“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, kid.”
My son smiled like I’d just handed him the key to a free toy store.He threw me a thumb’s up, and AJ and I waved as they disappeared around the bend.
Turning toward her, I asked, “Can I show you somethin’?”
“Sure, as long as you promise my fish will still be alive when we’re done, or else I’ll release them back into the lake now.”
“You know we’re eatin’ those fish tonight, right?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean they have to suffer before their deaths.”
I didn’t mention how the hook holes through their mouths probably wasn’t a pleasant sensation.She refused to touch the fish, so I had to unhook all five.
“They’ll be fine, baby girl.Promise.”
She set her bucket on the ground in a nice little pocket of shade under a poplar tree.I unhooked Stu’s catch and added them to the count, along with mine and Bax’s, and we walked south around the far side of the lake and up a narrow road that had been recently carved into the earth by my brothers’ tires.Rye had cleared the vegetation with his tractor, and Brand ordered gravel to be laid, but it hadn’t arrived yet.
Sunshine peeked in and out of the lodgepole pines and quaking Aspens along the road, playing hide and seek with their boughs and branches.The air was crisp, and a perfect end-of-fall breeze rustled around us.AJ huddled into her hoodie, looking up at the dwindling leaves still left on a cottonwood.They shimmered in the light and covered us with a warm orange glow.
“Where we goin’?”she asked, and she studied my face as I answered.
“Somewhere special.At least, I hope it will be.”
She was quiet for a minute, but then she said softly, “You’re so handsome.I look at you, at the man you are now, and I feel peace.”
Compliments weren’t something I had quite gotten used to hearing yet.“Yeah well, you need glasses.Gran said it the other day.”
“I do not.Just accept the compliment, Dixon, because it’s true.”
“I will,” I said, standing still and pulling her close for a kiss, “because it came from you.”
“Good.”
“Good, now that’s settled, last one there’s a rotten egg!”
I took off and AJ followed me up the last rise of the hill, like we were five again, dancing and dashing in the forest.Her glittering laugh behind me filled me so full, I had to stop to catch my breath.She raced ahead of me but skidded on the soles of her tennis shoes when she saw the cabin.
“Whatcha think?”I said when I caught up.
“I don’t remember this one.Is it new?”
Slinging my arm over her shoulders, I said, “Yeah.Brand and I just finished it.The credit goes to him though, because he’s been workin’ on it for a year when he had the time.He built it for us.”
“But we weren’t even together a year ago.”
“It started out as a place for me in case I ever came home,” I said, “but once I got here and he showed me, I knew it was meant for you too.”
“You don’t mean you wannalivehere?”
“No,” I said, chuckling.“It’s not big enough for all your clothes.And I know you like to be near your mama and gran, but this can be a getaway for us.A place to chill and reset.
“I was thinkin’ I could use it as, like, a writin’ retreat or somethin’.I spent so much time alone in a cabin, and sometimes I miss the silence.”
She looked at me, her hazel eyes darkening and reacting to the blue sky above and all the fall colors wrapped around us out here in the wood.A raven squawked nearby, announcing his displeasure and letting us know he didn’t approve of our presence in his territory.
“You do?”
“Yeah,” I said.“Sometimes.”
