When they came up empty, they stopped for lunch and then headed toward Red Lodge in hopes of finding the campsite where Tricia’s lover had left their initials carved in a tree.
THEY ARRIVED AT the forest service campground midmorning. Most of the sites were open. A few occupants in tents and small trailers were packing up to leave as he drove slowly through the pines higher up the mountain.
He had the photograph that Tricia’s alleged lover had taken on their camping trip.
On the way to the campground, Mo had been looking through the envelope her sister had left for her. Now she put it away, apparently still not understanding why Tricia wanted her to have it.
“I’m still shocked that we are looking for the identity of my sister’s lover,” Mo confided. “Tricia was always the rule follower, the voice of reason. For her to do this...”
“People fall in love,” he said. “At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
She swung her gaze on him. “You’ve never been in love?”
He seemed as surprised by the question as she was shocked that he hadn’t been in love. He slowly drove through another loop of the campground. “Why? Have you?”
“Middle school, my science teacher. High school, this sweet boy who wrote me these awful poems. A couple of times in college. Several since then.”
He laughed. “That’s your love life?”
“Apparently, it’s better than yours. You’ve really never been in love?”
He could feel her gaze on him as he pulled over and cut the engine in an empty campsite. “There’s a tree down,” he said in explanation for stopping. “We’re going to have to walk to see the upper end of the campground, where we should have a view of the creek that’s in the photo.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” she said, keeping him from exiting the truck cab. “You weren’t in love with even one of the women you dated?”
“I cared about all of them. Maybe you and I have a different definition of love. When I tell a woman that I love her it will be right before I propose marriage.” With that, he climbed out of the pickup and closed the door.
Mo exited the truck as well, still looking surprised by his answer. They started up the mountain road, climbing over downed trees and limbs. “Looks like they had a storm up this way,” he said. This high up the mountain, there were only the sounds of birds, the breeze high in the tops of the pines and the whisper of the stream. As they climbed higher, though, the sound of a roaring creek grew louder.
“Seriously, you’ve never felt...love?” she asked.
“The head over heels kind?” He shook his head and glanced at her. “I’m assuming you haven’t, either. It’s probably why you can’t understand what happened to your sister.”
She seemed to consider that. “You’re probably right. It seems...reckless, something Tricia never was. At least I thought that was true. Let me see the photo.” He handed it to her. “I think that’s it up there,” she said excitedly. “See that mountain in the distance?” She held up the snapshot.
“Lead the way,” he agreed as they quickened their pace. Now all they had to do was find a tree up here with Tricia and her lover’s initials carved in it.
AS THEY REACHED the campsite, Mo stopped to check the photo again. “This is the campsite.” She turned to see Brick already checking trees.
For a moment, she merely stood looking at this beautiful sight. The creek cut a green swath through the rocks and pines to fall away down the mountainside below them. She breathed in the rich, sweet scent of pine and caught a hint of someone’s campfire smoke trailing up from a site below.
She thought of her sister, the last person she could imagine enjoying camping. That Tricia might have slept up here in the blue tent in the photo... It boggled the mind. She tried to imagine the man who could sweep her sister off her feet.
“Mo? I think you’d better come over here,” Brick said.
She turned to find him standing next to a large pine tree at the edge of the mountainside, overlooking the roaring of the creek. As she approached, she saw the crude heart carved into the bark of the pine.
There were two sets of initials at the center of the heart. TM, a plus sign, and JP. Tricia’s lover had used her maiden name initial. Wishful thinking on his part? Or was that the last name she’d given him? This man had understood from the beginning that Tricia was married, hadn’t he?
“Know anyone with those initials?” Brick asked.
Mo shook her head. “I have no idea who JP is.”
The gunshot echoed through the trees, splintering the bark on the tree next to her. Several nearby birds took flight, wings flapping wildly as Brick lunged for her, taking them both to the ground.
The second shot ricocheted off the tree where they had been standing, sending bark flying again. And then there was nothing but the sound of the breeze in the pines and seemingly hushed roar of the creek. Not even the birds sang for a moment as Mo tried to catch her breath.
Chapter Thirteen
In the distance, Brick heard an automobile engine start up. Through the trees he caught a flash of silver as the vehicle sped off, the sound dying as whoever had taken the potshots at them drove away.
Mo was on her feet as quickly as he was, the two of them running back down the road to where they’d left the truck. They had to slow down to climb over the downed trees and limbs, but finally reached the pickup.
Brick started it and drove as fast as he could out of the campground. By the time they reached the highway, there