Wild North Read online

  Wild North

  JB Salsbury

  Copyright © 2021 by JB Salsbury

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design by Pixel Mischief Design

  Amanda, Claudia, and Natalie…

  You have my undying love and gratitude for all your help in bringing Wild North to life.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Also by JB Salsbury

  About the Author

  One

  Jordan

  “Do you hear that?” I whisper from behind the warmth of my sleeping bag. The sun is barely up over the mountains to fight off the overnight chill that blows through our secondhand tent. “Lincoln, wake up.” I do my best to jostle him with my foot—no easy task when wrapped up like a sausage.

  He groans and cracks an eyelid that is mostly covered with his low-pulled beanie.

  “Oh, good, you’re awake. Listen. Tell me what you hear.”

  He remains still, blinks, and then mutters, “I don’t hear shit.”

  A surge of giddy excitement wells up in me. “Exactly! No neighbors yelling, footsteps rattling our ceiling, car horns, screeching tires, motorcycles… it’s heaven, right?”

  His brown eyes narrow. “You woke me up for this?”

  “No.” The rustling of my sleeping bag fills the tent as I lift up and scoot closer. “I woke you up for this.” I drop a kiss to his cold lips.

  He kisses me back with little enthusiasm. Something I’m getting used to.

  I don’t know exactly when the spark between us began to dull. I only know that it has. This camping trip was my attempt to remove all outside distractions and see if we could get our relationship back on track. See if we could find that spark again.

  He surveys my hopeful, enthusiastic expression and frowns. “I know what you’re going to ask,” he says. “And the answer is no.”

  I frown and wonder why he even agreed to a weekend camping since he’s made little effort to enjoy it. “I’m not ready to go back to the city.” Because I’ll have to face the reality that we need to break up and all the complications that come with that. We live together and work together, and for the last few years, we’ve built an entire life together.

  “We have to.” He unzips his sleeping bag and grabs for his coat. “Shit, it’s cold. I’m ready to get back to a working furnace.”

  “Working furnace, yeah, right.” The furnace in our place is one hundred years old and has a fifty percent success rate.

  “You know what I mean.” He punches his socked feet into his hiking boots and unzips the tent door. “Son of a bitch, it’s freezing,” he mumbles as he stomps away from our campsite—I assume to pee.

  I fall back to my sleeping bag with a sigh. The fresh air of the Adirondacks, as cold as it may be, is a soothing balm to my city-weary soul. I would stay out here for months if I could. The peace, the quiet, and reconnecting with nature are a reset button that I desperately needed.

  If only the outdoors had the same reset effect on Lincoln and me.

  As grim as our relationship’s future may look, I refuse to waste another minute of my last day in the mountains. I slip on my jacket, pull a pair of pants over my long johns, drop my feet into my boots, and duck out of the tent.

  I throw the last of our firewood into the makeshift pit and work on getting a fire started, just as Lincoln reemerges from the pines. “The temperature dropped by at least fifteen degrees since yesterday,” he says, rubbing his arms and taking a seat on the log that we had set close to the fire.

  After a little coaxing, the flames kick up, and I grab our camping kettle to warm water for tea. Why does everything taste better when consumed in the forest? I’ve always thought green tea tasted like watered-down dirt, but out here, it’s like manna from the gods.

  “What the hell…” My friend Courtney comes out of her tent with her arms wrapped around her midsection and her scarf up to her eyes. “Where’s the snow?”

  “Snow’s not supposed to hit for a few more days, but it should start raining tonight.” Darin emerges from their tent behind her, his head tilted back and eyes on the sky. “I don’t see any rain clouds yet.”

  Courtney takes a seat on the log next to Lincoln while Darin disappears into the woods to do his business. Darin is Lincoln’s friend, and asking him along was my way of sweetening the deal so that Lincoln, who usually isn’t much of an outdoorsman, would agree to go. I invited my friend Courtney in an attempt at setting the two of them up. Lincoln tells me I shouldn’t get involved in other people’s love lives, but Courtney always complains about her lack of a male companion, so I figured, why not? Their tent is big enough for them to sleep a platonic distance apart, but they’re both attractive and single, so…

  “What’s going on with you guys?” I whisper while keeping my eyes on the trees to make sure Darin doesn’t catch me being nosey.

  She curls deeper into her jacket. “He’s really nice.”

  “Nice? Does that mean you’re not turning that tent into a sweat lodge—”

  “Jo,” Lincoln snaps. “Stop it.”

  “What? I’m just looking out for my friend.” I grin at Courtney, who smiles awkwardly back. I’m about to push for more information when Darin comes back, zipping up his pants.

  “What’s the plan?” he says and takes a squatted position on the opposite side of the fire from Courtney.

  I frown. Not a good sign for a love connection.

