Twins for the Single Dad: An Enemies to Lovers, Small Town Romance (Grumpy Dads of Crystal Springs Book 2) by Amy Stone

Author:Amy Stone [Stone, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Ethan

“C’mon bud,” my incorrigible cousin says to me after pounding my back with what was meant to be a rousing pat. “I know that ‘late night pizza delivery’ of yours has never called back. What do you say to a nice hike up the mountains to get your head out of the figurative clouds and into the literal ones?”

“Oh ha ha,” I sniped, quite upset that Owen has been able to read my thoughts that easily. “I was thinking about the sale and deeds of the Mountain Motel. It’s sad that the owners couldn’t make a go of the old place. It’s got great potential.”

“Well then,” Owen says with another back-breaking pat. “The trail takes us right past there. You can give the place a look over. Jason wants to spend time at his friend Emma’s house just down the road anyway. You’ve vetted her guardian. Let’s cut loose and go for a nice long hike.”

I have a new Four Season outdoors jacket I want to try out, so I say I’m in. At this stage, after nearly four weeks of radio silence from Isabella, I’m in real need of something to take my mind off things. Owen, for all his juvenile teasing, is an expert woodsman.

We take Owen’s old Land Rover to where the trail starts and load our gear into various pockets and packs. It’s a day hike, but you never know what sort of weather will be waiting for you along the mountain ridges. It is mid-October and anything can happen. I can feel my hair has completely grown out of the corporate slicked-back style I had worn during my ‘big city’ days; one or two inches stuck out of the bottom of my woolen hat. No biggy.

“We aren’t packing that much weight so let’s get up to the ridge as fast as we can, cuz.” Owen is a large man, but he can stride up a mountainside faster than Paul Bunyan when he’s in the mood. I nod and we share being the trail leader all the way to the top of the ridge. There is quite a stiff wind, and the leader will be the one to bear the brunt of it first, while the hiker, who walks behind, gets off relatively easy.

When we reach the top, I feel more alive than I have for ages. Once the clouds part, the view is amazing. Despite everything, I find myself thinking of Isabella and wondering if she would like a hike like this.

We’ve barely touched these last weeks, and although she will hardly talk to me outside of school, she’s still an important part of my son’s life and I continue to have at least professional interactions with her.

Which is both a blessing and a curse. Because I keep thinking about her at odd moments, keep wishing to see her and touch her and smell her hair again. I want to eat pizza and drink beer with her, to relax on a couch and do nothing but browse Netflix and enjoy the comfort of her company.

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