No hands at my back on hikes.
No mischievous winks.
I really miss the winks.
Sometimes I catch him watching me, almost as intensely as Talon used to. But the second I notice he looks away or throws on that easy smile of his.
Except it’s not quite the same. Similar, but not the same.
More polite. A little too… Midwest nice.
As for Reid—he barely shows up at meals anymore. He hasn’t sought me out once.
Not that I want him to. It’s just… I don’t even know what I want.
All I do know is that the whole thing is a mess, and somehow, it’s my fault. We might have had something good going between us, but now I’ve ruined it, like everything else.
It feels like they talked about it. Decided I’m off-limits.
And honestly, that makes sense.
For me, this is temporary. A fling that ends the second I leave this mountain.
For them, it’s different. They’re friends. Business partners. Sharing the same woman? That gets complicated fast.
I get it. Can’t even say I blame them. I’d probably do the same thing in their shoes.
Doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting.
The awkwardness is starting to bleed into everything else, taking the shine off what was supposed to be a reset.
So, I keep busy.
I take every class I can. Film little video journals during the day—something I can edit later into a full piece about the retreat.
Each morning, I sit on the balcony with a cup of coffee, watching the sunrise, feeling the breeze. It’s a perfect view—the treetops whispering in a gentle wind, warm early sunlight spilling across the mountains, the occasional insect drifting past on some tiny errand of its own. The peaks rise in the distance and fade into a cloudless, endless blue.
In many ways, this place is perfect. A comfortable retreat tucked into a remote corner of the Rockies. The weather’s beautiful, the accommodation’s great, and the staff and guests are warm and welcoming. As for the food… yeah, the food definitely doesn’t hurt.
But I didn’t come here for a vacation, and I definitely didn’t come here to get tangled up in awkward relationships.
Maybe if I focus on why I actually came, things will start to make more sense.
Bertha.
I’d been worried about her. Worried she was being taken advantage of, pulled into something she didn’t fully understand. I haven’t seen any real signs of that since I got here, but I also haven’t actually sat down and talked to her. Not properly. Not in a way that would tell me if she’s really okay.
That’s what I should do.
There’s some free time after yoga this morning. I could ask her to go for a walk—just the two of us, away from everything—and see how she really feels.
Hopefully she’ll laugh it off and tell me she’s perfectly fine.
And if she doesn’t…
Well, that’s the whole reason I came out here, isn’t it? To find out what’s really going on. To make sure she’s safe.
Yeah. That’s what I’ll do.