Fertility ritual stone.
My father peed on that rock in 1987. Now people want to book it for weddings.
The laugh that escapes me isn't funny. It's the sound of something snapping I never knew could break.
I drift toward the fireplace, my hand going straight to the mantel. Wood sourced right from this mountain by people so determined they started with nothing but a few handsaws and their bare hands because they believed in something worth building.
They didn't build it for hashtags.
They didn't build it for shirtless lumberjacks named Jake.
They built it forfamily. For legacy. For the kind of love that puts down roots and refuses to let go.
And here I am, fifth generation, watching it all become a punchline.
#MountainDaddyTour.
#MorganStamina.
“Mount Me Everett.”
The worst part? It's working.
This is what survival looks like.
Grammie Bea would understand. She was practical like that. She'd probably laugh at the fertility stone and make some filthy joke about Jedediah's legacy living on.
But she'd also see what it's costing me to stand here and smile while everything my family built gets turned into content.
I grab the whiskey bottle from behind the bar.
Tonight, I'm not pouring glasses. Tonight, I'm drinking straight from the source.
My ancestors can haunt me tomorrow. Right now, I just need to survive the night.
Sierra finds me on the quieter side of the lodge not five minutes later, drinking directly from a bottle.
She’s still got her camera. Of course she's got her camera. Documenting every single mortifying moment with the efficiency of a war crimes tribunal.
“Just preserving history, Everett.” She raises the camera and snaps a photo of me mid-swig. “Grammie Bea would be so proud.”
The shutter clicks and something in my chest flinches.
She's been photographing me since we were kids. I never minded the way she'd catch me unaware, documenting the way I grew into my legacy.
But this isn't that.
This is her documenting rock bottom. Filing it away with all the other evidence of the night I let my family's legacy become a meme.
But there's something else in her eyes too. Something that looks likeI see youunderneath all the teasing.
She always did. Even when I wished she wouldn't.
“My grandmother is rolling in her grave.”
“Probably. But hey, she’d be proud too. #MountainDaddyTour is trending.”
“How? How the hell is that trending? The tour started just a few hours ago.”
