“I choose the pack,” I said hastily. “Thanks.”
While it wasn’t the most comfortable surface to sit on, it was probably better than the bark. And it was a pretty vantage point to take a break. Now that I was no longer moving, it was easier to hear the birdsong and other sounds of the woods.
For a while, we sat in companionable silence. My headache was gone, thank god. I wasn’t sure if that was from the aspirin or the fresh air. Either way, I was grateful. And now that it was no longer pounding, I could focus more on the discussion we’d had this morning around the breakfast table.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You and Cole both work, right?”
“Part-time, yes.”
“And you run an inn that’s in dire need of upgrades.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Brady said easily. “Where are you going with this?”
“I just wonder why you bother with yourDown to Earthvideos at all. No offense, but they can’t make you that much money.” Wait, had I just saidno offense? My plan for the week had been to offend as much as possible. Oops.
“They don’t, but that’s not why we started making them in the first place.”
“So why did you?”
“It was Gideon’s idea, actually. See, Gramps taught me and Cole all kinds of stuff. Starting a fire. Grilling. Fishing. Carpentry. But Gideon never knew his father—he took off when he was three. So he never had a dad or grandfather to teach him the things that we learned from a young age. His idea was to make videos for other men who didn’t learn those kinds of skills from their dads.”
“So no women allowed?”
Gideon shook his head. “You asked how it started, and that was the original idea for it. Of course we want to teach those skills to anyone who wants to learn. And as you pointed out when you disparaged us months ago, a growing percentage of our viewers are women.”
That’s right, that was part of what set me off in the first place—but only part. And there was another question I wanted to ask. It involved my least favorite member ofDown to Earth, but curiosity won out. “If Gideon didn’t have someone to teach him those skills, how’d he learn them?” I’d seen a listing of his videos on their social media channel. He’d made videos on carpentry, home repair, and auto maintenance. He’d even done a few on budgeting and finances.
“I don’t know about all of it, but he learned some things the same way we did.”
“From your grandfather?”
“From our grandparents,” Brady corrected. “I learned a lot from Gran, too.”
“But how did you all meet Gideon? Did he grow up around here?”
Brady took a drink of water before answering, and I couldn’t help staring at the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “It’s kind of a long story. Remember how I said I spent summers out here?”
“Yes. And Cole lived out here full-time.”
“Right.” He put the cap back on his water bottle as he stared off into the trees. “Well, when I was around fourteen, my dad started dating this woman who lived about an hour away. They got really serious, really fast, and as soon as the school year ended, my dad convinced my grandparents to take not only me for the summer, but also the woman’s teenage son.”
“Gideon,” I said, interested in the story in spite of myself.
“Exactly. He and I both arrived on the doorstep here, and Cole—instead of being jealous that our grandparents’ attention was split three ways—was friends with him from the start. We both were. We had an amazing summer, a lot of it spent right here in these woods.”
I could almost see the three boys running along the path, laughing and joking around. “Are your dad and Gideon’s mom still together?”
“God, no,” he said. “I don’t even know where my dad is. Last I heard, out in Vegas. As for Gideon’s mom, she moved on after the summer ended. She had a lot of short-term affairs, according to him.”
“I don’t understand, though. If Gideon and his mom lived in the suburbs, how’d you stay in touch?”
Brady laughed and elbowed me gently. “Same as anyone else would. By phone or online. This wasn’t the Dark Ages; I’m only a few years older than you.”
“Okay, it’s just… you three seem really close.”