  “I say we hike back up to that waterfall one last time, eat lunch there, then head back down and out.” I readjust the kettle to get it over more heat.

  “I vote we caffeinate, pack up, and get down the mountain.” Courtney looks between me and Lincoln. “That way, we’ll be home before dark.”

  Darin nods. “The hike out will take at least three hours, then the five-hour drive. I’m with Court. I say we get moving.”

  Court? Okay, so the nickname is promising.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Lincoln says and pours hot water into Courtney’s cup, then his, and finally my own.

  “Wait, you don’t want to hike up to the waterfall one last time?”

  He eyes Darin and Courtney, and, as if not wanting to cause disruption, he goes with the majority rule. “Nah, we’ve been out here long enough. It’s been fun, but I don’t want to add any more mileage to the trip.”

  “Oh, come on. It’s only an hour longer. I’ll even drive back to the city, and you guys can sleep.”

  Courtney straightens her leg and rolls her foot as best she can in her boot. “My ankle is sore. I don’t want to hike any longer than it takes to get down and back to the car.”

  “Yeah, and I’m not carrying her down the mountain.” Darin pokes at the fire with a stick, and I can’t tell if he’s being playful or serious.


  “Why don’t you go?” Lincoln asks, his eyes on me. “We’ll pack up here, and you go to the falls one last time.”

  “Alone?”

  He shrugs. “Why not? It’s a straight shot east.”

  “I feel bad leaving you guys to do all the work.”

  Darin snorts. “You let us do all the work when we got here while you and Courtney killed a bottle of wine.”

  I lift and sink my teabag, wondering why his refusal to come with me feels like further confirmation that we need to go our separate ways. I spot the ring on my left finger and wonder how I let things get this far to begin with. Maybe a hike alone will help me to clear my thoughts and give me time to come up with a plan. If Courtney’s ankle wasn’t messed up, maybe she’d come with me, and I could talk to her about crashing on her couch for a few weeks.

  Lincoln pulls a protein bar from his pocket. “Go, don’t go, whatever you want. Either way, we need to get down the mountain before sunset. Make sure we’re gone before the storm rolls through.”

  I sip my tea and let it warm me from the inside. “I thought you said it comes in tomorrow.”

  “That was the report on Friday. But it feels like it’s breathing down our necks given how cold it is, and I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “All the more reason for us to head out as soon as we’re ready,” Courtney says while holding her cup with two hands for warmth.

  “Fine. I’ll hike up to the waterfall while you guys pack up. And I’ll drive us back into the city so you guys can sleep. Deal?” I hold up my mug.

  They all follow suit with a simultaneous, “Deal.”

  * * *

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

  Lincoln is bent over, pulling up the stay-spikes for our tent, his hipster butt on display in his form-fitting jeans. I never was a fan of a man in skinny jeans, but the style suits him. When he stands to full height, he looks me over and shrugs. “I’m sure.”

  Ouch.

  “Isn’t it on your bucket list to get a blow job in front of a waterfall?”

  He grins and shakes his head. “Nice try.” He presses a quick, hard kiss to my lips.

  Wow, if I can’t even entice my boyfriend with a blow job, something is seriously wrong.

  “Go,” he says. “And hurry back. We’re not waiting for you.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Maybe this conversation won’t wait until we get back to the city. “You’ve been cold and distant, and why would you say you won’t wait for me, even if you’re joking?”

  He sighs, and his shoulders drop a little. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired and ready for a very hot shower.” He tugs my beanie down lower over my messy hair. “I was kidding about not waiting for you, obviously.” He cups my jaw and runs his thumb over my lips. “Be safe. Hurry back.”

  I lean into his touch, searching for the tingles and the warmth I used to feel when he’d touch me. “I’ll bring back pictures.”

  “Perfect. And you can blow me in front of those when we get home.”

  He kisses me, this time with an added gentleness that I haven’t felt in a while. Maybe if we talk, we can work things out, but do I even want that anymore?

  The path to the waterfall is roughly a mile and a half uphill. After two cups of strong tea and a large Clif bar, I have energy to burn. I take in deep breaths to fill my lungs with the scent of the forest, pine bark, and both fresh and rotting foliage. As I make my way farther away from camp, the tree canopy breaks up, and the sun beats down on my coat and warms me up.

  I rub at the promise ring on my left finger and think about what he said to me the night he slipped it on. New Year’s Eve. He promised he’d replace it with an engagement ring as soon as his financial situation was more stable. I told him I didn’t give a shit about how much money he has, but he said it was a man thing, whatever that means. A few months later, things between us started to go bad. But why?

  The trail starts to open up, and the view of the sun rising over the mountains is too beautiful not to snap a photo. I’m going to miss these sunrises and sunsets. In the city, buried between high-rise buildings, I never see the sun this way.

