot of coffee ready for me every morning when I arrived. Even made sure she had the kind of coffee I liked.”
“What did you guys talk about?”
“Aside from the cabinet renovation?”
“Yeah.”
“You. A bit. And other things.”
Nerves bubbled in my stomach. “What did she say about me?”
“She told me about your newspaper gig, that you seemed to enjoy it, and this made her happy.”
“What else?”
“She asked me if I knew Jesus as our Lord and Savior.”
“What?”
“I told her I did, and this also made her happy.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am.”
I snort, shake my head.
Rhett regards me closely.
