Chapter 16
Blair
My mind is still reeling thirty minutes after Sutton leaves.
If it was simply a case of him thinking I was his soulmate, I would be swooning. But add in the prophesy, a matchmaking mountain spirit, and him thinking I’m his reward? Yeah… that’s a bit harder to wrap my head around.
Isla’s book catches my eye, taunting me from the nightstand.
Knowing me, even if I had started reading it, I’m not sure I would’ve made the connection between fiction and reality.
It’s a romance novel, one of many the author has written.
How would anyone know that the love stories she writes are real?
I desperately need my two best friends to help me understand–or to tell me my mountain man is crazy and I should run back to Minnesota.
With that in mind, I send out a call to action.
Blair: Please tell me one or both of you are awake and can talk
Cate: What’s wrong?
Alex: I’m in bed reading. But I echo what Cate said. What’s wrong?
I press video call and moments later, Alex answers with Cate following soon after. They both take one look at me and launch in immediately.
“Life, job, or the college stalker now hot mountain man?” Alex asks.
“He was an admirer, not a stalker, A,” Cate kindly corrects her.
Alex grins. “Hey, stalkers can be hot sometimes.”
“Only in fiction, not in real life. Besides, Sutton takes her to hidden lakes and holds her hand. Sutton gives butterflies and swoony feelings, not headaches and restraining orders. They’re two very different kinds of men,” Cate explains.
I sigh. “Hello! I’m having a mini-Alaskan crisis here.”
“Yes, sorry! What’s up, buttercup?” Alex cradles a mug of what looks like a hot chocolate, as if she’s settling in for the long haul. Cate looks just as cozy but in her own bedroom–which is still in the same house as Alex anyway.
“Sutton just left.” I take a deep breath. “We talked and I think if I tell you what he said you’ll either get your hopes up or fly straight here and rescue me,” I rush out.
Alex’s eyes bug out. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Breathe, B. Alaska was supposed to be a retreat with hot plaid-clad mountain men, not whatever has caused this.” She waves her hand in front of the camera.
Tears sting my eyes but I blink them back. Who cries after the man–who has possibly been plucked straight out of a romance book–confesses that you’re his soulmate sent to him by a mountain spirit who likes pairing his family up?
“What happened?” Cate says softly. “Maybe we can help?” That’s what I’m hoping for.
“Start at the beginning,” Alex adds.
And that’s exactly what I do. I tell them everything but despite their assurances that they could help me process Sutton’s confession tonight, they’re both stunned silent for a good few minutes once I stop talking.
Until Alex’s eyes flash “Wait… Who is it that’s getting married on Saturday?”
“The oldest brother, Will, and his fiancée, Birdie.”
“Is she the mayor’s daughter?”
“Yeah…”
“And Will is a workaholic, right? And he didn’t know about the Call until he read the books and put two and two together but didn’t want to freak Birdie out by telling her that he knew about the call when she had already figured it out ages ago?”
The more she says, the more my frown deepens. “Sounds like you’ve met them before,” I quip dryly.
“That’s because I have, B. Will and Birdie have a book written by Aster,” Cate says.
“What?” I whisper.
Something tugs at my memory. I gasp when it comes to me. “Oh. Ohhh,” I say. “Isla was telling me about how her and Case reunited and told me I should just read the book when it comes out’.”
Cate’s mouth drops open. “That’s her next book! Aster’s, I mean. This is surreal, B. You’re living a love story straight out of a book that we’re all going to read one day. This is awesome!”
“No,” I rush out empathically. “No. This isn’t me stepping into the pages of a romance novel. This is real life. I must be dreaming. Maybe I knocked my head.”
‘Brain aneurysm?” Alex asks.
“Something.” I run my fingers through my hair, pulling on the strands to try and shake off this feeling.
It’s not a bad one, it’s a distracted, disbelieving, questioning-everything-I’ve seen-and-heard one.
“I’ve got an idea,” Cate suggests. “Let’s go through a checklist for the Call. You can tell us if you’ve noticed or felt any of the things people usually go through when they’ve heard the mountain’s call from Aster’s books. It can be different for everyone, but surely some of them are the same.”
I arch a brow down the phone. “C, I love you. But are you honestly saying you believe this is true?”
“Here’s the thing, Blair Littlefoot, first equal best friend and platonic love of my life.” Her title for me brings a smile to my face for the first time since Sutton kissed me goodbye. “There are rumors–”
“Strongly believed ones,” Alex adds.
Cate continues. “It’s widely known amongst Aster’s fans that the prophesy is true. Aster’s own love story with her husband is literal proof of it.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Read the book and you’ll know,” Alex quips. “Just kidding. Aster was a bestselling author who was feeling uninspired and booked a cabin on Moose Mountain to try and rediscover her muse.”
“Instead, she ends up driving in a snowstorm, hitting a tree, and getting saved by Gray Cooper,” Cate continues, “who not only turned out to be the inspiration she was looking for, but happened to also be the man of her dreams. They were soulmates brought together in the most unlikely of circumstances. They believe that it was the mountain spirit’s doing and that Aster is Gray’s reward for him looking after and protecting the mountain. ”
“See! That’s a good romance plot. It’s not real life,” I argue.
