I love my friends for arranging this trip. I know how busy they are, how their schedules are booked up weeks, months, and years in advance. It will have taken a lot for all five of them to drop everything to be here.
They might not have said it directly, but they’re doing this for me. I need to stop being so ungrateful. I needed to leave New York. I still keep seeing Iris everywhere I go and I swear it’s slowly sending me insane. Hopefully in Colorado, the hallucinations will stop and I can forget about her.
I might be able to sleep.
Stop faking my smile.
“An early morning hike seems like a good idea,” Worth says.
“Said nobody ever,” I reply.
“As you know, the helicopter to the Club takes about ten minutes. So we’ll get there about nine local time,” Byron says. “We can do anything we want. Hike. Eat. Go into town.”
“Grizzly’s!” Fisher says.
“Doesn’t open until lunchtime,” Byron says. “You’ll have to wait for your wings.”
“We could go to the diner,” Fisher says. “Get some breakfast. The waffles there are great.”
“I could take offense, you know,” Byron says. “The Club does waffles. And they have better fruit than the diner.”
We all try to stifle our laughs. I don’t know why Byron is getting worked up. Obviously, the food at the Club is insanely good. The diner is just a change of scene for Fisher. Because he now lives between Star Falls and New York, he gets to appreciate it more.
“Do you feel like a local?” I ask Fisher.
“Not even close,” he says. “Not because everyone isn’t welcoming, but just because New York is always going to feel like home. But I have to say, I didn’t expect to love Star Falls the way I do. Even if we could be full-time in New York, I wouldn’t want to. It’s good to head west, breathe some mountain air and unwind.”
Mountainair is a little overrated, as far as I’m concerned. Martha’s Vineyard is not a four-hour plane ride and the air is just as fresh.
“We can go right to the diner,” Bennett says, always the most likely of us to take control of the itinerary. “Have some breakfast. We can go get some hiking gear for Jack, because we all know his housekeeper didn’t pack anything. That place with the moose outside it. Then we can come back to the Club and hike. Then have lunch and chill out this afternoon.”
“Chill outis Bennett-code for catch up on emails,” Leo says.
“You’re hardly one to talk,” Worth replies.
“None of us have any room to talk,” I say. “But yes, let’s follow Bennett’s plan.” I like the idea of being busy. If I’m out of contact this morning, the office will want to speak to me this afternoon. It might mean I have a real shot of not obsessing over Iris for a few hours.
After the plane lands, we take a helicopter to the Colorado Club. When we land, two SUVs are waiting to take us for breakfast.
“I’ll drive one,” says Byron. “You can ride shotgun.” He lifts his chin to me as he speaks. “It’s better if you don’t drive.”
“I can drive,” I say.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just said it’s better if you don’t. I mean, how often do you actually ever drive yourself?”
“In Martha’s Vineyard.”
He chuckles but doesn’t respond, and Worth gets in the back with Byron and me in the front. Leo, Bennett, and Fisher are in the second car.
A member of staff hands Byron the key. “The road is closed at Beth and Mike’s place because of the crane. You’ll need to take the long route.”
“What a pain,” spits Byron. “It’s our crane, but it’s a pain in the ass to go the back route past Wilde’s Farm. Are you sure you want to go to the diner?”
“I don’t care,” I say.
“Let’s just stick to the plan,” Worth says from the back. “A few back roads might be nice. It can get us into the Star Falls mindset.”
Byron pulls off the main road a couple of miles outside the grounds of the Club.
