Page 38 of Ember Meadow
“I’m not sure. I think I want somewhere to call home, but I don’t know if I’ve found it yet.”
Morgan considers my words for a minute before replying. “I could see you here, you know. You fit in pretty well. Plus, we could really use another hiking buddy. We even have a book club in the winter when we’re all stuck inside.”
My heart swells a bit in my chest at her offer. I haven’t let myself consider it, but I do feel like I could stay here. I love it already. What if I could live in Jackson Hole? I know I’ve only been here for a short time, but maybe.
No, that’d be crazy.
I don’t even know what I’d do here. We just have the one cabin to run, that wouldn’t be enough to justify me hanging around.
Codie stops in her tracks in front of me so abruptly I almost trip onto the dirt. When I glance up at her, she’s staring ahead through the clearing of trees at a beautiful waterfall. The water had been rushing past us in a small creek for the entire hike, I must not have heard the waterfall as we snuck closer to it.
Hidden Falls isn’t the tallest waterfall I’ve seen, but it’s by far the prettiest. White water rushes down dark gray rocks between the pine trees, with the jagged mountains raising up impossibly tall in the background.
The creek after the waterfall rushes past a viewing point a few people take photos at, around a bend and down the mountain towards Jenny Lake. The water shines a light turquoise color as it flows past us.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur to no one in particular.
“I thought you might like it.” Codie nudges my arm with a laugh.
We stay and take a group photo in front of the waterfall with Erin’s phone. Codie insists on taking one of just me ‘for the memories.’
The next half of the hike is a lot faster. Or, rather, it just feels that way. We laugh and talk the entire way up the mountain. I’m not sure if I could remember anyone else that passed by, how loud we were, or anything outside of the fun we were creating.
Seemingly out of nowhere, we stumble upon another clearing. This time, on top of a rocky mountain face.
“Come on, let’s sit on the edge,” Morgan yells from behind me, rushing past me with surer footing than I could hope to have.
We all make it over to the edge of the rock, taking in the view at the lookout. In front of us, Jenny Lake stretches out from the mountain we stand on, its dark blue water sparkling in the sunlight.
Past the lake, rows and rows of lodgepole pines lead to open fields of light green grass, just starting to turn golden in the summer heat. I can see all the way to the cabins on the other side of the clearing, built in the early days of ranching in Jackson Hole.
The sun warms my cheeks and I take a moment to take it all in. The summer breeze blowing past. The calm of the mountains in the middle of the day. The songs of the birds flying by, making nests in the trees nearby. The feeling of the rocks, sturdy below my hiking boots. The comradery of hiking up this mountain with new friends.
It’s been a while since I’ve slowed down to evaluate how I’m feeling in the life I’ve built. I’m proud of the work I do. I’m not sure where I’ll end up, or what’s next for me in the grand scheme of life. But, here, in this moment, I’m happy.
I know after this hike, I’ll return to renovating the cabin, and eventually, back to real life and the shuffle of everyday tasks.
But just for now, I breathe a sigh of relief and take in the moment. Give myself time to stay in the feeling of being content.
I look over to the other women surrounding me and think about how grateful I am to have this experience with them. It’s nice to not be alone. It’s nice to have friends.
Chapter 14
The Hole
The week goes aboutas well as it can during a renovation of an extremely old cabin. There’s a bit of mold in the bathrooms that has been removed, wood boards replaced. The walls have turned into more of an open concept, the hard wood floors refinished and carpet replaced in the bedrooms.
Except for one floor board in the kitchen my foot went through earlier this week, the interior is in great shape. I’ll have to wait for a couple of weeks until my crew is back from another job to get that fixed, though. The hole remains.
Outside, the rich brown of the cabin exterior has been re-stained and is more vibrant than ever. The flowers I planted in the backyard are slowly but surely blooming, a vibrant display of red, yellow, orange, and purple.
It’s starting to look like a cabin I’d want to spend a few days at. Sitting on the back porch taking in the view of the Teton Range, reading a book in the sunshine.
Right now, as I look out the window, there’s an obstruction to the view. Although, I can’t complain.
Miles works on the last bit of the fence, wiping the sweat from his brow under his baseball cap with his forearm. His t-shirt is riding up his arm just a bit further than usual, and I can see higher up his tattoo sleeve than I usually can. The bottom half below his elbow is a winding road crawling up into the mountains, surrounded by fields.
What I’ve never seen before are the pine trees, all different shades and sizes, wrapping around his bicep. Even this far away, the detail of the trees is clear, sharp points poking out of the mountains.
