Page 5 of Rescued

“Hiring? I thought you were just visiting.”

“I am, but I’m thinking maybe seasonal work or something will keep me from getting lonely. Besides, Rugged Mountain… that’s in Colorado, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys are right in line for the eclipse. You’re going to get like a hundred percent coverage of the sun or something. People are traveling to see it. Maybe I should too.”

“Wow! You really want out of San Diego, don’t you?”

She huffs. “Yeah. So, any idea who’s hiring?”

It’s been a while since I’ve spent any real time in town. For the most part, I flew Mom to me. It’s not that I don’t love Rugged Mountain, I do, but after the thing with Gentry, it felt like there were too many ghosts lingering to come back here. Things only compounded when John and I divorced. In a small town like this, all people want to talk about is your personal life and everyone thinks they know best. It makes moving on that much more difficult, so avoiding this place was, sadly, what worked.

“I’d double check, but I think Evergreen Family Tree Farm is hiring this time of year. They’re a pretty big deal, too. The white house picked a tree from their lot a few years back, so they get loads of attention. I could talk to some folks down there for you.”

“Oh, yeah? That’s perfect. Thank you!” She sighs as though she’s relieved. I have a million questions to ask her, but I’m too distracted by this letter to ask any of them. “What about you? How’s your visit going?”

“Good, I guess. Right now, I’m staring at an envelope my mother tucked away in a photo album.”

“She wrote you a letter?”

“No. This guy I met back in the—”

“No way! Is this the soldier dude? It was Gentry, right?”

Hearing someone else say his name is wild. “Did I tell you about him?”

She laughs. “Only like forty thousand times. You’d mention his story when you had a dream about him, or when a conversation was similar to the one you guys had, or when we’d walk past a bar.” I can hear her excitement as she says, “Open it! What does it say?”

I’m a little embarrassed that I’m talking about a man from ten years ago so freely with people and not even realizing I’m doing it.

“I don’t know if I want to open it.”

“Why?” she says, her tone lowering. “Aren’t you curious?”

“Right now, I’m more curious about why my mom would hide it from me.”

“It was probably an accident. I shove things into places all the time, thinking I’ll remember them and never do. Just last week I found a water bill in a book I was reading last month. I’d used it as a bookmark. It’s probably innocent.”

“Ten years? She kept it tucked away for ten years?”

“Is it already opened?”

“Still sealed shut.”

“Okay, the suspense is killing me. Read it. Read it out loud.”

I stare down at the letter with a churning stomach. “I don’t think I’m going to.”

“I need to know what this letter says.” She laughs as she says, “You have an obligation tomenow to open it.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Why not?”

I sigh and lean back, holding the note against my chest. “What if it says something awful? Then the fantasy is over. This man that I’ve been holding above everyone else for years is gone.”

“That’s not a bad thing either. I mean, you can’t measure everyone up to a fantasy man forever. You’ll never find happiness.”

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