Read Online Rocky Mountain Hideaway (To Love Again Book 2) by Kate Fargo - Free Book Online
Authors: Kate Fargo
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capers out here.”
“You should know it’s all in the details, Isabel.” He sunk his teeth appreciatively into the spongy bread, watching as Isabel took a generous bite of her own.
Isabel rooted through the bag. “What else do you have in here?”
“Extra clothes. Extra water.”
Isabel shook her head, laughing. “I stand by my earlier comment. We’re here for a few hours, not a few days.”
“You never know in the mountains. One minute everything is fine, and then… it’s not.”
Isabel looked suspiciously around at the sky, as if a storm could be approaching at any minute. Tray loved the lines of her face in profile. She had a tiny nose and her hair fell loosely over her shoulders. The hike had brought out the color in her cheeks and her eyes sparkled in the crisp air. He thought she barely looked thirty.
“You’re so beautiful, Isabel.” The color flared in her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. “No, really. I can’t believe you have children who are almost grown.”
“Sometimes I can’t believe it either,” she replied. “One day I was going to school and the next I was married with children.”
“Kind of like Peggy Bundy? Married with children?”
“Not exactly! Or at least, I hope not. It was hard in the beginning. There were times when I thought I couldn’t juggle one more detail. I kept waiting for that missing piece to make everything run smoothly.”
“Does such a thing exist?”
“That’s what the magazines tell us. Everyone has these wonderful lives, no one else seems to live in chaos or does the laundry at midnight because they have a sick kid who can’t sleep or because they have to redo a presentation that the dog threw up on.”
“Your dog threw up on your presentation?”
“Once, yeah.” Isabel laughed out loud.
“I hope you never tried that with any of your professors.” Tray laughed, picturing Isabel as a younger, earnest student handing in exemplary papers.
“I didn’t. Although I sometimes wished I could come up with something believable.” Isabel looked into his eyes and held his gaze. “You must find that. Is school hard?”
“At times. It’s really a lot of work, but… I guess being put off track for a while really puts it into perspective. There were so many times on the farm that I wished I was in school that now, when things get tough, I just remember how long I waited to get there.”
“That’s a pretty good attitude.”
“Mr. Good Attitude,” he said playfully. “That’s what they call me. What about you? For someone recently divorced, you seem to have a good handle on things.”
Isabel busied herself putting together another chunk of baguette. Tray watched as she piled brie, salami and a heaping of capers on the bread. He was starting to wish he hadn’t asked.
“I don’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business really.”
“No, it’s all right. The divorce is not so recent. Three years.”
“After how many together?”
“Eighteen.”
“Three years is recent.”
Isabel was pensive, gazing across the meadow. “When you get down to it, it really is. I remember standing in the grocery store one evening, in the frozen food section, unable to make a decision for dinner. I was incapable of choosing between a pizza and fish sticks. I was in so much pain I just stood there weeping.”
Tray put his hand on her knee, and she continued. “I remember thinking, if I’m falling apart after eighteen years, what happens to couples who’ve been together for twenty-five or thirty years? How do they cope when their whole life disappears?”
“I wrote a paper on that recently. I was looking at how many people die shortly after their lifetime partners. It’s as if they no longer have a reason to keep going. Or…”
“Or what?”
“Well, if I wasn’t a scientist, I would say that they already have a pact to meet again and don’t want to wait longer than they need to.”
“I like that idea.”
“I think it’s healthy to
“You should know it’s all in the details, Isabel.” He sunk his teeth appreciatively into the spongy bread, watching as Isabel took a generous bite of her own.
Isabel rooted through the bag. “What else do you have in here?”
“Extra clothes. Extra water.”
Isabel shook her head, laughing. “I stand by my earlier comment. We’re here for a few hours, not a few days.”
“You never know in the mountains. One minute everything is fine, and then… it’s not.”
Isabel looked suspiciously around at the sky, as if a storm could be approaching at any minute. Tray loved the lines of her face in profile. She had a tiny nose and her hair fell loosely over her shoulders. The hike had brought out the color in her cheeks and her eyes sparkled in the crisp air. He thought she barely looked thirty.
“You’re so beautiful, Isabel.” The color flared in her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. “No, really. I can’t believe you have children who are almost grown.”
“Sometimes I can’t believe it either,” she replied. “One day I was going to school and the next I was married with children.”
“Kind of like Peggy Bundy? Married with children?”
“Not exactly! Or at least, I hope not. It was hard in the beginning. There were times when I thought I couldn’t juggle one more detail. I kept waiting for that missing piece to make everything run smoothly.”
“Does such a thing exist?”
“That’s what the magazines tell us. Everyone has these wonderful lives, no one else seems to live in chaos or does the laundry at midnight because they have a sick kid who can’t sleep or because they have to redo a presentation that the dog threw up on.”
“Your dog threw up on your presentation?”
“Once, yeah.” Isabel laughed out loud.
“I hope you never tried that with any of your professors.” Tray laughed, picturing Isabel as a younger, earnest student handing in exemplary papers.
“I didn’t. Although I sometimes wished I could come up with something believable.” Isabel looked into his eyes and held his gaze. “You must find that. Is school hard?”
“At times. It’s really a lot of work, but… I guess being put off track for a while really puts it into perspective. There were so many times on the farm that I wished I was in school that now, when things get tough, I just remember how long I waited to get there.”
“That’s a pretty good attitude.”
“Mr. Good Attitude,” he said playfully. “That’s what they call me. What about you? For someone recently divorced, you seem to have a good handle on things.”
Isabel busied herself putting together another chunk of baguette. Tray watched as she piled brie, salami and a heaping of capers on the bread. He was starting to wish he hadn’t asked.
“I don’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business really.”
“No, it’s all right. The divorce is not so recent. Three years.”
“After how many together?”
“Eighteen.”
“Three years is recent.”
Isabel was pensive, gazing across the meadow. “When you get down to it, it really is. I remember standing in the grocery store one evening, in the frozen food section, unable to make a decision for dinner. I was incapable of choosing between a pizza and fish sticks. I was in so much pain I just stood there weeping.”
Tray put his hand on her knee, and she continued. “I remember thinking, if I’m falling apart after eighteen years, what happens to couples who’ve been together for twenty-five or thirty years? How do they cope when their whole life disappears?”
“I wrote a paper on that recently. I was looking at how many people die shortly after their lifetime partners. It’s as if they no longer have a reason to keep going. Or…”
“Or what?”
“Well, if I wasn’t a scientist, I would say that they already have a pact to meet again and don’t want to wait longer than they need to.”
“I like that idea.”
“I think it’s healthy to
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