Page 114 of Shared By the Mountain Men

“I’m a convicted felon out on parole,” he replied, deadpan.

Mom and Dad shared a look, then started laughing.

“Oh, Ilikehim,” Mom told me. “He’s funny!”

I stared at Ash from across the table. “Oh yeah. He’s hilarious.”

The tiniest hint of a smile touched his lips.

We ordered drinks and food, and I told everyone about my hike. The parts of the trail I loved, and the sections that I hated. The ups and downs, the little annoyances along the way, and the calm clarity that I now had after a few weeks of solitude in the mountains.

“That’s wonderful,” Mom said. “Hopefully you got it all out of your system and you can get back to regular life.”

The way she said it made something in my gut clench.Get back to regular life. Toledo, Ohio. A normal job. A boring boyfriend who hopefully wouldn’t cheat on me with an Applebee’s waitress.

“When do you have to get back to work?” Dad asked. “Today is Thursday, so I’m assuming you’ll start back up Monday morning?”

“Yeah, Mel,” Jack said with a private smile. “When do you need to get back to work?”

“I quit my job!” I blurted out.

Dad paused with a bite of steak halfway to his mouth. Mom’s fork slipped out of her fingers and clattered onto her plate.

“I quit my job before coming out here,” I revealed. “My boss wouldn’t let me take off enough time to do this hike, so I quit. I know I should have told you the truth, but I didn’t want you to worry about me. I’m unemployed.”

“That’s okay,” Dad said at the exact same time Mom said, “This isnotokay.”

They looked at each other, then turned back to me.

“Maybe you can crawl back to your boss,” Mom suggested. “He’ll take pity on you, especially after everything you’ve been through.”

“And if not, I can put some feelers out,” Dad added. “I still have a lot of contacts in Toledo. We will find something for you.”

Noah, Jack, and Ash were staring at me from across the table. I could feel their tension, waiting to see what I would say.

“I don’t want to get a job in Toledo,” I said.

“Oh.” Dad blinked a few times. “Well, I know a few people in Columbus, or Cincinnati…”

I remembered something Jack had said while we were on the hike. He didn’t plan on asking me to stay: the words just sort of came out. I hadn’t really understood what he meant at the time, but now I sympathized with him completely. Because as I sat there at the table with my parents and my three lovers, I felt the next words forming deep within my soul. And then they justcame out.

“I want to move to Crested Butte.”

Noah looked relieved. Jack’s eyes widened in surprise. Ash reacted in the most surprising way: amassivegrin split his face in half, momentarily breaking open his hard exterior.

“Not permanently,” I quickly added. “I don’t know what I want to do long-term. I think I’ll try out a bunch of different places. I’ll stay in Crested Butte for a month, maybe somewhere down in Texas for another month…”

“Florida is nice in the winter,” Mom said hopefully.

“Or you could fly out west and live near your brother in California,” Dad added.

“Maybe!” I said. “I think I’m going to figure it out as I go. One city at a time. But the important thing is I want to live in thepresent. I want to enjoy each place I’m in while I’m there, rather than worrying about where I’m going next. After all, the future isn’t guaranteed.”

I locked eyes with Jack, who was studying me with a curious expression. Like I had truly surprised him. I considered that a good thing. I wanted to be the kind of woman who could surprise the men she cared about.

“The future isn’t guaranteed,” Dad said slowly. “I like that.”

Epilogue

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