Page 76 of The Long Way Found

Carol brought him coffee around noon. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. Trying to stay busy."

She nodded, understanding without needing details. "Well, the storage room looks better than it has in ten years,” she said. “Thank you."

"Anytime."

As he was leaving, he checked his phone. Three more texts from Jack. He read what he could see without opening each message, then put it back in his pocket.

Not yet.

Luke drove with Marley to The Ridge, where Amir was manning the front desk.

"Sweet party last night," Amir said. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Thanks for coming!"

Amir studied him for a moment. "You good, Boss?"

"Yeah, thanks. Was a long night."

Amir opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then closed it. "Well, the workout will help. Always does."

The morning classes were done, and the rest of the day was open gym, so Luke did a full-body lifting session. He pushed harder than usual—heavier weights, shorter rests, lungs burning, muscles screaming. It was liberating to work so hard on simple, physical tasks he completely controlled.

He'd finished squats and calf raises when his phone chimed with another text.

“Can we talk later? I'm really sorry about last night.”

Luke walked to the front desk and set the phone down next to Amir's notebook.

"I'm leaving this here for a while,” Luke said. “Unless someone’s bleeding or on fire, I don’t want to know.”

Amir shrugged. "K."

After his workout and a quick shower, Luke grabbed his phone and saw more texts. He didn't read them. Instead, he opened his contacts and scrolled to the ski club group chat.

Tyler: “Spring festival tonight in Crested Butte. Who's in?”

It seemed like an easy chance to get away from town, work, and the immediate radius of Colonel Fucking Jack Garrison.

Luke texted back.

“I'm in. What time?”

Luke arrived at the festival around seven. Music poured out of the bars lining Main Street, and the whole town was out. Locals and tourists mingled in the easy spring energy that came with the end of ski season.

Tyler waved and called to him right away, pulling him into the group. "Luke! You made it!"

They grabbed dinner at a taco place, then headed to a bar with a dance floor. Luke ordered a ginger ale and lime. Nobody questioned it. They never did.

The music was loud, the crowd was friendly, and for brief stretches of time, last night slipped his mind. He’d forget about standing in that hotel ballroom, waiting for Jack to walk through the door. About the sick feeling when he'd finally checked his phone and seen Jack’s text.

He danced. He laughed. He let Tyler tell ridiculous stories about the season's worst ski tourists.

And then someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey."