for a trip out to the river. I’ll be checking my fishing lines and putting them back out again, because I have about a week where I can gather the best fish to store for the year. Even though I can fish with a fishing pole any time, I prefer to fish with the lines. But I only have a small window. So, I’ve been out fishing every day this week, and I was hoping Jenna would join me today, but it doesn’t look like she’ll be here.
I packed a lunch for us, and plan on taking the four-wheelers along with a trailer hook-up. It means traveling , but I can bring more that way. I wait half an hour past when she should be here. I was hoping she’d see my family was different, and that I was different. My parents didn’t want me hanging out with people who acted like Jenna’s social circle for precisely the reasons she ran.
If Jenna can’t see I’m not controlling, that I’m different from her parents, I hope over time I can show her. I check my watch again. I can’t wait any longer, so I double-check my gear one more time and get ready to head out. Just as I sit on the four-wheeler, her car pulls into the driveway.
I stand, but I don’t move toward her car. I need to make sure she’s here to spend the day with me, not to let me down in person.
Jenna gets out of her car and we both stare at each other for a few minutes. Neither of us moves or speaks, but so much is said between us in other ways. Jenna is studying me as if seeing me through new eyes. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
I see a woman fighting to stand on her own two feet, even though it’s not the easiest path. She could’ve had all the money she ever needed or wanted. A society wife doing whatever she liked. But that isn’t her. She wants the path less traveled, and she wants to do it her way.
Breaking the spell, she reaches into her car and comes out holding up her camera. ‘I thought I could take some pictures with you today?’
For just a moment in the back of my head, there’s a warning bell telling me the only reason she wants to spend time with me is for the photos and to get more info for her book. But I push that thought away to worry about later. Right now, I want to simply enjoy her being here.
‘That’s fine. Ready to go?’
She nods, and I secure her helmet. Being this close to her again makes me think of our time at the river, and I wonder if I can get her in the water again today. I probably shouldn’t push my luck.
Climbing on the four-wheeler, I help Jenna to sit behind me. Good lord, I don’t think I thought this through. She’s sitting with her chest pressed up to my back and her arms wrapped around me. My mind goes everywhere but on where we should be going.
I decide to take the longer route to the river to see if we can get her some good photos. We reach a hill that looks down over a field where I know a pack of wild horses likes to hang out this time of year. I park the four-wheeler and help Jenna off. After only taking a few steps, we can see the wild horses grazing in the field.
‘Phoenix, they’re beautiful,’ Jenna says in awe.
She watches them for a few minutes before beginning to take photos. Most of the horses in this pack are a different shade of brown, but there are a few black and white ones, and some painted ones as well.
‘Is this your land?’ she asks as she pauses to take photos.
‘Yes, from the road at the base of the mountain to the river on this side. The other side is trickier, but there are markers if you know what to look for.’
‘It’s beautiful. I can see why you settled here.’
‘The moment I stepped on the property, I felt at peace. At home. I spent the first year exploring it and fell in love with it even more.’
We watch the horses for a while before I speak again. ‘The man who owns a hundred acres on the other side of the river is putting his property up for sale. I’m thinking of buying it.’
‘Are there good trees there?’
‘I’m sure there are, but it could be a lot to get them across the river. He has great hunting, though. There’s a small cabin on the property, too, but I’m not sure what I’d use it for.’
‘Too bad you don’t like people. Tourists would pay a pretty penny to stay in a cabin out here.’
I grunt at just the thought of it. ‘I don’t want strangers on my land day in and day out. It’s a good way for someone to get shot while hunting. Come on, we need to get moving.’
We load back up and make our way to the river. As I stand at the river, I think about what it would be like to own the land on the other side. Right then, I decide to make him a generous offer. It’s not about making money off the land. It’s about the life I want and if I want to expand my family, be it with Jenna or someone else down the road, then I need to expand my land, too.
Jenna
Does Phoenix have any clue what riding on the back of these four-wheelers while pressed up against him is doing to me? I should have worn a thicker bra because my nipples rubbing against his back is turning me on more and more with each bump. My clit is throbbing for release, and the vibrations from the motor aren’t helping one bit.
When we finally reach the river, I can’t wait to get off and put some space between us. Hopefully, I can calm down. The fresh air seems to help, and he’s more than willing to take a few minutes to relax before breaking the silence.
‘Let’s have lunch before we work on my nets,’ he says, pulling food from his backpack.
This time it’s a BLT sandwich, and what looks like homemade potato chips.
‘You make these chips yourself?’
‘Yeah. I have a garden, and the potatoes produced well this year. Had to find a way to use them.’ He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
I’m finding Phoenix to be a man of many talents, and everyone I meet I like just as much as the last.
We lean against the four-wheeler and watch the river as we eat.
‘You know,” Phoenix says, “when I was younger, I had no idea we had money. My parents never acted like we did. Yes, we lived in a nice house and had a pool. If I needed clothes, they provided them for me. But I wasn’t given everything. If I wanted a video game, I had to work for it. It wasn’t until I went to one of the kid’s birthday parties from my class and I saw their house that I realized I lived differently. That was about third grade.’
I stay quiet wanting to listen to whatever he wants to tell me.
