Trails Merge

by Rachel Spangler

  “You’re going after her, huh?” Sammy’s smile was broad and genuine.

  “Yeah.” Campbell’s head spun. “I’m going after her, but I have to take care of something first.”

  Sammy stared at her for a second, then shouted, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go!”

  *

  Campbell barged through her parents’ back door without knocking. “Dad? Mom?” she called as she stormed toward the kitchen. Both her parents were sitting at the breakfast table, her father in flannel pajamas and her mother in a faded nightgown. They jumped up, startled by her boisterous entry.

  “For God sakes, Campbell, what’s wrong?” Greg asked.

  “What happened? Where’s Sammy? Are you hurt?” Her mother examined her carefully.

  “I’m hurt,” Campbell said in a rush, her emotions overrunning her composure. “I’m hurt because Parker is gone.”

  “Kiddo, I hate to say I told you so, but—”

  “Then don’t, Dad, because she’s not the only one that hurt me. You hurt me, too.”

  “Because I called it like I saw it?” he asked, incredulous.

  “No, because you had so little faith me, because you’re still treating me like a child, because you act like you’re the only one who cares about this mountain.”

  “What’s gotten into you?” Her father was clearly astonished to hear her speak so bluntly.

  “Love, Dad. I’m in love with Parker and I’m going after her.” Campbell was surprised at her own force, but she didn’t waver.

  “I think you’re making a big mistake, and I don’t approve.”

  Then it’s my mistake to make, and I’m not asking for your approval, but I’d like your support.”

  Irene cut in for the first time. “You’ve got my support. You’re a strong, beautiful, capable woman, and Parker is lucky to have you.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Campbell kissed her forehead, then turned back to her father. “If Parker will have me, I’ll be the lucky one, and I plan to make her part of my life, part of our lives for as long as she’ll let me.”

  “What do you want me to say about that?” Greg asked. “You want to lie and say I’m happy for you?”

  “I want you to say you trust me. You’ve raised me to care about family, and home, and the future of this mountain, but every time I try to act on those beliefs, all you do is criticize me.” Campbell wasn’t sure where the words had come from until she spoke, but it was becoming increasingly clear this conversation was more about her and her father than it was about Parker. “You find fault with every new plan for the business. You don’t let me take my own role in how the resort is used, and when I finally find the nerve to try to make a family of my own, you interfere every chance you get.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Cam.” Greg rubbed his face with his hands and shook his head. “I guess you want me to just stay out of your life?”

  “No, I need you in my life. I need you to be there for me, but I need you to respect me and stop trying to protect me. I’m ready to take my place in this family and on the mountain, and you need to recognize that I have as much invested in the future of our home as you do.”

  “Someday you’ll have kids of your own. Then you’ll understand how hard it is see your children as adults.”

  She smiled slightly at the softening of his voice. “I hope I do, and I hope I’ll be half the parent to them that you’ve been to me. If I have, I’ll trust them to make the right decisions.”

  “I do trust you, Cam. I’ll just have to work harder at showing you.”

  “That’s all I’m asking for, Dad.”

  He extended his hand and Campbell shook it. “It’s not going to be easy, though. You may have to point it out to me if I’m not giving you your due.”

  Campbell smiled. She felt like she and her father had entered a new stage in their relationship. She only hoped he realized that, too. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  He chuckled slightly and pulled her into a hug. “I do believe you will.”

  *

  After lunch Parker sat in Nadia’s office for the second time that day. They had toured the neighborhood where most of the Broad Horizons youth lived, then met with program staff from around the city. They ate lunch with two of the program participants in a taquería where they were the only ones speaking English. The experience reminded Parker again how much this world differed from the one where she grew up, only a few miles away. Parker’s spirits rose when she talked with the young women who spoke passionately about their experiences in the program, the connections they’d made with their site coordinators, and the relationships they still shared with their fellow participants. Those conversations cemented in her mind that this organization was exactly what she’d trained her whole life to be a part of. But back in Nadia’s office, Parker couldn’t bring herself to formally accept the job offer.

  As Nadia talked about the specifics of their budget, grants and government subsidies they’d already received, Parker’s mind wandered back to Bear Run. She had been there only a few months, yet she couldn’t imagine going home anywhere else at night. She thought of skiing the first tracks of the season with Campbell and wondered how it would feel to miss that next year. What would it be like when the first snow fell and she was in some city high-rise? Would she long for the slopes? Would she go back to visit Bear Run? How would it affect her to see Campbell and not hold her? Or worse yet, see someone else hold her? She had to swallow a lump in her throat at that thought.

  Not wanting to lose her composure in front of Nadia, she focused on a poster on the opposite wall. It was a picture of Mahatma Ghandi, and under it ran his famous quote, “You have to be the change you wish to see in the world.” Parker had heard the words many times, but this time when she read them something new struck her. You have to be the change, not fight for the change, not fund the change, not lobby for the change, but be.

  Be.

  If she fell back into a world that had made her miserable, she’d be doing exactly what Broad Horizons tried to save kids from. Sure, she wouldn’t turn to crime or live in poverty, but Campbell had shown her a better way to live, an alternative. She’d given her hope for a brighter future, and Parker was turning away from it. No amount of good intentions could sugarcoat the hypocrisy in such a decision. She’d made up her mind. She would go back to Bear Run, to a better life, to Campbell.

