Page 19 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
“Ready,” I called, stepping outside and shielding my eyes as they adjusted to the bright afternoon light.
He took one last powerful swing and I struggled to ignore the flutter in my belly. I fell in step beside him as we walked away from the road and outpost, his long strides slower than normal and mine doing double time to keep up.
“So, are you done acting weird?” Beau asked.
My chin fell and I gaped at him with huge eyes. “What?”
“I asked if you were done acting weird.”
I narrowed my eyes at the smirk on his face. How could he pin this all on me? He had been acting strangely too. Well, maybe his behavior had been more in reaction to mine. Whatever. This was the last topic I wanted to debate.
“I’m not even going to acknowledge that remark.” I held my chin high and picked up my pace. His chuckle elicited an eye roll.
We walked past a grouping of trees and into a long, wide clearing of lush, green grass. I tipped my chin up, the sunshine on my face incredible. My spirits instantly perked up. I needed to force myself to go outside more and boost my vitamin D levels.
I fe
lt better now than I had all week.
Dropping my chin, I looked around. The outpost was situated in a mountain valley. The meadow we were walking through was surrounded by evergreen hills that turned to blue mountains as they rose into the sky. About halfway up their steep slopes, the trees were still dusted with snow. Standing out in the open, I felt so small compared to their majesty.
“This is beautiful.” The grass was the bright, neon green of spring and its clean smell was a welcome change from the woodsy aroma in the outpost. The air was still cool but not sharp. A breeze rustled through the evergreens, filling the air with a gentle whisper.
“Believe it or not, this is an airstrip,” Beau said. “I’ve been working to clear trees that started growing too far into the meadow.” He pointed to a few big piles of fallen trees around the edges of the field.
“Why is there an airstrip in the middle of nowhere?”
“In case a small plane needs to do an emergency landing. There are a bunch of these little strips throughout the mountains. Usually they’re located by an outpost so there is shelter. Part of my job with the forest service is to make sure the fields are clear and the tree line doesn’t encroach too much.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
“I don’t do it all myself. I’ve got a crew that goes around to the larger places. A couple of the bigger outposts have full-time residents that live there year-round. But since this place has always been my favorite, I usually come up here and clean it up myself.”
That didn’t surprise me at all. Though Beau hadn’t been overly chatty with me this week, he had seemed happy and content.
“You really love it out here, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?” My question wasn’t judgmental, just curious. I had been plopped down in the middle of a different culture, a different world. Maybe if I understood what Beau found so appealing, the strange things here wouldn’t frighten me as much.
“I guess it just suits me. It speaks to my soul. I’ve always felt at peace in the woods, and life just seems . . . simpler out here.”
“Is your life in town complicated?”
He shrugged. “No. Maybe.”
We walked in silence for a few moments as I waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, frustration bubbled up in my gut. My inquisitive nature had been deprived this week. I missed being in reporter-mode and asking questions whenever they popped into my head. My boss had always compared me to a little kid, bouncing on my feet, asking “why” a million times until I was satisfied with the answer.
I needed more from Beau than a two-word response. “Come on, can’t you give me a better answer? Humor me. Please?”
“Nosy.” He looked down at me and grinned.
I gave him my “I’m waiting” look and he smiled wider.
“I wouldn’t say life is complicated,” he finally said, “it just gets busy. I could use about three more employees than I have. If there’s a fire in the area, that number becomes more like ten. And lately we’ve had some tough search and rescue cases. Plus I do my best to help out with family and spend time with Coby so he’s got a dad-type figure in his life. I’ve just got a lot of balls in the air and don’t want to drop any.”
On top of all that responsibility, he was taking on my troubles too. Beau was the type of man that everyone around him leaned on. And instead of seeing to his life in Prescott, he was stuck here. His absence from town could not be helping his stress levels.
