Eleven
Brighton
On Wednesday,I told Bailey to be ready about an hour and a half before our usual run time. Since she’d stopped resisting everything I said, she was ready when I arrived.
“Ugh, I really need this run,” she said as she climbed into the passenger seat. “These last few days have been super stressful.” She looked over at me with a grin as she clicked her seatbelt into the lock. “But I did get some good news yesterday. My hearing was scheduled.”
“Cool. For when?”
“June 16th.”
It was a little more than a month out, which gave me plenty of time to adjust my schedule accordingly. Bailey didn’t know it yet, but I was going to Chicago with her when she went. “Cool.”
I could feel the heat of her gaze on the side of my head while I kept my eyes on the road. “What do you mean cool?” she finally questioned.
I chuckled lightly. “I mean cool. That’s enough time for me to rearrange whatever needs rearranging in my schedule so I can be there.”
“Be where?”
“Stop playin’. Chicago. I know you don’t think I’m letting you go there alone. Especially after a senior citizen had to pull his heat to make your man behave.”
“I’m not going alone. My mom and I’m sure Bayliss are going with me.”
“And Bright.”
She huffed out a sigh. “Bright . . .”
“I’m not listening to nothing you’re saying, Bae-Bae. I’m going. That’s it.”
“That’s it? Bayliss is kinda my step-daddy, not you.”
“You want me to get him on the phone?”
Her folding her arms across her chest with an attitude gave me my answer. She knew Bayliss would be on my side.
We rode in silence for a little while until she broke it. “Where are we going? Are we going to Chicago right now? This is nowhere near the high school.”
Her sarcasm made me snigger. “I wanna show you something. Sit back and relax, because it’s gonna take a minute to get there.”
Once again, the vehicle fell into a companionable silence as I started the scenic drive through the Cascada Noir National Park.
“Oh my gosh.” She looked out the window. “Where are we? Where are we going?”
“We’re on Road to the Angels of God, and we’re heading into Cascada Noir.”
“Doesn’t the lodge back up to Cascada Noir? Couldn’t we have just left from the lodge?”
“Yeah, the lodge does back up to an area of the park, and yes, we could’ve left from the lodge if we wanted to hike. I wanted todrive. You get to see a different part of the park when you drive. Neither of us are skilled enough to hike up this far. I’m not even sure Beck is. Anyway, from this road I’m hoping you’ll get to see some wildlife from the safety of the truck.” No sooner than the words left my mouth did I spot something on the side of the mountain. “Look.” I pointed out of her window. “There’s bighorn sheep.”
She gasped and fumbled for her phone. “Wow.” She held the phone up and snapped some pictures. She pointed a slim finger. “Are those glaciers?”
“They are the very tops of glaciers.”
“It’s beautiful. Riding is definitely better than hiking. Plus we have air conditioning.”
I chuckled.
As we continued to drive, I pointed out a herd of elk, some mountain goats, and even a lone black bear. We stopped at a pull-out on the side of the road. I pointed out pristine alpine lakes, mountain peaks, and the forest.
