A Bridge Between Us

by K. K. Allen

  I took a few steps back from the table, ready to escape for a night out with my friends, when Thomas Bradshaw snaked an arm around my shoulders. “Trip says he’s picking you up to go to Mountain Village tonight.”

  My papa’s attention piqued at the mention of Thomas’s son, and suddenly, all the men’s eyes were on me. Awkward. “Um,” I said with a soft laugh. “A bunch of us are going out tonight, Thomas. It’s not like a date or anything.”

  He let out a playful “Ahh” and laughed. “That’s too bad. Your dad and I thought we’d be marrying you two off by now.”

  Heat raced up my neck and spread over my cheeks. That Trip and I would grow up and fall in love one day, have babies, and live happily ever after on the vineyard, had always been the running joke between our families, but it wasn’t the case at all. Unfortunately, I was the only person who believed that.

  I would only consider dating one boy at my school, not that Papa would ever allow it. I wasn’t the only girl who had noticed Ridge either. While he’d received a less-than-welcome reception when he moved to Telluride, he’d managed to turn things around just fine. Our classmates accepted him like one of their own—except for Trip, of course, who still stuck his nose up whenever Ridge was around.

  I knew better than to give Trip any reason to pick on my secret friend, so although Ridge Cross remained off-limits, not a week went by without us meeting. Once fall came and went, snow packed the landscape, and the hilltop became inaccessible. Ridge and I started to meet at the bridge instead. Though we didn’t have the bird’s-eye view of the land, it was the second-best thing to the mountain. I loved to hear about his life on the reservation, his mom, and the few good friends he had. In turn, I kept him apprised of my hard work on the vineyard.

  “Don’t listen to them, Camila,” the man to my papa’s right said. Gus was my friend Brody’s dad and had been the vineyard’s groundskeeper since my papa took over. “You’re too young to be thinkin’ about dating. Enjoy your time with your friends.”

  I smiled at the kind old man. “Thanks for always having my back, Gus.”

  He nodded, a smile pushing up his rosy cheeks. “You can always count on me, young lady.”

  The sincerity of his words warmed me, and I left with a sense of relief that felt rare around my papa and Thomas. They were peas in a pod, always playing off each other like two brothers. I often wondered why my papa released so much responsibility to Thomas, but it became obvious as I got older and started to learn more about vineyard and winery operations.

  My papa was the brand, while Thomas Bradshaw was the face. And it all seemed to work just fine for them.

  I left the casita with a smile and joined Mama in the kitchen to tell her I was leaving. Trip would be picking me up any minute, and I was eager to get going. During the winter months, life in that big home felt like a fancy prison. I couldn’t tend to the vines the way I loved to, race to the hilltop when no one was the wiser, or ride my bicycle into town. So a night in the village thrilled me more than it would most kids my age.

  When Trip arrived in his loud black truck, I hopped into the backseat to join Josie and squealed as we tore out of the drive. Raven was sitting beside her brother, as quiet as always.

  “My dad drunk yet?” Trip asked jokingly.

  “Getting there,” I said with a smile. “He thought you were taking me on a date tonight, and he was severely disappointed when I told him it wasn’t just you and me.”

  Josie shot me an amused look because she thought Trip might have feelings for me. I chose to ignore her every time she mentioned it. But I couldn’t ignore that look or the silence that filled the truck cabin after the words left my mouth.

  To the rest of the girls around town, Trip Bradshaw was the cream of the crop—star athlete in literally every sport offered, though competition wasn’t tough, since our classes were a quarter of the size of most schools. He already had an in with Columbia University in New York, thanks to his dad, who’d gone to school there back in the day. Since his father was my papa’s right-hand man, he had even started volunteering his free time in the vineyard.

  It felt ridiculous to think a guy like him could be into a girl like me. I just didn’t believe it was possible. Besides, after too many years of him bossing me around, I saw him in a far different light than when I was younger.

  “What’s happening in town tonight?” I asked.

