4. Chapter 4
four
A few days later, Annie and Molly snuck over to Christopher’s. They grabbed her car. Even though he was home in the middle of the day, he didn’t seem to notice. Chris had been silent; either he was giving her the cold shoulder, or he was disappointingly unbothered that she’d run away from home.
The day after, Annie plunked her bags in her trunk.
In the front seat, along with the keys to the cabin in Northgold, sat a list of instructions.
She’d never paid attention when Molly’s dad had “opened” the winterized cabin, bringing it life out of hibernation.
She was nervous she’d mess up or break a pipe, but was assured it was easy-peasy.
Morning sunshine lit up Molly’s messy bun from behind as they said goodbye in the driveway. “I hope you feel better.” She buried her hands in the armpits of her Icedogs sweatshirt.
Annie sighed. “I hope so, too.” She yawned.
Molly glanced over her shoulder. Inside the house, Bell poked her head through the curtains while standing on the back of the living room couch. When she blew a kiss, Bell immediately barked and bounced with excitement.
Princely had sent Annie three new article assignments. He’d also requested a mini bio, which would appear in the back of all “At the Root Level” issues going forward.
Her new title: Major Contributing Writer .
The entire magazine was a group effort, but the recognition gave her a much needed dose of the warm and fuzzies, as she again questioned whether or not she was barreling towards a burnout point. Leaning on sheer determination would have to be enough to keep her going.
“The forest air’ll clear your head,” Molly said when she turned back. “You’re gonna eat those words. Leave no crumbs for those other writers. Then you’ll be back to your old enthusiastic self before you know it!”
My old self? Annie stared into space, wondering what that even meant.
“Hun? Remember it only gets better.”
“I feel like I’m drifting. At loose ends…”
“Sometimes our intuition knows when a new beginning is coming before our hearts realize it.”
“I know.”
“Anyways...” Molly stepped away. “And if you don’t mind– can you ask the neighbor to restock our firewood? He knows how much we usually need. Trust me, you’ll know which one to ask.”
“Sure.” Annie wasn’t thrilled to talk to anyone, but it was the least she could do.
“Promise you’ll let me know when you get there?”
Smiling, Annie promised. “Love you.”
“Love ya, too.”
Northgold was roughly a two-hour drive from Fort Walton.
Annie wanted to resume work no later than 2pm.
She stopped in Libby for gas before hopping on the scenic byway.
Clouds passed over the sun, creating alternating shadows and glowing patches on Lake Koocanusa.
Many of the summery trees had yet to get their leaves, but the pine trees looked gorgeous.
When she reached Northgold, she turned off Main Street and parked in front of the only market in the unincorporated gold-rush era town.
Her heavy eyelids had made her wonder if she was going to nod off while driving. I need coffee…
Wearily, she opened a weather-worn glass store door that hadn’t been polished in years.
She picked up a red shopping basket and walked the aisles under the watchful blank stares of several trophy bucks hanging on the walls next to blue and purple nature photos that decades of sun had leached of color.
“Accchchch-toey!”
The clerk at the front counter gathered something godawful from the back of his throat. She walked by as he spit into a mason jar. Syrupy, spattered, snoose swill stained the glass black. He tucked it away beneath the counter.
Annie’s stomach hitched a pinch as she turned her attention back to shopping. She didn’t need much, but it was an ingrained habit to stop at Buckeye’s on the way up the mountain.
Her first time to Northgold with Molly and her family was in the fourth grade. Their trips had started out as treats—days at a time spent with her best friend outside of school…
But as they’d grown older, and Dad more difficult, the trips had become the escape their day-to-day school classes alone couldn’t fulfill.
“I don’t wanna go home,” she’d sobbed into Molly shoulder as they’d packed up to leave the cabin. “I’m so done with his B.S. He won’t leave me alone now that Mom’s left. I have to take care of everything!”
“I know.” Molly hugged her tighter. “We’ll keep savin’ for the apartment. Just one more year before we graduate. You can make it. ”
When did I last talk to Dad? Not that she cared. Two years...? Yes, a handful of months after she’d started to date Chris. Her boyfriend—if she could still call him that— had met Dad once and had refused to be around him ever again.
Annie grabbed a bag of chips. The plastic crunched and squealed.
Christopher’s younger brother was getting married at the end of the summer.
More than a few hints had been tossed her way.
But every time his family had teased them about getting married, too, it had not sparked the right feelings.
What was worse, Chris had barely reacted to his family’s wishes and dreams.
Annie wasn’t opposed to marriage... And it was something she should want to do with Chris…
If you don’t wanna, there’s no point.
Tears clouded her vision.
You took the coward’s way out, and now you have unfinished business. Packing. The lease. A new home. That’s if... you really do leave him for good.
He was a nice enough guy…
Just not lately .
More tears fell to her dismay, pent up after days of caging her feelings.
“Hey, Julian.”
“Hey, Rich. Forgot soap.”
“Just take it.”
Annie wiped her cheeks. With horror, she realized she was standing by the toiletries. Spinning on her heel, she tried to get away—
“Oh!” A man with a clean-shaven face and gray work overalls dodged to the side, arms up. “Sorry, there! ”
“No, I’m sorry,” she said, forcing a smile without looking at him.
“Serves me right for barreling through the store,” he chuckled.
“Mmm-hmm.” She ducked her head. Embarrassment washed over her when she saw him raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eye as she made her exit. She was probably being overly rude, but she didn’t have the energy to muster anything more than an awkward acknowledgement.
She quick-walked to the front counter. The store clerk checked her out quickly and hardly spoke at her, much to her relief.
Outdoors, she sucked in a breath of mountain air and did her best to calm down, tossing her groceries in the trunk. In a mirror, she caught sight of her pale, pinched face. The dark circles under her brown eyes looked worse now than they had that morning.
