person anymore.
Again Fina’s eyes moved between Cutler and Nath. One
commanding, one gentle. One old soul and one young. She would stay with them,
for now. Perhaps the two of them could teach her the things that used to make
up Fina Whitesage. Things she’d so taken for granted she’d forgotten what they
were.
“Green Mountain Eco Tours. How may I help you?” Fina looked
away from her laptop screen and focused on the caller instead of the new
Whitesage Nursery website she’d commissioned. She and Ryan had been staying
with the brothers for ten days now and she’d tried to stay busy.
Cutler leaned on the doorway. He’d figured out thinking
distracted her from her pain. She laid her hand on the mouse of the office
computer and brought up Nath’s calendar. “We do have openings in August
for the Highland Trek package…oh you have? Let me check for you…”
He blew across the steaming mug of coffee in his hand and
watched Fina with quiet admiration. She looked up at him, grinned and mouthed you’ll
be late for work . Cutler just shrugged, returned her grin and kept
watching.
“Nathaniel Powell is available for only two nights in
August…”
Glancing out the window, Cutler watched Ryan playing in the
backyard. He and Nath had fenced in the entire area around the house, creating
a clearly defined space where Ryan was allowed to play without supervision. It
bordered on the south paddock, which suited Ryan just fine. So far he’d been
good about not ducking under the picket fence and going into the barn or
outbuildings on his own. Ryan was climbing on a big cedar play set with swings
and monkey bars. After work tonight, Cutler was going to finish assembling the
slide and raised fort sections.
“If you were willing to go with another guide I could offer
you that date but if you want Nathaniel to guide you… Yes he really is the best
chef in the bunch. Uh-huh. We also have a guide who’s Shoshone. Chris brings
his people’s knowledge to the trek and cooks with only local ingredients. But I
have to warn you he’s got a wicked sense of humor so unless you’re prepared to
do a few sit-ups to get your abs in shape before you head out, I can guarantee
you’ll have a sore belly by the end of day two. Oh you do? I’ll have to send
the Johnsons a note and thank them for their lovely recommendation. Yes.
Nathaniel’s chicken tetrazzini is to die for and I’m speaking from personal
experience here. It’s so good you’ll roll over on your back and beg to have
your stomach rubbed.”
Cutler heard a woman laughing on the other end of the line.
He rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee.
“The date will be held for you upon receipt of your five
hundred dollar deposit.”
Cutler was impressed by how quickly Fina had picked up on
the particulars of his brother’s business. Nobody had asked her to. The second
day she’d been there, she’d figured out that Nath had a business line hooked up
in the home office. If nobody there picked it up, it switched to his base camp.
The official home of Green Mountain Eco Tours sat at the end of a dead-end road
out of town. A number of trails their dad had introduced them to when they’d
been kids, ones that snaked around the Great Divide Basin, branched out from
there. Nath’s base camp was a pretty log building that he stored his company’s
gear and food supplies at and ran his tours out of. During the summer Nath
hired a high-school kid from their pack to run the office in his absence…keeping
the shelves stocked, checking on the solar panels, running the sleeping bags
into town for cleaning, answering the phones, that sort of thing. But Fina was
just really, really good with customers.
“There’s a full information pack. I can fax it or email it
to you.” Fina flicked her long, auburn hair out of the way, tucked the receiver
between her ear and shoulder and started typing. “That’s right…you can bring
your own gear or Green Mountain Eco Tours can supply
Again Fina’s eyes moved between Cutler and Nath. One
commanding, one gentle. One old soul and one young. She would stay with them,
for now. Perhaps the two of them could teach her the things that used to make
up Fina Whitesage. Things she’d so taken for granted she’d forgotten what they
were.
“Green Mountain Eco Tours. How may I help you?” Fina looked
away from her laptop screen and focused on the caller instead of the new
Whitesage Nursery website she’d commissioned. She and Ryan had been staying
with the brothers for ten days now and she’d tried to stay busy.
Cutler leaned on the doorway. He’d figured out thinking
distracted her from her pain. She laid her hand on the mouse of the office
computer and brought up Nath’s calendar. “We do have openings in August
for the Highland Trek package…oh you have? Let me check for you…”
He blew across the steaming mug of coffee in his hand and
watched Fina with quiet admiration. She looked up at him, grinned and mouthed you’ll
be late for work . Cutler just shrugged, returned her grin and kept
watching.
“Nathaniel Powell is available for only two nights in
August…”
Glancing out the window, Cutler watched Ryan playing in the
backyard. He and Nath had fenced in the entire area around the house, creating
a clearly defined space where Ryan was allowed to play without supervision. It
bordered on the south paddock, which suited Ryan just fine. So far he’d been
good about not ducking under the picket fence and going into the barn or
outbuildings on his own. Ryan was climbing on a big cedar play set with swings
and monkey bars. After work tonight, Cutler was going to finish assembling the
slide and raised fort sections.
“If you were willing to go with another guide I could offer
you that date but if you want Nathaniel to guide you… Yes he really is the best
chef in the bunch. Uh-huh. We also have a guide who’s Shoshone. Chris brings
his people’s knowledge to the trek and cooks with only local ingredients. But I
have to warn you he’s got a wicked sense of humor so unless you’re prepared to
do a few sit-ups to get your abs in shape before you head out, I can guarantee
you’ll have a sore belly by the end of day two. Oh you do? I’ll have to send
the Johnsons a note and thank them for their lovely recommendation. Yes.
Nathaniel’s chicken tetrazzini is to die for and I’m speaking from personal
experience here. It’s so good you’ll roll over on your back and beg to have
your stomach rubbed.”
Cutler heard a woman laughing on the other end of the line.
He rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee.
“The date will be held for you upon receipt of your five
hundred dollar deposit.”
Cutler was impressed by how quickly Fina had picked up on
the particulars of his brother’s business. Nobody had asked her to. The second
day she’d been there, she’d figured out that Nath had a business line hooked up
in the home office. If nobody there picked it up, it switched to his base camp.
The official home of Green Mountain Eco Tours sat at the end of a dead-end road
out of town. A number of trails their dad had introduced them to when they’d
been kids, ones that snaked around the Great Divide Basin, branched out from
there. Nath’s base camp was a pretty log building that he stored his company’s
gear and food supplies at and ran his tours out of. During the summer Nath
hired a high-school kid from their pack to run the office in his absence…keeping
the shelves stocked, checking on the solar panels, running the sleeping bags
into town for cleaning, answering the phones, that sort of thing. But Fina was
just really, really good with customers.
“There’s a full information pack. I can fax it or email it
to you.” Fina flicked her long, auburn hair out of the way, tucked the receiver
between her ear and shoulder and started typing. “That’s right…you can bring
your own gear or Green Mountain Eco Tours can supply
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