Page 5

"Wise. How long are you staying?"

"For as short a time as possible." I didn't miss the way Travis flinched. "I just can't, man." Travis was one of the few who knew the truth. The real truth.

He tossed me a ring of keys. "Mack says the barn apartment is ready for you and to stop by the office sooner than later. She has some instructions on account of the main house being rented out for the summer."

Mackenzie Howard now ran her family's cabin rental business. They had properties all throughout the area and when I came home they usually let me bunk at one of the empty ones in return for some light handyman work. Staying at my parent's house was out of the question if I wanted to keep my sanity intact.

And also so I didn't do something I would regret. Again.

"The whole summer?" That was unusual.

"Yep. Starts today and goes through October or something. Joanne is convinced it's a celebrity using a fake name."

"Joanne's working with Mack now, right?" I didn't try to keep up with all the goings on in town. My family forced it upon me against my will.

"Yep. They're like a dynamic duo with Mack doing the advertising and like, logistical stuff, while Joanne keeps things running." Not unlike Travis's role at ODX. It was Red's company, but as he got older, it was Travis that kept it running. "So the workshop apartment isn't near the house, but you won't be alone on the property. And if it turns out to be some big-name celebrity, just know Joanne will not sleep, or letmesleep, until you've brought her the gossip. And maybe pictures."

Unlike me, Travis adored his little sister, loved our hometown, and was perfectly content with his life.

"I am not taking pictures of anyone. That's weird."

"Joanne gets weird about celebrities sometimes. She always calms down though. It's why I never tell her when we get one at ODX until they are gone."

Travis worked for Outdoor Experiences of Lost Creek doing all things adventurous. He was basically me but stayed in one place. "I'll drop my shit and then stop by the office to get details." The place they gave me was an apartment over a workshop and garage. It was part of a giant property Mack's dad bought before he died. His original plan was to make it the family homestead. Then he changed his mind and started planning to build several new cabins our friend Digger would construct. Mack was having trouble deciding what to do with it now that it was her problem to deal with.

I knew the property well and remembered when the previous owner built the cabin and workshop. If memory served, they were at the same elevation but on different sides of the mountain. The guest and I would never see each other.

It was also secluded enough that my siblings wouldn't just show up and get in my space, which made it pretty perfect.

"How's Karis doing?" Travis asked.

Travis and I both treated our siblings all the same. His sisters were my sisters, and my brothers and sisters were his, even the ones we didn't like. So it was totally natural to fill him in on what brought me home. "She needs help first and foremost. Once she gets her feet under her...we'll see. It's a good thing that fucker is far, far away."

"He's lucky I didn't kill him," Travis said so low I could barely hear it. "I was leading a retreat."

ODX had a private camping ground and trails where groups could book experiences to hike and spend a few days camping away from modern life. He was on day one of a three-day retreat when Karis found her husband with another woman. Until then I hadn't liked or disliked Julien. We got along but the connection was never deep, which irritated me because Karis and I were so close. "I was a little surprised he turned out to be such a coward." He was packed and out the door in a matter of hours, leaving my sister and their eighteen-month-old son behind.

"Fucking loser. What kind of man abandons his child?"

I slid my arm along the back of the booth and stared out the window wondering what haunted Marley. She said it was work, but I got the feeling it was more than that. Did a man hurt her like Julien hurt Karis? "Honestly, if this is who he is, I'd rather he be out of their lives now because it was inevitable."

Travis grunted. "Well, it's a shit reason for coming home, but I'm glad to have you back."

"It'll be good to see everyone." I missed my old friends. In another life I'd have stayed in Lost Creek, and we'd still have our weekly poker nights, afternoon trips down the river, and monthly hikes. I still did all that, but in a different place with different people. It wasn't the same.

"Scottie is expecting us at the bar tonight."

Travis let me get away with being the shitty friend, but Scottie never did. He was blunt and I appreciated it. So I would go and take my lumps and get it out of the way. "Duly noted."

"You know he's with Mack now, right?"

The couple everyone saw coming from a mile away? "You think my sisters would let gossip like that go?" I got ten texts in a matter of moments when the town first found out they were an item. "I know more about Scottie's love life than I ever wanted to, but I'm glad those two idiots finally figured it out."

"It's pretty cool, except now they go on hikes together and Scottie keeps backing out on us. So be prepared to fill his shoes."

"I'm prepared for a lot of things. I haven't been home for this long since I left. It will be a feeding frenzy."

"Damn straight. It's all anyone can talk about, which is good because it's taken the heat off Karis, who doesn't deserve the tongue wagging."