28. Grant
Grant
I wasn’t thrilled about helping Felix with this tour group, but at least we have decent weather for it.
The end of February is still cold, but not polar vortex cold, and there’s a cooperative amount of snow.
Annabelle and I are dressed in full snowmobile gear including insulated bibs, down coats, two pair of gloves, and helmets with face shields.
Her arms are around my waist, her legs behind mine.
Earlier today, we set up the targets and shot a few rounds. Annabelle claimed to be out of practice, while hitting bullseye after bullseye. It’ll be interesting to see what Tim and his friends do with that.
We park at the site and start unloading the sled we dragged behind the snowmobile.
Felix already towed in the small trailer we’re using for our food truck.
Once we get everything plugged in, we’ll have lights in the trailer as well as string lights over the campsite, but for now, we’re relying on headlamps in the darkness.
“Did you see that house back there?” Annabelle asks. “Like a log cabin on steroids? It’s huge. How many people do you think live there?”
“One,” I say. “That’s Cole’s house.” My brother lives alone. He doesn’t throw parties. He doesn’t invite people over. He just makes money and lives in his four thousand square foot fortress of solitude.
“I’m doing the math,” Annabelle says. “If he’s the youngest, he’s what, twenty-five? And he can afford a house like that?”
“Land too.” I gesture around us. “All of this is Cole’s.”
“He owns an entire forest? I have so many questions.”
“You and me both.”
My brother’s a great guy, but he’s hard to understand.
When he was eighteen, he sold an app to the right person at the right time, and used that money to make more money.
He could have gone anywhere, done anything, but instead, he settled just outside Echo Creek, as if he wanted to keep his family close, but not too close.
He spends his money improving the town, but never wants credit for it.
He’s great to hang out with when we see him, but we hardly ever do.
“Should we start the fire?” Annabelle asks when everything is in the trailer.
“I want to give you something first.”
Her eyebrows dance. “Oh yeah? What are you going to give me?”
“The stars.” I turn off all the lights and lead her to the clearing. I lie on my back in the snow and invite her to do the same. She settles in next to me and we look up into infinity.
Dark treetops ring the clearing, cutting the world down to this single circle.
Our breath fogs the air and vanishes, but the stars stay, steady and endless, as if they’ve been waiting for us.
The vastness above us sharpens everything, like the night has stripped away all the noise and left only what matters.
Annabelle is silent for a long time. I am too. All this vastness, and we’re a part of it. I’m at peace. Settled.
Annabelle inhales, long and deep. “This must be what the inside of a nebula smells like.”
I get up and offer her a hand. “I was expecting wow or pretty. But I should know better than to guess what you’re going to say next.”
“Wow,” she says as I pull her to her feet. She stretches up to kiss me. “Pretty.”
A low growl rumbles through the trees, fraying the edges of the night.
The vibration swells and multiplies, wiping away our shared moment of stillness.
White beams flicker between the trunks. The snowmobiles burst into the clearing a heartbeat later, headlights blazing, exhaust hanging in the cold air, punctuated by whoops and back slapping as Felix leads four men to the site. Time to get to work.
I build a fire and set up a ring of camp chairs while Annabelle follows the caterer’s instructions for reheating the food.
The main course is slow-cooked venison ribs with porcini mushrooms in a rich wine sauce.
We’ve got a crockpot of garlic mashed potatoes and a pan of roasted carrots and fennel, along with sourdough rolls with herbed butter.
Dessert is a dark chocolate torte. This is Felix’s favorite kind of tour.
Over the top. Memorable. Tell-all-your-friends.
Tim is already enjoying the bump in status, as everyone keeps saying, “this is so cool,” and “how did you find this place?” As if Michigan didn’t appear on a map until Tim found it. I let him play the big man, giving him a warm welcome and saying how nice it is to see him again.
He introduces me to Logan, Lincoln, and Brick.
I find out they were in the same fraternity and now all go to the same church.
They even look alike. They’re white guys in their thirties with builds that say “desk job.” They’re wearing the same hats and matching gloves, as if they bought them last-minute at a gas station on their way out of town.
I immediately lump them together as all the same person.
Annabelle comes out of the trailer. It’s warm in there with the appliances going, and she’s removed her hat and coat. Her skin is glowing and her hair shines under the twinkle lights overhead.
“Dude!” Brick exclaims when he sees her. “You didn’t tell us you got a stripper!”
