by Rachel Hanna
Saying goodbye to Winston had been one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. For a moment, more like a fleeting second, she had considered staying in Whiskey Ridge but the memories would just be too hard.
She couldn’t imagine sitting in the town square, having a cup of coffee, watching tourists drive up to the conference center that used to be part of her property. And if she ever saw someone zip lining where the bridge once stood, she couldn’t be responsible for what she might do. Thoughts of getting a giant pair of scissors, like out of a Saturday morning cartoon, and cutting the line danced through her head.
Instead, she had decided to move clear across the country to get a fresh start. She found a small spa in Colorado that was looking for a new yoga teacher. It wasn’t her dream job, especially after having owned her own business for so long, but it would be a paycheck and a new beginning. She desperately needed both right now.
She was only taking her personal possessions with her on the long drive across the country, so thankfully a moving van wasn’t necessary. But she was a bit worried about her old truck making such a long drive.
After loading up the last of her boxes, she looked back up at the cabin that had been her home and her dream for the last three years. A sense of gratitude mixed with loss almost overwhelmed her as her eyes filled with tears. Nothing would ever be the same.
For a moment, she considered hiking to the bridge to say a final goodbye to the place that had changed her life, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was too final, too hard. The memories she had would have to feed her heart for a lifetime.
She climbed up into her truck, slammed the heavy door and drove off down the dirt road, watching The Retreat disappear in her rearview mirror.
It had been two weeks since Patrick had left The Retreat, and he was still no closer to understanding what had happened with Jill. Even though he didn’t want to admit it to himself, he’d had thoughts about building a life with her one day. Thoughts that scared him to the core of his soul.
But the way she’d pushed him away so suddenly only reminded him of why he didn’t do relationships. Feelings and emotions were a lot more dangerous than bad business deals. Money didn’t have the ability to hurt people like feelings did.
Today, whether he liked it or not, he was being forced to be reminded of what had happened because he was back in Whiskey Ridge to sign off on the final plans for the property at a local attorney’s office. He’d found out that mountain people were different, and they sure didn’t want to travel into the big city to sign paperwork. If he ever wanted to get this plan approved, he had to go back up to the place he thought he’d never go to again.
“Coffee. Black,” he said to the barista at the small coffee shop on the square. The long drive had done nothing for his fatigue. Sleepless nights weren’t a new thing for him, and now he tossed and turned a lot thinking about Jill. Where was she? Was she okay?
“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” he heard from behind him. No mistaking that voice. It was Winston.
“Hey there, Winston. How are you?” Patrick asked, reaching out his hand. Winston’s grip was a lot firmer than one might imagine.
“Pretty good. What’re you doing up here?” Always right to the point, Patrick thought to himself.
“Just have some final papers to get signed.”
Winston waved for him to sit down at a nearby table. Patrick really wanted to get to the attorney’s office, but he took a seat anyway.
“So, have you heard from Jill lately?”
Patrick chuckled. “No. Jill doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
“Oh yeah? And why is that?”
“I don’t know, Winston. Why don’t you tell me?” He eyed the old man carefully.
Winston grunted and raised his bushy eyebrows. “Son, I don’t have the foggiest notion of what you did.”
“Excuse me? Why do you think I did something?”
“Because that woman had feelings for you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I have eyes. They may not be so good anymore, but I have ‘em. Anyone could see something was brewing with you two.”
“Well, it isn’t brewing anymore.”
“She was upset.”
“Upset? About what?”
Winston looked up, as if he was trying to remember something. “All I know is she was real upset after you went outside with your friend. Said something about life being complicated and that she shouldn’t have let her guard down.”
Patrick was more confused than ever. “I just don’t get it.”
“Did you say anything that maybe she overheard?”
“I don’t think… Wait a minute! Oh my gosh… She must have overheard Derrick urging me to tear down the bridge.”
“The bridge? You can’t do that. It means a lot to her.”
“I know that. I told her I wouldn’t, but then Derrick was trying to convince me. I didn’t want to upset her, so I took that conversation outside.”
“I bet she thought you lied to her.”
Patrick looked at Winston. “Why are you trying to help me figure this out? I mean, you haven’t exactly been my biggest fan.”
“Because I love Jill, and if you make her happy, then I’m happy.”
“I’m not so sure I make her happy.”
“You could.”
Patrick thought for a moment. “Say, Winston, would you be willing to help me?”
“Depends on what it is…”
“Do you happen to know how to get in touch with Jill?”
Jill stood at the place she thought she’d never stand again. It had taken Winston a lot of convincing to get her to come back to the bridge, but when he’d told her that he wanted to say a final goodbye to her and bring her an important gift, she couldn’t refuse. He was her only family at this point, after all, and she didn’t have anyone else who cared about her like he did.
