Chapter 3
Steph
The high school gym buzzed with excitement, voices echoing off the walls. Folding tables lined the perimeter, piled with boots and soft gear, while circular ski racks stood in the center of the room.
Steph scanned the crowd for a table advertising a local ski hill and smiled when she spotted the freestanding blue canopy with Wild Bill Hill etched in white letters. She made her way to the table, saying hello to people she knew along the way.
She reached the display, standing back to allow the conversation in process to continue. After a few minutes, the couple at the table moved on.
“Hey, Steph,” the young man behind the table said.
“Hey, Toby. Looks like it’s been busy.” She gestured around the room.
“Yeah. There was a line at opening. Lots of excitement this year.” Toby pointed to a folder on the table. “I’ve already sold seven season passes.”
“Great, that’s great!”
“We’ve had people ask about the outdoor leadership program too.” He tapped another folder for a program Toby was part of at the college. “It was a good idea to add that info.”
From behind her, someone asked, “You teach that program, right?”
Steph turned to the newcomer, and her smile quickly faded.
Jack Swisher stood a few feet back, hands in his jacket pockets, an easy grin tugging at his mouth. His hair fell across his forehead, falling just enough to brush his eyes. For a split second, she had the ridiculous urge to smooth it back.
“You’re a professor at the college, right? You teach all the outdoor stuff?”
Her eyes narrowed. He knew she worked at the college since he’d called her there before, but somehow his knowing exactly what she taught felt like a violation.
Like he had researched her to learn all he could about her.
Part of her thought that was smart, even impressive.
It was good to know about the competition.
She’d done the same with him, though the research was easy with all the hoopla over him.
Another part of her wanted to snap, Seriously? You had to dig through my life before you crushed my dreams? She hid her irritation behind a carefully neutral expression.
“I oversee it, though we have several instructors teaching different courses.”
“Right.” He stepped up beside her, and she caught a trace of cologne—warm, woodsy, distracting. He picked up a sticker off the table that advertised the ski hill. “Looks like an interesting program. Smart to work in conjunction with the resort.”
“It’s a great program,” Toby said. “Great way to learn to run a ski area.”
Steph smiled her thanks at Toby and stepped toward the next table. Jack followed, which she noted but didn’t acknowledge.
“Looking for anything specific?” he asked.
“A sled.”
“For The Frozen Divide?”
He knew about that, too?
She glanced at him. “Maybe.”
He nodded like this was useful information, proving her suspicion that he knew more about her than he should.
She’d wondered since Monday, when he yanked her off the street, exactly why he was there and what he was doing in Irma.
He needed to stay in Elkridge, where he belonged, and leave her town alone.
“There’s one near the back,” he said. “By the snowshoes. Looked like it was in decent shape.”
“Thank you.” She turned toward the back wall.
He fell into step beside her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She did her best to ignore him.
The sled was where he said it would be. Basic utility. Nothing fancy, but solid and appeared to be barely used. She knelt to examine it.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Jack asked, crouching beside her.
She stood and checked the price—more than she wanted to spend. Besides, she didn’t really need it. It wasn’t like she didn’t already have a variety of sleds.
“I’ll think about it.”
He stood, too, and for a moment, they were closer than the space required. She took a half step back and looked across the gym, more to have somewhere to look than for any reason.
That’s when she saw them.
He came through the main doors with his wife beside him. They were laughing about something, his hand on the small of her back, and Steph had about three seconds to arrange her face before he spotted her.
“Steph!” Chris Hepner came toward her with his usual confidence. His wife came with him, smiling.
“Great,” she muttered, a smile still in place.
Bethany reached Steph first and pulled her into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You too,” Steph echoed.
Chris’s hug was next, only slightly awkward. “Thought we might see you here. Find any good deals?”
“I haven’t really looked.” She watched as Chris’s gaze drifted toward Jack. Steph cleared her throat. “Um, do you know Jack Swisher?”
“Oh!” Bethany’s tone didn’t hide her excitement. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you.” She offered her hand. “Chris’s dad was just telling us about your plans. He said you’ve started pulling a lot of permits already.”
Jack shook hands with Bethany and then Chris, smiling and nodding.
Steph watched the exchange, wondering why Chris’s dad, the county sheriff, was aware of permits being pulled for a run that would take place on mainly federal lands.
Not to mention, it seemed terribly early to be pulling permits for an event that wouldn’t take place until the end of August.
They exchanged a few minutes of small talk, Bethany asking how Jack was settling into Basin County, especially in Elkridge. Chris stayed a bit more reserved, his eyes flicking toward Steph with a faint raise of his eyebrows. Steph looked away.
Bethany laughed when Jack suggested she might want to tackle one of the Elkridge Endurance distances.
“We’re going to have a variety of options,” Jack said. “From half marathon up to a hundred miler.” He glanced at Steph.
She rolled her eyes. If he thought she was going to do his run, he was sadly mistaken.
“I’m not a runner,” Bethany said. “Chris used to run with Steph sometimes, but I’ve never really done it. Besides . . . ” Her hand went to her stomach. “I’m going to be too busy next summer to even think about doing something like that.”
