Page 24 of The Mountain Man's Virgin
I felt my sadness growing with every step. Each snowshoe step closer to the cabin was one step closer to going home. If I was getting what I wanted, why did it feel so wrong?
Chapter 18 – Mick
The snow crunched under our footfalls and I noticed that whenever I sped up the pace, Lucy followed suit. I wondered if it was conscious, or if I was witnessing her competitive streak.
“What did you say your specialty was on the track?” I asked as she held to my feverish pace.
“The eight hundred.”
“Why that one?”
“Well, it just happens to be the one that I’m the best at. I actually prefer the longer distances. There’s more strategy involved in those races, but my body seems to be best at this distance.”
“So, why don’t you run the longer races?”
“If I did that I wouldn’t have gotten a scholarship to Ames.”
“That’s why you do it? For the money?”
“Not at first,” I heard her say through an almost imperceptible sigh.
“Why don’t you just run the races you love?” he asked.
“I wish that I could, but I needed to get a scholarship.”
“I guess that’s the tough reality for a lot of people these days. So, you just spend all your spare time training?”
She laughed again, “Spare time? I don’t even know what that is anymore. I train, I study, and I work.”
“Why do you work if you have a scholarship?”
I heard her footsteps stall, and she fell a little behind me. “If you must know, my older sister has cancer and it’s been debilitating for her. She’s been hospitalized so many times I can’t count them anymore. And once we burned through the small amount of insurance money from my parents’ death on IV medications, doctor’s visits, CAT scans, I had to step up. Taking care of Alanna is a full-time job. There are times when she’s so weak and can’t stand up that I have to bathe her.”
“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry to hear that.” God, could this girl be any more selfless?
“What are you studying?” I knew that I should’ve said more about her sister. Been more attentive to everything she had just told me, but truthfully, I didn’t know what to say. I remember when my mom was dying how it seemed like no matter what anyone said, it was the wrong thing.
This girl had found something she was good at, track, and used it to put herself through school so she could work and use that money to help someone else. I didn’t think that people like her existed. I definitely hadn’t come across any woman, an angel, like her in my life.
“Biochemistry.”
I smiled to myself, “Let me guess, you’re going to find a cure for cancer?”
“How did you know that?” She stopped dead in her tracks.
“Lucy, forgive me if I’m wrong, but you seem to spend your life doing things for other people. It would only make sense that you would focus your studies on trying to help your sister. But what about you? If you didn’t have to get a scholarship if you didn’t have to cure your sister, what would you do for you?” I was genuinely curious.
“Well, in that dream world, one that doesn’t exist, I would be a painter.”
My heart went out to her. The world needs more Lucy McKennits. And Lucy deserved to be able to follow her dream. I took the two steps required to bridge the gap between us and kissed her again. Not the passionate, ground-shaking kiss we shared on the way up the ridge, but a lingering meaningful meeting of our lips. I took her face in my gloved hands and let my forehead rest on hers. When I pulled back I saw that she had tears in her eyes. Was she thinking about her fiancé? Her sister? Me?
She put her mittened hands on my wrists and pulled my hands from her face.
“We should get back,” she whispered.
“Yes. Yes, we should.”
“But…” Lucy continued. “Not before we turn this interrogation on you,” she smiled and pushed me on the chest. I knew that she was trying to break the tension between us, and well, it worked.