But he was late, and she was getting antsy. She wanted to get off the bridge as soon as possible. Her job in Colorado started in a few days, and she was ready to get out of the dingy motel she’d been staying in since leaving The Retreat.
As she’d driven back up the driveway, her heart felt like it was going to shatter into a million pieces. Saying goodbye to this place a second time felt like it would be harder. She’d had days to think about her losses, including Patrick. Losing him had been almost as hard as losing her business and her property. But he wasn’t who she thought he was.
“Come on, Winston,” she whispered as she stared out over the blue colored mountains.
“Hey,” she heard a voice say from behind her. Jill froze in place when she realized it was Patrick. What was he doing here? She slowly turned around.
“Why are you here?” She wanted to be angry, but seeing him again only made her feel warm inside… and that made her mad at herself.
“To see you.”
“Wait… Where’s Winston?”
“Sitting at a nice warm coffee shop on the square.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and shook her head. “You two worked together to get me here? Why?”
“You know, Jill, I tend to think of life as a series of tests.”
“What?” she asked, confused.
“Like a video game.”
“I don’t… Wait. Someone said that to me before. Did I tell you about that guy? On the bridge? That he said that to me?” She was wracking her brain trying to remember their previous conversations.
“No.”
“Then how did you…” She stared at him for a long moment, her mind racing. Then, like something out of a movie, she flashed back to that day and saw him as clear as day. No shaggy hair, no random adolescent pimples, but it was definitely Jesse. Or Patrick?
“I know you must be really confused right now,” Patrick started.
“Who are you and why did you pull this whole scam on me?” she shouted angrily. Patrick tilted his head in confusion.
“Scam? I
never tried to scam you, Jill. Just let me explain…”
“So who are you? Patrick or Jesse or some other name?”
“I’m Patrick Jesse Scott. I go by Patrick now because of my past…”
“And so you knew all along who I was?”
“Yes, but…”
“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I fell for this. You came here to use your charms to get me to give up my property, and I fell for it!” She paced back and forth, throwing her hands in the air occasionally for effect.
“Jill, you’ve got this all wrong…”
She walked back to him and pointed her finger in his face. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are going to tear this bridge down! You know what happened here. I’ve spent fifteen years thinking about that day and the feelings I had for you after that. I mean, I built you up in my mind like you were some kind of a hero, and boy was I wrong!”
“I’m not a hero, Jill.”
“Well, at least we agree on something!” she said as she started walking off the bridge like some kind of speed walking champion.
“I was kidnapped,” he said loudly. Jill stopped in her tracks.
She turned and looked at him. “What?”
“I told you my mom and step dad died within a few months of each other, right?”
Jill took a few steps toward him. “Yes.”
“Well, I didn’t tell you that my biological father, who was a very bad man, kidnapped me after they died.”
“I had no idea,” Jill said softly.
Patrick turned and looked at the mountains. “After my mom and step dad died, I got kicked into foster care. I was bounced around for over a year. Then, my bio dad appears out of nowhere one day outside of my school. I knew how dangerous he was. He used to beat on my Mom when I was young. We had run away from him, and that’s when she met my step dad. He was a good man. I loved him. Anyway, after my Mom died of cancer, my step dad just couldn’t handle it. He started drinking and… other things… and he overdosed.”
“I’m so sorry, Patrick…” Jill said as she continued walking closer.
“So, anyway, my bio dad shows up at school and basically lures me into the car, promising to take me to buy some new school clothes. Says he’s got a great job now and a fancy house. Tells me he wants to make up for everything. Next thing I know, he gives me a soda. I didn’t know he’d drugged it, and I wake up here, in the woods, in a tent.”
“Oh my gosh…”
“For three months, we lived out here. I couldn’t get away. He had weapons, and he made threats… I still don’t know why he even took me. He never wanted me. But he was a possessive man, and I guess he thought I was his possession.”
“So, how did you end up on the bridge?”
“One morning, we were out hiking and he found someone’s old campsite. They’d left a cooler behind, an accident I’m sure, and there was liquor in it. Like a whole bottle of rum or something. He took it back to our campsite and downed the whole thing. Got drunk as a skunk and passed out. It was my chance to finally escape. But, as I was running away, heading to the main road out there, I saw you on the bridge.”
“Oh, Patrick…”
He turned to her. “There was something about you, even from a distance. I couldn’t leave you behind. It felt like a magnet was drawing me up here.”
“So, you came to talk to me even though it meant risking your escape?”
“Yes. And I’ve never regretted it. When I figured out what you were planning, I was terrified. I didn’t know what to say or do.”
“You did everything perfectly.” She stared up at him, tears in her eyes. “What happened after you left me that day?”
“It’s not important,” he said, turning back to the mountains. She could see him clenching his jaw, the muscles twitching under the pressure.
“Patrick, please tell me.”
“He caught me about two hundred feet from the road.”
