My Walk in the Woods

Preface: Some of this story is true, at least most of the first few paragraphs. And she did divorce me while I was on the trail. Due to some medical issues I had to leave the trail last year but my jeep is packed and I'm heading back in a few days to hike the last 1,000 miles. I write a lot of post divorce stories for the obvious reasons.

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My wife Kathy knew I intended to retire as soon as I was able and that would be close to when I turned 61. We discussed it often including moving some place away from the cold northeast winters. Even though she was almost a dozen years younger than me, I always assumed she was going to retire with me. The investments I made while working would keep us comfortable for the rest of our lives.

You can understand how shocked I was when she announced she never had any plans to retire with me.

I remember yelling, "What the fuck Kathy, we talked frequently about all the traveling we would do when I retired."

"We talked about all the traveling you would do when you retired, you weren't listening to me, what a shock!"

Things got worse before I headed to a bar down the street. We didn't speak for over a week, and I tried to figure out what I was going to do with my life going forward. A friend of mine gave me a copy of Bill Bryson's book, "A Walk in the Woods. I also watched the movie. I knew what I was going to do.

After spending hours doing research and a fortune at REI, I started doing day hikes and then some overnight hikes, somehow I managed to survive the hornets' nest I step in and my tumbles down a hill side.

I discussed hiking the AT with Kathy, she made me watch "Wild" with Reese Witherspoon and said I should enjoy my retirement. The following March, I was loading my Jeep to head to Georgia as Kathy came home from work.

"How long are you going for Jack, you look like you're packing for months."

"I told you Kathy, the trail is 2200 miles long, it will take months. Look who's not listening to who, I told you multiple times. I even gave you Bill Bryson's book about the trail. You never read it or watched the movie like I recommended."

"Hiking is your thing Jack, why would I want to read a book or watch a movie about it. When do you plan on leaving?"

"I'm waiting on a package from Amazon that will probably come tomorrow. I plan on leaving the next day."

Kathy gave me that look that said she was not happy with me and stormed off into the house. She never came out of what had been our bedroom for dinner, but I heard her watching "A Walk in the Woods."

In the morning, she came down to my study as she drank her coffee.

"I think you've lost your mind Jack, at least Bryson had someone hiking with him. You've never hiked that far and the last time you hiked overnight, you came home with over a dozen bee stings plus countless bruises when you fell down the hill."

"But I'm so much smarter now Kathy."

"You're a fucking idiot Jack. And you did an end run around me and got the kids on your side about this insanity. They were so thrilled about your plans. I hope you enjoy yourself and make sure your insurance and will are up to date before you leave."

And that was my last verbal conversation with Kathy.

I set up a group text to keep Kathy and the kids aware of where I was. Kathy insisted I take her off.

A few days later I was on Springer Mountain beginning the AT. Kathy's attitude pissed on my mood for the first few days but there were dozens of people like me starting off with hope in their eyes that was positively contagious. I would spend my nights in and around the shelters along the trail. Usually, I slept in my tent but sometimes I would sleep in a shelter if a bad storm was blowing through. But there was always a group of us eating dinner or morning coffee at the shelter's picnic tables. As things worked, you would end up spending multiple dinners with the same group of people, some would hike faster and move on.

I loved the comradery, and I stopped worrying about Kathy's attitude. The AT was tough, physically and mentally. I would lay down to sleep with my legs throbbing in pain knowing I was going to do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I wanted to do cartwheels when I stepped out of Georgia and into North Carolina until I realized I still had 2000 miles to go.

A woman was attacked by a bear while we were in the Smokeys which put a damper on my spirits and Kathy's fucking idiot remark again echoed in my head. Cell phone service was intermittent, but I tried to post pictures on Facebook as often as I could. I loved the comments I received. Kathy never commented or liked any of my pictures.

The trail weaved back and forth between Tennessee and North Carolina for another 300 miles. I was sure parts of my body would never recover. A big storm blew in one night, I think I was in Tennessee. The temperature dropped into the 20's while my sleeping bag was only rated to 32 degrees. The wind was whipping my tent around making it impossible to sleep. Things were not any better in the morning, the trail was covered in snow, the wind had painted the trees with sleet covering the white blazes that marked the trail.