Annabelle freezes, her mouth half open. She closes it and narrows her eyes at Brick. “Brilliant. Thank you for that. I was wondering how much to poison your food. Now I know.”
Silence. The fire crackles. The generator hums. Nobody moves.
“I was kidding,” Brick blurts out. “It was a joke.”
“Did you decide that before or after her reaction?” I ask.
Tim steps forward and addresses Annabelle. “Don’t mind him. It’s just his personality disorder acting up.”
Lincoln and Logan mumble, “typical,” and “there he goes again,” and “he’s always like this.”
“It was a joke,” Brick insists. “Tim’s been under a lot of stress getting ready for a baby. I was trying to lighten the mood.”
“What’s a U.P. stripper anyway?” Felix asks. “She takes off four layers and she’s still dressed!”
I don’t think that joke’s funny either, but Felix has diffused the tension and is getting the party back on track.
He gives everyone mugs of mulled wine and passes out individual charcuterie boards while he gets the guys hyped for the evening’s activities.
Dinner, dessert, and then we’ll snowshoe about half a mile from here to the glow and arrow course.
After that, we’ll come back for s’mores and hot buttered rum before taking our snowmobiles back to town.
I have no idea how Felix expects amateurs to drive after drinking so much, but it’s his tour, not mine, and therefore not my problem.
The men eat appetizers and give each other a hard time. Felix and Annabelle run back and forth to the trailer, checking on the food. I tend the fire and keep a close eye on Brick. I decide I’m going to be his best friend.
Dinner is served on pop-up tables, one per guest. I stab the legs into the snow next to each chair. I’m not at all surprised that Brick waits for Annabelle to sit down and then chooses a chair right next to hers. I sit on his other side.
“This is delicious, Annabelle,” Brick says. “Did you cook this?”
“It’s catered.” Her fork squeaks on her plate. “And not poisoned.”
“Never thought it was.” Brick leans toward her. “You don’t seem capable of that.”
I tap his shoulder. “Do you like venison?”
He reluctantly turns my way. “I didn’t think I did, but yeah.”
“I can get you the recipe if you want it. Do you like to cook?”
“I don’t… I mean…” He tries to get back into Annabelle’s orbit, but I don’t let him.
“Do you watch cooking on YouTube?” I take over his chair’s armrest. “Who’s your favorite online chef?”
“Um…”
“Fishing is big up here too. Do you know how many ways I can cook walleye?”
“I don’t want to talk about cooking, man.”
“Huh. I thought you did.”
Annabelle has a sparkle in her eye as she moves her chair back several inches. I move mine back too and we share a smile behind Brick’s back. He’s turned to Tim and is ruthlessly discussing college football.
I savor every bite of my food, then swirl my roll around my empty plate, gathering up the rest of that delicious sauce.
This is the kind of meal you want to linger after, especially in front of a warm fire, but these guys aren’t the lingering type.
Before I know it, we’re taking the plates and forks back to the trailer.
Annabelle serves the torte while Felix makes Irish coffee.
Everyone has removed their gloves by now.
All the men are wearing wedding rings. They keep telling each other what a great idea this trip was.
Logan pats Tim on the back. “You needed this, bro.” It’s still not clear why Tim is the stressed one if his wife is the one carrying the baby, but that’s between them.
After dinner, I volunteer to secure everything in the trailer for the drive back to town.
I put away the leftover food, put all the dishes into plastic totes for washing later, and tie everything down with bungee cords.
It takes longer than I want it to, and by the time I’m done, everyone has left for the target range, including Annabelle.
She’s grown, I tell myself. She can take care of herself. But dammit, why should she have to? I strap on the last pair of snowshoes and follow them as fast as my legs will carry me, falling in behind them just in time to hear Brick interrogating Annabelle.
“How long have you been working for Felix?” he asks.
“Since today.”
“Really? You looked so professional. I thought, there’s an outdoors woman if I’ve ever seen one.”
“This is a one-off,” she says.
“What do you do? I mean, I know you’re not a stripper. That really was a joke.”
The others are far ahead now and it’s just Annabelle and Brick. She’s walking on the far side of the path, but Brick keeps maneuvering closer to her. One more step and he’s going to push her into a pine tree.
“I have my own business,” she says.
“No kidding? Me too. My company does residential and office window cleaning.”
“Oh.”