Page 66 of First Chance

Today, all my life choices are catching up to me, and I haven’t been able to move.

I’m wallowing in self-pity and inability to see light at the end of the tunnel when someone knocks on my door.

Someone.

I know it’s Lochlan. No one else would be brave enough to visit me.

Like a corpse rising from the dead, I crawl out of bed and crack the door open. “What do you want?” I grumble.

He studies me for a moment like he’s not sure where my chilly attitude is coming from. As if he isn’t one of the culprits.

“The guys are going into town for the Independence Dayfestival. Thought I’d tell you in case you’d be interested.”

“What time are you leaving?”

“I’m not. I’m staying here.”

“Oh, why?”

“They have a big fireworks show that sends a lot of noise and smoke up here. I stay back to watch over everything in case the bears get spooked.”

Normally, I’d jump at the opportunity to get out, but going to a crowded festival doesn’t sound as alluring as it would on any other day. The effort it would take me to get ready seems unachievable.

“Well, I’ll probably stay back, too. Let me know if you need anything while they’re all gone.” I give him a considerate half smile and move to shut the door, but he stops me with a hand gripping the door.

He doesn’t say anything as we stand silently holding the door. He wants to say something, but as usual, it gets locked away inside his head, and he doesn’t enlighten me with it.

If he wants me to read his mind, I don’t have the energy for it today.

“Bye,” I whisper, pushing the door again. This time, he lets me shut it.

* * *

Lochlan: Meet me outside

It’s been a couple of hours since he was at my door, and I’ve left his message unanswered for over ten minutes.

I shouldn’t humor him. He has me all twisted up in myhead, but I’m still the same girl I was before I ever came here, desperate for a friend.

Jo: When?

Lochlan: Right now

Lochlan’s sitting on his porch steps when I open my door, looking at me. He’s holding a folded fleece blanket and a small plastic container.

“What are you doing?” I ask him skeptically.

“Will you take a walk with me?”

I’m hesitant to be near him after what happened last night, but I’m too curious not to follow him.

We walk in silence as he leads me down a path past the bunkhouse I’ve never followed. I’ve never explored the property because I’m not supposed to, and I never thought to ask Lochlan to guide me.

I catch him glancing at me a few times, and I think he might say something, but he doesn’t. We only walk for a few minutes when the path opens into a field surrounded by trees. The clearing is overrun by little white flowers, but it isn’t until I get closer that I see all the specks of red.

“Strawberries? Did you plant these?”

“No. I’m not sure how they got here, but every summer they grow like wildfire. We only see ripe berries for a few weeks before all the critters destroy them. The bears like them, too.” He holds up the container he carried all the way here. “I thought you’d like to pick some.”

---