Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
And Brady had been right, the squirrels were fun to watch. Somehow, the ones out here were more interesting to observe than the ones in parks who cautiously approached, looking for a handout.
“Let’s take a break,” Brady said. He was standing by a fork in the trail up ahead. “This is where I stop when I run out here.”
“Before going back?” I frowned. We hadn’t actually been walking for very long.
He chuckled. “No, but from this point on, the trail’s a big loop. So when I reach this point, I drink from my water bottle, stash it behind this log, and then pick it up when I come back this way.”
“Are the squirrels known water bottle thieves?”
“They would be if they could open them.” He sat down on a thick log. “Come on, take a break.”
He opened his pack and pulled out two water bottles as I stood next to him. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked up at me. “I don’t bite.”
“Yeah, but the log might.”
Brady gave me a shrewd look. “What’s with you today? Something’s seemed off ever since you got up this morning.”
“You don’t know me well enough to determine that,” I said obstinately, even though he was completely correct. Then I sighed. “I’m afraid if I sit down there, the rough bark will snag my yoga pants.”
His expression cleared as he understood. “Ah. Gotcha.”
I didn’t make a habit of wearing yoga pants when I was out and about, but I tended to dress for comfort after a bad night.
Brady handed me a water bottle, and I gratefully took a long drink. While I did that, he emptied out the small backpack, smoothed it flat, and set it on the log next to him. “Can you sit on that?” He cracked a smile as he looked up at me. “Or my lap’s available, too. Your choice.”
“I choose the pack,” I said hastily. “Thanks.”
While it wasn’t the most comfortable surface to sit on, it was probably better than the bark. And it was a pretty vantage point to take a break. Now that I was no longer moving, it was easier to hear the birdsong and other sounds of the woods.
For a while, we sat in companionable silence. My headache was gone, thank god. I wasn’t sure if that was from the aspirin or the fresh air. Either way, I was grateful. And now that it was no longer pounding, I could focus more on the discussion we’d had this morning around the breakfast table.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You and Cole both work, right?”
“Part-time, yes.”
“And you run an inn that’s in dire need of upgrades.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Brady said easily. “Where are you going with this?”
“I just wonder why you bother with your Down to Earth videos at all. No offense, but they can’t make you that much money.” Wait, had I just said no offense? My plan for the week had been to offend as much as possible. Oops.
“They don’t, but that’s not why we started making them in the first place.”
“So why did you?”
“It was Gideon’s idea, actually. See, Gramps taught me and Cole all kinds of stuff. Starting a fire. Grilling. Fishing. Carpentry. But Gideon never knew his father—he took off when he was three. So he never had a dad or grandfather to teach him the things that we learned from a young age. His idea was to make videos for other men who didn’t learn those kinds of skills from their dads.”
“So no women allowed?”
Gideon shook his head. “You asked how it started, and that was the original idea for it. Of course we want to teach those skills to anyone who wants to learn. And as you pointed out when you disparaged us months ago, a growing percentage of our viewers are women.”
That’s right, that was part of what set me off in the first place—but only part. And there was another question I wanted to ask. It involved my least favorite member of Down to Earth, but curiosity won out. “If Gideon didn’t have someone to teach him those skills, how’d he learn them?” I’d seen a listing of his videos on their social media channel. He’d made videos on carpentry, home repair, and auto maintenance. He’d even done a few on budgeting and finances.
“I don’t know about all of it, but he learned some things the same way we did.”
“From your grandfather?”
“From our grandparents,” Brady corrected. “I learned a lot from Gran, too.”
“But how did you all meet Gideon? Did he grow up around here?”
Brady took a drink of water before answering, and I couldn’t help staring at the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “It’s kind of a long story. Remember how I said I spent summers out here?”
“Yes. And Cole lived out here full-time.”