Page 28 of Off the Beaten Path

“What would our town do without your valiant acts of courage?”

Grey’s blue eyes narrow into slits. “If your house ever catches on fire, you’re going to be very thankful for my valiant acts of courage. But anyway, the figurative fires were much more dangerous today.”

I turn back to watch the game right as our safety intercepts the ball. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Melissa, who I am no longer referring to as my aunt, told all the single women in town that I joined the auction to look for someone to settle down with.”

A laugh rockets out of me, the kind I don’t do very often, where June looks at me and giggles just because she wants to be in on the joke too.

Grey glares in my direction. “It’s not funny.”

Between wheezing breaths, I say, “You’ve dated every woman in town. Of course you don’t want to settle down.”

Grey isn’t laughing. In fact, my words seem to sober him even more. His bottom lip catches between his teeth, a wrinkle forms between his brows, and his fingers tap against his bottle.

“I mean, you don’t want to settle down, right?” I ask, watching him carefully.

He doesn’t look in my direction, but I get the idea he’s not really watching the game either. “I don’t date around because I like dating around, Holden.”

I stare at him, trying to process his words. For the longest time, I’ve assumed that Grey doesn’t go out with anyone more than a handful of times because he’s not looking for a serious relationship. I never considered that he was searching for someone and coming up empty every time. It makes me unbearably sad for him.

After Mia, I can’t imagine easily giving my heart over to someone else. She would have to be really special, as well as stable and safe. I’m not counting on finding a person who makes me feel that way, so I haven’t even bothered looking.

To think that Grey has been doing just that for years, potentially, is a little heartbreaking.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” I say, but Grey waves me off.

“I know my reputation,” he says, staring into his beer. I can’t help but notice that he doesn’t sound happy about being seen as the town playboy.

Swallowing against the lump forming in my throat, I say, “Hey, maybe you will find someone at the auction.”

This time, he’s the one to laugh. “I can’t imagine anyone new will be in the crowd, and I haven’t found anyone here I want to go on another date with.”

I make a humming noise in the back of my throat, considering his words. Frankly, I’m still processing this new information and looking back at all of Grey’s actions in a new light. The women in town. The tourists. The hikers. Him hoping to find a soulmate in all of them.

“You’ll find her,” I assure him. “She’s probably just right out there.” I gesture with a hand toward the back door and the trees beyond.

“Out in the woods?” Grey asks skeptically.

I roll my eyes at him. “No, not out in the woods. I just meant that somewhere in this town or the next or across the country, she’s waiting for you too.”

My front door opens, and I hear Finley call out, “Hey, anyone home?”

“In here,” I yell back, and a minute later, she comes around the corner.

Looking between the three of us on the couch, she frowns. “You’re having a party without me?”

“Aunt Finley!” June’s voice fairly pierces my eardrums, but Finley’s frown transforms into a smile at the sound of it.

Climbing over my legs where they’re propped on the coffee table, Finley motions to Grey. “Move over so I can sit next to my girl.”

Grey makes a face at her but scoots over, and she wedges in the space between us, June climbing off my lap and into hers. Scrunching her nose, Finley turns to Grey. “Why do you smell like cat?”

When I wake up on Saturday morning, the world is bathed in snow. Sharp icicles hang from the roof and glisten in the sun, sending fragments of light across the blanket of white. The mountains in the distance are capped with snow too, and from this vantage point, Fontana Ridge looks like the inside of a snow globe.

The wood floors are cool under my feet as I tiptoe into the kitchen, trying not to wake June, who stayed up way too late last night. When she finally passed out on the couch, Finley, Grey, and I stayed up until the early hours of the morning playing cards at my kitchen table. Now, my eyes are crusted mostly shut, and I think there’s a crick in my back from sitting in the hard wooden chairs for a few hours.

But surprisingly, I feel lighter than I have in a while. Maybe it was Wren texting me on the app last night, tipsy after an evening out in Asheville with Stevie and making terrible dad jokes. Maybe it was spending easy, carefree time with my best friend and my sister, like Wren has been nagging at me to do on that app for months.

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