None of my family knew —I didn’t think they’d understand even if I told them the truth— so it was a secret that we kept to ourselves.
“That reporter is off-limits,” Red said firmly. “No matter how hard Cash tries to convince us otherwise—and hewilltry. Jackass has always had a way with words.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got too much on my plate right now to even think about trying to date again.”
“What plate? You were complaining the other day that you were bored out of your mind and were happy we were coming down to Sunville.”
I grimaced. Red, blunt as always, was right.
There was next to nothing to do in our sleepy little town. Yes, it was peaceful and scenic. I had perfected my daily routine. My mornings started with chores around the homestead —chopping wood, repairing the fence, making sure the foxes hadn’t managed to get into the compost— and then off I went to work my shift at Callaghan Campers.
My brothers and I ran a successful RV and camper rental business just outside Grey Peak National Park. We couldn’t have found a more perfect location to open up shop.
We were busy pretty much all year round, taking in the boundless wonders of Mother Nature. But…
Frankly, it was boring.
I was good at my job. I enjoyed working with my family. As the technologically gifted member of the Callaghan clan, I was in charge of maintaining our business’ website, writing bits of code to keep our automatic book system rolling, and so on and so forth.
More often than not, though, I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something. My heart wasn’t in it, but I didn’t dare tell my brothers that because they’d only bombard me with questions I had no answers to.
How long have you felt this way? I’m not exactly sure when it started.
What do you want to do instead?I have no sweet clue.
I felt adrift, neither coming nor going.
I felt purposeless.
“I’m going to hit the hay,” I said to Red. “Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge. If you need anything, just holler.”
He nodded, patting me once on the shoulder. “Thanks again, Dyl. For letting us stay here.”
“Of course. What are old sparring buddies for?”
“I still don’t know why you didn’t go pro with us.”
I sighed. “Because my family needed me, and now…”And now it’s too late. “I’m going to bed. Keep the snoring to a minimum.”
“I don’t snore.”
“Uh-huh. The walls are super thin, you know. If it’s not you, then put your damn chainsaw away.”
Red snorted. I was pretty sure it was the closest thing to a laugh that he could manage. “Good night.”
I didn’t go to sleep straight away, instead booting up my PC to double check the updates that were supposed to automatically install on the Callaghan Campers website.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly, but as I verified line after line of code, my mind started to wander.
Julia.
The moment I laid eyes on her, my mind went blank. She was just so… mesmerizing. Breathtaking.
Even when I was still dating Winona, Julia had always been in my periphery, too beautiful to ignore. I didn’t say anything back then. Didn’t have the courage.She was four years older than me, about to graduate and go to college, and —of course— I was in a relationship with her younger sister.
The timing just wasn’t right, and even if it was, I highly doubted she’d see me as anything other than her kid sister’s boyfriend.
But now?