Page 98 of The One With the Mountain Man

I couldn't not laugh at my sister's enthusiasm for life. "Yeah, Marley mentioned something about the insta-friends thing and that she thinks you and her best friend will really get along."

Eve leaned forward, resting her chin on her fist. "Tell me everything you know about this best friend."

Eve insisted we were more alike than I realized, and I was starting to understand what she meant. She was the extrovert version of me. I had just as much enthusiasm for life, but quieter. It's why I escaped into my mountains where that excitement could reverberate off of trees and leaves and rock formations. I could geek out over the uniqueness of a microenvironment, get lost in the intricacies of the symbiotic relationships of trees and ferns and mosses without the chaotic noise.

"Charley is, for all I can tell over video calls, the grouchy version of you. Well, maybe not grouchy. She's..." I searched for the right words to describe the passionate, loyal woman I only knew through stories and a few quick conversations. "She's jaded."

"Hmmmmm." Eve's eyes narrowed as she tried to picture this variation on her personality. "Jaded by what?"

"Mostly divorce, but there are some other factors layered in." Weren't there always layers? It was one of the things I fought against with my parents. To them everything was black and white. You were good or bad. Loyal or a traitor. There was no nuance. No forgiveness or acceptance. I either conformed to their idea of who I was supposed to be...

...or I was a disappointment.

I was finally completely fine with being a disappointment.

"Is she the kind of friend I'll have to fight for custody of Marley over, or can we share nicely?"

"Can you really call yourself a friend if you can't let this friend have an abundance of people in their lives? If they want them, of course."

Eve waved me off. "Excellent. So I guess now I have to convince them to let Marley stay in Lost Creek."

"Who saidIwanted to stay?" I turned my attention back to my iced tea.

Eve stared at me until I met her eyes. Then she stared some more, reading me like a damned book. "You want to stay. You always have. But this is a small town with long memories, and you were never going to be allowed to be yourself, something that you simply could not coexist with the way, say, Karis can. You had to leave, but you've always wanted to come back. You weredestinedto come back."

Who was this woman? This wise, intuitivewoman."Destined, huh?"

She nodded. "You all dismiss me because I'm the little sister.Oh, she's so cute thinking she knows what's going on."Eve made a patting motion, and I remembered all those times Mom would pat her on the head and dismiss her.

My gut twisted. We definitely had more in common than I realized.

She went on. "I was never the little sister. I'm a wise fucking old soul. I saw everything that was happening. I understood it. I still see it all. It's why I should be mayor instead of Bruce Halstead," she grumbled the last part. "But I'm too young. Too inexperienced. Bullshit. People just can't wrap their minds around the idea I might actually know more than them. I see this town for what it is and what it needs to be going forward, just like I see you, Huk Finn. Your nickname is and always has been perfect. No one understands you, but I do."

I think my damn heart grew three sizes. Here was the acceptance I'd always craved. It was right there, waiting for me. All I had to do was let it in.

"How do I make this work?" There was no point in debating whether Eve really understood everything she claimed or if she had the experience to know what to do about it. She did. It was a fact.

She sighed. Dramatically. Then she pointed towards Golden Hour. "You find a place like that cabin where you can take your bride. Ask that beautiful, wonderful woman to marry you and build the life you've always wanted."

My eyebrows shot up. "Marry her? Shouldn't we date for a while before the marriage topic comes up?"

Eve rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Do whatever you want. Marry her, chain her to the wall, just don't let her go, Jackson."

I blinked because I was pretty sure that was the first time someone in my family had actually used my name in at least a decade.

Eve grinned. "I love that Marley calls you Jackson. I love the way she's made you happy. I don't know her at all, but she protected me and that means she'll protect you."

"Aren't I the one who is supposed to do the protecting?"

"That wasn't in question. It's your nature. It's a huge part of why you had to leave town."

I looked up from my melting iced tea. "What do you mean?"

"You were fighting a King Tide and drowning." She leaned forward and lowered her voice all while my heart dropped into my stomach. "You protected all of us. You were the shield between our shitty parents and us. The others might not understand because they're just blind and selfish enough to let the signs sink away into oblivion, but not me. I see all. I know all." Her hand covered my wrist and squeezed.

My eyes strayed to my perfectly normal knuckles, but all I saw was blood and busted skin. "The night I left?"

Another squeeze. "Thank you, Jackson. Life after you left wasn't rainbows and puppy dogs, but it was tolerable and that was because you stood up to Dad and scared him just enough to keep him from touching the rest of us."

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