“Honestly? Kind of an understatement. No offense, but you majorly needed to get out of town. You were in a dark and lonely place there, JJ.”
“Wyoming is an acquired taste.”
“I’m talking emotionally. Because of your cheating ex dumping you for that meat gigolo.”
“Ah.” A strange type of intimacy developed when you nearly died with someone yet had also known them less than a week. Hildy knew things Jefferson would never have shared under ordinary circumstances, but there were Swiss-cheese-style gaps in their awareness of each other’s pasts. Which was probably why she brought up his breakup so often. Jefferson generally preferred to downplay that chapter of his existence—to the point of total silence.
Though he didn’t hate the idea of Genevieve hearing about the happenings of the last week, or finding out where he was now. How was that for trying new things? Putting himself out there? Caring more about people than his “precious animals”?
Hildy nudged him with her shoulder. “Don’t man-panic. I’m not going to make you talk about your feelings.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m glad I could repay the favor. You saved my life, and I’m helping you get a life.” She raised and lowered her cupped palms. “We’re balancing the scales.”
Jefferson refrained from telling her that he would have left town on his own soon enough. Two days after getting back from this little adventure, he’d be on a plane to Alaska, where he’d signed on to take pictures for an environmental watchdog group. But he didn’t want to rain on Hildy’s parade, and she probably wouldn’t think three weeks off the grid in the arctic wilderness counted as a change of pace. Besides, she wasn’t wrong. He’d been stagnant too long. It was past time for a spring thaw.
He turned his attention back to the passing scenery. There were still patches of undeveloped land on this side of the island, instead of hotels and condos crammed together like the slats of a wooden fence. Tourism was a presence, in the scattered T-shirt stands and souvenir shops, but you could tell real people lived here, too. They passed a school and a small white church, a hardware store and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that clearly catered to locals.
“There’s a resort behind those trees.” Hildy pointed at a winding road that disappeared over a suspiciously manicured rise. “My uncle stayed there on his honeymoon. One of his honeymoons,” she amended. “Amazing private beach.”
What could be worse than sharing sand with people who hadn’t paid through the nose for that privilege?
“I’m glad we’re going to have an authentic island experience. One of the best things about Lillibet is how real and grounded she manages to stay in the midst of so much privilege.”
Of all Hildy’s claims regarding Lillibet—that you could tell she was hotbecauseshe never posted pictures of her face, that she had the ideal marriage, that she made all those meals herself—this was possibly the most far-fetched. Jefferson suspected Lillibet would turn out to be as “real” as the nonsense that had been printed about him.
“Does she know you want to recruit her?”
“It was pretty strongly implied.” She smoothed her lip gloss with the tip of a pinkie, a nervous gesture at odds with her confident tone.
“How’s that going to work with her perfect life out here harvesting her own salt?”
“First off, she doesn’t do everything herself. Lillibet is all about supporting local artisans. Yes, she makes her own cheese, but that’s because of the goats. And second, if anyone can balance career and private life, it’s Lillibet.”
Jefferson grunted.
“Use your words, Grizzly Adams.”
“Seems like poisoning the well.”
She fanned her lashes at him. “I don’t speak rural.”
“What if it changes her? Different life, different person.”
“People evolve. It’s called progress. Just because you’ve had the same haircut since second grade doesn’t mean change is bad.”
His hair was actually a bit longer than the buzz cut he’d sported in those days, mostly because he hadn’t had time for a trim in the rush of their departure. Or at least it had seemed frantic to Jefferson, especially after the emptiness of the past few months. Getting a temporary phone so reporters would stop hassling him, letting his sister know he was leaving town,turning down the heat in his half-furnished apartment… the list was depressingly short, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should get a plant. He pictured a runt of a cactus, sitting on a lonely shelf in a plain little pot.
“I think this trip is a chance for all of us to embrace the new.” She wrapped one of her curls around a finger before smoothing it back into place. “You, me,andLillibet.”
“Like when tourists come back from Santa Fe with a suitcase full of turquoise jewelry?”
“Or maybe it’s like a bunch of forward thinkers gathering on the slopes at Davos before saving the world over drinks at the lodge.” The corner of her mouth twitched. “Okay, fine, it’s not on that level.”
At least she had a sense of humor about her delusions of grandeur.
“But we are at a crossroads. Major potential energy. Remember what you told me about starting a fire in the woods?”
