Page 10 of Beck & Coll
I dismantled the cursory bandaging I’d done while we were on the mountain. Once that was done, I turned her leg this way and that way. The wound didn’t look deep enough to require stitches, and while the area around it was red, it didn’t look inflamed.
“I want to clean and dress it properly, but other than that, I think it will be fine. I’ll check on it tomorrow. If it starts to ooze, throb, or your leg starts to swell, let me know. As far as you hitting your head, I’d like to hang around for a few hours… make sure that if you fall asleep, you wake up.”
She nodded while watching me clean her injury. “You seem very… adept at that. I mean, I’m sure leading beginners on wilderness adventures require you to have general knowledge of dealing with injuries…”
“Um… I had some medic training in the military. Then more medical training when I decided to open this business.”
“Was the military your career?”
“Nah. I did my four years and got out. Funny thing is that during my third year, I just knew I was gonna re-up and do another four. But the closer I got to getting those freedom papers, the more anxious I got to put the military in my rearview.”
“What’d you do once you finished your stint?”
I began the process of re-bandaging the wound. “I worked for the government in the Department of Forestry and Wildlife. Lived in D.C. Did the whole American dream thing…”
She cut me off. “Do you mean you had a wife and kids?”
I didn’t know why I was telling Collins all of my business. I wasn’t typically a motor mouth. I was the strong, silent type, the mountain man type, the guy with an easy smile, who was friendly but still mysterious.
I liked to keep my mouth closed while watching how everybody around me moved. There was something about Collins that made me feel like I could share, though. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that we were alone together and complete silence would’ve been awkward or if it was the fact that she was so shy around me. Whatever the reason, she was easy to talk to. I told her as much.
“You’ve got me running off at the mouth. I don’t usually do that.”
“Well, in case you’re feeling exposed, let me assure you that you haven’t shared much. I asked if you have a wife and kids, and you totally curved the question.”
I chuckled. “I wasn’t trying to. Nah. I came close to having a wife. I had a very serious relationship in D.C. that included cohabitation and all of that. I just couldn’t… didn’t pull the trigger.”
Her eyes lit up, and I knew where the conversation was about to go. Since she was smiling and she looked even prettier with a smile on her face, I let her make it.
“Are you a commitment-phobe, Beck? The commitment got to be too much for you?”
“Nah. We wanted different things.”
“That’s what they all say, which usually means that the man wants to have sex with other women, and the woman isn’t with that.”
I laughed aloud. “Is that usually what that means? I have to stop using that phrase then, even though it’s technically accurate. The fact that the two of us wanted different things was exactly why we had to part ways. It had nothing to do with other women. I’m a boy from the rural Pacific Northwest. I went to the Marines. I saw the world. I settled in D.C. mainly because my mom’s family is there. I made a life there.” I gave a nonchalant shoulder shrug. “It just never felt like home.
“We came here one Christmas, so she could finally meet my parents and my siblings. She liked Oregon. She gushed over the beauty and the laid-back pace. But at the end of the day, she couldn’t make a life here.She’s a D.C. girl, through and through. Loves the pace of the big city, the elbow rubbing, and the deal making of the political industry. She loves trying new restaurants, theater productions, and nightclubs. She liked going to games… baseball, football, basketball… it didn’t matter to her. She liked them all… had jerseys for them all. She loved sports. We don’t have professional sports teams here. I mean, in Portland, but not here in Jackson Falls. There was no way that she would’ve been happy here for the long-term.”
Collins eyed me.
“What?”
“Did you talk to her about it? Did you present the situation to her, or did you just break up with her and move back to Oregon?”
“Why do you have an attitude?” I couldn’t help the smirk that had forced its way onto my face.
“I don’t have an attitude,” she denied. “I’m just wondering if you decided for both of you that she wouldn’t be willing to make a life in Oregon or if you talked to her about what you were thinking and wanting.”
I held up my hands in a sign of surrender. “Okay. Okay. That’s actually a fair question, because initially, I didn’t talk toher about it. I had it in my mind that she wouldn’t be willing to make the move regardless of the love that I knew she felt for me. But after turning it over in my head for a while, I opened up the dialogue.”
“Good. So, you guys talked about it?”
“Yo…” I wanted to change the subject. “You hungry? We can head over to the lodge and grab a late lunch atThe Sunset Bistro.”
The Sunset Bistrowas a world-class eatery that served light fare and was only opened for lunch and dinner.
She seemed to consider my offer before replying. “I could eat.”
