Page 57 of The Lost Book of First Loves

“See you then. Come on, Hank. Let’s go home.”

The dog rose slowly from his spot by the empty fireplace. He seemed reluctant to leave and Beck couldn’t really blame him.

At least they would both have the chance to see her the next day. He wasn’t prepared yet to say whether or not that was a good thing.

Chapter 19

Alison

Alison climbed into her father’s old bright red Jeep and was immediately hit by another wave in a seemingly endless tide of grief.

The thirty-year-old Jeep smelled of him. Leather and pine and sawdust.

She knew that her grandmother or Pat Bailey, the ranch manager, started it up and drove it around every week to keep the battery charged and the oil flowing freely. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to climb behind the wheel before, though.

Her father would never drive it again, and the reality of that hit her every time she looked at the Jeep.

He had loved this toy. After the winter snow melted and the mountain roads became drivable for the summer and fall, Carson used to love taking the Jeep into the mountains. After her mother died, he would take Ali with him sometimes. He would load up the dogs, a notebook, his fishing gear and a lawn chair and they would head up, exploring all the two-track roads in the area.

He didn’t accomplish much writing during those trips, but she knew that hadn’t mattered to her dad. He had taken her because she had been lost and sad and desperate to be with her one remaining parent.

While he sat beside a stream and scribbled thoughts in his notebook, she would walk the dogs or drop her fishing rod into the creek or stretch a hammock between a few trees and curl up with a book.

She didn’t have her dad anymore, but at least she had memory after memory.

Doing her best to ignore the dull ache in her chest that never quite seemed to go away whenever she thought about Carson, Ali turned the key in the ignition. The Jeep started with a low thrum.

Around the time she turned fifteen and had her learner’s permit, he let her drive it along some of those mountain roads, as long as the terrain wasn’t too rough. She had learned to drive a stick shift that way.

As she pulled away from the house and turned toward her dad’s writing cabin, the sun sent long shadows across the road.

The air flowing through the open windows felt good after a long day at the bookstore.

What would she do if Loretta decided to sell the place? She couldn’t really blame her. Her grandmother was getting older. She had plenty of volunteer work and hobbies to occupy her time, and the bookstore wasn’t a huge moneymaker, anyway.

What difference would it make if Loretta decided to sell? Ali was set to take the bar exam and would probably be moving to Cheyenne to work at one of the three law firms that had made offers to her, until she had enough experience and felt confident enough to open her own practice.

Whenever she thought about it, the future seemed like a big, muddled mess. Better not to think about it, she decided. Right now she would simply focus on her sister.

When she pulled up to the cabin, she found June sitting on the porch with her feet up on the railing. She wasn’t reading a book or looking at her phone or anything. She was simply sitting and looking out at the mountains.

When she spotted Ali, she dropped her legs from the railing and stood up.

“Hi. Good to see you,” June said.

Ali stepped out of the Jeep. “I brought you a present.”

June looked completely confused, until Ali crossed the space between them and handed her the keys to the Jeep.

“Today is the day you can officially drive again, right? I thought you might like some wheels to use while you’re here.”

June stared down at the key then back at Ali, her expression stunned. “I had forgotten I could drive again. Is this yours?”

Ali shook her head, though technically she had inherited everything of her father’s. “It was Carson’s. He loved this thing.”

June took in the Jeep with its big tires and its removable roof and doors. Ali couldn’t deny it was great fun to drive.

“He also has a fancy electric car. You’re welcome to drive that one instead, but there’s nowhere to charge it here at the cabin so you would have to walk up to the house to get it every time you wanted to go anywhere.”

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