Maybe Kathy was right, I was a fucking idiot. I was fighting my way up and down hills, hoping I was still on the trail, while I could not get the thought of quitting out of my head. If I had cell service, I would have called one of the many shuttle drivers to come rescue my ass. When I did finally have service, I texted a woman, Hiking Ginger who I met on the trail when I was in the Smokeys. She was from North Dakota and usually had a different way of looking at things. I told her I was thinking about quitting. She said, "Never quit on a bad day." Hiking Ginger was her trail name she picked up for her flaming red hair. I could picture her saying that. We bonded since we were about the same age, unlike the college kids who represented most of the other hikers.

Like magic, as I read her text, the sky cleared, the sun came out and the temperature jumped twenty degrees. I stopped at the next shelter after only a ten-mile hike and hung up my tent to dry.

Thoughts of quitting were still running through my head as I napped on the picnic table and wondered what that would look like. Top of the list was seeing Kathy gloat while rubbing it in that I was a fucking idiot. But then what? I didn't start this hike because I was happy at home to begin with. The idea of sitting around waiting for Kathy to come home so we could watch TV while we stared at our phones scared the shit out of me.

The next morning after a good night's sleep, I set off with a new determination. My kids were cheering me on after I explained my trials of the day before. Occasionally I would take a day off and grab a hotel room for a night, wash the stink off me and do my laundry. I did so in the next town, a hot shower never felt better. I picked up a boot dryer at Walmart and started the next day with dry boots.

Hiking Ginger was at the next shelter I stopped at; I was expecting her to be a week ahead of me

"Hey Ginger," I said as I dumped my pack. "I thought you would have been weeks ahead of me by now."

Hiking Ginger, one of the happiest people on the trail, looked at me and I thought she was going to start crying. I sat down next to her; she wrapped her arms around me, and she did start crying. We were friendly on the trail, but this physical closeness was unexpected.

Finally, she calmed down enough to break the hold he had on my neck. "I just got back from North Dakota. My husband told me he was divorcing me, so I flew home to try and save my marriage. He told me it was too late and that he found someone else. The only thing I had left was hiking so I flew back here. I'll have to go home again for a week or two to get my shit out of the house and put it in storage until I finish the trail."

I tried offering some words to console her, but I had nothing. The conversation shifted to other important things to hikers, bear sightings the availability of water, how many people I have been seeing. I was wondering if my marriage was heading in the same direction, and I wondered what that would look like.

Hiking Ginger and I hiked in the same manner we did in the Smokey's; I would hit the trail before her in the morning, she would pass me around noon, and we would camp near the same shelter every night. She never brought up her husband again, but I had to ask her about it the night before she was heading home to move her stuff into storage.

She said, "I'm sad about the end, but I am in a place I love, doing what I love with wonderful people. I'm not going to let that asshole ruin it for me."

By the time she was back on the trail, I was a few weeks ahead of her, but she was going to try and catch up.

McAfee's Knob is probably the most famous point on the Appalachian Trail. I was a week away when I received notice from a lawyer that Kathy was divorcing me. If I was halfway intelligent, I would have seen it coming. I stepped off the trail and into a hotel where her lawyer had me served with the divorce papers. There was a lawyer I knew from one of the kids' baseball teams that I contacted. He agreed to represent me; I had no idea if he was any good. What I really wanted was to get it done and I didn't want to leave the trail.

It took a week for Kathy and I to agree to the split. My lawyer said her proposal may seem like I'm getting shafted, but it was well in line with the norms. I told him if I didn't have to come home, I didn't give a fuck, I didn't even care why she wanted a divorce. In an act of spite, I mailed her my wedding ring and headed back on the trail. I was still angry when I stepped out onto McAfee's Knob and all my anger went away. There were a bunch of day hikers and others on the knob, and they took a bunch of pictures of me sitting on the knob. I posted the pictures on Facebook and loved the feedback.

