Page 29 of In Every Lifetime
“Your long-lost, alcoholic older brother is the most exciting thing about you?” I asked incredulously.
He gave me a knowing look. “That title explains my point well. You also started your own business, a successful business at that. I’ve read some of the journals; they’re really good.”
“Really? You know about Fibonacci Files?” I was surprised. I knew a private investigator looked into me, but I didn’t realize the extent of what he knew.
“Yeah, once I learned you owned a journal, I subscribed right away. I have the last few issues back at the house,” he explained. “How often do you write for it?”
The trail had leveled out, and from here it looked like a steady downhill back to the car, which seemed like good news for Gabriel. I wasn't sure his lungs had another climb in them. "I try to have at least one piece in each issue, but the focus belongs on my writers. They're the real talent."
“Oliver James and Jackie James, right? Are they siblings?” he asked.
I shook my head. “They’re in-laws. He married her sister a few years back and took her last name.”
Gabriel smiled, falling into step beside me as the terrain leveled and the trail widened. “You’ve got a good thing going on out there.”
I thought about my crew back at home. I did have a good thing going on. Maybe it was time I tried to salvage it, face my demons and my mistakes. Apologizing wasn’t enough to right my wrongs, but maybe through real action I could at least restart some semblance of a friendship with them. “They’re good people. I think you’d like Goldie, our editor. She’s a force of nature, that one.”
“She’s your roommate too, right?”
I nodded.
“Think you could set me up?” he asked with a wink.
I barked a laugh at the absurdity of Goldie being set up with anyone. “She would bite your head off, man. It’s better if you keep a few states’ distance for now.”
Gabriel laughed. "Maybe I'll come out and visit sometime. Could even see myself moving out there one day."
"You'd always be welcome," I said. "Doesn't your Alaska season start up again soon though?" I kept my eyes on the trail as the downhill began to steepen.
Gabriel hooked his thumbs through his backpack straps. "I think I could get used to the rain. It's just an idea, and nothing is keeping me here anymore. Not really."
“Just a mortgage,” I joked.
He blinked, then laughed. "I genuinely forgot about that for a second."
"Come visit first and go from there," I offered.
He nodded. “I think that’s a good plan.”
