4
Antelope Valley looked even barer than usual in the winter. The bitterbrush was still full and hardy, and the pinyon pines and juniper kept their needles. But the light was starker, and there was less color on the ground, and the Joshua trees looked like they were made out of glass.
Tean wondered if he was making a mistake.
“It’s not like I knew she was going to run away,” Jem said. “It’s not like I wanted it to happen.”
“I know.”
Jamal was walking ahead of them, pretending he couldn’t hear them.
“We had a deal.”
Tean chose not to say anything.
“We had a gentlemen’s agreement. Well, a lady and a gentleman’s agreement. But it’s the same idea.”
Tean chose not to say anything. Again. For about ten minutes.
“Just to repeat,” Tean finally said, “you don’t have to do this.”
“I want to do this,” Jem said. “This is going to be great. This is going to be perfect.”
“But if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it.”
“Tean, you’re helping me get a job. You’re sticking your neck out for me. I’m not going to let you down.”
Which was only partially true. Tean wasn’t sticking his neck out for Jem, although he had called HR and explained his relationship to Jem and offered to provide an additional reference if necessary.
But only after Jem had found—without telling Tean—the job on the Division of Wildlife Resources jobs page.
And only after Jem had applied—without telling Tean—for the wilderness monitoring technician position.
And only after Jem had insisted it would be a good fit for him, no matter what Tean said.
And, apparently, couldn’t stop saying, because he opened his mouth and heard himself say, “It’s a lot of time away from home.”
Jem huddled against the wind, but he smiled. “This’ll be good for us. We’ll have some time away from each other, which means we’ll enjoy it even more when we get to be together.”
“But you love being home. Home is one of your favorite places in the world.”
“It’s just a few days at a time.”
“It’s eight days at a time.”
“And then six days that I get to do nothing but hang out with you and Scipio.”
Tean opened his mouth and then shut it again.
They hiked another hundred yards.
And then, somehow, he caught himself saying, “It’s just, there aren’t any people to talk to.”
“That’s great,” Jem said. “I need a break from people. After the last year, I’m peopled out.”
Tean didn’t know about that, since he was fairly sure that after himself and Scipio—and possibly not in that order—people were one of Jem’s favorite things: watching them, talking to them, messing with them. Again, maybe not in that order.
“I’ll bring a lot of books,” Jem said. “I’ll get so much reading done. This is going to be, you know, centering. Like, leaving behind the material world. I’m going to do a lot of serious thinking. Like you.”
“Cabin’s just up here,” Jamal called over his shoulder.
It was a simple frame structure with a brick chimney at one end, built on a platform that overlooked a silvery thread of a creek. Jamal took the stairs two at a time and led them inside.
Bare floorboards. A brick hearth. Light sneaking in through shuttered windows.
It all came pouring out of Tean. “You’d have to build fires for warmth. And you’ll be sleeping in a sleeping bag. And there’s no phone service out here so you can’t even play Wizard Cheeseburger III.
“Babe,” Jem said with a laugh. “It’s going to be fine. Hey, Jamal, what would I actually be doing out here?”
“Mostly you’re keeping an eye on the pronghorn population,” Jamal said as they stepped out onto the platform, Jem a step behind. “We’ve had a problem with ranchers putting up fences where they’re not supposed to, and the pronghorn herd…”
The voices faded into the distance.
Tean hugged himself. The cold was deeper inside the cabin’s shadows. The ripple of the creek worked its way into the silence. Out here. All by himself. And he hated snakes and spiders and pretty much anything that wasn’t Scipio.
Shivering, Tean let himself out into sunlight that was as thin as ice.
“Babe!” Jem shouted from the creek. Next to him, Jamal was grinning. “I can catch fish and cook my own dinner!”
Tean waved back in acknowledgment.
Jem and Jamal met him as he came down from the platform. Tean tried not to ask, but the words slipped out of him anyway. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“A million percent,” Jem said. He threw an arm around Tean, leaned back as though taking in the valley, and drew in a deep breath. Then a furrow appeared between his eyebrows, and he glanced back at the cabin. “Hey, where’s the bathroom?”