I'm thrilled that she's already comfortable enough to give me another lighthearted smack on the arm. Once the blanket is in place and we're sitting close together, enjoying our sandwiches, she asks, "What kind of work did you do before you came back here to be a lumberjack?"
"I ran a contracting business. At first I was doing most of the work myself, but it snowballed, and soon I was writing quotes and coordinating my team all day instead of swinging a hammer."
"It's funny," she says thoughtfully. "You're so at home here in Oakton. Especially here, surrounded by the trees. It's so odd that you left in the first place."
I nod, collecting our sandwich wrappers and rolling them into a tiny ball and dropping them into the paper bag. "We knew Dad wanted to retire early. He didn't tell us why. We figure he knew he wasn't long for this world, and wanted to spend as much time as possible at home with Mom."
Bridget's hand slowly massages my lower back, silently urging me to continue. "So we all decided that we'd pursue careers in larger cities to give them that time together. Corbin went into security. He started around here with the Barrow Agency, since his buddy Jackson worked there. Then he ended up in Kingsville, working for a couple of different companies."
"That's where you lived?"
"I apprenticed in Brentford first, then moved to Kingsville to start my own company. We already knew that Ansel was a software genius, so he ended up in Silicon Valley for a while. Braden was always really good with accounting and money."
"And you were the…builder guy?"
"Exactly." Smiling, I realize I have no secrets to keep from Bridget at all. "We decided early on that each of us would send twenty percent of our income to Braden to invest in the family fortune, so to speak. Now we can mostly live off our investments, and can take care of Mom forever."
"Yet you've all decided to be lumberjacks?"
"We love this land." Lying back, I guide Bridget down so she can use my chest as a pillow. "We used to camp here every summer. Go on endless hikes. It was like having our own personal corner of the world, which is just as magical at twenty-nine as it is at seven."
"I like that your grandpa settled here and the family is parked forever."
"My great-great grandpa, actually. But my grandpa Dashiell bought up the forest, and really planted roots in the community."
Her fingers trail over my heart. "Dashiell…I like Dash better. Ialsolike that you're maintaining the forest, not chopping it all down."
"Yeah." My heavy sigh shakes her slightly, making Bridget laugh. "My idiot Uncle Lloyd keeps arguing that if we want the forest to be profitable, it should be given to him to deal with, so that the land isproperly utilized."
She makes a soft growling noise. "That's bullshit."
I laugh at her unexpected outburst. "You're right. It's total bullshit. But Lloyd has somehow made some interesting political friends, and thinks his opinion matters."
Bridget's hand slowly circles my chest right over my heart. "He comes into the café now and then. Grumpy weirdo. Haven't seen him lately, thank goodness."
I'm impressed that she doesn't pull any punches. Doesn't bother attempting to be polite. I've been with girls who only spoke after analyzing what they thought I wanted them to say.Bridget, though, tells it like it is. Not in a crass unfiltered way, she's just honest.
"For now, we're still analyzing the value of the trees, and figuring everything out. The variety here is incredible, especially down by the pond."
Bridget's knee caresses mine gently as she snuggles against my shoulder. Then her head snaps up and she blinks, staring at me. "You wouldn't happen to have any swamp ash trees, would you?"
"I'm pretty sure we do, yeah. Why?"
She props herself up on an elbow, bright eyes sparkling. "Swamp ash is incredibly valuable. Apparently it produces the best guitar tone. So old growth swamp ash is a hot commodity."
"Really? Cool." Pulling out my phone, I send a quick text to Braden and myself so I'll remember to look that up. Then I read a few more messages. "Crap. Corbin just varnished all of the floors and trim in his new house, and doesn't want to breathe in the fumes for the next few days. So he is staying with me for a bit."
"Is that bad?"
"Not really. He's a perfect roommate, to be honest. Super clean and quiet. It just means that I don't have anywhere to take you if we want to be alone."
Her head dips, hair passing across her face like a shadow. "We're alone now."
We both sit up straight at the same time, arms wrapping around each other. "Bridget, how old are you?"
"I'll be twenty next month."
"Do you care that I'm nearly thirty?"