  Still, she wanted to be involved with the Broad Horizons program. But those young people deserved someone who could give their whole heart to their cause. And while she wasn’t that person, she cared for those kids. It simply wasn’t right that she was able to leave this city that suffocated her while the teens she’d met today were stuck here. She wished she could take them all with her.

  “Take them all with me,” she said aloud, and started to laugh.

  “What?” Nadia asked, her confusion evident in her expression.

  Parker could barely talk. The joy overwhelmed her as she said, “I’m not the right person for this job, Nadia. I’d be a hypocrite if I came back to the city after working at Bear Run. I’d be a terrible role model for the kids I’d be trying to help.”

  Nadia nodded, but her disappointment was clear. “I understand, but forgive me if I don’t share your enthusiasm. The kids would have benefited from your expertise.”

  Parker could feel her grin stretch across her face. “I didn’t say I couldn’t work with the program. I said I wasn’t the right person for this job.”

  Nadia leaned forward attentively. “I’m listening.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Campbell still wore her ski boots, which helped keep her foot heavy on the gas pedal for hours. She would have been at Nadia’s office by now if she knew where it was, but after she talked to her parents she didn’t even stop at her cabin for a change of clothes or directions. She’d followed the signs toward the ball park and found it relatively easily, but now she was driving around one of the worst neighborhoods she’d ever been in, s
earching for anything that resembled a city office. She waited for someone to stop and ask directions from, but the dismal weather didn’t leave room for much pedestrian traffic. She was about to pull over and go inside somewhere when she saw two women under an awning up the road. She stopped alongside the curb and called to them, “Excuse me, can you tell me where Alderwoman Baker’s office is?”

  She was shocked when the women turned around. Even through the rain, she could clearly see Parker and Nadia’s surprise. “Campbell?”

  Campbell jumped out of the truck as Parker ran to meet her. They flew into each other’s arms, the heat of their kiss making them oblivious to the frigid rain. Campbell clutched Parker’s face in her hands so close, little more than a breath was between them. “I love you.”

  Parker immediately started to cry again, and Campbell worried that she’d misunderstood. “I didn’t say that to make you stay. I want you to do whatever makes you happy, but I love you, and I won’t let you leave my life simply because you’ve got to leave Bear Run.”

  “I love you, too,” Parker sobbed, “and I don’t want to leave you or your home, our home.”

  “What?” Campbell wasn’t certain she’d heard correctly. Surely she was dreaming.

  “You two have some talking to do, so I’ll leave you to it.”

  “I didn’t take the lobbyist job. I turned it down.” Parker sounded giddy now that her tears had slowed.

  “Why?” Campbell tried to process this new piece of information. “I don’t want you to give up your dreams because of mine. We can find a way to have both. We can have a long-distance relationship. I’ll come to Chicago in the off-season, and you can come to Bear Run when Congress isn’t in session. I don’t know all the details, but I know I love you.” Campbell’s emotions poured out along with her words.

  “I love you, too, and I don’t want to spend another night away from you. I want a relationship with you, full time, not one based on the ski season or the congressional calendar.” Parker kissed her again.

  “But what about changing the world?” Campbell asked.

  “You have to be the change you wish to see in the world,” Parker said seriously, then laughed at the confusion on Campbell’s face. “Do you remember the meeting we had with Nadia when she said the only thing they needed as much as money was—”

  “Site coordinators,” Campbell said. She started to put the pieces together and wondered why she hadn’t thought of the solution.

  “Apparently places with room and work for a group of teenagers and a staff that can provide a family atmosphere are scarce. Can you think of any place better suited to that than Bear Run?” Parker asked, sounding slightly hesitant. “I mean, if you want to be part of this, too. I shouldn’t assume that—”

  Campbell silenced her with a kiss. “Yes, you should. You can always assume that if something is important to you, it’s important to me, too. We can work out the details later.”

  “If we can get your father to agree,” Parker said. “I don’t want my plan to cause a rift between you and your family.”

  “It’ll take some convincing, but I’m sure he’ll come around. This is the right decision for us. Bringing Broad Horizons to Bear Run will be the perfect way to combine our passions.”

  Parker smiled mischievously. “I can think of another way for us to combine our passions.”

  Campbell was immediately aroused. “Care to demonstrate?”

  “Care to take me home?”

  The thought of being home with Parker made Campbell feel complete. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

  About the Author

  Rachel Spangler avoided getting a real job by staying in school for way too long, and she loved (almost) every minute of it. She holds degrees in politics and government, women’s studies, and English, as well as a master’s in college student personnel administration from Illinois State University. Throughout her college experience, she was actively involved with PFLAG, PRIDE, FMLA, and Safe Schools, all of which influenced various aspects of her first novel, Learning Curve. She also has a short story titled “Baby Steps” in the Bold Strokes Books anthology Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery.

  Rachel and her partner, Susan are raising their son in western New York. During the winter they make the most of the lake effect snow on local ski slopes, a hobby that inspired the setting for her second novel, Trails Merge. In the summer, they love to travel and watch their beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Regardless of the season, Rachel always makes time for a good romance, whether she’s reading it, writing it, or living it.

  Rachel can be reached at Rachel_Spangler@yahoo.com or www.myspace.com/rlspang.