Page 88 of Hollow Valley
Soon, my focus shifted from simply getting through each day to considering what might come next, and thoughts of leaving started to surface more often.
“So what do you think, doc?”I asked Jordy one evening, after he’d taken off my sling to have a look at my progress.
I was sitting on his bed, in flannel pants and a tank top, and he was beside me, gingerly touching my shoulder and moving my arm.
He lifted his gaze from my collarbone with a teasing spark in his pale hazel eyes, but he admonished me, “You know I hate when you call me ‘doc.’”
“I’ll stop calling you ‘doc’ when you stop treating me like a patient,” I countered.
“Is that your way of trying to manipulate me into giving you a clean bill of health even when I think that’s not the caseyet?”
“Come on.Like you aren’t ready to get me out of your hair,” I replied.
“You know me better than that.”His hand on my shoulder, which moments ago had felt insignificant, suddenly seemed warm and heavy, his skin rough from scars and the harsh winter.
I looked away from him, and he dropped his hand, resting it on his leg as he sat back beside me.
“I only meant that I’m healing up, and the spring thaw is coming.It’ll be time for me to go soon,” I reasoned.
“It’s only March.The snow on the pass west of Xwechtáal is likely too deep for a mule to safely travel, and you still can’t lift much of anything,” Jordy disagreed.“I can’t stop you from doing what you want, but you have to realize that is so reckless.”
“I do, which is why I didn’t meannow,” I clarified.“I was thinking… four weeks.Mid-April.”
“The pass will be better then, and you should be able to do a lot more then.”He considered a moment, rubbing his hand on his thigh, and his brow furrowed.“It does depend on how well you’re healing up, but it doesn’t sound impossible.”He hesitated, then looked uncertainly over to me.“Unless you wouldn’t mind waiting until May.”
“Why would I do that?”I asked.
“Because that’s when I go to Glacier Valley.”
“What?”I asked in surprise.“Why do you go there?And why does it have to be in May?”
“First off, it is safer travelling then,” he elaborated.“But mostly it’s because I need to wait until my ingredients become available.I go to Glacier Valley twice a year, basically bookending summer trading with them.I give them medicine, and they give me supplies for Xwechtáal.But it isn’t untilafterthe spring thaw that necessary materials for some concoctions are harvestable.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”I asked.“You knew I was going to Glacier Valley.”
“No, I knew you had planned on going there before you ended up here,” he corrected me.“I wasn’t sure if you were still planning to go or not.And, I guess, I wasn’t sure that I’d want to travel that long with you.”
I laughed at his surprisingly relatable honesty.“And now you are sure that it wouldn’t be so bad?”
“I have enjoyed having you around the past few months.It made the winter a lot more bearable.”
I wouldn’t lie and say I hadn’t noticed the way things had been subtly changing between us.We spent our long evenings together, talking, playing cards, and reading by candlelight.Our conversations had shifted, with playful teasing and warm familiarity.
Sometimes, I felt his gaze or his hands linger on me.But if I was being honest, sometimes I leaned into his touch or teased him to see that glint in his eyes.
It wasn’t unreasonable, or even unexpected, really.For the better part of the past three months, it had only been the two of us.He did spend time away from the house, helping people around town, or sometimes going hunting.But otherwise, it was only us all evening, until we parted at bedtime.
After I left Boden, I had planned on the romantic part of my life to be closed forever.If I couldn’t make it work with him, I couldn’t make it work with anybody.And I still loved him, as I knew I always would.
That was why I’d been ignoring the growing flutter in my stomach when Jordy was around, or how much I looked forward to seeing him every evening.
Maybe I had a crush on him, and I didn’t know why it felt so uncomfortable to admit.Of course I was attracted to him.He was a handsome young man, with eyes the color of the snowy mountains behind us, and he’d been attending to my every want or need for weeks.Not to mention that he was strong, and his rough hands always felt so warm and reassuring on my skin.
My mouth went dry, and I looked away from him because I had the overwhelming urge to cry or kiss him.I wasn’t even sure which one was more likely, but I didn’t want to do either.
“I’ve enjoyed your company, too,” I admitted.“But you know when I go to Glacier Valley, I won’t be coming back to Xwechtáal with you.”
“I do know that.I may not know exactly what your mission is, but it’s been clear to me since I met you that you are on one, and you are not easily deterred.”