Chapter 25
Jonas
There are three things I know for certain today.
One, it’s a bad sign when a guy’s baby mama orders him to go away for a couple days.
Two, while I haven’t camped like this ever , I have enough instincts to know I’m supposed to trust the people I’m camping with.
And three, I don’t trust Theo and Grey.
I know they have Emma’s best interests at heart, but I don’t know how much trouble that means they’ll give me.
Doubting Theo is a given.
Don’t get me wrong. I respect the hell out of how much he cares about his sister. But I’m the dude who slept with her, disappeared, and didn’t give her any easy way of contacting me to tell me our night together had unintended results.
I get it.
He shouldn’t give me an inch. I need to earn this.
Grey, though—it’s the nice ones you have to be wary of.
The ones you least expect of being ready to pounce when you show weakness.
Like now.
“Grabbed you some gear,” Grey says when I meet them at Theo’s place. They’re loading an older model extended cab truck with bags and coolers.
“Appreciate that. What do I owe you?”
He grins.
Theo grins.
I’m fucked.
“It’s on us,” Theo says.
Wonder what they put in the sleeping bag. Or on the tent.
Just show up , they said.
Best way to make sure we’re not missing anything is to let us handle it all .
“Pull your car around back so it’s not in Laney’s way,” Theo says.
“We’ll finish up,” Grey adds.
Both of them grin again.
I didn’t earn my reputation as the friendly Rutherford brother by scowling and grumbling, so I smile back, nod, and pull my car around back as requested.
Laney’s nowhere in sight, but I wave at two gray tabby cats in the front window.
They stare at me like I’m a moron.
Probably am. But if Emma’s family wants to put me through trials and tests, I’ll let them put me through trials and tests.
Theo and Grey have the truck loaded when I get back to the front of the house, so we hit the road.
I’m in back.
Naturally.
They humored me and gave me the location of the campsite we’re going to so that I can humor my brother. He’s still keeping my mother at bay. I’ll also have a security team on standby somewhere close. Not that I expect to need them.
Probably.
Still not entirely certain I can reach them if I do. I’ve been told there’s no cell signal where we’re going.
I ask Grey questions about his research and Theo questions about the bigger house he and Laney are building on their land, and answer a few questions about if I’ve fished, hunted, or geocached.
“My brother and his wife have formally been asked to not geocache anymore by the Geocache Society of America,” I tell them. “I skip it in solidarity.”
Grey turns around and looks at me.
Theo slides me a look in the rearview mirror.
I shrug. “Last time they went, their dog was helping them look for a cache and caused an incident while a funeral was going on nearby.”
Theo stays silent.
Grey gets a look on his face like he’s contemplating how that would work. “Huh.”
“You two know anything about Emma’s hot tub?” I ask.
“It’s broken,” Theo replies.
“Figured that out. Does she use it?”
“No. It’s broken.”
Grey coughs, clearly hiding a laugh.
“Would she use it if it wasn’t broken, or is it something she has and never used?”
Theo hits me with another glance in the rearview mirror. “Why?”
“Always wanted to learn how to fix a hot tub. Bucket list.”
My two hosts share a look in the front seat.
Pretty sure at least one of them doesn’t believe me. Possibly both of them.
“I won’t buy her a new one if I can’t fix it unless I get some indication she’d like it. And then I’ll ask you to buy it and I’ll pay you back so it doesn’t look like it was me.”
They share another look.
“Also, does her ex stop by often?”
Theo takes a curve too hard. “What?”
“Chandler. Her ex. He showed up at her house on Sunday.”
Grey turns all the way around and looks at me but doesn’t say anything.
“He recognize you?” Theo’s voice has gone flat.
“Didn’t seem to,” I reply evenly. “Emma thinks it’s unlikely he would.”
“What did he want?” Grey asks.
“Her.”
And there’s one more look between my hosts.
“You know those times when you’re ready to grab a shovel and a trusted friend but you know it’ll piss off the one person whose opinion matters more than your gut instinct?” I ask.
Theo grunts.
Grey grimaces.
Theo grunts again.
“Yeah,” I say. “Exactly that.”
“You the type to do it yourself?” Theo asks.
“This time, I am.”
They both look at me, and then we lapse into silence.
But not for long.
“And we’re here,” Theo says, pulling onto a dirt drive that quickly becomes one lane with several switchbacks. The elevation’s a little higher than Snaggletooth Creek. Trees a little denser. Views unstoppable when we reach our destination in a clearing.
Grey steps out of the front seat, stretches, and stares out toward the jagged mountain peaks and fluffy white clouds floating in the brilliant blue sky. “Sabrina’s right. Never gets old.”
Theo heads straight for the back of the truck and pops the tailgate. “Look later, lollygagger. Time to set up camp.”
Emma prepped me a little for this. Told me Theo owns some land deeper in the mountains that he and Laney sometimes disappear to. “It’s very private,” she told me. “You can’t really find it by accident.”
Theo shoves a large pack at me. “If you can’t set up a tent, you’re sleeping under the stars.”
“Sounds pretty.”
“Until the bears wander in.”
“Are they cuddly? I’m a cuddler.”
Grey coughs again, turning away like he can hide an amused smile.
“Your life if you want to risk it,” Theo says.
He’s suppressing a smile too.
But I don’t count it as a win yet.
We still have hours to go before nightfall, and I’ve been promised I’m not eating if I don’t catch my own fish.
Time to get busy fitting in with the rest of Emma’s family.