Chris’s arm went around Bethany’s shoulders while his eyes stayed on Steph. “We’re expecting. Due at the end of March.”
“That’s wonderful,” Steph said. She meant it—really, she did. “Congratulations to you both.” Okay, keep it steady. Be happy. You mean it.
Steph had known for a long time that Chris wasn’t right for her. She had ended it, not him. They dated for years and even announced their engagement. She wanted it to work and needed it to work for her long-term plans and her future.
But Chris wasn’t the one. As great as he was, she always felt like he wanted her to be someone else. Someone without the drive she had, someone content with a more routine life. She had tried. She really had. But eventually, she got tired of apologizing for who she was.
That was when Steph realized she couldn’t stay with Chris. She certainly couldn’t have married him and been the wife he expected her to be. Deep down, she knew he knew it too. He and Bethany fit together in a way she and Chris never had.
Now the hurt was real. Not that he and Bethany were happily married, but that in just a few months they would have a baby, and Steph’s biological clock would still be ticking.
She kept her smile in place as she wrapped Bethany in a hug.
When she stepped away, she gave Chris a smile. “I bet your dad and mom are over the moon.”
“You know they are. Mom’s already put a list together of things we need.”
“It’s been fun,” Bethany said. “Especially now that I’m feeling better. And look.” She turned to the side and lifted her winter jacket, showing off the tiny roundness of her stomach.
Steph ignored the burning in her nose and the way her eyes threatened to fill.
Happy tears. Happy tears, she told herself.
“You know,” Bethany said, “I’m not a runner, but Chloe might be interested.”
“Chloe’s not a runner either.” Chris shook his head.
Bethany shrugged. “She might be now. She told me she’s been working on getting in shape. Living abroad hasn’t quite worked out for her waistline the way she anticipated.” She turned to Steph. “She’s coming home next month.”
“She is?” Steph’s smile was genuine. “For a visit?”
Bethany shook her head as she took Chris’s arm. “For good. That’s what she says, at least. You know Chloe.”
Steph nodded. She did know Chloe. Chris’s younger sister had a serious case of wanderlust. She managed to keep it under control long enough to graduate from college five years earlier, but a week later, she had her passport and a backpack and set off.
Chloe and Steph had stayed in touch even after her breakup with Chris, but she hadn’t heard about her coming home. It was good news for the family, and maybe Chloe was ready to settle down, though Steph couldn’t imagine her staying in Irma forever. Not everyone was cut out for small-town Wyoming.
“When will she be home?”
“Before Christmas. Probably only a day or two, but Meagan is still excited.”
Steph was sure of that. Meagan Hepner, Chris and Chloe’s mom, loved the holidays and having everyone together.
Chris shifted, tucking his thumbs into his belt in that way he had. “Hey, speaking of March, are you doing The Frozen Divide again this year?”
She glanced at Jack, who seemed to be completely enthralled by the conversation.
“Planning on it.”
“You have runs planned?”
“I’m always running, you know that.” She laughed.
“I know. But I mean the overnight trail runs. Solo.” His tone shifted just enough.
“There have been some poaching reports in the wilderness areas lately that came across my dad’s desk.
A task force is in the works. The Game and Fish, BLM, Forest Service, and Parks Department are all involved.
” Chris paused. “Adam Boverman is representing Basin County.”
Steph made a face, and Chris raised his hand. “I know Boverman made some mistakes, so does my dad, but he’s a good guy. Dedicated.”
“He’s a hothead,” Steph said, recalling the trouble Deputy Adam Boverman caused for her friend Brooke and Brooke’s boyfriend, Tyler. Especially Tyler.
“Yeah, well, he’s made his apologies, and Dad is giving him a second chance.”
“By putting him on an important task force.” Steph shook her head.
“They don’t even know for certain there really is a poaching operation . . . not something organized, anyway. We know there have been a few animals poached, but I don’t need to tell you that happens sometimes.”
“What will the task force do?” Jack asked. “And which wilderness area are they targeting?”
“The investigation is new,” Chris said. “But several areas. Different mountain ranges and even the park.”
Something in his tone suggested to Steph he knew more than he was saying.
“I have something planned for December,” she said. “And a couple in January and February.”
“Just be careful out there.” He said it simply, without drama, which made it land more seriously than if he’d made a production of it. “Let someone know your routes.”
“I always do.”
Chris nodded. “Maybe think about taking someone with you this time. Things aren’t the same in Irma lately. Best to be smart.”
Steph shrugged. She loved training with others, but eight hours in the cold and snow and dark wasn’t terribly appealing to even the hardiest of her running friends.
Bethany touched Chris’s arm and said something quietly. He smiled at Steph. “It’s been great to see you. You coming to Thanksgiving?”
“Um, maybe? Your mom invited me. I told her I’d let her know.”
“She’ll be disappointed if you don’t.” He gave her a wave as he put his hand on Bethany’s back and moved toward one of the snowboard racks.
Steph stayed where she was as she watched them stop and talk with someone.
“You okay?”
She’d almost forgotten Jack was still there.
“Fine.”
He didn’t push it. She appreciated that more than she wanted to.
“I’m going to get the sled.”
“Good choice.”
Steph went to find the seller and didn’t look back. She’d had enough for one day.