Chapter 5 #2
Jess peered over her shoulder. “Correct.”
“But that means that the mountain bike skills park will be destroyed,” Mason chimed in.
Good catch, kid.
Still, I kept quiet while Jess attempted to explain to Mason that, unfortunately, the area he called the skills park would have to go, but because it was never on approved land, it was, in fact, a liability for the current landowners.
Not surprisingly, Mason didn’t appear to be satisfied with her answer. He grunted and crossed his arms, a scowl on his face.
Chase asked a few questions about how wide the new trail would be and what access would look like for the public during the construction phase. Jess handled all the questions professionally with polished, prepared answers. All the while, Tilley scribbled notes on her clipboard.
I waited until everyone else had finished before I spoke up. “What about the animal trails that run through that area? Are there any accommodations going to be made for the elk that pass through this area? Or the fact that the section at the north end is part of a grizzly bear corridor?”
Jess nodded. “We are consulting with a wildlife expert on the animal impact,” she answered easily. “But early discussions indicate that both the elks’ territory as well as the grizzlies’ is substantial enough that this small piece shouldn’t be a very big disruption to them.”
I was fairly sure she’d say that.
“What are your plans for the spring runoff?”
“The what?” The practiced smile slipped a little as my question caught her off guard.
“The runoff that fills these little creeks.” I pointed to the stream that ran parallel to the trail.
“This is only one of many,” I continued.
“And it’s not very full right now. But if we go a little farther up, you’ll see there are at least half a dozen more.
They pop up every spring during the thaw, and depending on the snowpack in the mountains, can become quite substantial. ”
“Is that what caused the flooding last year, Preston?” Mason, who was proving to be more and more useful to me, asked.
“Sure was.” I nodded. “In fact, last spring’s runoff was more than projected, and it actually caused quite a bit of erosion on that upper slope there.” I pointed to where Jess had already indicated there would be a building. “But I’m sure you have a plan in place for water management.”
She swallowed hard before nodding. “We do. But I’ll make an extra note to discuss the spring runoff with our environmental team just to be sure.”
Tilley made another note on her clipboard before tucking it under her arm and clapping her hands together. “Great. Let’s keep going.”
Chase and Becky started walking, and Mason threw a pinecone for Summit to chase as Jess turned to look at me. Our eyes locked, and I could see it clearly.
A new determination in her gaze as she realized who exactly she was up against.
Jess
It was going well.
At least as well as I’d expected. Maybe even a little bit better.
I’d expected Preston to be a class-A dickhead, but surprisingly, he’d actually been pleasant.
For the most part.
I’d been ready for his objections regarding wildlife, but he’d thrown me for a loop with that runoff and water business. None of the environmental reports had mentioned any concerns of that nature. I think I handled it as well as I could have, but I didn’t like being unprepared. Not in anything.
Thankfully, as we continued our hike, there were no more surprises, and I found that I was enjoying myself.
The puppy was adorable and endlessly entertaining as he chased the pinecones Mason tossed ahead on the trail for him to pounce on. Both Becky and Chase were easy to talk to, and Tilley could always be relied on for interesting stories and plenty of gossip, of course.
Preston didn’t say much, and I didn’t object to that, because I was fairly certain that whatever he did say would be in direct opposition to me.
In order to see some of the natural springs and creeks he’d mentioned, Preston led us off the main trail, onto a much less traveled one.
The mud squished under my boots, and I almost slipped a few times, but it felt good to do some actual hiking again.
I hadn’t realized how long it really had been since I’d challenged myself in the woods.
“This is one of the creeks that can really swell up with a big runoff,” Preston said as we came to a crossing.
“Right now it’s mostly mud, but if we have a big snowpack in the mountains, followed by a wet spring, this innocent-looking little trickle can turn into a raging river that can cause a lot of flooding farther downstream.
” He looked at me. “Right where you plan on building.”
I clenched my teeth and nodded curtly.
“Right,” he said with a notable trace of laughter. “Mason, can you carry Summit across so he doesn’t get stuck in the mud? Everyone, watch your step. It can be slick.” He winked at me with that final word, and I shook my head with a groan.
Chase hopped across the rocks and logs with ease and reached back for Tilley’s hand, all but pulling her safely across before lending Becky assistance as well.
The three of them, along with Mason and the puppy on the other side, moved farther along the trail to give Preston and me space to make the crossing.
“It’s slippery,” Preston said as he easily moved through the obstacle and turned back, careful.
A memory flashed through my mind of a moment decades earlier when, on a class trip, a much younger Preston had said something very similar before offering me his hand when we’d had to cross a log bridge that I was too scared to go over.
“I got you, Jess,” he’d said. “Just don’t look down.”
My heart clenched at the memory. Especially when I remembered how safe twelve-year-old me had felt trusting him in that moment and how proud of myself I’d been when I’d reached the other side.
