Enjoy the View

by Sarah Morgenthaler

  “Or the icing on the cinnamon roll. I know the way to your heart, Zo.” They shared a smile through the rearview mirror.

  “Aww.” Jax almost managed to sound like he meant it. “You two are adorable. Disgusting but adorable.”

  “Why are you in here again?” Ash drawled to the third person in the back seat. Having gone shot for shot with Easton most of the night, Jax was almost as drunk as Easton was. He assumed anyway. With all the spinning, it was hard to tell.

  Jackson leaned his arms on the front seat between Graham’s shoulder and Easton’s slumping face. “Because he’s too heavy for even you fabulous females to carry back in the house. East deserves better than being dragged through the dirt by the arms.”

  “Whisky dragged me. By my arms.” Sighing, he slumped in his seat. “She was so pretty.”

  “Sorry, buddy.” Graham gave him a sympathetic pat on the head. “When you fall in love with that kind of woman, she’s going to be a pain in the ass to get over.”

  “I get it. Some women are worth the torment.” Jax turned to Ash, giving her a puppy dog look and earning the most brutal of eye rolls.

  “The answer will always be no, Jax,” Ash said. “Especially when you’re drunk.”

  When they pulled up to Easton’s house, Graham killed the engine. Apparently, the party wasn’t finished yet, because they all followed suit when Easton opened the passenger door.

  He stumbled out, with Ash scooting after him. She ducked under his arm. “Oof, you’re not lighter than you look.”

  “I can walk.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  So many of them, their voices were starting to merge together in one lump of annoyingness.

  “What the hell?” he grumped as he tried to get his balance. “You poisoned me.”

  “No, we got you roaring drunk.” Graham took him from Ash. “Which helps, trust me. River ripped your guts out, but when you’re throwing them up tomorrow morning, you won’t feel it so bad. And if you do, we’ll do this again.”

  “You’re encouraging me to become an alcoholic.”

  Even Easton knew he was slurring so badly, they couldn’t understand him. But Ash squeezed him into a hug because she might not be able to understand him, but she always understood him.

  Graham helped him into the house, dropping Easton down on a couch River had slept on.

  “She liked my towels,” Easton told them woefully. “I don’t know why, but she really liked my towels.”

  “I know, buddy. I know.” And because he wasn’t a good responsible friend but a best friend who threw caution to the wind, Graham plopped down on the opposite side of the couch with a fresh six-pack of beers. He handed Easton one.

  “I kicked everyone else out, and Zoey’s watching some show in the bedroom with Jake.” Graham twisted the cap off his bottle. “You want to talk about her?”

  “No.” Because talking meant acknowledging she was never coming back.

  “You want to tell me about the marmot?”

  “Okay.”

  • • •

  It’d been a long night. Easton didn’t remember what he’d said or done, but he knew he was grateful for the nice bush he was throwing up into, situated so conveniently off the front porch. He didn’t even know how he’d ended up on the porch. The last thing he remembered was walking into Rick’s.

  “Never should’ve drank that much.”

  “Nah, probably not. Rick and Lana brought your truck home for you after they closed last night.” Graham pushed an oversized water bottle at him. “Here. Drink something better for you.”

  “Why are you still here?” Easton asked miserably.

  “Making sure good intentions don’t turn into vomit aspiration. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t here to help you greet the sun? How do you feel?”

  “Like I know better than to drink until my liver explodes.”

  Graham folded his arms behind his head. “You know what your problem is? You always do what you should. You’re a rule follower. If there’s a sign that says to go left, you’re going to go left, even if you know you should go right.”

  Aiming a glare his way did nothing to curb the smirk on Graham’s face.

  “Listen, man. I’m not judging here. You play by the rules because you like to do what’s right. You’re a good person, better than I am.”

  Easton took a long drink from the water bottle, paused, then drained the rest. “Agreed.”

  “Aww, that wasn’t nice. True but not nice. But after watching you eat your heart out over her, what I’m wondering is, River... What is she worth to you? Really worth?” Graham’s voice quieted, his tone serious. “There’s a woman sleeping in your room right now who I would die for. I wouldn’t even think twice. Zoey’s it, man. She’s the one. So who’s River? Is she the woman we’re going to drink off the next couple of months? Or is she more? Because if she’s more…”

  “Then what?”

  “Then what are you doing here? If Zoey was back serving tables at her truck stop in Chicago, you can bet my ass would be sitting in her section, drinking coffee until my bladder gave out. Because that’s where the love of my life was.”

  “You’re saying I what? Hop on a plane and fly to Los Angeles? What am I going to do there? It’s not me.”

  “You can live without her, East. I’m just saying, if you don’t have to, then don’t. I don’t know River very well, but if you love her, put on your big boy pants and do something about it.”

  “That was the worst pep talk ever,” Easton grumped.

  Graham offered, “I could go get another six-pack.”

  “Hard pass.”

  Eventually, Graham had to open the diner. He offered to take Easton with him, but Easton chose instead to stay where he was. Easton didn’t know what he wanted or what to do, but he knew the Tourist Trap only held strangers, not answers.