That night I had just set up my tent when Hiking Ginger dropped her pack near mine. She was surprised she had caught up with me so quickly.

"I had to lay over in Pearisburg for a few days to take care of some business at home."

"Does that business explain why you're no longer wearing your wedding ring."

"Why aren't you the observant hiker," I said with a grin.

"I'm sorry Snapshot, you don't seem very upset, not nearly as upset as I was and still am."

"In the words of someone much wiser that me, 'I'm sad about the end, but I am in a place I love, doing what I love with wonderful people. I'm not going to let that asshole ruin it for me.' Besides, I climbed McAfee's Knob today, I was on top of the world!"

Hiking Ginger and I hiked in the same manner we did before, I would hit the trail before her in the morning, she would pass me around noon, and we would camp near the same shelter every night. She would join me when I stepped off to stay in a hotel. On one occasion, she told me she didn't have the money for a hotel and was heading to a hostel. I never stayed in a hostel and had heard plenty of horror stories. There's a funny scene about hostels in a "Walk in the Woods."

"Ginger, a room with two doubles is the same price I was going to pay for a king, I'll book the two doubles if you feel safe enough to share a room with me."

"You're joking right, that I might not feel safe sharing a room with you. We've been camping next to each other for weeks in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure you won't mind giving up the privacy."

I assured her I was okay, but it wasn't the privacy that concerned me. For the first time maybe, I saw Ginger cleaned up and out of hiking gear. She stepped out of the bathroom in a sleeper that came down to midthigh but the light from the bathroom was shining through making it transparent. Ginger saw me looking and then I noticed her nips poking through. I was sorry I had already taken my shower. By that time, it was after eight, commonly known as hiker midnight on the trail so we said our good nights. But I laid awake for a while, wondering if she was always that attractive underneath her hiking gear.

When we got back on the trail, Hiking Ginger was passing me later and later in the day. One night we arrived at the shelter at the same time.

Over dinner I said, "I was always afraid that I was holding you up, slowing you down. You're usually much faster than me Ginger."

"You're not slower than me, you just stop to admire the views and smell the roses more often than I do, which is what I should have been doing all along. You're also much more efficient than I am in the morning, I'm picking up some tricks from you. Will you wait for me tomorrow?'

"Sure," I said. As I finished, our phones started going off with a weather emergency, high winds, heavy rains, thunderstorms and possible tornados.

We went and checked out the shelter, most shelters were in passable condition with the occasional leak in the roof. This one was one of the worst I've seen. Multiple holes in the roof and plenty of spaces between the logs for the wind to blow rain through. We decided our tents were the best option. As soon as I zipped up my tent, the skies opened up, I felt like I was in a drum as the raindrops pelted my tent. Sleep was impossible and then I heard Ginger asking if she could come in. I unzipped my tent, and she fell in. She said where she set up her tent had become a lake, everything she owned was soaking wet, she was soaking wet.

We both traveled in two-man tents, but it was going to be a tight squeeze. I had a spare set of hiking clothes in my pack, and I turned my head as she stripped off her clothes and changed into the stuff I gave her. I was doing good until I saw her panties hit the pile and then her sports bra. I was able to fully open my sleeping bag so we could use it as a comforter, but it meant we would be touching each other as we slept.

The rain died down to a comfortable pitter patter and we fell asleep. In the morning, I woke up with Ginger's head on my chest and her leg draped across my thigh. I was looking at her as she slept so peacefully and then she began to stir. A shock went through her as she fully awoken and looked up at me.

"I'm so sorry Jack, I don't remember invading your personal space like that."

It was hard to hold back my laugh, plus she called me Jack instead of my trail name for the first time.

"Oh, don't worry Helen, I'm going to have a lot of fun with this for a long time."

She gave me a playful smack on my chest, and we worked our way out of a tent. I'll never understand how they get away with calling it a two-man tent. Ginger's tent was in about three inches of water and everything was soaked. We started pulling stuff out and hanging it up on a clothesline we made from some rope we carried. Her sleeping bag took the biggest hit. We ended up spreading it on the picnic table, hoping it would dry. It would be impossible to hike out until her stuff dried out at least somewhat because of the extra weight. Water is fucking heavy. She wanted me to go on without her, but I refused.

