Sable Peak (The Edens)

I was surrounded by Edens. Again.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

It was fun. Sort of. Definitely overwhelming. But … fun. There was so much happiness in Anne and Harrison’s kitchen it was hard not to get swept up by the smiles and laughter.

It reminded me of the barbeques we’d had growing up. When Dad would flip burgers and kids would chase around and we’d go out on the—

I dropped a mental guillotine on that memory, chopping off its head. Nothing good came from revisiting the past, so I shoved it away. I tucked those happy moments from before back into their box and secured the lock.

Tonight was not the night to replay old times. Tonight, we were celebrating. Lyla and Vance had just announced their engagement.

I was so happy for them, especially Uncle Vance. The way he looked at Lyla made my heart melt. He deserved her. He’d gone through hard times recently, but now that he had Lyla, the bad was in the rearview mirror. And he’d move mountains to make her dreams come true.

Someday, I wanted a man to see me the way Vance saw Lyla. To love me with his whole heart.

I’d made a thousand wishes on a million stars for that man to be Mateo. I didn’t put a lot of faith into wishing, not anymore. But there was always hope.

“Where’s Mateo?” Eloise asked, popping a carrot from the veggie tray into her mouth.

Just the mention of his name made my heart skip.

Since I’d moved into the loft, our paths had crossed at least twice a week. So far, I’d seen him three times since Sunday. And all of those times, he would talk to me about school or driving or the loft. Not once had he mentioned returning to Alaska. Thank God. Then before he left to go home or to work, he’d give me a wink.

Winks meant something. Harrison winked at Anne, and every time, I felt like there was an underlying meaning. He winked to say I love you. I’d die without you in my life. You’re the reason I breathe.

Mateo winked at me. I wanted it to mean something. Desperately. It probably didn’t. My crush overshadowed all reasonable thought.

“I don’t know.” Anne checked her phone. “He said he was coming.”

“Well, I’m getting hungry.” Harrison patted his stomach. “I’ll start the grill. We can cook his burger when he gets here.”

Griffin and Knox followed their dad outside to the deck. Foster and Jasper followed closely behind. Uncle Vance gave me a soft smile, then slipped out of the kitchen too.

“So where do you want the wedding?” Anne asked Lyla as she took the burger patties she’d prepped earlier from the fridge.

I’d helped make those patties. Anne had been teaching me how to cook and tonight, I’d been her sous chef, taking orders and following instructions on how to season the meat and make homemade potato salad.

“I was thinking the barn,” Lyla said. “If that’s okay with you guys.”

“Of course.” Anne clapped, giddy with excitement. “What about the ceremony?”

“The weather is always a risk, but maybe we could have it outside.”

“We could set up tents just in case of rain,” Winn said.

The women all clustered around the island while the kids played in the other room. It had taken a while, but I’d finally learned everyone’s names, the children included. And I knew which kids belonged to which adults.

The framed photos in the living room had been hugely helpful. That, and how often Anne and Harrison talked about their grandchildren.

Since moving to the ranch, I’d been a regular in this kitchen. Anne and Harrison were generous with their dinner invitations, either because they missed having their own kids around or because they pitied me and didn’t want me to be alone.

I was determined to learn how to cook, but between the meals eaten here and the others I had with Vance and Lyla, I fended for myself only once or twice a week.

Breakfast was on my own at least, and I was perfecting my omelet skills. Dad would be proud. He loved breakfast.

Maybe, when I found him, when I made sure he was okay, we could eat an omelet together.

As the discussion at the island revolved around wedding planning, I glanced to the window. It was dark outside, but that never stopped me from looking. Searching. Wondering if I might catch the distant flicker of a campfire.

Dad would never come this close to civilization. I knew that down to my bones. But hope was a funny thing. It chased away all logic. So I looked for those tiny campfires, even though I knew I would only find a black night beyond the glass.

The weather had shifted in the past month. February’s storm had been short-lived and the snow had melted off the roads shortly after Valentine’s Day. It had cleared enough that I’d risked a few hikes.

On the days when I wasn’t working at the coffee shop or taking my online classes, I’d venture into the foothills. The snow was still too deep to go far, but it had cleared enough for me to traverse into the woods. To a few places where Dad had once set snares or hunted for deer.

There’d been no sign of him. Yet.

“How are your classes going, Vera?” Talia’s question snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I really like them,” I told her. “I still have no idea what I want to do, but for right now, I like having options.”

I was currently enrolled in a psychology course and a nutrition class. They’d seemed like good choices. Maybe with psychology, I’d learn more about the human mind. How it worked. How it broke.

And if that failed, then I’d have nutrition as a fallback. In the four years we’d lived off the wilderness, Dad had taught me a lot about food. How to forage. How to hunt. It was interesting blending that knowledge with more conventional teaching.

He wouldn’t stop eating, would he? He wouldn’t just give up and starve himself?

No. He was alive. He was fine. Soon enough, I’d find him and see for myself.

The door to the deck opened and the men returned to the kitchen. Vance immediately went to Lyla and pulled her close.

They started talking about the local sheriff and his pending retirement. Vance had been working for Winn and had told me at lunch the other day how much he was enjoying it. While they talked, I checked the clock on the microwave, then glanced toward the hallway.

Where was Mateo? Yeah, he was normally the last to arrive. He seemed perpetually five minutes late for most gatherings. But he was never this late.

Like my thoughts had conjured him from thin air, the front door opened and bootsteps thudded down the hall.

The moment he appeared in the kitchen, my stomach dropped. Something was wrong. The color was gone from his face. His dark brown hair was sticking up at odd angles, like he’d been raking his fingers through it over and over.

“There you—” Anne’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

The room went quiet.

“I, um …” Mateo blinked. Then he shook his head, disbelief plain in his features. “I have to go to Alaska. Tonight.”

No one noticed my quiet gasp, probably because there were plenty of others to drown it out. Alaska. What? Why? Already?

“Tonight?” Harrison asked. “Why? What’s going on?”

Mateo swallowed hard. If his face had been pale before, it was ghost white now. “I think … I think I have a daughter?”

Wait. What did he say?

The room erupted in questions. All of them went unanswered because Mateo was already gone, having dropped the bomb.

He had a daughter? With who?

Was that the reason he was considering Alaska?

Because he was in love with someone else?