  Trip shrugged. “We can park and figure it out from there.”

  “Let’s go ice skating up at Mountain Village,” Josie said with a bounce.

  I gasped. “Yes, I’m with you.”

  “I’ll pass,” Raven said with a snooty air. “I was thinking about riding the G with Logan and Missy.”

  “Riding the G” in the context she was speaking was code for “getting wasted in the gondolas.” I raised my eyebrows and tried to catch Trip’s reaction to his sister’s deviance. Raven was in for a verbal lashing.

  “No,” Trip said, staring at his sister.

  Josie squeezed my arm secretly. She was just as humored by their constant bickering as I was. Plus, if Trip was busy worrying about his sister all night, then we could go our separate ways.

  “You’re not going to ditch us to go hang out in a gondola, smoke pot, and get drunk all night.”

  “Who said anything about smoking pot?”

  Trip shot her another look, and I could have sworn he would have her by her neck if he weren’t trying to focus on the road. “The answer is no. You can hang out with us, or I’m taking you home.”

  A frustrated scream burst from Raven. “I’m so sick and tired of you babysitting me everywhere we go. I’m fifteen. Let me have some fun.”

  Eventually, their fight started to get old, and Josie and I tuned them out to have a chat. As soon as we parked, Josie and I jumped out of the truck and jogged away.

  “Hey! Where are you going?” Trip screamed.

  Josie and I hooked arms and giggled while calling over our shoulders, “Ice rink.”

  Trip frowned then waved his hand in the air. “Meet back here at midnight!”

  We got to the gondola station and hopped in line. We didn’t have to wait long to catch a lift to take us up the mountain. The single cabins, which were attached to a thick cable and carried us up to the small ski resort town, were large enough to fit six people, but Josie and I were lucky enough to get one to ourselves. Inside were two bench seats that faced each other and windows all around us, giving us a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the San Juan Mountains.

  Since I was six years old, the gondolas had been my favorite form of transportation to get up and down the mountain. While driving was an option, they were by far the most scenic way to go.

  That night on the town was exactly what my soul needed—an escape into nature from the monotony of life on the vineyard in the winter. As Josie and I strapped on our rented skates, I looked up at the rink, and that happy feeling in my chest transitioned into something darker.

  Ridge was there, in the center of the rink, and he was holding hands with a girl his age. She was a pretty girl I recognized from our high school. I could feel my heart in my throat as dread sank into the bottomless pit of my stomach.

  The way he smiled down at her, the way he squeezed her hand when she lost her balance, and the way he laughed like he’d never laughed with me before made me feel sick.

  “Is that Lucy?” Josie asked.

  Lucy was the beautiful golden-haired girl’s name. And even though Ridge had never mentioned her to me before, he clearly liked her. I could see it. Everything looked so easy between them. Lucy’s father owned the sunflower farm on the other side of town, and their families didn’t have a rivalry. She didn’t have to sneak around just to keep a friendship with the boy she longed for. Ridge and I had been doing that, and while I cherished every single second, I desperately wanted what he had with Lucy.

  “Camila, are you okay?”

  I faced Josie, my head and chest swirling with each new emotion. “N
o. I mean I don’t know. It’s crazy that I have a crush on him, right? It’s not like he and I could ever have that.”

  My best friend was the only person I would ever trust with that information, and by the look on her face, she had all the sympathy in the world for my feelings. Though it was refreshing, my heart was still breaking.

  “I don’t know, Camila. I don’t think it’s crazy at all. Ridge is really cute, and clearly you two have a special friendship. But…” Her eyes slid back to the rink. “Your father would never allow it.”

  Sadness was a sneaky bastard that snaked around my heart when I wasn’t expecting it. The night was supposed to be fun. I couldn’t let Ridge and his new girlfriend ruin it for me.

  I stood and pushed my shoulders back, treating that icky feeling in my chest like a challenge. “C’mon, Josie. We came here to skate. Let’s skate.”