I looked up now, at that same boy, a man now. A man who didn’t bother to hide his dislike for me.
Did I trust him now?
Not likely.
“I’ve got this.” I pushed his hand away as I stepped out on the first rock. It was slippery. More than I’d expected. My foot slid a little, but I caught myself.
“Just take my hand.” He sighed.
I didn’t look up, choosing to ignore him as I moved for the second rock. It was farther away than I’d judged, and at the last minute, I had to leap a little. When my foot made contact, it slipped out sideways, and I knew I was going to go down hard in the mud.
Preston
The moment Jess’s boot slipped on the rock, exactly the way I knew it would, something instinctive sparked inside me.
I moved before I could think.
My hand shot out around her arm, and I yanked her toward me just as a shriek formed on her lips and moments before her balance was lost completely. Instead of hitting the ground, she crashed hard into my chest, knocking the air out of me as we went down into the grass together.
Her shrieks turned into a groan as she landed squarely on top of me.
For half a second, all I could register was the weight and warmth of her. The soft rush of her breath against my neck.
Then she froze.
I opened my eyes, the breath returning to my lungs, to find her staring down at me.
Her eyes were wide with surprise, her cheeks flushed with something I wasn’t sure I wanted to name.
One small hand braced against my chest like she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to push me away or stay exactly where she was.
We were inches apart.
Too close. Way too close.
“I told you to take my hand.” I tried to force a light tone into my voice despite the way my pulse had kicked up into something embarrassingly and completely inappropriately fast.
She groaned and scrambled up. Her hand pushed against me, her decision made as she tried to get up. But her feet slipped in the mud again, and she crashed back down on top of me with a grunt moments before the others rejoined us.
“What happened?”
“Are you okay?”
“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”
“Oh, we are definitely interrupting something.”
Jess squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath like she was waiting for the earth to open up and swallow her whole. “You are definitely not interrupting anything,” she said. “I slipped.”
“And I caught her,” I added, grinning, because apparently I had a death wish when it came to Jess Anderson.
She shoved my chest, a little bit harder than necessary to get up, and I let her go as Chase grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Chase asked.
“Fine,” she said a little too quickly as she brushed dirt from her pants and straightened her pack.
I pushed myself up from the ground and dusted off my jacket. When I looked at her again, she was already trying to pull herself back together. With that polished smile back on her face, the only indication that anything had happened at all was that a few stray curls had slipped from her ponytail.
If you asked me, and nobody had, I liked her looking a little less than perfect. It was cute.
Not that I’d ever say that out loud.
Or that I had any business thinking it.
When I looked at her again, her chin was lifted and her shoulders squared, as if it had never happened.
Same old Jess.
Polished, put together, and completely unrattled.
Our eyes met for a second longer than necessary.
I cleared my throat and tipped my head. “Guess some things never change, huh, Dots?”
She frowned. “You didn’t have to say that.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “I did.”
She rolled her eyes, and I saw the flicker of a smile there that told me she remembered that we’d shared a very similar moment years earlier when I’d helped her over a log bridge. But that was before. Less than a year later, she’d shown me her true colors and everything between us had changed.
Without another word, Jess turned away like it didn’t matter. Like none of it mattered.
“Let’s keep going,” she said, smiling, and soon, we were all back on track, headed down the trail.
Again, I brought up the rear, but it was fine by me. I welcomed the solitude as it gave me space to shake off the feelings I had no business having after holding Jess in my arms. Even if it was for such a short time, and for a completely innocent reason, those feelings should have been long dead.
The rest of the hike moved quickly, and soon we were back at the trailhead.
“That was so good,” Chase said. “Thank you both so much for doing that. I think we learned a lot.”
“We sure did.” Becky turned to me. “And Preston, I really want to thank you for the way you are with Mason and the things he’s learned with your Teens in the Trails group. It was really fun for me to see him like this, and the way his love for the outdoors is growing.”
I glanced over at the kid who hadn’t heard his mom’s praise, as he was currently sitting on the ground wrestling with the puppy, who somehow still had energy to burn.
“He’s a good kid,” I said truthfully. “And a huge asset to our group.”
“I can’t believe it’s over already,” Tilley cried. “That was so much fun. I’m not ready for it to end. We should go for beers to discuss it all.”
I wasn’t opposed to the idea, and to my surprise, everyone else, including Jess, readily agreed.
“Sounds good to me,” Chase said. “Ethan just brewed a new IPA that I’d love to have a pint of.”
“Great!” Tilley clapped. “It’s settled. Let’s meet there in twenty minutes.” She looked at each of us in turn. “Is that enough time?”
“Perfect. I’ll see you all there.” Jess’s smile lit up her face.
It wasn’t until I was in the truck driving away that I realized it was the first genuine smile I’d seen from her in a very long time.
It was nice.