Page 43 of Sass in the Grass

“Obviously Coach Dix,” Mike said. “Don’t you walk in the city?”

“And chance of being mugged or accosted by some homeless person? No. It’s called ride sharing, and it’s priceless in my world.”

“Priceless? Pricey, at least in my world.”

“I can’t help it you’re poor.”

Alan said, “You’re snarkier than usual, Jovian. What’s up your ass today?”

“Unfortunately, not Dixon,” he whined. “I’m just…I didn’t sleep well. That little bomb that Mike and Kathy dropped on me…it’s…”

“About the camp, right? I thought a lot about it too. I wish there was something we could do. Like, I don’t know, raise some money for them or something.”

“How would we do that? Ask our family and friends?”

Mike laughed, “My poor ass family and friends couldn’t help. You’re the one with money, Jovian.”

“Well…I have some, yes, but it’s mostly my family. How much would the camp need?”

“I’m getting tens of thousands, if not more.”

Jovian knew that would be a big ask. “I’d have to spend days sucking up, letting my mother take me to the spa. It would be an ordeal.”

“A spa day, yes, I can see your trepidation,” Alan mocked. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

Down a slope, then up another and Jovian was holding his side and feeling the burning in his thighs. “This is too much exercise,” he complained.

“It’s going to help take off the carbs they’ve forced you into eating, like my toast this morning,” Mike snarked.

“Funny. You should thank me. It’s not like you need more carbs.”

Alan and Mike laughed, but Alan said to Mike, “He’s really bothered by the camp possibly closing.”

“I know.”

“Why are you two talking about me like I’m not here?”

“Oh, look, Mike. There’s Jovian!”

“I almost missed him through all the bitchiness.”

“You two are two seconds from getting canceled. My friends have canceled several mean comedians.”

Mike turned back and smiled at him. “You can always find the cabin on your own.”

“Out here with the bears and mountain lions?”

After they topped the next rise, the cabin was in sight, a hundred yards or so away from them. “Right in the trees, right by a tributary of the river? This is paradise.”

Between the two hills was a high valley, and a creek ran through it and down the little slope right before the cabin.

There were deciduous trees near the cabin, a few aspens and more elm, and surrounding them were spruce trees that made a natural fence on three sides.

The cabin itself was beautiful, two stories with a wraparound porch, the wood almost silver from the weather and wear. There was stained glass around the window on the top floor. “Wow, it’s nothing like I pictured,” Alan whispered.

“I know. He’s got a great setup. The roof itself holds solar panels, and he’s got a windmill in the back which is a backup for a generator, but it brings up his well water, too. He filters that naturally through some system he put together and he has three gardens in the back, raised beds tiered like stairs and the top tier that goes up to his chest. He also has a greenhouse. If the world starts to crumble, I know where I’m coming.”

Jovian heard all this, and while most of it was over his head, his admiration for Dixon grew. “He’s…amazing. He built it, right?”

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