  I stop next to a tree and pat my pockets, searching for my phone. Dammit, I must’ve left it in the tent.

  I turn and spot the path I’d just come from and consider going back to grab my phone. Going back would add a little time to the hike, but at least I’d get the bomb-ass Instagram photos.

  As quickly as my hiking boots will carry me, I make the trek back toward camp. I only hope Lincoln saw my phone before rolling the tent up. I pick up my pace, which is easy going downhill, hoping not to add too much time to my hike. I spot the familiar cluster of red spruce trees and know I’m getting close.

  I hear Courtney’s laughter, followed by Lincoln’s, and it almost makes me stumble because I haven’t heard him laugh like that in a long time.

  Walking around to where our tent is set up, I spot the bright-red fabric on the ground and hurry to search for my phone, when the sound of Courtney squealing calls me up short.

  “Get your hands off my ass,” she says playfully.

  A surge of satisfaction fills me that she and Darin are finally flirting. I try to peek around the surrounding trees to get a glimpse.

  “You guys better cut that out, or you’re going to get caught.”

  I blink, wondering why Lincoln’s voice sounded so much like Darin’s.

  A sinking feeling in my stomach has me reaching for tree bark to steady myself.

  Don’t jump to conclusions. A need for clarification has me creeping closer, slowly, hoping with everything in me that I find Darin and Courtney flirting and groping each other.

  My thumb rubs anxiously against the promise ring on my finger.

  Muffled words become clearer as I move soundlessly through the trees.

  “I hate that I can’t touch you whenever I want,” says a deep male voice in a whisper. It’s hard to tell whose voice it is—Lincoln’s or Darin’s.

  “You can touch me now.” My gut twists as I recognize Courtney’s attempt at a sexy drawl.

  “I’ll leave you two alone, but make it fast.” The male grumbled voice is followed by footsteps that are getting closer. I tuck behind a group of trees, just as Darin stomps off through the forest right past me.

  I press my back to the bark of a pine tree and close my eyes. A rush of tears fights for release from behind my lids. Part of me wants to run away—ignorance is bliss and all that. But I have to know. I have to see with my own eyes, or I’ll always wonder if I misunderstood what I heard.

  My eyelids pop open, wide, terrified. Sickly curious.

  I move slowly and peer around the tree.

  There, right in front of my eyes, is Lincoln’s blue coat, his brown beanie, and his hand, disappearing between Courtney’s thighs.

  He’s been cheating on me. And worse, all three of them have known about it!

  Coherent thought escapes me. Only one driving need spurs me forward.

  Get away.

  I’ve always wondered what I would do in a fight-or-flight situation. Turns out, I’m flight.

  I run. Hoping to get far enough away before the first primal scream rips from my chest. It’s not just Lincoln. I had a feeling our relationship had run its course. But Courtney? She was my friend. And even Darin, who I’ve known for years, how could he not tell me?

  My toe catches on something, and the force of it throws me forward. My hands skid against the rough, cold earth. I stagger to my feet, pushing myself on. Away. My vision blurs with tears, not from a broken heart as much as betrayal. How did I not see this coming? I balance from tree to tree while distance does nothing to clear what I saw from my mind.

  Two years we’ve been together.

  He gave me a ring.

  A feral growl works its way up my throat. I push to move faster, as if I could escape my thoughts on foot

  We share an apartment. My God, has he been a lyin
g cheater all this time?

  I met his family. I met Courtney’s family, and her parents took me in as if one of their own.

  How many times did she crash on our couch after a night out drinking?

  How many trips did she tag along with us?

  Have they been screwing this whole time?

  Does he love her? The ground disappears beneath me and sends me into a free fall. Pain slices through my shoulder. The world spins around me in a blur of brown and green. A pierce to my side robs my lungs of air and my voice. Cold, wet pain claws up my stomach beneath my jacket. With every twist, a new agony. My stomach drops, and I’m airborne. My legs flail, and my arms search for something to grab onto, something to stop my free fall. I land hard. Knock the wind from my chest. The world goes black.

  * * *

  My head feels like it’s being squeezed between two boulders. The pain between my ears is so intense that it makes my stomach sick. My bones quake with the cold, every muscle tense with the chill. Everything hurts. I crack an eyelid, hoping to find that I’m home in bed with a nasty flu bug, but I’m met with wet, dense earth as far as I can see.

  Lincoln and Courtney.

  Agony rips through my chest, and I try to roll to my side, to curl around the place that hurts the most. A splintering pain in my ribs freezes me on the spot and makes it impossible to take a full breath. Hot tears run tracks down my temples.

  “Help…” The sound is so weak, barely loud enough to be heard over the wind that whips around my face.

  I clear my throat and then groan as the action sends another wave of pain through me.