‘Sixth grade was when kids started to notice my family came from money. I’m not sure if it was what they heard from their parents or if they realized my stuff was named brands, or what. That year, I had a bunch of friends and I slowly started to see that they were there because they wanted stuff from me. When I wasn’t blowing money on them, giving them expensive gifts, or taking them to do things, they stopped being my friend.’
‘Kids are shitty at that age. I think it’s a requirement for middle school to suck for everyone.’
Phoenix gives me a smirk before losing himself in his thoughts again.’By high school, I was an outcast. The rich kid who wouldn’t spend money on people, whose parents wouldn’t deal with their parents’ games, and who was okay being alone. Besides my neighbor, an eighty-two-year-old World War Two veteran, I didn’t have any friends. But I loved hearing his stories. We had lunch together every weekend and dinner once or twice a week. I’d help him around his house, and my parents would pay me an allowance for it. No more than ten dollars a week, though.’
Finishing my sandwich, I wrap my arm through his and rest my head on his shoulder, offering him comfort in hopes he’ll keep going with his story.
“Just as I started my senior year of high school, he passed away. I graduated a week before I turned eighteen. My parents were throwing me a party and while it was mostly their friends attending, I was excited. They had a meeting run late, and were on their way to my party when a drunk driver hit them. They died before EMT was even on the scene. I had no one. The day after the funeral, I woke up and just drove until I ended up here. I met Jack that day, who took me under his wing and introduced me to Bennett. They helped me out. I sold everything and moved here. They helped me go to school online and taught me how to manage my money.’
‘I’m so sorry. That’s a lot for anyone to go through, much less at a young age and all on their own.’ More than anything, I want to tell him he won’t ever be alone again. But I’m not ready to make those kinds of promises. ‘My childhood was the exact opposite. As young as I can remember, I knew we had money and my parents loved to spend it. I went to preschools, and it was a sport to see who was richer, who could get their parents to buy them the newest this or that. I learned how to manipulate my parents because to them, status was everything. It was around middle school when I started to see how fake everyone around me was. My best friend was my best friend because her parents and my parents told us we were. It was then I realized I didn’t have any true friends.’
Phoenix doesn’t say anything, just turns and kisses the top of my head where it’s resting on his shoulder.
‘By high school, I learned to work the system. As long as I stayed out of trouble and was the perfect society daughter when they needed me, I was able to be a kid. Go to football games, parties, prom. I had a teacher that took me under her wing and taught me all the advanced things I know about photography as an extracurricular class. She helped me convince my parents that taking advanced photography classes and using what I knew to volunteer would be a great way to stand out on college applications, so they agreed. It did help, and I received several scholarships. Even though I got a full ride to NYU, my parents demanded I go to Colorado State University, so I was close to home and could come back on weekends.’
I was so mad at them, and that’s when I promised myself I’d find a way out. No matter what.
‘So, I went and took as many photography classes as I could. I even majored in it without my parents finding out. Of course, they lost it when they realized I graduated with a degree in photography. That’s when they set me up with Chad. Insisted it was time for me to settle down. I liked Chad at first. He was charming and sweet. We had fun together, and I think at one point I thought I was in love with him. So, when he asked me to marry him, I agreed. The moment I agreed, he became a different person. I got so lost in planning our wedding, I didn’t see it. Then we were standing there at our rehearsal, and he didn’t once look at me. He was barking orders at everyone but could care less about me. That’s when it hit me. I watched him that night. He became this new person I didn’t know, and it was clear he was marrying me for my family’s money.’
My train of thought falters when Phoenix shifts, pulling me so my back is to his front and wrapping his arms around me. He leans on the four-wheeler and I rest my head on his shoulder, soaking up his comfort as I continue where I left off.
‘That night, when everyone was planning my wedding, I slipped one of the waitresses a few hundred dollars to keep telling people I was across the room, or had taken a phone call from the florist, or was in the bathroom talking to a bridesmaid. Anything wedding-related to buy me as much time as I could to get home and pack up my car. It took me less than an hour before I was all set to leave. I was across the state line before they blew up my phone. Even though I turned it off, I guess they found the letter I left. That first day in the store they called me, but then I changed my number and heard nothing until Chad showed up at my door the day you were there.’
‘Have you heard from anyone since?’
‘No. I searched my parents last night when I was looking up yours. Chad’s family did a great job spinning the whole thing. It must have cost them millions to get every paper to report that Chad left me at the altar because he realized he was in love with my maid of honor. They’re engaged to be married now. She was the best friend my parents told me was my best friend. The papers all said I was so heartbroken and I left to ‘find myself.’ Nothing about him cheating or what really happened.’
‘I’m glad you’re here now. And I hope Whiskey River starts to feel like home for you. You seem to be settling into your place,’ Phoenix says.
‘I love my little house, but being out here with you gives me a sense of freedom I’ve never experienced before. I keep trying to find the perfect picture to capture it or a way to describe it, but nothing comes close. ‘
‘Sounds like the mountain has taken another soul. You’ll never be the same again,’ he says with a chuckle.
I know I won’t ever be the same, but it’s not because of the mountain. It’s because of this mountain man.
