Page 12 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“You never know how important training is until someone needs it.” That was the only reason she had learned. Because she hadn’t been able to help her father.

She knew now that her father had been beyond help from the very moment he collapsed. That didn’t help her guilt.

“So true. So true.” Adam reached for June’s hand now and squeezed her fingers. “I wish I could stay longer but Rudy is having fits with both of us gone. I’ll check in with you again. You take care of yourself, Junie. I can’t lose you.”

After he left, Ali couldn’t help but notice how most of his conversation had centered on himself.

“I didn’t realize you were part of Move Inc from the beginning.”

“Adam, Rudy and I went to university together. I wasn’t as good at the coding as the two of them were, but I was definitely in on the brainstorming.”

“That’s great.”

“It’s always been a joint endeavor, even though Adam gets most of the recognition. Rudy and I are both happy to be behind the scenes.”

“How are you feeling today?”

June shrugged. “Fine, though every time I take a breath I’m reminded I have a broken rib and a tiny piece of tech inside my chest that’s keeping me alive.”

Ali couldn’t imagine how difficult that must be. “Are you supposed to go home today?”

“Apparently, the plan is for me to leave tomorrow. Doctor Singh wants to watch me another day to make sure the settings on the ICD are correct.”

“I hope you’re not planning to immediately jump back into work.”

Even as she said the words, she wondered if June would consider her too presumptuous. While their relationship had shifted to something more than boss and incompetent intern over the past few days, Ali knew she had no right to nag June about her work habits. Maybe if June knew she was her younger sister, yes. But she still hadn’t told her about the DNA test results.

June didn’t appear offended by her effrontery. She frowned, looking disgruntled. “I’ve been ordered by Doctor Singh as well as Adam and Rudy to take at least a month off. I don’t know how that will be possible. Maybe I can be gone for a week but any longer than that and I’ll have to pop into the office to check on things.”

“Why don’t you come back to Wyoming with me?” Alison blurted out the idea that had been spinning in the back of her mind for days.

June stared at her. “Wyoming?”

“Yes. My father’s ranch, The Painted Sky. It’s spectacular. It’s in a beautiful valley, on a river. The nearby town, Bridger Peak, is small, but has everything you might need. No matter what else is going on in my life, I always find peace there.”

“I couldn’t do that. You’ve already done more than enough for me. I can’t impose on you more than I already have.”

Ali wanted June to come to The Painted Sky. She wanted her to see the place their father had loved, where he found inspiration and where he wrote.

Beyond that, she needed to tell June they were sisters, though she didn’t feel quite ready to blurt that out yet. Maybe it would help June deal better with the shock if she came to the ranch first and had a chance to get to know Loretta and Beck and everyone else in Bridger Peak who had adored Carson.

“There’s plenty of room,” she assured her. “We have five unused bedrooms in the ranch house. If you would rather be on your own, my father’s writing cabin is a fully contained guesthouse, with three bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. When Dad was trying to finish a book, he would sometimes stay there for an entire month, coming up to the main house only for the occasional meal.”

June looked intrigued by the insight into Carson’s writing process. “I don’t imagine your mother loved that. I’ve always thought how hard being married to a writer must be.”

“My mom died when I was fourteen. For most of my teenage years, it was just me, my dad and my grandma Loretta.”

“My mom died when I was fifteen, but it was always just the two of us. I never knew my father.”

“I’m sorry,” Ali murmured.

She wanted to say that going to Bridger Peak would give June the chance to get to know that father better, but the timing wasn’t quite right to tell her.

“I can’t impose on your family that way,” June said again.

“It’s no imposition, I promise. It’s only my grandma and me now. The ranch is mine. I can invite anyone I like to stay.”

June studied her as if trying to make sense of a complicated coding problem. “You own a ranch in Wyoming. Yet, you were working as an unpaid, overworked intern to the marketing director at Move Inc. Why?”

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