I take the short path up to the falls. I hear the water over the stones just before they come into view.
As I walk further away from my car, my heart lifts in my chest at the hope I might find Jack here. It doesn’t make much sense, but I really feel like hecouldbe here.
I scan the area and spot one of the kids from the next town over with his girlfriend. The truck wasn’t Jack’s.
My heart sinks back down, deeper than before. I don’t know why, but I thought he really might have come back to Star Falls.
I get back into my truck and head toward the Colorado Club. I just need to find Byron or get a number for him.
I turn onto the main road up the mountain. It’s getting dark, even though it’s only just past three. It’s starting to drizzle. We’ve been told to prepare for heavy rain tonight. Everyone’s been working really hard to get the farm as prepared as we can.
I flick on my headlights and reduce my speed. I’m not going to help Jack by racing and getting stuck in a ditch.
A truck comes toward me. I recognize it as Mike’s, the man who used to own the cabins on this road that Byron bought. Then I pass the bus that brings staff up and down the mountain. The Club has definitely brought more people into Star Falls. But there’s only one person I want to find right now.
Just before the incline starts to accelerate, another car approaches. I slow, wanting to see if it’s Byron’s car. Would he be coming down to check on the progress of his house?
As the vehicle comes closer, I can tell it’s not Byron. It’s a black SUV. I bring my speed down even slower. It’s just like the one Jack drove when he was here before.
I’m doing about ten miles an hour as the car passes me. I check out the driver in the window and my heart soars, pressing hard against my rib cage like it’s trying to break out and get to the passing car.
I’d know that profile anywhere.
Jack.
My Jack.
All the air disappears around me and I can’t breathe. For a split second, I feel like I’m floating, suspended in this moment where Jack and I are in the same place at the same time. I want to hold on to it and savor it before the moment dissolves forever.
At the last second before he passes me, he catches my eye and brakes.
I catch my breath and press my foot down on the brake.
I come to a stop and open my car door, wanting to get to him, not even caring that we’re blocking the entire road. The rain is coming heavier now, and it feels like the insides of me since Jack left.
“Jack!” I call.
He’s out of the car, striding toward me like he’s going to mow me down.
“Jack,” I say, my voice soft. It’s so good to see him, it feels like I’m going to erupt, with emotion. Anger that he left me. Relief that he’s safe. Bliss that he’s here.
All of it.
I can feel everything now that he’s here.
He’s so handsome, but he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He cups my face as he gets to me. Our faces are wet as we gaze at each other.
“You’re here,” he says.
“I was looking for you,” I say, gazing up at him. Seeing him again doesn’t hurt, it heals something in me. His jaw, his perfectly shiny hair, his now-sad eyes. I’ve missed him so much.
His eyes narrow in confusion. I press my hands on his chest, wanting to feel him, to make sure he’s real, wanting him to understand that I’m right here, staring at him.
“Your mom’s sitting at our kitchen table.”
“She’s in Star Falls?”
