2. Caden
CHAPTER 2
Caden
I came home for all of the right reasons, but it’s been one of those days where I wonder why I ever moved back to Braggan Valley in the first place. It was only supposed to be temporary, yet here I am still working at the lodge three years on.
Stagnant .
I’m a trained Wildland Firefighter. I shouldn’t be stuck here, wasting my time doing shit like this. I should be over in BC, getting ready for another season out on the job, doing something that actually matters.
Fighting fires was my life for ten years. Throwing myself into danger gave me a certain thrill that I couldn’t seem to find anywhere else. I loved the chaos of it all, and I knew I was doing a good thing. I knew that one day I might be the person that would save someone from having to lose the places or the people that they love. I knew how important that was, and it kept me going, day in, day out.
But I gave it all up to come back here .
I had no intention of ever slowing down or dipping out early, I had a good few years left in me before I thought I’d be hanging up my boots. But when I got the call about Uncle Bill’s injury, I had no choice but to come home. Aunt Maura couldn’t look after everything here on her own – she’d already faced so much loss and hurt in her lifetime, I couldn’t let her lose the lodge too.
I hate to think how quickly this place would have run itself into the ground if I hadn’t stepped in. I wasn’t much of a numbers person back then, but I quickly learned how to stay on top of everything.
Orders, invoices, maintenance.
The lodge was the closest thing I had to a home, and I’d be damned if I let it fall to shit.
I did what had to be done, and now business is better than ever. We’ve got the funds to build five new cabins on the opposite side of the river, and people love coming back to Braggan Valley Lodge, year after year.
Yet, despite my best attempts to be a loving, doting nephew and save this place from ruin, Maura seems to have some sort of vendetta against me these days. When she’s not handing me a list of jobs the length of the province, she’s sending me out on activity trips with the most intolerable guests known to man. Usually, city slickers who’ve never stepped foot out of suburbia let alone into the backcountry, the ones who think they know everything or that the rules don’t apply to them.
They’re morons.
But unfortunately, they’re the same morons who keep the paychecks hitting my bank account each month. And Maura loves to remind me of that .
Today’s batch of certified annoyances were sent straight from the depths of hell – Bridezilla and her entourage of sixteen equally rotten bridesmaids.
They showed up at the front desk, brochures in hand, demanding to head out on a fishing trip. Of course, once we got out to the river, it quickly became apparent that they had no intention of catching anything other than a suntan. They took their obligatory photos in the gear, discarded their rods without mercy, and then spent the rest of the day lounging by the water – dressed in way less than might be considered acceptable for a family-friendly fishing spot.
I did contemplate getting in some fishing of my own, but that desire quickly died when I couldn’t work out a way to drown out the frenzied screeches of the bridal mob. Not without drowning them, and that might have been considered a tad too far. Even for me.
Instead, I spent the afternoon in the sweltering heat of the lodge minibus, willing time to go faster so I could cart the demons back to their cabins and finally have some peace.
I thought the day would never end.
Leaning back into my deck chair, I let the cool fizz of my beer roll down my throat, hoping it’ll do its job of taking away any lingering agitation from the day.
Doug nuzzles his head into my knee, as if he’s picking up on my mood and doing whatever he can to soothe it.
People are a fucking nightmare. But dogs? Best thing on earth – they just seem to get it.
I’m not ashamed to say that he’s the best friend I’ve ever had.
I found him abandoned on the side of the highway two years ago, limp and emaciated with thick mats throughout his coat, and raw, infected wounds around his nose. Every inch of life in his eyes had been stolen and replaced with the cold acceptance of his reality. As though he knew that he was loved once, but not anymore.
I bundled him up into my truck and took him to the nearest shelter, made sure the attendant had filled a bowl for him, and wrapped him in a blanket before I left. She promised to look after him and try to get those mats out of his coat once he was more at ease in his kennel.
I put my trust in her that the shelter would find him a good owner – someone who had the time to look after him, to give him the life he deserved.
But I quickly realized I couldn’t rely on trust alone, not when I couldn’t get his broken eyes out of my mind.
Within an hour, I was back in Aspen Ridge, bursting through the shelter doors and searching the kennels for him. They were closing up, but I begged the attendant to let me fill out the paperwork to take him home. I would have signed my life away, paid any amount of money to take him with me. I knew what it was like to be the one left behind, and I couldn’t with good conscience do that to him.
It’s been just us ever since, and I couldn’t imagine life without him now.
One man, and his dog.
Caden and Doug.
I give him a scratch between his ears before pulling a bone-shaped treat from my pocket, extending my palm, and asking him for a paw.
I don’t get the paw, but I give him the treat anyway.
I’ve heard you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and this guy is old as hell. Training him to be less of a lazy grump is probably out of the question at this point.
Movement catches the corner of my eye. Aunt Maura . She strides across the bridge over the creek towards the main house, sashaying her hips in that tell-tale way that suggests she’s up to something.
“Looks like our peace is about to be interrupted, Dougster,” I sigh, necking the rest of my beer.
“Caden, darling.” Maura slumps down in the chair to my left. “How was your day?”
I let the silence sit between us, my eyes closed in a fake slumber. This won’t work, but it’s worth a try.
“I know you’re awake.” She prods my shoulder. “You haven’t been able to sleep before midnight since you were a toddler and I need your help.”
Reluctantly, I open my eyes and turn to face her. “You sent me out with a gaggle of morons for the day. Is that not helpful enough?”
“They were lovely girls, darling. Most of them are single,” she smirks. I should have known she was trying to play cupid again, finding me a wife seems to have become her passion project since I moved back to Alberta. “At your age, you should be thankful I’m sending you out with pretty girls for the day. Time is ticking for you to find a nice lady, put a ring on a finger.”
“I’m thirty-three,” I point out.
“Exactly,” she jabs back.
I shake my head. I’m hardly at the age where I need to be stressing out about finding a wife. Hell, I’m not even sure I want one ever , let alone right now.
I’m quite happy getting my dick wet with no strings attached.
A wife sounds like something you might worry about losing, and I have no interest in growing attached to something that could easily be taken away in the blink of an eye.
“Looks like we’re in for a good sunset tonight.” I point towards the clouds as they move across the sky against the setting sun. Diverting the conversation away from the topic of my relationship status is easier than getting into a debate about why I’m better off alone.
I know she just longs for me to be happy, to have something like the love she found with Bill. But it’s not in the cards for me, and even if it was, I wouldn’t want it.
I’m not the relationship type, and she’d do well to accept that.
“What did you need help with?” I ask.
“Bill’s stuck in Jasper and I need you to run into town tomorrow for a pick-up.” She clasps her hands together. “We have a new hire joining us for the summer.”
My eyes search over her face suspiciously, waiting for an explanation. We filled the team in April. If anything, we’re over-hired until the guest numbers pick up for the summer and activity bookings start coming in.
“A new hire?”
“Yes.” She pushes up from her chair and begins ambling back towards the lodge. “7.30 a.m. pick-up, at the town visitor centre. Don’t be late, Caden!”
I count through the team on my fingers, we’re a small operation and even though we hire double the staff in the summer, we still only need a handful for each department.
Maura is definitely up to something.