With the Hunters out of town, he’d offered to keep an eye on the place—said he’d use his good eye, which always got a laugh—since that spot of strangeness last spring had left them all on edge. The unexplainable lights and noises had been the last straw for Danielle, though she’d had one foot out of the valley long before that.
“I don’t want my fifteen minute of fame to be a News of the Weird report about getting mutilated by aliens,” she’d snapped.
“Aliens only mutilate cattle, so no worries about those fifteen minutes unless you’re a cow.” As soon as the words cleared his lips, he knew he’d made a mistake.
She packed the next morning—he hadn’t tried that hard to stop her, had he?—and he signed the divorce papers, postmarked California, without another word being exchanged. Still, Danielle had lasted longer than his brother, Cole, who had ditched the valley a week after graduation.
“This place is crushing me, like it crushed Mom,” he’d said as he folded the bus tickets labeled New York into the back pocket of his jeans.
Josh had protested. “The sky goes on forever here.”
“Yeah, that’s even worse.”
Watching them leave—first his mother, then Cole, then Danielle—had torn at Josh like the spring snowmelt undermined the willows along the stream. But nothing could uproot him. As his father had said often enough before dying (another kind of leaving) some people just wouldn’t see the wonders of the valley. They would always want more, and it was best to let them go.
Josh wished he could let go of the memories as easily as they had forgotten him.
Grateful for the distraction ahead, he focused on the homestead. Vaile and Imogene Hunter had built a beautiful place. The huge timbers of the cabin had been harvested seemingly without touching the surrounding old growth, and a three-story picture window flawlessly reflected the valley beyond. The house emerged like a dream from its surroundings.
Vaile had said they might have a few guests, but they had come to the mountain valley to “get away from it all.” Josh’s impression—though they hadn’t been specific—was the Hunters had left some strangeness of their own behind. Hollywood, he guessed, or some other foreign land. They were both stunning enough to be movie stars, though the exotic lilt in their accents suggested maybe their country of origin was farther off. Regardless, they were here now and obviously loved it.