Page 8 of Adam

"Katherine Irene d’Winter, you know Peter Brinkman would be a great match for you. Remember all those good times we had vacationing together when we had beach homes next to each other?"

"Yes, Mother. I do remember. And those were good times. But that was years ago. I've grown up. So has Peter. You can't match make. This isn't the 1800's anymore."

Maybe I’m stubborn. I want to see Peter and have him view me as a grown up, not a child, but I don’t want my mother to have the upper hand in this or tell me what to do.

Mother harrumphs.

"Fine," she says, "but whatever you do, remember to put lotion on your hands after you milk the cows."

And then she hangs up.

I sigh. I’m really not sure what I’m doing on this trip other than that Boone invited me. Something she's not done ever before in the nearly five years we've known each other. And as far as I know, she never asked anyone else from our college to visit her either. She's always been very private about her home life and her family so I feel like this invitation is extra special. And if I have to milk cows and gather eggs, that's what I will do. It's no less of a sacrifice than all the things she has done for me over the years.

I pause for a moment to take in the scenery. Boone’s never said much about her family but she could go on and on about the beauty of Montana. She’s not wrong.

The sky is so clear and stretches out for as far as I can see. There’s no tall buildings or factory smoke to taint the perfect blue-ness and maybe it’s my imagination, but the air feels better going into my lungs.

Mountains rise up in the distance and below them the land is flat and green. Highway signs tell me to watch out for antelope, bison and bears.

Oh my.

The GPS says only a few miles to Chickadee Ridge.

I shift in the leather seat. I’m still sore from the escapades with the mystery elevator man and I chuckle to myself over the audacity of it all.

Between that and the pushy phone call from my mother, I feel like two weeks of solitude in a beautiful location on a peaceful farm are exactly what I need.

CHAPTER THREE

ADAM

I breathe a sigh of relief as I get on the highway heading away from Ponderosa Pass. I've been gone for nearly a week but it feels like months.

It’s good to get back on the familiar route home. I've been traveling it back and forth for my entire life. Thirty years to be exact. Okay, maybe I don't remember the trips the first two or three years but after that I remember making this drive with my father. I’d tag along whenever I could, eager to have the time alone with the man who was my hero.

Between running the largest ranch in Montana, overseeing expansion and investments, dealing with employees, not to mention a wife and five children, he was a busy man. In the truck, I had him to myself.

We’d talk about school and sports and horses. He never lectured, but I learned so much from his example.

It hurts that he’s gone.

I sigh and turn my attention back to the present.

My truck practically knows the way on its own so I'm able to let my mind wander as the miles roll by. I think about the nameless girl from last night. I almost feel bad that I don't know her name. But of course that would imply I had more than a passing interest in her for something other than mutual gratification.

Which I do not.

That's the point of anonymous sex.

My gut starts to tighten as I get close to one particularly tight bend in the road. If I could, I'd go another way to avoid this. But I can't. And even though I've made this trip hundreds of times since that horrible night, it's a constant reminder each time I travel this way.

There's not much traffic and I feel the need to clear my head so I pull over into a small area off the side of the highway. I get out of my truck and lean against it while I look at the curve in the road, then up at the mountain on one side and down at the steep ravine on the other. It's been five years since they died.

Usually my dad was a careful man, particularly when it came to his family.

I know they were eager to get back to town because Eddie had a football game, so I suppose that's the reason for the rush. Eddie, as a freshman, was a star on the high school team and I loved going to the games and watching him play. Feeling the excitement of the crowd all around me and being so proud and happy to see my little brother, the star quarterback.

He was the sweetest kid you could ever ask for and everybody loved him. He and our parents had gone to Ponderosa Pass to pick up some equipment and no doubt they were rushing to get back in time for the game. The Friday night football game seemed like the most important thing in the whole wide world. Until a mountain antelope jumped into their path. At least that's what the folks in the car behind reported. My father must have acted instinctively and swerved out of the way then overcompensated.

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