Free High Impact by Kim Baldwin Page B

all. We were close.”
    “Sorry for your loss. I empathize. Both my folks are gone.”
    Bryson picked up a smooth stone and tried to skip it across the river, but it hopped only twice before a rogue wave snagged it and dragged it under. “So, you got some of my story and a bit about my friends. Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Not many outsiders come up for so long.”
    “Well, I’m here for a few months because I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska, and I like to spend time really getting to know a place. What else do you want to know?”
    “Whatever you want to share. Where you from?”
    “That’s not starting with an easy one.” Emery chewed her sandwich as she thought about her answer. The pat one she’d been giving seemed too flippant for Bryson. “Some months ago, I’d have said Detroit. But I’m in a kind of vagabond place right now. I sold my place, put my few things in storage, and hit the road. I have no idea where I’ll finally end up.”
    “No ties anywhere?”
    “None to speak of, no.”
    “What do you do?”
    “Nothing right now. I made a good living as an international courier and got around the world a good bit, but never with time to see much of anything.” She ate more of her sandwich, marveling at how simple corned beef could taste so wonderful in such a setting. “You know the deal. Working hard, saving up, always living for the future. One day I decided to just quit and start living the life I’d always wanted to.”
    “Lot of folks, especially after they come up here and get some time to put things in perspective, vow to do that, but most never will. Why, do you think?”
    “Too afraid of the unknown, maybe. It’s hard to chuck a job that pays well and isn’t half-bad to chase a dream, especially with the way the economy’s been the last few years. Or responsibilities to their loved ones tie them where they are.”
    “You didn’t have that?” Bryson asked. When Emery didn’t immediately answer, she added, “Or is that too personal a question?”
    “No, it’s all right.” She still felt a deep sense of guilt about breaking it off with Lisa, because Lisa hadn’t yet moved on. Every now and then, Emery called to check up on her and tell her she was well and safe. But that might only prolong Lisa’s period of healing. Did Emery make the hurt all raw and fresh again every time they connected? “I was involved and living with someone,” she told Bryson.
    She’d made a lot of friends in her journey, but had opened up to none of them about her relationship. Easy to talk to, Bryson emitted such a trustworthy air Emery knew she’d be a good sounding board. Though she knew in her heart she’d made the right decisions about her life, she always valued an objective opinion. “We were very compatible. Lisa’s sweet and down-to-earth, and has such a dry sense of humor she made me laugh several times a day. The sex was still great, after three years. But I always knew she was more, well, you know…she really loved me a lot. And I couldn’t return the intensity.” She glanced at Bryson, gauging her reaction by her facial expressions and body language. “Finally I realized I was holding her back from finding the kind of deep, mutual commitment she wanted, and needed. So I broke it off. I hurt her pretty badly.”
    Bryson nodded thoughtfully. “Tough thing to do, when you care about someone.” She looked over at Emery. “Pretty much the same story with Geneva and me. I couldn’t return her feelings. But we only dated three months or so.”
    “That explains why you sound protective about her.”
    Bryson grinned shyly in acknowledgment.
    “Sometimes I think I should have walked away from Lisa early on,” Emery said. “As soon as I realized it was off-balance and always would be.”
    “Don’t beat yourself up about it. You were true to yourself, which everyone has to be. And you took her long-term well-being into account, even if it maybe happened later than it