  Staring at the phone in his hand, he tried to decide if he should call her. The break had been clean, like ripping a bandage off a wound. Maybe that was what River needed from him? Or maybe she was sitting somewhere, thousands of miles away, wondering why he never bothered to text or call.

  When a car rolled up his drive, Easton frowned. He recognized the sticker on the windshield identifying it as a rental car, but he wasn’t expecting anyone. Definitely not expecting Jessie to park and get out of the car, laptop in hand.

  Rising to his feet, Easton met his previous client in the driveway.

  Jessie gave him a rueful look. “Wow, you’ve looked better.”

  “Long night,” he grunted as they shook hands, then Jessie pulled him in for a brief hug.

  “River took up all your time when we were here. I never got a chance to thank you for getting me off that mountain.”

  Easton blinked, not at all expecting the hug or the comment.

  Jessie added, “I figured you’d be here, smelling like booze. Damn, you had it bad for her. It’s almost embarrassing, man.”

  Easton snorted. “You flew all this way to tell me that?”

  “Nope. I came here to show you something.” Jessie walked over to the porch and sat, opening his laptop. “This is all our hard work. It’s not done. We still have a lot to do, but I think you can tell what we’re getting at here. There are two versions of this. One is the Moose Springs focused story, which is good. River’s great at what she does, and Bree’s audio was phenomenal. The tourism board will love it.”

  “But?”

  “But this is better.”

  Then Jessie turned the laptop Easton’s way. He sat down and watched. Maybe he shouldn’t have. With every scene, Jessie reached deeper into his chest, finding the remaining shreds of his heart to pull out with brutally effective fingertips.

  Still, he had to smile. Watching River and Bree hook arms and laugh together at how horrifyin
g his barn was. Watching Jessie up in a tree, yelling shrilly because of a bear. Ben’s constant grin, no matter how hard the day’s climb. Even watching the marmot shuffling off after saying goodbye to Easton, turning back to look longingly over its furry shoulder every few feet to overly dramatic breakup music. River whispering into the camera, alone on the mountaintop, about how much she cared about her friends.

  Despite losing so much of their footage on the mountainside, what they had put together was…powerful. It might have been the best film he’d ever seen.

  “This town is going to be overrun,” he finally said with a grunt.

  “Not necessarily. This isn’t the film River approved. It’s the better one, but River told us no. She’s determined to preserve your privacy, and she won’t let us edit this in a way that showcases what really happened on that mountain.”

  “Looks to me like you did it anyway.”

  Jessie shrugged. “River’s footing the bill. She’ll get final say on what gets put out there. But you need to know, this is the kind of thing that doesn’t just happen. This is…special. And if it’s received the way I think it will be received, she’ll be the new rock star of the industry. We all will. Careers are cemented by this kind of film. “She won’t do anything to sacrifice your privacy or destroy your trust.” Jessie looked seriously at Easton. “This is up to you.”

  For a long time, Easton sat there, thinking about it. Then finally, he nodded. “If this is what will help her, and if River agrees to it, then do it.”

  “Are you sure?” Jessie seemed to need stronger confirmation. “She’s not wrong that pulling this trigger could affect your life. The media will find you, no matter where you are.”

  “I’ve got a nice big backyard to go hide in if people get too annoying,” Easton reminded him, jutting his chin toward the mountains beyond.

  “True,” Jessie admitted.

  They sat quietly for a few moments, then Jessie exhaled a tight breath. “When I went through the Veil, I came out a different man. And not for the better. It’s not fun to get a good look at yourself and realize you aren’t half as brave as you want to be.”

  Taking a sip of his water, Easton grunted. “It’s not about being brave. Either it’s in your blood or it isn’t.”

  “It’s in hers. I’ve known River a long time, and this was the happiest I’ve ever seen her. This was the life she was meant to have. Too bad she got sucked into being the next biggest film producer in the industry.” Jessie stood, laptop still open in his hands. “It’s a tough life.”

  Maybe. Or maybe a life didn’t have to be one thing or another. “Hey, Jessie. Where in LA is she?”

  “River? I figured she would have told you.” Jessie shook his head. “She decided it was time to move back home. She’ll still fly out for work when she gets her next job, but our girl’s in Wyoming now.”

  “Why?”

  “When you lose the love of your life, what else do you do? You go home.” Jessie waggled the laptop at Easton, where it had paused on them at the summit. “Hey, out of sheer curiosity, what did you say to her up there?”

  He didn’t have to answer him, but Easton was done fighting this. Heading for his truck, Easton replied over his shoulder, “I told her I’d love her with every last breath I take.”

  “Cool.” Jessie nodded, satisfied. “Can I add that in subtitles?”

  Easton climbed in his truck. “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He slammed the door shut, then rolled down his window with the manual crank, saying to Jessie, “Never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  • • •

  Riding a horse was like riding a bike. Only riding a bike didn’t make every muscle in River’s body hurt after only four hours.