It was a ten-mile hike to where I parked my jeep and by noon, we realized we were going to be in my tent another night. Over dinner, Ginger/Helen looked very dejected.

"I'm sorry for asking, but can you share your tent with me again tonight?"

"Helen, if our roles were reversed would you hesitate to share your tent with me?"

"Of course not Jack, I'm embarrassed I was so stupid in the first place to set up my tent there."

"Let's plan tomorrow, hoping we can get to my jeep and then to a hotel, we can hit a laundry mat and really dry the rest of your stuff."

"Sounds like a plan Jack, depending how long it takes us to get to the jeep, we may need two nights in the hotel. And I won't invade your personal space tonight."

"But that was the highlight of my night."

At hiker midnight, we headed to my tent, as we climbed in, Helen decided she wanted to hit the privy first which gave me a chance to switch into my sleepers. Helen was in her sleeping shirt which had dried during the day. Maybe she was taunting me but when she climbed over me, I thought she spent some extra time rubbing her body against mine. Again, we slept under my sleeping bag. I wasn't asleep before she put her head on my chest and draped her legs across mine. She muttered an "I'm sorry Jack" as she fell asleep.

The next day we made it to my jeep, most of Helen's stuff was still wet, adding an extra 15 pounds at least to her pack. We went out to dinner on our way to the hotel and then stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things, Helen wanted an extra sleeper and some underwear.

Again, I showered first and was lying in bed, posting shit on Facebook as Helen exited the bathroom. She stood in the doorway until she got my attention, this sleeper was way shorter than the other one and the spaghetti straps revealed a lot more skin than the other one and there was much more of her breasts visible than the other one. I sat there and stared.

"Do you like Jack?"

"Yes Helen, you may get cold on the trail in that."

"It's getting warmer, maybe too warm for anything more. Do you mind if I sleep with my head on your shoulder again. I had the best night's sleep in forever last night."

I mumbled an okay and she quickly climbed under the blankets, put her head on my shoulder and draped her leg across mine.

"Somebody shaved their legs tonight."

"Yes, they were almost as hairy as yours. They feel so much better, don't they?"

Helen was rubbing her leg up and down mine, getting higher and higher each time.

"Do you mind if I sleep with my hand on your chest like this?" Helen pulled up my t-shirt so her hand was rubbing the hair on chest, her tongue flicked my nipple.

"Do you mind if I slept with your hand on my ass?" She grabbed my arm that was behind her and place my hand on her ass.

"Somebody forgot to put panties on," I said.

"Maybe I didn't forget Jack."

Helen started rubbing that leg up over my cock and I could feel her grinding her mound on my hip. She reached down, pulled my cock out of my shorts and climbed onto my cock. We both watched my cock disappear into her bald pussy.

"Oh Jack, you don't know how good that feels."

I helped her off with her sleeper and began to lick and suck on her tits.

"I'm coming Jack, come with me."

"Not until I drive for a bit."

We rolled over and continued to make love, nice and sensuous.

"I'm coming again Jack, fourth time, please come with me." I did.

It was way past hiker midnight and we both quickly fell asleep. I woke up with Helen's head on my chest again. She was awake and smiling.

"I hoped I didn't push you into doing anything you didn't want to do Jack."

"Not at all Helen, what do you think about getting a three-man tent?"

"You don't want to sleep that close to me?"

"Oh, believe me I do, it'll give us a little more room when we're trying to get dressed, and maybe a two-man sleeping bag."

Helen got a disappointed look on her face and sat up, "I don't have the money for that stuff Jack, I barely be able to feed myself till we get to Maine. It's not fair that you're eating these extra costs."

"Okay, then sell me your sleeping bag and tent and we'll use that to cover your share of the new equipment."

She got a smile on her face, "You know that means every time I want to go hiking, I will have to sleep with you."

"I will enjoy that."

