Page 129 of The Lost Book of First Loves

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to avoid seeing her.Her sister and her grandmother were here on The Painted Sky Ranch. He was a good friend of the family’s and also one of the executors of her father’s literary trust. He would have to interact with her in the future. His best choice now was to do everything he could to get over her.

For his own sake, a little distance wouldn’t be a bad idea, he decided. A few days earlier, he had a phone call from one of his contacts in Montana, letting him know about a new supply of heavily burled western larch in a grove owned by a private landowner who needed to cut it.

He had planned to drive up the following week to check it out, but maybe he would rush his plans and go for a few days.

That just might give him time to rebuild his defenses and figure out how he would make a life without her.

Chapter 44

Juniper

Two days after findingThe Forgotten Road, June closed the second notebook and simply gazed out at the mountains, her chest aching with unshed tears.

Carson’s long-hidden manuscript had been raw and real, the story of a man who falls in love with another man’s wife and how he worked to repair the gaping hole that love had torn inside him.

She had been deeply moved by each page, unable to read more than an hour at a time without having to take a break to regain her composure.

It had felt like a love letter to her mother, a precious gift that made June not only come to love her father, but also admire and respect her mother for the difficult choice she had made to walk away.

What would Elizabeth have done if she had read it? Jimmy Connelly had died by the time Carson wrote the tragic ending toThe Forgotten Road.

Had Elizabeth tried to reach out to him and let him know about her husband’s death and about their daughter’s birth?

If she hadn’t, why not?

She would probably never know the answer to that. Perhaps, as she had thought before, her mother had considered it her penance to live a solitary life, punishment for breaking her wedding vows with Carson. Or perhaps they had fought so bitterly when their affair ended that she had been unable to see a way forward for them.

We were travelers on the same road for a short time,his protagonist and narrator had said in the final scene.She had a destination I could never reach. In the end, she continued walking and I stood still, left only with the dust of her footprints.

It all made her so sad, though she reminded herself that Carson had gone on to have a wonderful life, after that initial time of mourning. He had fallen in love again with Alison’s mother, had a child, bought this ranch and went on to have a brilliant career.

Her mother had also been happy. She had loved her students, she had adored June, she had dear friends who loved her and she had worked hard to make her community better.

While June wanted to sit and absorb the words she had read for the next few hours—or days—she also knew she had to give the book to Alison to read now. She had promised to take it to her as soon as she finished.

After packing the notebooks back into the protective box and locking it again with the key, she threw on shoes and a sweater and took off along the path toward the ranch.

Ali had texted her already that day to let her know she was at home studying that morning, but had to work that afternoon. She could catch her before she left.

What would her sister think about the deep love their father had once had for Elizabeth Connelly?

Her sister. She shook her head as she walked. It was still so very difficult to process all the changes in her life in such a short time.

Dew still clung to the grass, gleaming like scattered pearls on each leaf and blade.

She would miss Wyoming and this ranch deeply when she left, but she knew she had to go. Her life waited for her and it was time she returned to it.

While she knew she would come back to see Alison and Loretta, she wasn’t ready to see Beck again.

As she read about lost love, he hadn’t been far from her thoughts, which was silly. She didn’t love him. Okay, maybeshe was halfway there, but she would get over him as soon as she returned to Seattle.

She had no choice but to go back. Their relationship was doomed to failure before it had even begun. He surely understood that.

Alison opened the door as soon as she rang the doorbell, as if she had been waiting on the other side since June had texted that she was on her way.

“I’ve been dying to talk to you for the past thirty-six hours, but Grandma told me I should give you time to finish the book.”

“Thank you.”

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