Riding the Pause Read Free

And it was too much to expect either of them to keep her plans secret from her brothers, their husbands. The last thing she needed was a bossy Southerland male messing with her vision quest or whatever this hike was supposed to be.
    Rachel wasn’t sure herself. She just knew she needed to do something. Since she’d lost her job, it had felt like she’d been unmoored. She couldn’t get her bearings enough to figure out what came next. She’d called Taylor and sworn her to secrecy. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell the rest of her family. Not yet, not until she had some direction for where her life was going. Three days solo hiking on the AT was a last ditch attempt to find something that resembled her center.
    “I’m not telling.” Taylor snorted, her eyes wide. “Are you kidding? And risk getting pounded for aiding and abetting? No way. You just make sure you get your ass out of the woods by Thursday. And in one piece or I’ll sic all of them on you.”
    “Deal,” said Rachel, giving her baby sister a hug.
    “I get why you told me about your job.”
    Rachel started to protest. It had been easier to admit to Taylor what happened because of all the Southerland siblings, she was the least accomplished. She was a fantastic person, fun and funny. They all adored her, but picking and sticking to a career path hadn’t come easy to her.
    “I do,” said Taylor, holding up her hand before Rachel could speak. “But the rest of them will understand too. We all love you.”
    “I know,” she said, and she did. If there was one thing she was certain of it was her family’s love. She had always been able to count it. “I will. I’ll tell them. I will. As soon as I get back. I just want a chance to get my bearings first. Have some sort of plan.” She didn’t have a choice. She’d have to tell them since she was pretty sure part of her plan would involve moving home, at least temporarily.
    “Okay,” said Taylor, popping the latch on the back of the car.
    Rachel got out of car and opened the hatch, hefting her new pack onto the ground. She’d been careful about the weight, and the guy at the outdoor store had helped her with the gear. It wasn’t her first time hiking this section of the AT, but she’d jettisoned most of her gear over the years as her priorities shifted away from time in the mountains and towards her job.
    She’d gone into the outdoor store looking to replace her camp stove and had come out with less money in her already taxed bank account and a new pack full of the gear the sales guy declared “essential.” It was okay. She’d think about it as an investment. She used to love spending time outdoors with her family. They’d spent most Sunday afternoons climbing to the peak of Sharp Top when they were kids and then chasing each other down again. She’d make getting into the woods a priority again, and the new gear would help. But maybe a little less gear, she thought swinging the heavy pack up onto her back.
    “You’ve got the map with my route, right?”
    “You mean the color coded one with ETAs plotted out by variable?” Taylor said with a laugh, leaning out her car window. “Yes, I’ve got it. Be careful.”
    “I will. Thanks again for helping me with this. I love you.”
    “I love you, too. And Rachel,” she said, her tone turning serious.
    “Hmm?” Shifting back and forth on her feet to try to stay warm, Rachel paused to look back over her pack to her sister.
    “Cut yourself some slack. You’ve always been the best of us at coloring inside the lines. Even better than Jude, and he’s practically a machine. You don’t have to hold so tightly to everything. Things will go on without you controlling it all. It’s okay to relax a little. You’ve earned it.”
    Rachel nodded, unable to speak past the tightness in her throat and then started down the trail to find whatever came next.
     
     
    Careful to keep her balance with the weight of her pack dragging her back,