  I flew onto the ice first with Josie right behind me, and we laughed as we circled the rink at top speed. Maybe I was trying to show off as I pulled out all my tricks, flipping around and skating backward while holding hands with my best friend then twirling back around and crisscrossing my shoes like a speed skater. But whatever I was doing seemed to be working. Every time I snuck a glance at Ridge, my confidence grew when I confirmed that he was watching me.

  “Slow down,” Josie called with a laugh.

  The moment she said it, I realized she was right. I should have slowed down. A little girl stumbling around on skates fell and skidded right in front of me, catching me off guard. I started to brake but knew I didn’t have enough time to stop, so I did the only thing I could think of. I leaped toward the center of the ice, which happened to be right where Ridge was standing.

  9

  Ridge

  “Are you okay?”

  Camila groaned as she lifted her head. Her weight was entirely on me. I held her tightly, hugging her around the waist while my heart hammered. I’d become no stranger to Camila’s wild antics, but the worrying never ceased.

  “Say something, please, Camila.”

  Her eyelids opened, revealing her haunting green eyes. The flecks of gold shimmered in the reflection of the white ice. “You caught me.” She sounded dazed, then she pulled in a deep breath and smiled. “Of course you caught me.”

  The way she’d been speeding around the rink with young kids and less advanced skaters near her might have been the most reckless thing I’d ever seen her do. Her fearlessness had always intrigued me, but the stunt she’d just pulled had quickly turned my concern into fury.

  “I don’t know what you’re smiling about. You could have hurt someone. You could have been hurt.”

  Panic lit her expression, and the regret registered quickly. “Oh no. I didn’t mean to go that fast. I just—” She slammed her eyes closed and shook her head. “I was being stupid.”

  I slid my arms from around her waist almost reluctantly, which was ridiculous. “Are you okay to stand?”

  Disappointment flickered in her expression before she nodded and pushed against my chest. “I think so.”

  She stood slowly as Josie skated to her side and helped to steady her. Then I scrambled to my feet and turned to Lucy with my apologies.

  “I’m sorry to cut our skate session short. Want to pick it up again next week?”

  I wondered if Lucy’s concerned expression was more for me or her missed lesson, but she nodded. “Of course. Next week is fine.” Then she hobbled toward the edge of the rink.

  I should have helped her exit the ice, but I was too afraid to leave Camila.

  Camila’s eyes widened as they followed Lucy’s exit. She turned to me, looking confused. “You were giving skate lessons? You weren’t on a date?”

  I could practically hear the clicking of the gears in my brain as I realized what had just happened. As if Camila realized she’d said too much, her face turned bright red. Josie just stood there, looking between us.

  “Um,” Josie said finally. “I thought I saw Emilio heading toward the G. I think I’m going to join him and catch up with the others. Call me later?”

  Camila nodded and watched her friend skate away.

  “You thought I was on a date.”

  Her gaze slid back to mine. “I did.”

  “And you were jealous?”

  Her cheeks reddened. “I can’t believe you just asked me that,” she hissed before looking around us. “That’s not even an option.”

  Though that wasn’t what I’d asked, I didn’t correct her. I already knew enough. We were in dangerous territory I wasn’t sure how to skirt around. How long has she felt this way?

  Pushing my newly forming questions away, I focused on the matter at hand. “Is there somewhere I can walk you to?”

  She cringed. “You don’t have to do that.”

  Huh? “Do what?”

  “You don’t have to treat me like a little girl who has a crush on her neighbor. You don’t have to protect my feelings.”

  Is that what I was trying to do? I cared about her more than I should, and I wasn’t going to leave her standing in the middle of the ice, crush or not.

  “I’m just offering to take you wherever you want to go. Or you can continue skating.”

  She made a face and pulled up her hand. “To be honest, my wrist is a little sore. I might have sprained it or something.”

  Sighing, I placed a hand on her back and nudged her forward. “C’mon. I can at least help you find your friends.”