We showered and headed out for breakfast and some real eggs, then to the laundry mat and then to a local camping store. We didn't need two tents, two sleeping bags or two camping stoves so we ended up lighter than we started. Helen was concerned that something would cause us to separate so we stored the extra stuff in my jeep so she would feel more comfortable.

We fucked our brains out that night, I was in love with her tits, especially her nipples and she loved that I loved her nipples.

Back on the trail, we quickly realized that even in a three-man tent, fucking was almost impossible especially after a long hard hike. We were both disappointed, but I was happy to sleep with Helen draped across me. Kathy used to sleep like that but that ended so long ago. That thought was running through my brain the next morning when I realized Helen was looking at me. She sat up, she was just short enough to do it.

"What are you thinking Jack, I can tell you're thinking, please tell me, did I do something to upset you." There was a strange look of fear in her eyes.

I gave her a kiss, "I was thinking how my ex used to sleep draped across me like you do, wondering when it went away and promising myself, I won't let that happen again. I love you Hiking Ginger."

She kissed me hard, "I love you Snapshot."

"Yes, but I said it first."

"But who initiated sex first? Ha!"

We had a ball as we hiked, mostly doing stupid shit, I was peeing off a cliff face, singing a "Yeah, Yeah Yeah" song and Helen came up beside me, she had this plastic thing she could use to pee standing up and we both peed off the edge of the world.

We were just north of Philadelphia when I received a word from my attorney that I need to get my stuff out of my house, it was under contract. Anything left after two weeks would be sold at an estate sale or donated to Goodwill. Kathy said she would be gone for the weekend. I called my kids and told them to help themselves. Hellen and I headed to northeast PA, rented a U-Haul and a storage room and we started loading my stuff, there wasn't a whole lot that I really wanted and was throwing old CDs and DVDs into a bin when I heard Kathy's voice say "Hello Helen, I'm Kathy or should I call you Hiking Ginger?

Then I heard Helen say, "Oh Jack!"

I came out of my office. "I'm sorry Kathy, I thought you were gone until tomorrow."

"Please relax, both of you. I wanted to meet Helen, so I dropped by. Helen, I wanted to thank you for stepping into Jack's life. I'm not sure when we drifted apart, but it was obvious to me it was a great divide. If I was half as strong as I pretended to be we could have had a mature discussion about it, but I nixed that. Take care of each other."

Kathy got up and left, leaving Helen and I speechless and confused. That night we tried to figure out how she knew, I was trying to be very discreet on my Facebook post, more because I wanted to introduce my children to Helen in a somewhat subtle way. So, I just asked Kathy:

"I told the boys I was divorcing you. They were not happy and thought I should have waited until you finished your hike. Our youngest said I was as heartless as one of dad's trail friends Hiking Ginger. Her husband said he was divorcing her while she was hiking because he met someone else. But I already had you served by then. I meant to tell you that Helen's Facebook page is wide open. I know you weren't doing anything with her before I filed for divorce, and I am glad you found someone to share your retirement with."

Helen read the email and insisted I show her how to lock up her Facebook account.

Before I did, I went through her posts. Obviously my youngest already had. Some of her friends asked her if she was afraid someone would attack her at night. She said no but slept better when there were people nearby who she felt safe with. There was some teasing, and she mentioned me and said he's married and I'm certain he would never cheat on his wife. Besides, he never looks at me that way, almost hurts my self-esteem. There were other posts where I was mentioned, she discussed the night she had to sleep in my tent and how I was the perfect gentleman.

Once I started looking at her stuff, I could not stop. She was using messenger to chat with a girlfriend, telling her how she seduced me one night in a hotel, how good she felt the next morning.

Helen and I resumed our hike, and things were going well until they weren't. Things were just off between us, not arguing but off. We were in the middle of Vermont with about 600 miles to go on the trail and making good time.

One morning over coffee I said, "We're not in sync Helen, I want to figure out why. What if we took it easy today, there's a great scenic view in about five miles and then there's a shelter five miles after that we can camp at."

"Sounds good Jack," she said but there was a lack of joy in her voice.

We sat on the cliff face enjoying the view, Helen sat between my legs and was leaning into me.

