“That’s great!”
He didn’t look too thrilled about it, and his voice didn’t express any excitement either. “It’s too early to tell.”
“Well, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
Though we’d only been “settled” in our cabin a few days, we’d made it a tradition to have breakfast in town at “our diner” on Franklin’s main street. As we turned onto the street, workers were hanging a banner. We paused and watched it unfurl: Welcome, Mirror, Mirror.
“What’s ‘Mirror, Mirror?’” I asked.
Ryker shrugged. “Beats me.”
I repeated the question to our waitress.
She smirked and shook her head. “That’s been all the talk these days. Some energy company’s claiming they’ve found something in the mountains, something to make fuel out of. People ‘round here all of a sudden think they’re rich like the ground has just opened up, and we’ve got oil shooting out from it. You ask me, it’s a bunch of hogwash. I’m not buying it.”
Ryker and I looked at each other wide-eyed.
“That’s big news,” I said.
“Psst,” she responded skeptically. “The last thing we need’s some big energy company poking around the mountains, but that’s just my opinion. You see some of the townsfolk, they’re dancing like they’ve won the lottery. I’ll be keeping my day job.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” said Ryker. “Double good news for us.” He winked at her.
With perfect timing, just as we’d finished our breakfast, Claire came in.
“Would you care to join us?” asked Ryker.
“No, thanks. I had my breakfast at home. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. Best get a move on.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I said. I got up from the table and gave Ryker a kiss. “See you tonight.”
We drove back out toward the mountains, though farther south than our previous rounds. I asked Claire what she thought of “Mirror, Mirror.”
“Won’t be the first time one of the big companies has come through here with promises. We’ll see. I ain’t holdin’ my breath, though.”
Like the last time I went out with Claire, we were welcomed with enthusiasm. The children wanted to show me their toys, and I regretted I had come without anything to give them—besides medicine, of course. I figured kids would appreciate toys over medicine, but they were grateful for the medicine and for the attention, too.
When we left the first community to go farther south, I was hit with a pang of sadness as I realized I would not see these people or Claire for quite some time.
“I’m going back on the trail,” I said, “Heading north.”
“That’s great. We’ll miss you, of course, but you’re right to keep going. There’s a lot more to see than just these parts.” After a few minutes, she added, “Are you planning on coming back?”
I almost started crying right then and there. I told myself I’d be back, but the reality was that I had no idea where the trail would take me, and I feared that I might lose Ryker and his brothers and everyone that I had so quickly come to love.Claire and I enjoyed perfect timing all day, arriving in one community just as they were sitting down for lunch, and we were famished, arriving in another just as the children were getting out of school. Our good timing continued when we were returning to Franklin early that evening. Ryker had just finished an interview in Blue Ridge, and we were able to pick him up on the way back.
“How did the interview go?”
Ryker’s enthusiasm was measured. “I think it went well. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Premature for a big celebration party?”
“A bit too early for that, yeah.”
I frowned. “That’s too bad. I was hoping we could call the boys, have a party at the cottage.”
“Sure. We don’t need a reason to celebrate. Just having each other is reason enough.”
“Plus, since I’ll be hitting the trail again, I wanted to have a little goodbye party.”
He looked crushed.
“A temporary goodbye,” I quickly added.
Claire dropped us off in Franklin. She’d planned on taking us to the front of the diner, but there was a surprising amount of traffic, both on the road and pedestrian, so she let us out a few blocks away.
We walked toward Main Street, following the steady stream of pedestrians. “Must be some kind of local celebration,” I said.
“Or ‘Mirror, Mirror,’” Ryker said.
“Could be.”
He called his brothers and had no problem organizing a last-minute party at the cottage. He ended the call and said, “Will’s going to pick us up in an hour.”
“Great!”
“I told him the motel would be a good place to meet, given the traffic.”
“Did he say what all this was about?”
“I forgot to ask.”
“That’s okay. We’ll find out soon enough.”
We turned onto Main Street. It had been blocked off for traffic and was packed full of people: young, old, well-dressed, casually dressed, couples, families, or small groups. At the end of the street, in front of the banner, a stage had been set up with speakers on either side. A few camera crews had gathered near the stage.