Page 34 of Trusting the Grumpy Mountain Man
The finality in his voice breaks something inside me. He's already given up. On the program. On us. On possibilities I've only just begun to imagine.
"So that's it?" I blink back tears. "One obstacle and you're done?"
"I fight battles I can win." He steps back, creating physical distance to match the emotional chasm opening between us. "This isn't one of them."
I stand alone as he walks away, the beautiful valley view blurring through my tears. Five days ago, I arrived determined to find flaws in this program. Now I'm leaving having found something precious instead, only to lose it before it fully bloomed.
The irony would be poetic if it didn't hurt so damn much.
CHAPTER NINE
JAX
THREE DAYS LATER
The axe bites into the log with a satisfying thunk. I lift it again, letting the weight of the tool and gravity do most of the work before it crashes down, splitting another piece of firewood. Three days since Riley left. Two days since Judge Martinez called with the news that Peak Survival has exactly two weeks to shut down operations.
Two days of knowing she actually went through with it. She chose her career, just like I predicted. Just like I told her to.
I swing the axe again, harder than necessary. The wood splits with a crack that echoes across the clearing. Sweat trickles down my back despite the cool morning air. I've been at this for over an hour, trying to work out the frustration and hurt with physical labor.
It isn't working.
"Killing those logs won't change anything." Mason approaches from the direction of the bunkhouse, two mugs of coffee in hand. "Though I appreciate the winter stockpile."
I drive the axe into the chopping block and accept the offered mug. "Kids up?"
"Jesse has them doing morning exercises." Mason leans against a nearby tree. "They're worried about you."
"Nothing to worry about." I sip the coffee, avoiding his eyes. "Program's closing. We've got two weeks to wrap things up. It is what it is."
"That’s pure bullshit, and you know it." Mason rarely curses, which makes it more effective when he does. "You're not okay, Jax. Haven't been since she left."
I set the mug down harder than intended. "This isn't about Riley."
"Isn't it?" He watches me with the same patience he shows the teens. "You told her to leave. To write the report that would shut us down. To take the promotion."
"And she did." The bitterness in my voice surprises even me. "Jenkins never showed up because she'd already done his job for him."
"You don't know that."
"Two weeks to shut down says otherwise." I retrieve the axe, needing the weight of it in my hands. "Judge Martinez made it clear. Department's decision is final."
"So that's it? The great Jaxon Reeves just gives up?" Mason shakes his head. "Not the man I thought you were."
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" I turn to face him fully. "Fight the entire state bureaucracy with what? Good intentions? Results they don't care about?"
"Fight for what matters." He gestures toward the bunkhouse where the kids' voices carry faintly. "For them. For her."
"She made her choice." I bring the axe down hard, splitting another log clean through. "Sacramento over Whisper Vale. Career over us."
"You told her to."
"I didn't think she'd actually do it!" The admission bursts out before I can stop it. "I thought she'd..." I trail off, unable to articulate what I'd hoped for.
"Thought she'd what?" Mason presses. "Choose you over everything she's worked for? After knowing you less than a week?"
Put that way, it sounds ridiculous. Entitled. Yet some part of me had believed exactly that. Had hoped she felt what I felt. That magnetic pull that made everything else secondary.
