Jason leaned back in the creaking chair and said, “Seriously. I want to know more about you.”
A wave of insecurity took her. She wanted Jason to continue liking her, but talking about her past would only hurt his opinion of her. “Okay. My mom raised me in a small trailer park right on the edge of Big Canoe. Have you ever been there?”
Jason shook his head and took his first bite.
“Well, it’s a huge plot of land that has been built up with nice homes on big wilderness lots, but the trailer park was there first, so as long as they stayed upright, the community couldn’t ask us to leave. It was all my mom could afford on her tips from the local diner she worked at. She had me really young and didn’t finish high school, so putting food on the table and keeping the bills paid was a constant struggle. But it was easier when I turned sixteen and got a job with the forestry department. It was nothing big, just picking up trash and calling in any problems around the park. My boss let me drive this extra Jeep he had from his wife leaving him, and for the first time I felt fancy. You know? Like, I’d been shivering through all the winters, sleeping in the same bed as my mom because we had to do that to keep warm. And we were always worried about not being able to pay the light bill and get the groceries we needed, and it just sucked. But after school, when I got to drive around working in the woods, none of that mattered. I was happy outdoors.”
“Did you go to school in the community?”
“Yeah, and I bet you can guess how that worked out. I made a few good friends, but the teasing from middle school to high school turned from freckles to trailer trash.”
Jason reached across the table and held her hand, brushed his thumb across her knuckles. “You aren’t.”
“No one is. Trailer trash is such a bull crap tease. It’s just a way to make fun of people who are struggling.”
“So that’s why you said yes to ten-ten so easily. I thought you would turn it down flat.”
“Ten-ten reminds me of the house I grew up in. The déjà vu is kind of nice. Plus, I can’t spend the winter in the tower.” She looked out the warped window panes at the snow falling steadily. It was too early and too warm to stick yet, but in a month, this place would be blanketed in white. “I needed to find a viable place to live, anyway. And now I get the added bonus of being around you and the other Gray Backs. It’s nice, the family you’ve made for yourself here.”
Jason huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Ranger, I sure hope you feel that way after you really get to know us. Do you still talk to your mom?”
“Not as much as I should. She’s angry I left. Took it personally that I didn’t stick around after high school to help her pay the bills. I just couldn’t. I know that’s not how it’s supposed to work, but I didn’t want to stay in Big Canoe for the rest of my life. I wanted to travel. Not to see different cities, but to experience different landscapes. So I went after a forestry education and took the first internship I could get my hands on and worked my way up. A year at each place, never settling down. And it worked well for me. I got to see some incredible things. Things a trailer park kid like me wasn’t going to see unless I went out there and got what I wanted. I tried to send my mom money, but she wouldn’t cash the checks. I sent her cash once, and she sent it right back. I failed in her eyes, but I know she loves me. I think someday, if I can settle down somewhere and show her how happy I am, she’ll forgive me for leaving.”
“It has to be hard on her if you’re her only kid, but you did the right thing. You’d resent her and hate your life if you stayed trapped somewhere.”
“What about you? Do you still talk to your family?”
“I do. I have five brothers, all married and breeding. My parents are in hog heaven spoiling all the grandbabies. I’m the slow one. The one they worry over because I never tried to settle again after Tessa.” Jason leaned back and linked his hands behind his head. “You should’ve seen the vitriol my mom had for Tessa. She never liked her. It was this constant uncomfortable situation. I mean, Tessa ruined every holiday we tried to spend with my family.”
“She didn’t want to share you or what?”
“Didn’t want to share me, but didn’t want to keep me. I don’t think Tessa knew what she wanted. Not like I did.”
“Have you dated anyone since her?”
Jason’s single, “Ha!” was loud in the small space. “Woman, you’ve met her. Tessa doesn’t take too kindly to me moving on. She’s done a bang-up job of keeping me uninterested in a relationship for half a decade now.”