Page 15 of That First Flight

“I pegged you for food talk being your weakness.”

I grin. “That too.”

“Speaking of the city”—she pulls back from being close to me—“what are you doing up here? I thoughtyoulived in the city.”

“I do. I’m cabin sitting for my brother. But I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do a blog post about the Catskill mountains too while I’m up here.”

“Oh yeah, the blog.” She nods.

“Yeah, that little thing.” I smirk. “I’m going to shoot some photos of the mountains and probably share some food I’ve eaten while I’m here. Entice people to come up here and explore the great outdoors.”

“Interesting.”

The way she wipes down the counter, walking away from me with that single word has me on edge. Is that a good interesting? Or a bad interesting?

I guess I’m killing three birds with one stone on this trip.

Because I’m determined to learn more about this girl.

“Well, now you have to come back and explain that interesting comment,” Oliver calls out just a few seconds after I walk away.

The first time I met him, he was like a breath of fresh air. I was drowning in anxiety and questioning my choices in life. Beating myself up with regret that maybe this was a stupid idea after all. But after a few hours with him on a plane, I felt at ease. I felt calm. I felt a sense of relief at the stranger who made me laugh when I hadn’t been able to in years.

Now he’s sitting in front of me.

At my place of work.

Drinking an orange freaking soda.

And looking like he walked off the cover of an outdoors magazine.

“Interesting as in…” I pause, trying to save myself the embarrassment. “Your brother's cabin. Just wondering if I know him.”

“You might.” He shrugs. “He’s actually the one who recommended this place. He was up here in August for the first time ever with his now real fiancée that I told you about. You know, the one you’re not supposed to ever say anything about if you meet them?”

There was only one couple I met so far since I’ve started working here that has never been in this town before.

Oh my God.

The man who tipped me three hundred dollars on a glass of champagne and a whiskey neat.

“Is her name Avery Woods?”

“The one and only.” He nods with a grin. “Do you know her?”

“I do.”

Over the last couple of months, there have been a handful of pivotal moments in my move here. Times that made me feel less and less guilty about uprooting my daughter's life.

The first was meeting Oliver on the plane.

The second was Samuel and Flora taking the two of us under their wing and believing in me when I barely believed in myself. They know my goals. They know I don’t plan to stay here and they give me the daily encouragement that I need to keep me going.

The third was that couple tipping me the three hundred dollars that night. Making it my biggest night of tips to date. Allowing me to treat my daughter to a comforter set that she loved for the only bed we have in the cottage so she wasn’t sleeping with just a throw blanket. And then I stashed the rest in our savings.

My eyes well with tears and I try to fight them back.

Oliver is that man's brother.

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