Chapter 9: The North Road
The pickup truck rattled along the two-lane asphalt heading north toward the Montana line, its heater humming a warm, steady drone against the crisp September morning.
Cole sat on the vinyl bench seat, his back straight, looking through the bug-splattered windshield at the jagged blue spine of the Absaroka Mountains rising against the horizon. Between them sat a cardboard box containing three pairs of jeans, four shirts, a shoebox of Clara’s letters, and his paperback books.
Jax drove with two hands on the wheel—an unaccustomed discipline after decades of gripping ape-hanger bars. His knuckles were relaxed, his eyes scanning the empty highway.
""Where are we going?"" Cole asked after thirty miles of silence.
""Red Lodge,"" Jax answered. ""An old buddy of mine, Hank. Runs an equipment repair shop for the logging rigs. Offered me a bay and the apartment above the office.""
""Does it have an engine?""
""A lot of them. Cats, skidders, diesel generators. Big stuff. Heavy iron.""
Cole looked out the passenger window, watching a herd of pronghorn sprint across the sage pasture parallel to the road. ""Mom said you used to build things that won races.""
""A long time ago,"" Jax said. ""Mostly, I just fixed what other men broke.""
""Can I learn how to weld?""
Jax glanced sideways at the boy. Cole was watching him with that same steady, uncorrupted scrutiny.
""First thing you learn is how to measure,"" Jax said, a faint, genuine warmth touching his voice. ""Measure twice, cut once. A weld only holds if the steel is clean before you strike the arc.""
Cole nodded once, processing the information with solemn gravity. He reached down into his pocket, pulled out the folded yellow legal paper—the note Clara had written—and laid it on the dashboard between them.
May you like
""You should read it now,"" Cole said.
Jax looked at the paper. The blue lines were faded, the edges worn soft by the boy's fingers. He pulled the truck onto the gravel shoulder, put the transmission in park, and reached for the paper with steady, unhurried hands.
