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“What happened?”
“Reality happened. I took on more and more responsibilities with my family’s business and had to make a choice.”
“Oh. Do you still want to be a mountain guide?”
I look up to find her watching me with big doe eyes. “It’s been a long time since I considered it. Most guides don’t work past fifty, and nobody does it for the money. They do it for the love. This way, I can still climb and keep my family’s stores running. Everybody wins.”
It’s what I told myself all those years when the choice still stung. Something in it feels like a lie, but I can’t pinpoint what.
She zips her fleece all the way up. The temperature’s fading along with the daylight. We might have to retreat to our tents before the sun is completely down just to cuddle up and stay warm.
I really shouldn’t be thinking aboutthat, either.
“What are your stores like?”
I summon my best impression of Dean. “When you walk into an Irwin’s, you know everyone is there because they love using the gear, and know it inside and out. They answer customer questions from experience, not a brochure.”
She stares for several beats before she bursts out laughing. “Why are you talking like that?”
“It’s something one of my brothers said, and I never got over it.” I close my knife and slip it into my shirt pocket. I don’t need to put my first aid skills to the test out here. “We sell all kinds of gear for outdoor activities—camping, hiking, kayaking, you name it. Some stores are pretty small and niche, but most have sizable square footage. We want them to be warm and welcoming, no matter anyone’s sport or experience level.”
“Your family must all be outdoorsy nuts—I mean…outdoorsenthusiasts.”
I laugh. “We are outdoorsy nuts, but we come by it honestly. My parents met on a camping trip.”
“Your parents met on a camping trip like this?”
I hadn’t thought of it that way until exactly this moment. Huh. I swallow. “They fell in love that week.”
I don’t know why I added that last bit. I don’t know if I’ve ever fully bought into the story.
“I guess that’s romantic. If you can get past the camping parts.” She smiles to let me know she means no harm. She has no idea how the simple gesture aches through me. “And your whole family works there?”
“My parents are co-presidents, and they handle all the biggest decisions. I’m the General Manager, my middle brother Dean is the Chief Financial Officer, and my youngest brother Rhett is our marketer and social media manager.”
“And they’re all…like you?”
I narrow my eyes on her in the deepening twilight. “Elaborate.”
“You know. Outdoorsy. Accomplished. Handsome.” She runs a hand over the air between us. “Big.”
Her cheeks grow even pinker, and she tucks her hand between her knees. I can work withhandsomeandbig.
“Big is a very interesting description?—”
“Just tell me about them, please.” She widens her eyes at me, practically begging me to end the awkwardness. I rather enjoy the begging, if I’m being honest.
“We’re not all that alike. Rhett is thirty and possibly the most immature man I know, but he’s great at what he does. He’s a whitewater rafting nut. Dean is thirty-three, and the most serious of us. He doesn’t do as much outdoors as he should.”
“What does that mean? He doesn’t do as much outdoors as he ‘should’? Is it a requirement?”
I get the feeling she’s ready to leap to Dean’s defense from my unjustshoulds. “I mean, I think he needs the distraction. He’s so caught up in our business, he doesn’t take time for himself. He needs a life outside of work.”
Hypocrite, thy name is Grant. Rhett wasn’t wrong when he said I’ve been too busy to enjoy myself lately. Even my trips away have been more distractions than vacations. Plus, that characterization is unfair to Dean. He’s created a work/life balance for himself these last couple of years that I envy. He took on our grandparents’ house when our grandma downsized, and he’s planning to fill it up with babies just as soon as Eliza gives the okay.
If any of us has a full life outside of work, it’s Dean.
“Actually, that info’s kind of out of date. He got married last year, and his wife has softened some of his rough edges.”