"I'm sorry Jack, I am usually the one who enjoys the moment and not worry what comes next. Like my pastor says, god only gives enough graces to handle today's problems. But I have no idea what I'm going to do after we reach the end. Is there an 'us' after that and what will that look like."

"I love you Helen, I hope there's an 'us' after Mt. Katahdin. I never wanted to do another long-distance hike again but somewhere I thought about buying a small trailer, traveling around the country doing weeklong hikes or something. Traveling was my goal when I retired."

"But that's part of the problem Jack, I don't have money to do any of those things. Neither my husband nor I ever had the kinds of jobs that had retirement plans or 401k's. I don't think those jobs exist in North Dakota. We were thankful if we had medical benefits. There was no money put away for retirement, whatever extra money we had was put into the kids' college tuitions. No one could live on what I get in social security, and I don't want to be a leach on you."

"Would you be more comfortable if we were married?"

Helen continued to stare into the valley, "Don't fuck with me on that subject Jack."

"I'm not fucking with you, after all, I started telling you I love you over 1000 miles ago."

"After I initiated sex! But are you asking me to marry you?"

"Before I ask you, I want to know what you would like to do after we climb Mount Katahdin. I hate to bring up Kathy, but we were on completely different pages when I retired."

"Ok, if money wasn't a problem, I would love to hike northern Iceland in a summer. But there's a guy on Facebook who as a map of all the best waterfalls in the country, could you see us chasing waterfalls."

"I know the guy you're talking about, maybe you are my soul mate. But think about getting married Helen, think long and hard please. I don't think either of us could handle another divorce."

"That doesn't solve the difference in our net worth, I don't know what your net worth is, but you spend money pretty freely. Are you willing to continue to fund the luxurious lifestyle I've been living these last three months? And speaking about long and hard, what's poking me in my back?"

"You know I love the way you smell after a shower when we're staying in a hotel, but not as much as the way you smell after three days of hiking."

"Why Jack, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, but I do think you may be insane."

The next morning, Helen was looking at me when I opened my eyes.

"Thank you, Jack, I didn't realize how much what came next was bothering me until we spoke yesterday. Before I started the AT, I always assumed I would go back to living with my husband but that wasn't an option anymore. You wouldn't believe how much better I felt this morning. But I want you to think long and hard about marrying me, especially since I'll be relying on you financially. But we need to get going and hopefully make up some of the time we lost yesterday."

And then we climbed up Katahdin. Long ago we decided that we would summit at the same time and our final trail picture has us standing on the summit, holding hands above our heads in victory.

But Helen was off again hiking up Katahdin. For so long finishing the AT had been my goal and now that I had finished, I was lost. Like reading a great book and when you're finished, you're lost as you look for something else to read.

We spent that night in a hotel and Helen rocked my socks off. I always enjoyed the sex we had but that night was really special and thought I could get use to this. In the morning, I headed to a barber shop to try and make myself look human again.

Pulling into the hotel parking lot, I saw Helen exiting the hotel in another man's arm and watched them get into a car with North Dakota plates. They drove right past me, maybe she didn't see me or recognize the new clean cut me, but she should have recognized my Jeep.

There was a note in our room when I got back:

"I'm sorry Jack, my ex has been begging me to get back with him. I couldn't say no. Meeting you and hiking the trail was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Good luck, Hiking Ginger."

Her links to Facebook and messenger were still on my tablet so I opened them up. I found the messages from her husband, begging her to come back. Initially she refused but he told her he would be waiting for her at Katahdin. There was a lot of back and forth, but she finally agreed the day before we reached the summit. I guess the sex last night was some kind of mercy fuck.

There was nothing of interest in her Facebook page, just a picture of us on the summit. I was so proud of that picture the first time I saw it and now I felt like she pissed all over it. Maybe I was being childish, but I took off all of the security I had put on for her, posted a picture of her 'Dear Jack' letter and then changed her password.

I thought I would have been more upset about the letter, maybe it hadn't sunk in yet.

