Page 16 of Making a Mountain Man (Summer in the Pines #16)

Wesley

I had promised myself that I would only go into town if I was bleeding to death.

That only lasted a few minutes after I woke up.

Begrudgingly, I headed to the closest gas station and bought a copy of the Sunday paper.

I hadn’t intended to get my hopes up, but seeing Jill’s name on the front page under the title The Harms of Cancel Culture Hit Home my heart did a little flip.

I threw the paper on the passenger seat of my truck and forced myself to drive all the way home before I started to read.

I scanned through the background information she provided about memes, the internet, infamy and bullying before my eyes landed on my name and my mouth went dry.

The world decided he was guilty, but even if he was, did the punishment fit the crime? Isn’t a life sentence a little steep for a bad picture?

I scanned the rest of the article right through to the end then started it over again.

It was a great article with lots of thought provoking information and statistics.

The article would have stood up well without using me as an example, but dropping my secret would hopefully insulate me from future negative stories.

If it worked that is.

Just as I was contemplating this little beam of hope, there was a knock at my door.

I answered it on autopilot, knowing who it was and why she was here.

“Ready to go?” she asked, gesturing towards her SUV. We hadn’t made plans for the day, but I knew what she meant. Nodding, I grabbed my wallet and keys and headed down the driveway.

We drove towards town in silence. I wasn’t used to being a passenger and I took advantage of the opportunity to stare out the window.

The forest on Strawberry Hill was thick and tall.

Wildfires raged through many areas of British Columbia each summer without fail, but this mountain side had been spared so far.

As we got closer to town the trees thinned and the road smoothed out.

Finally, she pulled her SUV into a parking spot in the middle of downtown Springwood. The squat brick buildings and leafy trees that lined the sidewalks were all as familiar as the back of my hand. I hoped I still felt that way after testing the waters on how Jill’s article was received.

Jill materialized outside my door and I stepped out to meet her.

She held her hand out to me and I took it, letting her lead me down the sidewalk.

Our first stop was Oh, Beans!, a coffee shop owned by my boss Nick’s wife, Charlotte.

Charlotte was a tall, curvy woman with a big smile and a personality to match.

I had met her a few times when she came to one of the work sites. She smiled when she saw me now.

“Hey, Wesley. Hi, Jill. I read your article this morning. I’m sorry you went through all that. I hope you know Springwood is behind you. It takes more than one goof up for us to turn our backs on our own.”

“Uh, thanks,” I said awkwardly. Jill ordered us coffee and muffins and we continued our walk down the block.

We went to the library and a few little shops before making our way back to Jill’s SUV.

I opened the door and heat poured out of the interior.

We both stood with the doors open, waiting for the worst of it to dissipate.

She watched me over the top of her vehicle.

She hadn’t said much on our walk, letting the locals speak for her.

“So, what do you think?” she finally asked.

I cleared my throat and got into the passenger seat, fiddling with the scalding hot metal of the seat belt while I considered my answer.

The majority of people hadn’t treated me any differently.

A polite smile or no reaction at all. Those who did say something about the article only had good things to say.

They expressed support and a little pity.

But hell, I would take pity over hostility any day.

Jill cranked the engine and turned the AC to high. “So?”

“It was only one article and it’s only been a few hours since it came out.”

She pulled her lower lip into her mouth and stress lines appeared around her eyes. “I hope there is a but in there somewhere.”

A smile spread across my lips. Not a big one, not one full of abandon but hey, there was some hope in there somewhere. “But, I think you pulled it off.”

She leaned over the center console and gripped my jaw, pulling me into a kiss so full of promise that a moan escaped my lips.

When she finally pulled away, she threw the car into drive and pulled into traffic, getting us back to my cabin in record time.

Before the door was even shut behind us we were shedding clothes, socks, shoes and shirts disappearing before we were through the bedroom door.

Last time we’d had sex I’d taken my time, memorizing every pore of her skin and every sound that came from her lips.

I’d wanted to take my time in case I never got another chance, but now I knew I would.

When my name had been dragged through the mud the first time, I had turned and fled.

Running back to a place that was familiar to me but where I wasn’t familiar to anyone else.

Not as the s uck my cock guy anyway. It hadn’t occurred to me before to ride it out, to trust the people that I knew to support me through the shit storm my life became.

Maybe it was because I didn’t have the kind of support then that I had now.

Or maybe it was because this place, Springwood and Jill’s arms, were where I belonged.

It just took a whole hell of a shove to get me back here.

After we had both come, we lay together on my bed.

It was hot as fuck in the house and sex hadn’t exactly helped the matter so the only place we touched was by holding hands.

She turned to me, her cheeks pink and her eyes soft.

“I am truly sorry for not telling you about the article, Wesley. I hope I made it up to you.”

I leaned over and kissed her, soft and slow, her taste already as familiar to me as my favorite beer. “I know and I do. I have a question for you, though.”

She pushed herself up on one elbow, her face growing somber. “What is it?”

“Can I take you out on a date? A real one, I mean.” I avoided eye contact while I stumbled out the words.

“We knew each other so well as kids, then we were apart for a long time. I didn’t want to put a label on things when I wasn’t sure where life would take me.

Now though. Even if a story does come out and some people don’t take well to it, I know I have you and my crazy group of senior supporters.

I want to take you out on a first date. I want to start over with a solid foundation.

Actually live life rather than hide from it, you know? ”

She leaned in and kissed me again, before leaning her forehead against mine. I was a sweaty mess from the heat, the sex and now from my admission about how I saw the future going. She didn’t seem to care. “I would love to start over with you.”