Page 129 of The One With the Mountain Man

Willow hopped into the backseat. "He hasn't responded to the whisper-net. We figured he was just busy with lunch. Now I'm worried."

"I donothave a good feeling about this. About any of this." Jackson slid behind the wheel and shot me a sad look.

"So your bad feeling meant something after all."

He nodded and fired up the engine. His calls to Scottie all went to voicemail. So did calls to Mack and Joanne. By the time we pulled up at Sharon's, Travis was on his way to the Lost Creek Cabin offices ready to murder anyone who got in his way.

"Why would Scottie disappear when he was hosting lunch?" It didn't make any sense.

Jackson's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "He would if he got a call from Mack."

"But he still would have given you a head's up." It only took a few seconds to call or shoot off a text saying he had to leave.

"Not if it was an emergency."

We turned down a familiar road, but I couldn't quite place why it was familiar. "I don't follow." Everything I was looking at, everything I was hearing, jumbled together like a puzzle being shaken up in a box. It made it hard to grab onto anything, to focus or even string a few thoughts together. I felt like I was spinning out of control while simultaneously quietly sitting in Jackson's truck.

"This Timothy Patrick is renting one of Mack's cabins. That's why Travis wanted Mack to give him information on the guy."

I found enough focus to put it together at the same time we passed Sammy's cabin and continued up the drive.

What is happening?

"Wait, you think Scottie disappeared because Mack and Joanne are in trouble?"

"Something isn't right. That's all I know for sure."

Willow unbuckled in the backseat. "I've been trying them this whole time. They haven't answered my messages on any app and the last time either of them posted to social media was first thing this morning.”

Jackson parked beside a row of cars that lined the circle drive. A modest home sat on the ridge overlooking the old cabin and the trails that disappeared off into the distance.

There was only one possible answer and my brain was having trouble grasping it. "This is Sharon's house?" I whispered.

Jackson put the truck in park and killed the engine. "It is."

"I'll just meet y'all inside," Willow murmured as she slid out.

She knew. They all knew. Everyone knew everything. Except me. It made sense. I was an outsider in a town that was as tight knit as they came. But it hurt a little because I'd started to feel part of it in my own way.

"So everyone knows about Sharon and Sammy. And everyone knows who I am. But no one told me anything." It pinched, right behind my heart.

Jackson reached for my hand, and I didn't stop him when he took it and squeezed. "You heard what Willow and Travis said. They kept your identity a secret because it wasyoursecret to keep. They were protecting you because they care about you."

I wanted to be petty. To let my anger and hurt feelings do the talking. I wanted to stomp my feet and say they only cared because of Jackson, not because of me. I was collateral.

He squeezed my hand harder. "They care aboutyou, Marley. You care about Lost Creek and book club and the TBR Pile. You are part of Lost Creek, even if I left right now."

"Then why didn't they tell me about Sammy?" I flung my hand at the cabin. I wanted to disappear. Did they all laugh at me and my obsession? Was I town entertainment with my childhood crushes and fairytale love of the books?

"Because that'sSharon'ssecret to keep. We don't tellanyoneabout Sharon for the same reason we don't tell anyone aboutyou.This town is safe for both of you. For all the reasons you came here, those are the same reasons we, as a town, keep her secret. No one gets stalked in Lost Creek. And if the TBCIMAs are good for anything, it's making sure that stays true." His voice jumped an octave and kept growing in volume with each sentence.

All while I shrank further into my seat, feeling like an ass. These secrets were good things. They were what I wanted. I didn't have a right to whine about which ones I was part of and which ones I hadn't been given access to yet.

I was a hypocrite. And I felt very, very small.

Jackson tugged on my hand as he slid across the bench seat and kissed me. "You want to know why we put up with Sharon and Maeve?" His other hand wrapped around my neck. "Why we roll our eyes but secretly love the TBCIMAs? It's because we all know it's their shield against the What If. And for a while now it hasn't been needed, but they keep up with their antics, their conspiracy theories, their suspicions. They watch all and they know all. And when you came to us, they took you in like one of their own because they knew you needed that protection. So, we're going to go in there and we're going to let them do what they're good at."

I nodded because he was right.

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