Baby For The Mountain Man

“How long will you be in California?” I asked.

That quizzical look in her eye soon came back, pushing away the gratitude and happiness that had just been there seconds before. But her wariness was right. It was none of my business where she was going, why, or for how long. And taking an interest in her life might make it seem like I wanted her to stay.

Which was the farthest thing from the truth.

“You really wanna know why I’m heading to California?” Ava asked.

“None of my business,” I said.

“It’s because of my family,” she said.

I handed her the keys to her car as she wandered back over to the stairs of the porch.

“They want me to live a… particular lifestyle I don’t agree with,” she said.

“Sounds rough,” I said.

“It is. I’m heading to California because they announced that they would be marrying me off to a wealthy banker. Twice my age, too.”

“Is that a thing that still happens?” I asked.

“Apparently so,” she said. “My parents expect me to marry young and have children and make a home for a man to come back to. I stopped going on their blind dates they were setting me up on, so they gave my hand away to the next man they thought would be good for me.”

“A man twice your age,” I said.

“Yeah. Comes from a well-off family. My mother said he would make a wonderful provider for the children I would raise, and it made me sick. When I argued with them things got rough, and I was told I could either follow along with their plans or continue to go on the blind dates.”

“So naturally, you ran,” I said.

“Look, you might live up here in your cabin away from the world, but down there money doesn’t make everything better. We live in the twenty-first century, yet I’m expected to operate as if we still live in the stone ages. Where women are property and marriage is a business transaction. And you know what? Dating in high school wasn’t really an option. I’ve got three overprotective older brothers that were ready to beat the shit out of any boy who looked at me funny.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You should be. Judging me the way you are.”

“I wasn’t judging you,” I said.

“Well, it felt like you were. You wanna know what I think it is?” she asked.

“What?”

“I think my parents are tired of supporting me. I can’t work a job, but they’re tired of paying my bills. They don’t think it’s appropriate for a woman to be working, so they’re marrying me off so I’m someone else’s problem. Even though I’m a problem they willingly created. And against my will, at that!”

“Have you ever thought about college?” I asked.

“What?”

“It seems like you don’t have a plan for when you get to California. Have you thought about college?” I asked.

“Of course I have a plan for when I get to California. I’m going to start my own business helping women like myself get away from families like the one I grew up in.”

“Is that a sustainable business?”

Ava’s eyes shot up to mine as I leaned against her car.

“What?” she asked.

“Is that a sustainable business? Would you have enough clientele to keep yourself afloat?” I asked.