“Except we’re telling you it is real. It happened to Aster and Gray,” Cate replies. “She’s talked about it on podcasts and at her reader retreats.”
Alex nods. “After that, Gray’s three brothers on the mountain met their Ones too.
First with Aster’s assistant, then a reader of Aster’s books who traveled to the mountain for one of her retreats, and then another fan who went for a hike, sprained her ankle, and got saved by the reclusive brother of the family. ”
I can’t argue with that. But I do remember that Aster is coming on Saturday for the wedding. Maybe I can talk to her then?
“Did I tell you Gray and his brothers are distant cousins of Sutton and his family?” I say.
Both of my best friends shoot me a ‘are you kidding me’ look. Alex more than Cate. “And you’re sitting in a cabin on a mountain, on Cooper family land, after meeting a sexy, rugged, plaid-wearing mountain man–”
“He doesn’t really wear plaid,” I mutter.
She continues like I didn’t say a thing. “And you’re telling us you don’t believe that their long-standing, widely believed family lore can’t be true?”
I can’t help but laugh at how ironic this whole thing is.
“One last thing before I let this go for the night,” Cate adds.
“You went to Timber Falls to search for a new outlook on life and to see if Starchild’s prediction of new opportunities meant anything.
” I nod. “When you told us you were going, it was the biggest surprise you’ve ever sprung on us but I loved it for you.
If anyone needed to cut loose and break free of the mold they’d built themselves into, it was you. ”
I’m still processing that when Alex speaks again. “I know you think Cate and I read too much and get too involved in the stories we’re reading.”
I shake my head. “It’s not that. You guys seem to think life is just like a romance novel.”
“That’s the thing though. It can be. Hell, I want it to be.
Sometimes, when life is crap or not going to plan and you feel a little lost in the world, it’s an escape.
It can be just the thing you need to lose yourself in a made-up world.
Especially when fiction can be so much better than the reality you find yourself in. ”
“It feels like I’m living a book right now,” I confess. “It’s just one I didn’t know had even been written.”
“That is fate, B. The trope is fated soulmates,” Cate tells me.
“Yep. I’m more convinced than ever now that your stay in Timber falls is straight out of the small-town romance playbook,” Alex says.
“It’s giving strangers to lovers, secret crush, Alaskan mountain man romance, B.
Which means Sutton is your book boyfriend come to life.
” She sighs happily. “Do you know what I’d give to be living your life right now? ”
“Maybe you should just put your hands up and enjoy the ride?” Cate asks, somewhat sagely. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You’re both forgetting I’m not here forever. I’m coming back home when my job is done here.”
“Is that a foregone conclusion? Because all we’ve heard since you got there is how great the town is and how friendly the people are.
You’re a different person there compared to when you’re being rockstar cardiologist Blair back here,” Cate says.
“You’re relaxed and far less stressed. You’re finally taking time for you. ”
Alex nods in agreement. “Well overdue, I might say.”
“And then there’s the Coopers that have welcomed you in like you’re one of their own,” Cate finishes.
“Especially one Cooper in particular. ‘Sutton’s so thoughtful’. ‘Sutton’s an open book’. ‘Sutton kisses like I’m a treasure he can’t believe he’s found’,” Alex muses.
“I didn’t say that!” I half-laugh, half gasp.
“Maybe not in those exact words, but there’s definitely been some gushing,” she retorts, rolling her eyes before pinning me with a questioning stare down the camera.
“You called us after your prepper bunker lock-in date and there was no wiping the smile off your face. I’ve never seen you look so happy, B.
” Her expression softens and I feel the pinprick of tears again.
“But–”
“Babe, I’m not sure there’s a but possible right now. Wait, maybe one–the most important one,” she says, her lips twitching at the side. “But you don’t know what you don’t know, so how about you start reading that Aster book you said one of the brides gave you and start finding out.”
I open my mouth to argue but fall flat. That’s because I can’t. She’s right. I can’t dismiss something outright without knowing what it is I’m dismissing.
“OK.”
Alex’s lips twitch. “Is that a ‘yes, you’re right’ OK, or a ‘I’m saying it to shut you up” OK?”
“Bit of column A, bit of a column B,” I shoot back with a smirk.
Cate smiles. “There’s our bestie. Now, there’s something else important we need to talk about.”
My brows furrow. “What’s that?”
“What you’re wearing to the wedding, of course.”
After showing her my floral sundress, a straw hat with a scarf draped off it that matches a deep yellow of the fabric, and tan leather sandals, both of them give me their seal of approval and make me promise to send updates about the book while I’m reading it.
Once we end the call, I figure there’s no time like the present. I pick up Isla’s book, planning to read at least the first chapter before going to sleep.
Two hours later, I’m reading “The End” and I’m left with more questions than answers.
That’s when I pull out my tablet and download the next book in the series, hoping to find them.
When I finally do stop reading and try to sleep, there’s one thing Sutton said that sticks in my mind and gives me the peace I need to finally drift off.
“I’ve been waitin’ for you, gorgeous, and I’ll keep doin’ it for as long as it takes for me to prove you’re right where you’ve always belonged.”