  Camila didn’t move. “Are you headed home now? Maybe you could drop me off at the end of my drive.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her what we both already knew. Even if I was headed home, I couldn’t be the one to drop her off at hers. I couldn’t be seen anywhere near Patrick Bell’s property, unless I wanted to make things worse for Harold’s farm. The man frustrated me to no end, but he was still my father. And working for him for the little time that I had had showed me how much he loved that damn field.

  “I’ll get you down into Telluride, then you’ll need to go with your friends.”

  She stared back at me, challenge brimming in her eyes, but for some reason, she gave up the fight and nodded. “All right, then.”

  We traded our skates in and grabbed the next available gondola car to take us back down into town. Not until we were sitting across from each other on the bench seats did I take a good look at her. A pang hit my chest as I registered what she was wearing—distressed dark jeans with plaid fabric inside the torn parts, tall black boots that gave her a little bit of height for once, and a long cream sweater that did nothing to hide the curves she’d grown into.

  My bratty, rebellious neighbor was no longer a little girl, but she was still all sorts of wrong for me, her age being the largest factor in the new dilemma.

  “So,” I said, attempting to move us into safer territory. “If you weren’t here tonight, where would you be?”

  She snorted, reminding me of the Camila I’d gotten to know well over the past year and a half. “I’d probably still be serving food and drinks to my papa and his hunting buddies. They have these poker nights once a month, and I’ve been playing server for years.”

  “Does your father still hunt with them?”

  Camila’s face twisted in disapproval. “No, thank god. That’s all in his past. Mama made him stop years ago, but I don’t know about the other guys.” Then she frowned. “I don’t think they still do.”

  “It isn’t a terrible thing if they do,” I assured her, earning me a smile. “To this day, hunting is the way of life for a lot of my fellow Tribe members.”

  “But you’re not a hunter. You can’t even hold a gun properly.”

  We both chuckled.

  “That’s because I was raised by my mother. She was more into basket weaving and berry picking.”

  Camila seemed to be taking that in while she stared out the window to her right. We were passing by a large plot of spruce trees. The snow packed on top of them sparkled like diamonds against the artificial lightin
g.

  “You didn’t answer my question earlier. Since when did you become a skating instructor?”

  I smiled, knowing what a strange sight that must have been. “I learned my lesson last year on the farm. The ranch house is too small for Harold and me to hang around in all day. Working here gives me something to do, and they pay me. It’s nice to make a salary for once.”

  Camila’s face blanched at my confession. Money wasn’t something I talked about. It had never been my driving force in life, and it felt so personal. But if I was going to confess that to anyone, it would be her.

  “Harold doesn’t pay you? But you’re working twelve-to-sixteen-hour days sometimes.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, well, the old man is giving me a place to stay and food to eat. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s my life.”

  “My papa pays me minimum wage when I work the vineyard.”

  “Well, your vineyard pulls in a lot more profit than our cornfield. It’s just different. We shouldn’t compare it.”

  Camila frowned. “I don’t like that Harold is taking advantage of you. What are you getting out of that labor?”

  I shrugged. “He’s giving me the farm. One day, it will be mine to run and profit from on my own. Until then, I consider it training.”

  Her soft smile was like a shot of adrenaline to my veins. She was so beautiful. “You are a good guy, Ridge Cross.”

  My cheeks heated.

  “Then I guess the extra work in the winter not only gives you a break from the farm but also gives you some savings. It’s working out.”

  “Right. And I might pick up some other activities. They always need tour guides around here.”

  Camila nodded. “That, they do. I guess you and I are alike in that way. We don’t like to sit still.”

  That was true. “It’s the Ute way of life, I suppose. My ancestors moved from place to place as they hunted. They created and traveled through trails that crisscrossed the mountain ranges of Colorado. I think that’s why I have such a thirst for nature and exploring it all.” I raised my chin at her playfully. “What’s your excuse?”