Page 23 of Mountain Refuge
I nodded. “No details.”
He hesitated before agreeing. “I don’t want you to be a stranger. Once we are able to safely move to Corbin’s, we’ll be out of your house, but I don’t want that to mean we’ll be out of your life.”
“I don’t want it to mean that either.”
“Do you want to go first?”
I did have a burning question to ask but I wasn’t sure how he would answer it without giving away details. “Where is the kids’ mother?”
“Going for gold, I see.” Adam let out a sigh and scooted back a little. He wasn’t back where he’d started, only provided some much-needed space between us. “Mothers,” he finally said. “They’re half-siblings.” I fought to keep my face blank; I never would have guessed that. With their blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, they looked extremely similar. Additionally, I did not like the implication that Adam had been so sexually recklesswith the women he slept with. “I don’t know where Lydia’s mother is. She left after her birth and I never saw her again. Henry’s died in childbirth.”
“I’m so sorry.” It didn’t sound like he had an emotional attachment to either woman, but they still had to mean something to him as the mothers of his kids. Adam didn’t seem so heartless as to not care.
He shrugged. “Thanks.” Then a smile appeared on his face. “My turn. How do you restock a water supply?”
A laugh escaped me. “You have only twenty questions and that’s the one you ask me?”
“Does that count as one ofyourquestions?”
I mock glared at him. “No, it’s not.” He was still grinning. “I have two tanks out back that provide me with water. During the winter, it’s easy to refill them because I just have to shovel snow into them. The heaters melt the snow and the filters take out anything mixed in with it. During the summer, I have a river not too far from my cabin. I take a portable tank down and fill it up from the fresh water source.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
I shrugged. “It is, but worth it to be able to live up here. There’s no city or well water available out here.”
“What about electricity and sewer?”
“Is that your next question?”
It was his turn to glare. “Yes.”
“Only eighteen left for you.” I pointed over my shoulder at the fireplace. “Electricity is mostly done by solar panels. I have to take them down during storms like this or run a generator during the day. Candles generally save me electric needs at night, though I have been leaving the lights on at night for the kids. During the winter, my fireplaces keep this place warm. The one in my bedroom is smaller but still effective. That’s why I pushed for you and the kids to take my bedroom. It’s really notan inconvenience for me, because I love to sleep out here next to this fireplace. Plus, if I keep all the doors open, it’s only the kitchen that gets a bit brisk. I have the wood stove if I need to warm that one up too.
“As for plumbing, just like with the water, the town doesn’t bring pipes up this far. I’m not on any grid map. The only reason the ski resort has the amenities it does is because they bring in a lot of tourist money. As you know, I have a flushing toilet, bathroom and kitchen sinks, a washing machine, and the bathtub. I have two tanks out back for gray and black water. The gray water comes from the sinks and bathtub. It gets treated and recycled back into my water stores. The black water goes into a compost tank that I turn into fertilizer. Most of my trash goes there too: peels, seeds, spoiled food… It’s all recycled into fertilizer for my garden.”
He watched me so intently as I spoke. I wondered if I’d lost him or if he now thought my lifestyle to be gross. Not many people would admit to fertilizing their garden with their own waste. It wasn’t until he spoke that I felt like I could breathe easier.
“Wow. That is amazing. I can’t believe the effort you take to live up here. I mean, it’s inspiring and intimidating all at the same time. When do you take a day off? Your work literally is doing everything you need to stay alive up here. Wait, do you work otherwise? Do you have a job?”
I shook my head. “I’ve already answered two of your questions. You’ll need to save yours until after I’ve asked my next one.”
He conceded with a bow of his head. “My mistake. Go ahead.”
Except I didn’t know what to ask him. No, that wasn’t true. I didn’t know which to ask himfirst! There were so many things I wanted to know. I started with, “How do you know Corbin?”
Adam paused. I wondered if he was trying to get his answer straight or to come up with false names. “Corbin’s story is his own. I don’t know what you know about his history and I don’t want to say anything out of turn. Simplest answer is that we grew up together. We met in kindergarten and have been best friends ever since. He’s more of a brother to me really, even though he’s not blood.”
I understood that completely. “Sometimes blood isn’t everything. Blood can bond you or destroy you.”
“Very true,” he nodded. “Unfortunately, we lost touch for a very long time. Longer than I care to admit. I can throw out every excuse there is, life got in the way, I was busy with the kids… But the truth is that I was afraid to contact him. I wasn’t sure if he blamed me for leaving him behind. I went off to college and he…didn’t.”
There was definitely more to that story but since it also mixed in with Corbin’s I let it drop. “It’s good you got in contact with him again.”
“No doubt. He didn’t even hesitate. As soon as he learned we were in trouble, he didn’t even question the last eighteen years. He just dropped everything to help us get here.”
“Sounds like a true friend.” I was trying not to be jealous, but it was hard. He had what I hadn’t had when I’d needed it most.
“My turn.”
