Page 13 of The Lost Book of First Loves

Ali gave a bland look in response, though she could feel her palms sweat a little. “I love the ranch, don’t get me wrong, but as I said on my application, I graduated from law school this year and needed something to do while I study for the bar. I wanted some actual experience in the corporate world and it seemed a great opportunity to explore that option.”

“Lucky for me, you did,” June murmured. “Adam would probably call it fate or destiny that our paths crossed so you could save my life.”

“You don’t agree?”

“I’m too prosaic to believe in destiny,” June said.

“I don’t know. I think I was in exactly the right place at the right time. And maybe going with me to The Painted Sky is exactly where you need to be while you recover.”

June looked undecided.

“Adam wants me to go to his place on the California Coast near Napa. It’s lovely, don’t get me wrong. But you know, I think I would prefer the mountains of Wyoming. Are you sure it isn’t too much to ask?”

Ali beamed. She wouldn’t have to say goodbye to June yet, and she could choose the best time to tell the other woman that her favorite author was actually her father.

“That would be amazing,” she exclaimed. “I’ll call my grandmother and have her make sure the cabin is ready for a guest.”

“I won’t be ready to leave as soon as I’m discharged. It will take me a day or two to pack and make arrangements.”

“Totally fine. I’m in no hurry. And I can help you with whatever you need to do before you leave.”

That was what family members did for each other, wasn’t it?

Chapter 7

Juniper

Funny how a person’s life could change in an instant.

Only days ago, she was in her office trying to fire her latest intern. Now she sat in one of the plush chairs in the smaller of the Move Inc corporate jets, heading for a town in Wyoming she had never heard of, with that same intern sitting in the seat next to her.

She touched the fingers of one hand to the steady pulse beating in her other wrist. She found it both comfort and curse that she was so aware of her heartbeat now. For thirty-four years, she had taken that beat for granted, never expecting she had a congenital heart condition that could have ended her life at any second.

Everything she had achieved—her work at Move Inc, her prestigious penthouse condo, the healthy portfolio, her charitable contributions—could have disappeared in a blink.

The fragile nature of life had never been so apparent to her.

“We should be there soon.” Alison peered down at the landscape passing quickly beneath them. “I think that’s Jackson Hole. I recognize the Grand Teton below us and to the right.”

Glen Little, one of the Move Inc pilots who had flown June around the country several times before, chimed in over the intercom. “We’re beginning our descent. Another ten minutes or so and we will be on the ground. It might get bumpy as we head over these mountains, but I will do my best to keep things nice and easy for you.”

“It’s kind of fun to fly on a private jet,” Alison said, looking around the comfortable surroundings with interest. “This ismy first time. It’s so weird that we didn’t have to go through security or anything.”

Though Alison was at least in her midtwenties if she had already earned a law degree, she had the fresh-faced excitement of a child discovering how to skateboard for the first time.

“That is definitely an advantage,” June said, feeling ancient at her advanced age of thirty-four.

“If we were flying commercial, we would probably have to go to Jackson Hole, which is never a direct flight from anywhere. And then we would have to find somebody willing to drive more than an hour to pick us up. The county airport near Bridger Peak is only a fifteen-minute drive to our house.”

June would have been fine flying commercial to Wyoming but Adam had insisted they take one of the corporate planes. He had been overly solicitous since returning from his overseas trip, telling her several times that she needed to stay healthy since the company would collapse without her.

She didn’t quite buy that. Her role as head of marketing was definitely important to their bottom line, but they had a deep bench of excellent people who could step up and take over her responsibilities, even if she needed to be here longer than a few weeks.

“Will we need to hire a car to take us to your ranch?”

Alison gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s all taken care of. My grandma is working today and neither our housekeeper Jo Bailey or her husband, Patrick, who is our ranch foreman, could pick us up as they had other appointments.”

“Do they have Uber or Lyft in rural Wyoming?”

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