There was a kind of trailer I liked and since I had the hotel room for another night, I started ordering the options I wanted and then planned to head off to the factory to pick it up. I had considered chasing waterfalls before I met Helen, and I saw no reason to change those plans.

And then my phone started ringing, it was Helen, I assumed she was pissed about her Facebook account, so I let it go to voice mail. I checked my voice mail as soon as she hung up.

"Jack, I need your help and would understand if you told me to fuck off. I am the Midland Police station, please pick me up and I promise I'll disappear out of your life."

I sent her a text, telling her I was on my way.

She was out front of the police station; her left eye was swollen shut. I had been so mad at her and now I was running out of my Jeep to her side. She had to pop her head into the police station to tell them she was leaving; they gave me the once over. She sat there crying when she got into the Jeep.

"I'm such a fool Jack, I can't believe I let him sweet talk me into going back with him. It's been a long time since he hit me, I thought he changed, or maybe I got smarter on not pushing those buttons. We weren't in the car for five minutes and he started getting agitated, I knew I had to shut my mouth then. He was bitching and complaining about all the troubles I caused by deciding to hike the trail and abandoning him. He had to cook his own meals and do his own laundry, so he moved that other woman in. She told him he was an idiot one day, so he backhanded her and she had him arrested. The more he talked, the more I realized why I wanted to hike the AT in the first place."

"He was still ranting about how unfair life was and how I made his life hell when we stopped to get gas. I went to the lady's room, realizing how much I fucked up when I left you. I had it all with you and traded for a drunken wife beater because he was the father of my children."

"He was just filling up the tank when he asked if I ever got it on with that Snapshot guy. A dozen smart ass answers were running through my mind when he backhanded me. Then he grabbed my arm, yanking me off the ground, trying to push me back into the car."

"Fortunately, there was a state trooper there who saw the whole thing. He ordered my ex to release me, my ex told the trooper to fuck off and he shouldn't interfere with a husband disciplining his wife. But my ex did let go and he started walking towards the trooper who then shot him with his taser."

"I don't expect you to take me back, I called my sister and she's going to send me money for a bus ticket home."

For the rest of the ride, maybe twenty minutes, Helen silently cried staring out the windshield. She had left all her belongings behind and when we got back to the hotel, she grabbed a change of clothes and jumped into the shower. Helen was in there so long I had to go to the lobby to pee. She was still there when I got back, and I got worried. After knocking on the door, I cracked it open and asked if she was OK. There was no answer, so I walked in.

Helen was sitting on the floor of the shower, her head laying on her knees and her hands covering her ears. I grabbed a towel and helped her stand up and dried her off, she was almost like a zombie except there were still tears rolling down her face.

It was past hiker midnight, so I helped her into her sleeping clothes and into bed.

After taking care of my own bedtime activities, I climbed in bed with Helen, put her head on my chest and pulled her leg across mine. I'm pretty sure she was crying harder. Eventually she calmed down and we both fell asleep.

In the morning, I looked down at Helen and she was looking up at me, her hand was inside my T-shirt, playing with my chest hair. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. We continued to lay there for a while, I think we both fell back asleep for a bit. Helen got up to use the bathroom and then she sat on the side of the bed staring at me.

"Why Jack, why would you be so kind to me after I left you?"

"As I said over a thousand miles ago, I love you. I was pretty angry when I read your note, did some childish shit to your Facebook page and then I realized you left all your stuff here. So, I hoped you would be back."

"So, you're just going to take me back, no yelling, no fists, no banging things or breaking things, just take me back in your arms again?"

"That's kinda what I was thinking unless there's someplace else you want to be."

"Jack, men don't act like that there where I come from."

"Helen, before this conversation goes any further, I want to know what you want. If you want to go home, I'll buy you a bus ticket. But you have to tell me what you want."

"I want to chase water falls with you Jack, maybe we can introduce each other to our kids on the way. What do you want Jack?"

"Every so often you look at me with fear in your eyes, that's what I don't want. I don't think I ever did anything to cause you to fear me and I never will. Most men don't act like that where I come from. And I do want to chase water falls with you and seeing our kids sounds like a great idea. Can we eat first though?"