Maybe I need some food...
The gravel parking lot at the main restaurant in town, No Wait Diner, was almost full. She sat in the car to collect her nerves before going inside.
Although it wasn’t nearly as rough as the market, the diner had also seen better days.
The gold lighting fixtures had been outdated even when Annie had been a child, and thousands of hungry patrons' shoes had worn away parts of the diamond pattern on the flooring.
She sat down in an olive green, pleather booth, a large gash in the seat bandaged with duct tape.
Despite its quirks, the staff were all smiles and service was quick. After Annie got a few bites of her tuna sandwich and bag of plain chips in her, she started to feel in control again.
At the end of her meal, the waiter placed her bill on the table and gave her a peppermint.
He had long hair that was faded blue-green with black roots, and under his black apron, he’d rolled up the sleeves of his white t-shirt, showing off the ring of black animal silhouettes that circled his lithe bicep.
His complexion was wheatish, and he had high cheekbones.
“Pie?” he asked, smiling.
She shook her head. “Oh... no— I barely had enough room for my lunch.”
His tag read “Teagan.” He furrowed his brow. “Miss, you look like you could use a pick me up. I’ll even give you a little discount... Treat yourself later. Get one for the road.”
She glanced over to the pristine glass case by the register.
It was loaded with confections. Chocolate cake. Delicate cupcakes. Pies piped with soft peaks of cream, drizzled with chocolate and glistening strawberry syrups. Fine almond slivers decorated the banana cream, which was half gone.
She’d be a liar to not admit they made her drool a little bit just then.
Annie looked back up at Teagan. “I’ll take banana cream.”
He nodded and smiled. “You got it.”
Stuffed and feeling half-way happier after lunch, Annie drove to a crossroad and came to a stop.
She glanced around while she waited for a car to pass and noticed that at the very end of the street was a truck trailer loaded with firewood.
She squinted. A sign said FOR SALE. She bit her lip and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She was reminded of Molly’s request.
Just in case the cabin is totally out of wood. A fire sounds amazing.
A man wearing overalls greeted her as she got out. He stood up from his spot where he was leaning against his truck. “ Hi, there.”
“Hello,” she said, pulling out her wallet. When she looked up, she saw that it was the same man she’d bumped into at Buckeye’s.
Oh God, don’t blush! How embarrassing!
She tapped her foot as she decided how much wood to buy. He didn’t have much left– a couple bundles of kindling, small split campfire logs, and a couple half-cylinders that looked far too heavy to carry.
She cleared her throat. “C-can I get a kindling bundle and one of the small ones, please?”
“You betcha.”
She opened her wallet and pulled out a few tens. He took her cash and counted it before he gave a weak smile and jerked a nod at the woodpile.
“Would you like me to put it in your car?”
“Yeah. That’d be great.”
She stuck her key into the trunk. It was stiff as she jiggled the mechanism. “Sorry, it’s finicky.” Of course it does this now... She tried again.
Nothing.
Now she was really blushing. First she was in his way at the store. Now her car was misbehaving.
“Maybe we can put it in the backseat?” I’ll haveta knock down my seats to get all my stuff outta the trunk.
He took a step back and waited for her to open the door. He set the firewood on the floor behind the driver’s seat.
“Ellie has banana cream today? Nice.”
Annie raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, uh... at the diner. You have pie. It normally sells out too fast. I almost always lose out.” He smiled. “Ellie owns the place. ”
Hands in her pockets, Annie waited while he loaded the rest of the wood. “One of the waiters talked me into it. I needed a pick-me-up, I guess”
“Don’t we all need one of those every once in a while?”
“It looked like they had at least a couple pieces still left?”
He hefted the bundle. “Yeah? I’ll haveta go grab one when I’m done today. Banana cream is my favorite.”
She smiled. “Mine, too.”
He smiled back at her, and this time it reached his light blue eyes. He placed the second wood bundle in her car. “Is that all you needed, miss?”
"That’s it. Thank you.” She told him that she’d seen his display from down the street. “It seemed like a really great idea.”
“I aim to please.”
She glanced back over at his truck. “You chop all that yourself?”
"Oh yes. Whacked ‘em all myself."
Her eyes widened. "Really? Seems dangerous."
"It is if you stand where the tree is falling."
She cracked a smile. "Har-har. I s’pose it's in your best interest not to get squashed like the Wicked Witch, huh?"
He shrugged and laughed. "I didn't go to the Prometheus School of Running Away from Things, if that's what you mean. That way they can’t grab me with their branches."
Just then, a minivan pulled off the road. The driver rolled down his window.
“You got some nice sticks there. Mind if I do?” he said.
The woodsman adjusted his cap. “Sure thing.”
Unexpectedly, Annie felt a twinge of disappointment that their conversation was over. Despite the awkwardness,their banter felt… refreshing .
“I’m Julian, by the way.” The woodsman stuck out his hand.
Surprised, Annie took it and he shook hers gently. “Nice to, er… meet you.”
“Sorry for nearly bowling you over earlier. I was runnin’ late.”
She smiled. “It was nothing at all, really. Thank you for the wood, Julian.”
He held her gaze for a moment. He looked like he was about to ask her something, but when the family man interrupted with a question, Julian excused himself with a polite smile.
“Gotta make a living.”
“Definitely… Have a good rest of your day.” I need to get to the cabin anyway. It was another twenty minutes away up a winding rough byway, and she was exhausted.
As she drove off, she caught Julian’s eye. Gave him a little wave.
To her surprise again, he waved back, a half-smile on his face.
He was nice. Heck, how many guys have I ever met who were even half as polite? Someone's mom raised him right.
Her spirits lifted, Annie drove to the end of the street and headed into the mountains.