Coming Home to the Mountain: Complete Edition

4. Meadow

CHAPTER 4

Meadow

W hen we turn the bend toward Reuben's A-frame cottage, my breath catches. "This is where you live?" I ask.

He nods. I'm still nestled against him and his warmth makes this sunny day all the better.

"Yep," he says, "I built this cabin with my brothers and dad."

"It's amazing," I say, taking it in. The cottage is nestled in the heart of the mountain. The trim is painted dark green and it has a back porch, which is the side of the house we’ve come up to. It has a barbecue and a table and chairs, a small hot tub. There's a grassy area that we're reaching now with a circle of six Adirondack chairs and a fire pit.

"Here," he says, "I'm going to set you down right here before I jog into the house to get some bandages to wrap your ankle. Does that sound all right?"

"Sure," I say as he places me gently into the comfortable chair.

"This is so pretty back here. It's like you're in a little fairy tale."

He chuckles. "Yeah, I am pretty fond of this mountain myself. Just a sec, all right?"

I try to not overthink the way I look. My hair is messy. I'm wearing a dirty linen dress and didn’t even bother to put on a bra this morning. Not exactly dressed to impress.

A minute later, Reuben returns with an ACE bandage.

"All right," he says, "let's take care of this." He kneels before me and begins to wrap my ankle firmly.

"You've done this before?"

He nods. "Of course. I'm just wondering if we should take you into the clinic, have a doctor look at it to make sure it's nothing more than a sprain."

I shake my head. "No, it's really okay. I'm sure by tomorrow it'll be perfectly fine."

“There's urgent care right in town."

"Are you really that worried?"

"Yeah," he says, "I'm worried about you. I would feel terrible if your ankle was fractured and I didn't take you in to see a doctor."

Considering his words, I bite my bottom lip. "Maybe you're right," I say. "I'd feel really foolish also."

"That seals it. Come on, Meadow. We're getting in my truck."

I laugh. "All right."

Then he's picking me back up and carrying me to a dusty truck in the driveway. With one hand, he opens the door and slides me in. Then he jogs around the other side of the truck and gets into the driver's seat. He sets his backpack between us and unzips the front pouch.

"Do you want to call someone?" he asks. "You can use my phone, or I could always take you to your parents and they could take you to the doctor. I'm not trying to get into your business."

"No," I say, not wanting my time with this man to end so soon. "I appreciate it. I'll just call my sister real quick."

I dial Lulu's phone number. She picks up right away. "Hey," I say. I look over at Reuben as he turns on the ignition. Sitting in the passenger seat, I'm able to take in the front of his house. It's even more charming up here. There's a nice porch, a rock path leading toward the creek. It's literally the most beautiful place.

"Everything all right?" she asks. "What number is this?"

"Yeah, my phone died while I was out on a walk and I sprained my ankle, I think. I fell and it was pretty bad."

"Oh my God," she says, "where are you? Nate and I can come right away."

"That's all right. I met a guy, Reuben." I look over at him and smile. "He helped me get back to the land of the living. I was a little lost out there in the woods."

"Okay. Do you need something?" Lulu asks.

"I just wanted you to know that Reuben's driving me into town. I'm going to go to urgent care to just make sure there's nothing wrong with my foot. I'll feel like a fool if I broke something and I didn't realize it until it was too late."

"Of course," Lulu says, "do you want me to meet you down there?"

I swallow. "Sure," I say. "How about you meet me in town in two hours? If it goes more quickly, I can always go grab a coffee at that cafe we went to yesterday. Don't worry about me," I say.

"All right," she says, "talk soon."

I end the call and look over at Reuben. "I appreciate you letting me borrow your phone." "Course. Oh," he says, "you can charge yours while we drive."

Taking him up on his offer, I plug my phone into the charger in his car and he backs down the driveway. As we drive over a small bridge toward town, he points out a large homestead to the right.

"That's my parents' place," he says.

"Oh wow," I say, "that's a huge house."

"Yeah." He chuckles. "I told you my dad runs a construction company. Building homes runs in my blood."

"I see, and you live pretty close to your parents."

"Yeah. Not even a quarter of a mile." He shakes his head bashfully. "I'm not a mama's boy, if that's what you're thinking."

"I didn't say anything. Heck, I can't judge. I literally live in the same car as my parents." At that he laughs as he turns on the music.

"Okay. You should probably choose what we play considering you're the musician."

"Oh, I'm pretty easy, but the family band is folk."

"Would your music be on a music app?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say. "We have some albums uploaded online." He hands me his phone that's connected to the Bluetooth speakers and I type in The Wild Family Band .

"The Wild family," he says. "That really your last name?"

I nod. "Yeah. And yours is Rough so you can't judge my last name either."

"I'm not. My cousins, they're the Rowdys."

"Wow," I say, "that is incredible. I guess we really do have a lot in common. Big families, names that give you an idea of our families. What else?"

He looks over at me. "I'm twice the size of you and I have a feeling I'm a little bit more gruff than you too. Everything about you seems so damn sweet, Meadow."

