“No.” Because talking meant acknowledging she was never coming back.

“You want to tell me about the marmot?”

“Okay.”

• • •

It’d been a long night. Easton didn’t remember what he’d said or done, but he knew he was grateful for the nice bush he was throwing up into, situated so conveniently off the front porch. He didn’t even know how he’d ended up on the porch. The last thing he remembered was walking into Rick’s.

“Never should’ve drank that much.”

“Nah, probably not. Rick and Lana brought your truck home for you after they closed last night.” Graham pushed an oversized water bottle at him. “Here. Drink something better for you.”

“Why are you still here?” Easton asked miserably.

“Making sure good intentions don’t turn into vomit aspiration. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t here to help you greet the sun? How do you feel?”

“Like I know better than to drink until my liver explodes.”

Graham folded his arms behind his head. “You know what your problem is? You always do what you should. You’re a rule follower. If there’s a sign that says to go left, you’re going to go left, even if you know you should go right.”

Aiming a glare his way did nothing to curb the smirk on Graham’s face.

“Listen, man. I’m not judging here. You play by the rules because you like to do what’s right. You’re a good person, better than I am.”

Easton took a long drink from the water bottle, paused, then drained the rest. “Agreed.”

“Aww, that wasn’t nice. True but not nice. But after watching you eat your heart out over her, what I’m wondering is, River... What is she worth to you? Really worth?” Graham’s voice quieted, his tone serious. “There’s a woman sleeping in your room right now who I would die for. I wouldn’t even think twice. Zoey’s it, man. She’s the one. So who’s River? Is she the woman we’re going to drink off the next couple of months? Or is she more? Because if she’s more…”

“Then what?”

“Then what are you doing here? If Zoey was back serving tables at her truck stop in Chicago, you can bet my ass would be sitting in her section, drinking coffee until my bladder gave out. Because that’s where the love of my life was.”

“You’re saying I what? Hop on a plane and fly to Los Angeles? What am I going to do there? It’s not me.”

“You can live without her, East. I’m just saying, if you don’t have to, then don’t. I don’t know River very well, but if you love her, put on your big boy pants and do something about it.”

“That was the worst pep talk ever,” Easton grumped.

Graham offered, “I could go get another six-pack.”

“Hard pass.”

Eventually, Graham had to open the diner. He offered to take Easton with him, but Easton chose instead to stay where he was. Easton didn’t know what he wanted or what to do, but he knew the Tourist Trap only held strangers, not answers.

Staring at the phone in his hand, he tried to decide if he should call her. The break had been clean, like ripping a bandage off a wound. Maybe that was what River needed from him? Or maybe she was sitting somewhere, thousands of miles away, wondering why he never bothered to text or call.

When a car rolled up his drive, Easton frowned. He recognized the sticker on the windshield identifying it as a rental car, but he wasn’t expecting anyone. Definitely not expecting Jessie to park and get out of the car, laptop in hand.

Rising to his feet, Easton met his previous client in the driveway.

Jessie gave him a rueful look. “Wow, you’ve looked better.”

“Long night,” he grunted as they shook hands, then Jessie pulled him in for a brief hug.

“River took up all your time when we were here. I never got a chance to thank you for getting me off that mountain.”

Easton blinked, not at all expecting the hug or the comment.

Jessie added, “I figured you’d be here, smelling like booze. Damn, you had it bad for her. It’s almost embarrassing, man.”

Easton snorted. “You flew all this way to tell me that?”

“Nope. I came here to show you something.” Jessie walked over to the porch and sat, opening his laptop. “This is all our hard work. It’s not done. We still have a lot to do, but I think you can tell what we’re getting at here. There are two versions of this. One is the Moose Springs focused story, which is good. River’s great at what she does, and Bree’s audio was phenomenal. The tourism board will love it.”

“But?”

“But this is better.”

Then Jessie turned the laptop Easton’s way. He sat down and watched. Maybe he shouldn’t have. With every scene, Jessie reached deeper into his chest, finding the remaining shreds of his heart to pull out with brutally effective fingertips.

Still, he had to smile. Watching River and Bree hook arms and laugh together at how horrifying his barn was. Watching Jessie up in a tree, yelling shrilly because of a bear. Ben’s constant grin, no matter how hard the day’s climb. Even watching the marmot shuffling off after saying goodbye to Easton, turning back to look longingly over its furry shoulder every few feet to overly dramatic breakup music. River whispering into the camera, alone on the mountaintop, about how much she cared about her friends.

Despite losing so much of their footage on the mountainside, what they had put together was…powerful. It might have been the best film he’d ever seen.

“This town is going to be overrun,” he finally said with a grunt.

“Not necessarily. This isn’t the film River approved. It’s the better one, but River told us no. She’s determined to preserve your privacy, and she won’t let us edit this in a way that showcases what really happened on that mountain.”

“Looks to me like you did it anyway.”

Jessie shrugged. “River’s footing the bill. She’ll get final say on what gets put out there. But you need to know, this is the kind of thing that doesn’t just happen. This is…special. And if it’s received the way I think it will be received, she’ll be the new rock star of the industry. We all will. Careers are cemented by this kind of film. “She won’t do anything to sacrifice your privacy or destroy your trust.” Jessie looked seriously at Easton. “This is up to you.”

For a long time, Easton sat there, thinking about it. Then finally, he nodded. “If this is what will help her, and if River agrees to it, then do it.”