Page 58 of Mountain Wood

“One she pays for herself, not one her mother hired for her.” The disdain is thick in her tone. “And definitely not one who spies on me and feeds my arrogant mother all my personal business.” Grace crosses her arms and slumps back in her seat. “I’m just a show pony for her. Always have been. Only now, I use my exhibition skills to make money for myself. That’s what my brother, Mason, taught me.”

“Exhibition like sex in front of people?”

“No. I mean… I wouldn’t be opposed to trying that, but I’m not sure I’d like it. I’m a private person with my body and sex. I just mean showing off in front of people, like I do with my outfits and stuff. My trust fund is tied to the family, and I can’t even access the majority of it until after I marry a man of my mother’s choosing.”

I strangle the steering wheel.

“I’m not trying to live a loveless marriage like her. My brother Mason got out of it by making his own fortune. I’m doing the same, albeit on a smaller scale. But I’ve got a five-year plan that’ll make me super happy if I can pull it off.”

It takes me a minute to gather my thoughts. We pull off in the grass and I hop out of the truck. Grace follows my lead. “What’s your five-year plan?”

She slips her hand in mine, like we’ve been on walks for a decade together. “I want a tiny house that I can keep up with all by myself. I’ll take cooking classes, so I don’t burn every meal. I’ll network and continue being an influencer and live well below my means. I want to besecretlyrich.”

“Secretly rich, huh?”

“Yup. Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

“Yeah.” I veer her to the right, onto an old path. “I think I could do that. I wouldn’t tell a soul if I won the lottery, but there would be signs.”

“What kind?”

I hold a branch up so she can walk under it. “I can’t tell you. You’ll just have to see for yourself.” There I go again, talking about a future with her.

“I look forward to it.”

We stop at the stream. There’s a pavilion set back far enough to not be swept away during floodingseason. “When the snow melts, this stream turns into white water rapids and the level rises about ten feet.” Taking her over to the pavilion, I sit in one of the wooden chairs and pull her onto my lap. “This is my favorite place to be.”

Whether it’s the steady whoosh of the stream, or the louder white noise the rapids make after a big melt or rain, this is my happy place.

“She loves it here too,” Grace says, noticing my dog dashing through the tall grass. “Why did you name her Oscar?”

“Some asshole dropped her in a dumpster I had set up down by the main road when I started renovations.”

“What a fucking dick.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it was a good thing they decided to discard her. When I heard a sad little whiny sound in the dumpster, I jumped in and pulled out this scrawny flea bag with mud packed into her ears. It was love at first sight.” Grace relaxes against me, listening. “She’s saved my life more than once. Either by getting me through heartache when my grandfather died or alerting me of a dangerous animal approaching, Oscar’s my hero.”

“She’s such a good girl.”

“Onlyyouwould think she’s a good girl,” I tease, laughing. “Neither one of you listen very well.”

“That makes us thebestgirls.”

I can’t argue with that.

We sit in silence, and I truly hope Grace feels the peace I do in this space. After a while, she sits up and twists to meet my gaze. “When did your grandfather die?”

My gut wrenches any time I think of him. “Two years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to be sorry for. He had a good life.”

“You two must have been really close.”

“He raised me since I was eight.” She’s waiting for more, but not asking or prying. That little bit of patience makes my big mouth open and spill shit out. “My parents didn’t want me. Said I was too bad and never listened.” I hate that she looks hurt hearing that. “I think it was because they had me so young… and they weren’t happy with each other, and I just made it worse. They dumped me off at his doorstep with one suitcase and said that they didn’t want to deal with me anymore.”

I hate that I’m sharing this. She’s going to look at me differently now.

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