“Thanks. I’ll do that!” I responded as I hurried down the trail, mortified that I’d tried to flirt with the man.
I was used to dating men who felt most comfortable in a suit. This man didn’t look like he evenowneda suit. And somehow, in this moment, that was absolutely tantalizing.
I’d never been with a blue-collar kind of guy before.
My dating history included career professionals more concerned about climbing the corporate ladder than getting their hands hot and dirty on a piece of wood.
Mm. Something was wrong with me, because I wanted to run back to him and talk him into making love to me right there on the forest floor.
Don’t look back.
Don’t do it.
But I couldn’t help myself. I turned my head over my shoulder for one quick glance.
He was literally staring at my butt and licking his lips like some kind of feral mountain beast, his eyes on fire for me.
I let out a girlish giggle I hadn’t heard come out of my mouth in over twenty years. “I’m Leah, by the way. Nice to meet you!”
He grunted. “Welcome to Red Oak Mountain, Leah. Enjoy your trip.”
Then I continued my hike with an extra spring in my step. I’dneverhad a man look at me like that before.
My battered ego felt buoyed for the first time in a long while, even if the hottie hadn’t bothered to tell me his name.
I hiked for another twenty minutes, listening to the sound of his chainsaw the whole way down. Eventually the noise of it faded away, and I found myself in the most beautiful place in the world.
So this is Spring Hollow.
Coop, the boy from the Whispering Ridge Cabins where I was staying, had recommended this hike when I asked him what I should see around here. His dad, Forest, had tried to talk me out of it, saying it was a tough hike best done with a seasoned guide.
But I had a bad habit of digging my heels in when someone told me I shouldn’t do something. It just made me want to do it more.
Maybe Forest had been right. The hike had been more than I expected. I’d be sore tomorrow morning, but it would be worth it.
The spring in the hollow at the base of the mountain was everything Coop had promised: crystal clear and impossibly blue, surrounded by moss-covered rocks and the kind of silence that felt sacred.
I sat on a boulder and pulled out the ruby ring my ex had given me for Christmas on our first year together, watching it catch the fading light.
Goodbye, Colin. I didn’t love you either.
Then I threw it into the water and watched it sink. I sat there for a long time, contemplating my life.
This vacation felt like the only good decision I’d made in a long time.
I’d chased money and gotten it. But the thrill had worn off.
I was only thirty-four, but I had a fully stocked retirement account, a paid-off condo in Boston, and enough stress that my doctor said it would kill me if I didn’t make a change soon.
She’d put me on blood pressure medication the last time I’d gone to see her and told me that I needed to take this seriously. Reducing my salt intake wouldn’t be enough.
The spring was beautiful, but it didn’t contain the answers to my life.
Unless the answer was to quit my job and move somewhere like this. Despite the storm damage, Red Oak Mountain wasbeautiful.
And it seemed to operate at a slower pace than the rest of the world.
A pace I wanted to get to know.
