24. Maggie
TWENTY-FOUR
MAGGIE
“Would you get a load of this view?” I said to my phone, panning the camera across the landscape before me, ignoring the red battery icon in the corner.
My video wouldn’t capture the richness of the autumn colors, but at least I could give my sister a taste before my phone died.
The Michigan fall season was something to behold, but it didn’t have the mountains.
“We’re not quite a mile in—and not even to the best part yet—but I just can’t get over how absolutely gorgeous Colorado is right now. Ollie, look at these mountains!”
Ellie and I’d stopped at a small offshoot from the main trail for a quick water break. I was huffing and puffing an embarrassing amount for how tame the trail had been so far, a reminder that I hadn’t seen the inside of a gym since I left North Carolina almost four months ago.
Despite how out of shape I currently felt, I was smiling so much my cheeks hurt. I needed this.
This hike was by far one of the better decisions I’d made in the several days I’d been in town.
Nature had a way of melting away my worries, disappointments, and frustrations like nothing else could.
And the odds of running into Officer McGrumpy miles from town on one of the many available trails were so low they were hardly odds at all.
This was my haven.
“On a scale from rocking and crying in a corner to on cloud nine, I think I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Sure, my phone was almost dead, and I didn’t have any actual signal—the video message wouldn’t send until I reconnected with Wi-Fi. Oh, and there was a new voicemail from Jason that was mildly concerning.
But I’d save the Luanne and Jason update for another video.
I refused to let them spoil the good mood nature had granted me.
After nearly dying in that wedding dress last night, I had even less patience for their bullshit.
I’d been saving one ace up my sleeve when it came to that whole situation, and I was finally ready to play it.
Tomorrow.
Today, I was simply existing for me, and me alone.
Well, and Ellie. Always Ellie.
I spotted a flat boulder in the clearing; it’d make a good resting spot. I moved toward it, sharing the view as I went. Ellie trotted close at my heel. Her tail hadn’t stopped swishing in happiness since we arrived at the trailhead.
“Ellie’s happy to be back to her roots,” I said, pointing the camera at my pup. “Did I tell you she got to socialize puppies at Paws of Purpose the other day? We’re going back next week, too.”
I panned one more view of the autumn-infused mountains before flipping the camera around.
“As far as the man in the ice cream shop, meet Officer McGrumpy.” I could practically hear the littles giggling at that nickname. “He’s my vacation host. Yes, that one. Sorry, there’s no rebound happening there.”
I bit my lip as that kiss replayed in my mind, the memory making a very strong counterargument.
There could be rebound happening there.
“Trust me, the guy doesn’t even like me,” I insisted.
My phone flashed a warning that my battery was nearly depleted, and I made a point to hurry the message along.
“I’m a couple of messages behind, by the way.
” Shrugging my hiking pack from my shoulders, I dropped onto the boulder to fish out water and snacks.
“But I’ll get caught up today, when I head back.
I’ve been—well, shit.” I looked up at the camera when another battery warning flashed.
“Sorry! Auntie Maggie didn’t say a bad word.
She said . . . shift. See? I’m shifting?
” I lifted the camera above me to capture the rock that was big enough for both Ellie and me.
“The rocks here are huge! You can sit on them.” I hoped my cheesy grin earned my sister’s instant forgiveness for the slip.
“Anyway,” I said, digging deeper into my bag. “I’ll get caught up—” My fingers hit the bottom of my pack, and realization dawned. “Well, this puts a damper on things,” I mumbled. “I forgot my extra water and my snacks back in the car. Of course I did.”
I could picture the paper bag from the hardware store resting on the floor of the passenger seat, the trail mix Joe gave me inside it, right where I left it. Guess we’d be turning around early today.
“It’d be bad to be stranded without—”
The screen went black.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” I grumbled, dropping my dead phone into my pack.
A lot of good it’d do me now. At least I’d snapped a few dozen pictures for Mom before draining the battery. I was overdue for some proof-of-life photos. The video message I could finish tonight.
Ellie shimmied up beside me on the boulder, pressing her weight against my side, as though reminding me where we were. She did that a lot. Reminded me to live in the present moment. I stroked my hand through her fur, deciding to take a few moments to soak this all in before we turned around.
“Out here, Ellie Belly, there’s nothing to worry about. Well, maybe mountain lions and bears. But still preferable to crazy ex-monsters-in-law and grumpy neighbors who kiss you stupid one minute and ice you out the next.”
She licked my cheek, and we sat there on the boulder for what might’ve been a minute or ten.
“If only we could come out here all the time, huh?”
I could live here.
I dismissed the thought as immediately as it popped into my head, glad that didn’t slip from my lips while on camera. The last thing I wanted was Violet deciding I was having a mini life crisis.
Besides, Bluebell Springs wouldn’t feel the same if I changed my status from tourist to resident. I didn’t want to dull the magic of the memories I was making, and I knew all too well what happened when the fantasy bubble popped and the reality of the outside world intruded.
“What are we going to do, Ellie Belly?”
She licked my cheek before popping onto all fours.
“Oh, right. Snacks.”
I promised myself we’d come back—soon. And next time we’d make it all the way to Whispering Lake. I might even pack a blanket and a book to read. Make a day of it.
We retraced our steps back to the main trail, but when I turned right to head back to the car, Ellie took off to the left.
“Ellie!”
I ran after her, both confused and a tad scared.
It wasn’t like her to chase after strangers.
Had she sensed danger and charged at a mountain lion?
The sign at the trailhead recommended fighting the creatures if nothing else worked.
I really didn’t want to practice hand-to-hand combat on a mountain lion today.
Or was it hand-to-paw? Paws with razor-sharp murder claws.
Around a nearby bend, I skidded to a halt and nearly sagged with relief. Ellie, tail swishing, wasn’t fighting wildlife. She was standing beside Luke.
Luke.
What was Luke doing out here?
“Eleanor Suzette Holland, what was that?” I focused on my dog, because I couldn’t process that Luke was on any trail, much less this one. There were a dozen others just in this immediate area.
“Eleanor Suzette Holland?” Luke lifted one corner of his mouth, so subtly I hardly noticed it. But of course I was doomed to notice his mouth after becoming so thoroughly acquainted with it the other night.
You’re mad at him, remember?
“It’s her government name,” I said, as though that explained everything. “Ellie, c’mon. We have to head back, remember?”
I braced, waiting for the pain in the ass to lecture me about the leash that was clipped only to my hip and not Ellie’s collar.
“You’re done with the hike?” Luke asked, his voice smaller than I’d grown accustomed to. The ghost of a grin from earlier was gone. I didn’t like it. It was as though the fight had drained out of him, taking his stubborn spark with it.
“We didn’t make it to the lake this time.” I could leave it at that. I should leave it at that. But the words slipped out anyway. “I forgot the extra water and my snacks that aren’t dog treats in the car.”
“I’d offer to share,” Luke said, gently running his fingers behind Ellie’s ears. “But it’s probably better if I just stay out of your way.”
While I could sympathize with the man, I wouldn’t pity him.
There was a difference, I’d learned, in trying to fix someone’s broken pieces and simply existing beside them while they figured it out for themselves.
Luke, in what little time I’d known him, seemed like a man who carried the weight of the world on his own shoulders.
So, while I wouldn’t give him a pass for last night, I could stop punishing him for it.
He clearly had that handled all on his own.
“If I try to leash Ellie, she’ll run off with it and probably toss it in the river. Or worse, toss me into the water with it.”
The faintest smile swept across Luke’s lips. “Even if I were on duty, I don’t have any jurisdiction out here.”
I returned the smile. “Then, we’ll take you up on your offer.”