I laugh. "I'm not always so sweet."

"I don’t believe it,” he says. "Listen to this song. Is that you singing?"

"How could you tell?"

He shrugs as he pulls into town. "I had a feeling. It's beautiful, just like you."

I look over at him, my heart beginning to pound, my stomach fluttering with butterflies, and I know my cheeks are probably bright red. He's making me feel so good. Since the moment we met, he both set me on fire and settled my soul.

"What?" he asks as he parks his car on Main Street in front of the urgent care.

"I just—I'm glad you found me," I tell him.

"I'm glad I found you too."

An hour later and an x-ray to boot, the doctor gives me some ibuprofen and tells me to keep off my foot. "The crutch will help," the doctor directs.

I nod appreciatively. "I guess you won't have to carry me anymore," I say, patting Reuben's shoulder.

The doctor looks at me and then at Reuben. "You new around here?" he asks.

"I'm just here on vacation," I tell him. "Just for a week over at the campground. I met Reuben out on the trails.”

"I see," the doctor says. "I've known this guy forever. His family, really."

"Well, it seems like I’m in good hands. Thank you."

When we leave the clinic, Reuben turns to me. "You told your sister to meet you in a couple of hours. Does that mean you have another hour to spare?"

I smile. "Are you asking me to get coffee?"

"Yeah," he says. "Unless you would rather..."

"No," I say, "that sounds great."

Using my crutch, I walk beside Reuben down the street toward the coffee shop. When Reuben pays for my iced chai latte and cookie, I thank him, realizing I'm not the only one feeling something here. I know he's feeling something too. When we have our drinks and treats, we sit outside at a table and chairs.

"So," he says, "you like to sing. You like nature. What else?"

I break my chocolate chip cookie in two. "I really like making herbal salves, different sorts of herbal sprays and tonics."

"Like healthcare stuff?"

"Yeah," I say. "If I didn't live in the RV, I would probably get myself a little workshop where I could make things. I would love to have a business out of my house one day where I can be a little witch doctor."

He grins. "That's awesome. My mom likes to do that stuff too. In the summer she's always collecting herbs and different wildflowers."

"Oh, that's wonderful," I say. "So you don't think I'm a little odd for my hobby?"

He chuckles. "No. When you have a big family, you get used to everybody doing their own thing. My little sister Fig, she loves to sew. She wants to be a fashion designer one day. And one of my brothers, he brews his own beer."

“And what about you, Reuben?" I ask him. "What's your thing?"

Just then a young woman and a little girl round the corner. The girl runs right over to Reuben. "Daddy," she says.

"Hey, Plum." He wraps his arms around the brown-haired beauty, kissing her on the forehead.

Is he married with a child? I swallow then look at the two of them.

"What are you doing out?" The young woman smiles at me. "I'm Fig," she says, "Reuben's little sister."

"I'm Meadow," I say, smiling, relieved.

"And I'm Plum," the little girl says.

Fig smiles. "We were just coming into town to get my afternoon coffee fix before we go back up to the house."

"Awesome," Reuben says warmly. "You having a good time with your Auntie Fig and being a good girl for your grandma?"

"Of course I am, Daddy," Plum says with a smile.

Then she looks at me. "Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite too. My grandma makes the best ones in the whole wide world." Then she lowers her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell the people at the cafe that, but hers are better. Promise."

I smile. "Good to know."

Fig and Reuben chat for a few more minutes about their siblings and things that I don't know anything about. Somebody's back from a honeymoon and someone else is complaining about working too many hours. I do my best to listen, but honestly, I'm caught up in Plum, who is standing right next to her dad. Dad . Reuben seems so young and this little girl must be four or five. I do the math.

The whole walk down from the woods to his house, he never mentioned that he was a father. But then again, it's not exactly my business.

"So what are you guys doing? Sorry," Fig says, "I just don't think we've ever met before."

"No," I say, "I just came into town on Sunday."

Plum’s eyes grow wide. "You're Rapunzel. I thought I knew you from somewhere."

I smile. "Rapunzel?"

"Yeah," she says. "I saw you when you were in that big bus all painted with rainbows. You look like a fairy princess." Her eyes sparkle when she looks at me.

"Well, thank you," I say. "But maybe I should get a haircut."

"No," Plum says, shaking her head. "It's perfect, but what happened?" She points to the crutch and my foot wrapped in the bandage.

"I fell in the woods today and sprained my ankle. Your dad took good care of me and made sure I went to the doctor."

"Daddy's good at that kind of thing," Plum says. "He always takes good care of me."

Fig gives us both a smile, biting her bottom lip as if she wants to say more, but she doesn't. "All right, Plum. Let's go get my coffee and go back home to sew that costume. All right?"

"See you tomorrow, Daddy," Plum says, waving goodbye.

When it's just Reuben and me again, there is a moment of silence. "Well, so you met my daughter," he says.

"She is adorable," I say. "I had no idea you were a dad."

He exhales. “Hey, you wanna have another coffee?”

I bite my bottom lip. Clearly he is avoiding the topic.