  At her family’s ranch, it wasn’t unusual to spend all day in the saddle, it was expected. If River still had a tailbone or skin left on her inner knees by the time she managed to get done with her day’s work, it would be a miracle. They’d named her horse Ticktock, claiming it was only a matter of time before the dun gelding decided to toss her in the dirt, but other than a few sidesteps and one pointed snort of annoyance, Ticktock had behaved himself.

  As for River, the only thing close to climbing was riding. Even if she couldn’t sit down tonight, she was exactly where she wanted to be.

  A whistle pulled her attention. Her father’s foreman pointed toward the circular drive in front of the barn, bringing all the ranch hands’ eyes to where he was looking. Her father turned his roan mare toward the road, causing Ticktock to sidestep as the foreman trotted up to them.

  “That’s one big son of a bitch. Boss, you expecting company?”

  In a group of men this tough, it took someone special to make them all sit up straighter. Settling her mount before twisting in the saddle, River saw the person who had caught their attention. She felt her jaw loosen in shock.

  “You’re kidding me.”

  Preston Lane—her father—raised an eyebrow. “You know him, honey?”

  “That’s Easton.”

  Her father chuckled. “Well, boys, I guess that’s an Easton.”

  “What the hell is an Easton?” the foreman asked.

  Her father shook his head. “You’ll have to ask JD. She’s the one he’s here for, not me.”

  Leaving them to their teasing, River turned Ticktock and trotted to the fence Easton was leaning on. Heart in her throat as she reined in, River couldn’t help reaching out her hand for his to make sure he was real. Large, callused fingers closed around hers.

  “You’re in Wyoming.”

  Those kind brown eyes gazed up at her.

  “You’re in Wyoming,” Easton said in his quiet rumble. “Didn’t make sense to be anywhere else.”

  The bag slung over his shoulder wasn’t enough to pack an entire life in, but it was big enough to pack a week’s worth of clothes and a heart bigger than the man in front of her. His courage for showing up there left her breath caught in her lungs.

  She’d missed him so much.

  “I earn most of my money guiding climbs in the summer back home.” He cleared his throat. “Can’t leave my dad alone at Christmas. As for the rest of it, I figured wherever you were at seemed a whole lot better than missing you alone.”

  River’s face hurt from the smile splitting it. “Christmas in Moose Springs?”

  “It gets interesting.” His beard flashed her a quick grin.

  “Will they want me there?”

  “I want you there. And if you make that movie the way it deserves instead of for the Alaskan Tourism Board, they’ll like you a whole lot more.”

  “The Old Man’s about to become a lot more popular. People are going to want to find their own adventure up there. Maybe even fall in love with their own mountain man. Think you can handle it?”

  “As long as they know I’m spoken for.”

  “The marmot?” River teased.

  “I figured I’d see how this went first, ma’am.”

  They shared a smile, and in that moment, River knew she’d found her home. Wyoming, Alaska, it didn’t matter. Home was where Easton was.

  “Ma’am me like you mean it, big guy. Kiss me too, since you came all this way.”

  With a sigh of relief, he ducked the fence. It occurred to her that he hadn’t been sure of his welcome, but Easton would always be welcome in River’s life. Always. Leaning down off the side of Ticktock, River pressed her lips to his.

  And up until the damn horse tossed her off and stepped on Easton’s foot, breaking two of his toes, it was the best kiss ever.

  • • •

  No one made a movie very quickly. By the time River’s documentary was finished, simple as it was, they’d agreed to a new routine. Summers and Christmas in Moose Springs with his family. Winters and Thanksgiving in Wyoming with hers. Trips to L
A as she negotiated her next film. Utah and Toronto to promote the documentary, with a few overseas excursions in the mix.

  No matter where they went, no matter what they did, they always found something worth climbing. And in the rare places they couldn’t, they had all they needed in each other, with River climbing into his arms.

  Easton had never been happier.

  Her father had found Easton a horse that would fit him, but the mare tended to give him disappointed looks every time he saddled her up. So he trailered Chance down to Wyoming instead. The mountains around the ranch weren’t his own, but the local ranchers quickly learned how skilled of a tracker Easton was. Soon, he was the first one they called when they needed a stray tracked or a mountain lion run off from the herd. And when the work on the ranch was done, Easton and River would slip away together, heading up the mountains as high as they could go without taxing their mounts.

  “So, what do you think?” River asked him randomly as they settled in on a rock ledge together. Ticktock and Chance were tied off a hundred feet below, along with both their boots.

  This time, River had remembered her chalk and climbing shoes.

  “What do I think about you?”

  She should already know. He’d spent all morning and half the night before showing her that she was the perfect woman for him, that she was everything he’d never known he wanted and absolutely all he would ever need.

  “About here. Wyoming.” Her eyes sparkled as she shot him a grin. “And yes, about me too.”

  Easton wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. “I think they’re all down there watching your movie. We should probably join them.”

  “I’m not sure I have the ability to sit through two hours of them teasing us for acting like lovesick teenagers on a mountaintop.”

  True. Besides, he didn’t need to watch them falling in love. He’d been there. Every single moment with her was etched in his heart, and he’d never forget it. But there were more mountains to climb together, more adventures to be had. Easton had never been the type to dwell on the past. They had their whole lives ahead of them.