Page 179 of Mountain Boss

But I… I don’t really have anyone who celebrates with me either—with the exception of my mom calling me each year. The one day I’m guaranteed a call, along with Christmas. So, I get it. I would give the same answer. And I’d mostly mean it.

But I was also mostly alone. Working by myself. Living alone.

Sterling, though, was surrounded on his birthday, by all of us, and no one said a thing.

Whydoes that feel so much worse?

“When’s your birthday?” Sterling asks me, breaking the silence.

“March twenty-third,” I answer.

“What’s your favorite color?”

The heaviness that was settling over me lifts. It’s such a silly question for one adult to ask another. But I kind of love it.

“Forest green.” It’s always been green, but I think my time living amid the pine trees has altered my answer. “What’s yours?”

“Light blue. Do you have any siblings?”

A small laugh bubbles out of me at the way he’s all over the place with these questions. “No. Just me and my mom. Never met my dad.” When his mouth twists, I realize it’s not really something people say casually. But it’s the truth. I know the man’s name. But he wanted nothing to do with my mom when she got pregnant, so I want nothing to do with him. Easy as that. “You have siblings?”

“Two pain-in-my-ass brothers. We don’t see each other too often. One’s in Denver, near where my mom lives now, and the other is out in California. And a dad I wish I didn’t know.” I feel anger coat my features, but Sterling waves me off, once again reading my thoughts. “He wasn’t abusive or any shit like that. Just worthless. In and out of our lives for the first handful of years until he up and moved out of state. Then we’d go years without hearing from him. Finally, one day, my mom stopped taking his calls, and that was that.”

“Sucks.” I pick up another cookie, then hold it out. “To shit dads.”

Sterling huffs out a laugh and taps his partially eaten cookie to mine. “To being better off without them.”

We take bites at the same time, savoring the sweets and the truth.

“So.” I lick the crumbs off my fingertips. “You said you built your house. Does that mean you helped design it?”

Sterling nods and tells me about the process. How he hired a builder and then an architect. Tells me about the layout he wanted, and what he would do differently now that he’s older, has more money, and has lived in the house for a while.

While we talk, we get under the covers.

I snuggle into Sterling’s side and place my head on that perfect spot between his chest and shoulder. Andwe keep talking.

He asks why I always wear my hair in braids as he gently drags his hand down one.

I tell him it’s for function, to keep my hair out of my face, and that it’s just become a habit.

He tells me he likes it.

I tell him I like his beard.

He asks me about Spike.

I explain how she’s my pet, and I love her.

He asks me if I know how much I talk out loud while I’m working.

I ask if he knows how much he scowls while he’s working.

We talk about all the other properties he owns, and I ask how the outhouses get cleaned.

He asks me how I feel about living in the mountains.

I tell him that I can communicate with bears now.

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