“Always wanted to learn how to fix a hot tub. Bucket list.”
My two hosts share a look in the front seat.
Pretty sure at least one of them doesn’t believe me. Possibly both of them.
“I won’t buy her a new one if I can’t fix it unless I get some indication she’d like it. And then I’ll ask you to buy it and I’ll pay you back so it doesn’t look like it was me.”
They share another look.
“Also, does her ex stop by often?”
Theo takes a curve too hard. “What?”
“Chandler. Her ex. He showed up at her house on Sunday.”
Grey turns all the way around and looks at me but doesn’t say anything.
“He recognize you?” Theo’s voice has gone flat.
“Didn’t seem to,” I reply evenly. “Emma thinks it’s unlikely he would.”
“What did he want?” Grey asks.
“Her.”
And there’s one more look between my hosts.
“You know those times when you’re ready to grab a shovel and a trusted friend but you know it’ll piss off the one person whose opinion matters more than your gut instinct?” I ask.
Theo grunts.
Grey grimaces.
Theo grunts again.
“Yeah,” I say. “Exactly that.”
“You the type to do it yourself?” Theo asks.
“This time, I am.”
They both look at me, and then we lapse into silence.
But not for long.
“And we’re here,” Theo says, pulling onto a dirt drive that quickly becomes one lane with several switchbacks. The elevation’s a little higher than Snaggletooth Creek. Trees a little denser. Views unstoppable when we reach our destination in a clearing.
Grey steps out of the front seat, stretches, and stares out toward the jagged mountain peaks and fluffy white cloudsfloating in the brilliant blue sky. “Sabrina’s right. Never gets old.”
Theo heads straight for the back of the truck and pops the tailgate. “Look later, lollygagger. Time to set up camp.”
Emma prepped me a little for this. Told me Theo owns some land deeper in the mountains that he and Laney sometimes disappear to. “It’s very private,” she told me. “You can’t really find it by accident.”
Theo shoves a large pack at me. “If you can’t set up a tent, you’re sleeping under the stars.”
“Sounds pretty.”
“Until the bears wander in.”
