Page 76 (1/2)

He exhaled slowly “First off, I have this for you, Jason” He unzipped his bag and carefully pulled out the sketchbook, which he’d kept flat by hauling the atlas along too “I ive this to you before you left”

Sucking in a breath, Jason took it, reverently running his hand over the battered cover “Thank you I thought these were lost forever”

“A little worse for wear, but no” Ben gazed at hiie “Not lost”

Jasontremulously

“Are you going to kiss, like, right now?”

Laughter bubbled up, and Ben pecked Jason’s lips, Maggie giggling between theently laid the sketchbook on the coffee table and asked, “So what’s your idea?”

He pulled out the Yose “Are we going there?”

“Well, I want to kno you’d feel about that,” Ben said “After what happened, I wasn’t sure if you’d still want to go to the woods”

“I do! I love it away fro to let that badThere are bad ood ones from now on”

Jason leaned over and rapped his knuckles on the table “I hope so too” To Ben, he said, “Okay, Yose about a vacation?”

“No, not a vacation” Butterflies flapped, Ben’s skin tingling Would they want to share this future together? “They’re looking for a new head ranger at Yosereat chance He’s talking to the people down there”

Maggie wrinkled her nose “I don’t like Brad”

Ben laughed “I didn’t like hi to help I want topart ofti”

She seemed to ponder it “That makes sense Okay I’ll try to like him more”

“Thank you So, if I get this job, I’d move down to California And I want you both to co you’d want to do”

Maggie sat up straighter, eyes bright “We could live by Yosemite? Instead of in the smelly city?”