“Oh no…” Now the tears were streaming down her face. “What did he do?”
“Let’s just say it got physical. I was a strong kid, but my father was six foot three and a former boxer, so I didn’t buck him.”
“And he kept you here?”
“For six more weeks. Luckily, he slipped up one morning and went fishing before I woke up. He thought I was asleep, but I was faking it. I managed to make it to town and report it to the police. They caught him two days later trying to catch a bus across the country.”
“He went to jail?”
“Yes. Spent a few years there, died about six years ago from what I’ve heard.”
“I’m so sorry that I kept you from escaping that day, Patrick.”
He turned back to her and smiled. “I’m not sorry at all, Jill.”
“But you could’ve made it to safety if I hadn’t been up on this bridge. No wonder you want to tear it down.”
“Tear it down? I’ve never wanted to tear this bridge down!”
Jill’s mouth dropped open. “But I heard you talking to Derrick…”
“Yes, he wanted me to do that, but I took him outside to have a heated conversation about it. I’ve worked hard for the privilege of making my own decisions, Jill.”
“I’m sorry that I doubted you, Patrick. I should’ve talked to you instead of just believing what I wanted to believe. Gosh, I feel like a complete idiot. Thank you for saving this place. It feels good to know that it will still be here even after you develop this land.”
He turned back to her and took both of her hands. “No one is developing this land.”
“What?”
“I came back here to tell you two things.”
“Okay…”
“For one, I backed out of the conference center deal, but not before buying up the land to protect it. I paid off my partners enough to keep them happy enough to work with me on another project.”
“What? Why?”
“Because this place is far too beautiful to be cleared and ruined by ‘progress’.”
“But what about The Retreat?”
“I bought it from the bank this morning.”
“Oh.”
Patrick smiled as he pulled an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to her.
“What is this?”
“The deed to your land, including The Retreat and this bridge we’re standing on.”
“What? Oh, Patrick, I can’t accept this…” she started to say.
He laughed. “You can, and you will. I don’t want anyone to ever be able to take this place from you. Your focus should be on helping people. Consider this my contribution to humanity.”
She smiled. “I don’t know what to say…”
“Say you’ll keep doing what you’re doing.”
“I will. I can’t thank you enough.”
“No thanks needed. Oh, one more thing… Winston is moving into the guest cottage permanently. He’s family, and he really wants to be close to you. Hope that’s okay?”
She giggled. “It’s more than okay. Wait, you said you had two things to tell me?”
He cleared his throat and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “The second thing I have to tell you is that I love you, Jill Russell. I’ve loved you since I saw you on this bridge, and I love you more now. And it’s literally the most terrifying thing I’ve ever said in my life.”
Her eyes grew as wide as saucers as she listened to him. “You love me?”
“Yes, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I just couldn’t go on without telling you…”
“Patrick?”
“Yes?”
“I love you too. Now, can we finish that kiss we started all those years ago?”
He smiled broadly. “I thought you’d never ask!”
With that, he pulled her into a tight embrace and pressed his lips to hers. Jill finally understood what a “full circle moment” felt like.
Epilogue
Two years later
Jill stood there, staring out over the vast Blue Ridge Mo
untains, counting her blessings one by one from the last couple of years. Of course, those blessings came out of failure and sadness for a time. After all, Patrick reappeared in her life due to her finances falling apart. If her business had flourished, she might never have seen him again. God knew what he was doing; she believed that with all her heart.
The last twenty-four months had sure been a whirlwind. With Patrick’s help, she had been able to pump new life into her business, attracting clients from all over the country to come to her oasis in the mountains. So many stories of healing had come out of the new and improved Retreat, and she was so proud of the work she got to do everyday.
They’d built a large gazebo that served as a chapel for couples wanting to get married at the bridge. They’d already had two weddings there with more scheduled.
Having Winston around everyday had given her back a sense of family, and that was something she sorely needed.
But the thing she was most thankful for in the world was Patrick. He was like a blessing from heaven that she got twice in her life, both at times when she needed him most.
After six months of dating - and helping her revamp her business into something successful - he’d popped the question right there on the bridge. It was perfect. A few months later, they’d had their wedding right in the same spot with Winston, Alice and Ingrid all in attendance.
For a moment, on her wedding day, Jill had thought about her mother and sister, wishing that their relationships could be saved. But there was nothing there to salvage. Patrick had said something to her that made it feel better on the night before their wedding.
“Sweetie,” he’d said, “people can’t give you what they don’t have.”
And she realized that nothing was wrong with her, that she wasn’t unlovable. It was just that her mother didn’t have that required piece of her heart that was meant for mothering. It just wasn’t there. And then she felt a little sorry for her sister because she knew that she’d only been brainwashed by a woman who probably wasn’t a very good mother to her either, if she would admit it.