Highway 91

The newly paved Vermont asphalt rose and fell like the summer waves he used to watch as a boy growing up on the sea shell riddled shores of Cape Cod. Leaves, ablaze with New England’s one-of-a-kind rich autumn hues, descended from their cold branches and decorated their ascent up the mountain side. They twirled and danced across the quiet back road, morphing into faint red and orange tornadoes as Timothy’s Jeep shifted gears.

Pressing the specific buttons on the driver’s side door, all four windows descended down into the protection of the panels. Brisk October air flowed into the Jeep, blowing Tim’s long flowing black hair as well as his new fiancé's across their smiling faces. A happy moan and bark from the backseat informed Tim that Ellie, his fiancé's two year old golden retriever, was also just as happy. A quick glance in his rearview mirror reinforced that theory when he saw Ellie’s elated face and dangling tongue embracing the soft breeze and trying to catch the floating leaves.

For Tim, the three and a half hour long ride from Boston was nothing new. He had made the drive up to Jay Peak Ski Resort at least one hundred times during the course of his adult life, but was now able to share it for the first time with his soon to be wife. Tim was an avid skier, and owned one of the newly built log cabins within the mountain resort. Janelle however, had never been skiing, but was eager to learn and invest all of her time in her future husband’s adventurous hobbies.

Tim was the owner of one of Boston’s top performing Jeep dealerships and was fortunate enough to take a yearly vacation which stretched from the middle of October until the end of February. During his childhood and teenage years on the Cape, he spent most of his hours fishing with his two brothers, swimming in the ocean, working as a lifeguard and playing hockey in the winter. It wasn’t until his arrival at Boston College when he developed a passion for sales and skiing. Those four years passed with haste and he graduated at the top of his class with a Bachelor's degree in business, with an emphasis on sales, and a minor in marketing. Soon after graduation, he got a job setting up appointments at a Jeep dealership just outside of Boston.

As the years passed, his career evolved into a full time salesman, blossoming his appetite for more. Rising the corporate ladder, and quickly becoming the top performing salesman for five straight years, he caught the attention of the dealership’s owner and was offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy into the franchise.

Three years later, and at the impressive young age of thirty-six, Timothy became the owner of a brand new Jeep dealership. In that same year, Janelle had been shopping for a new Jeep which she could take off road with her golden retriever, Ellie, to enjoy hikes and uncharted adventures. Tim was never a believer of the notion that someone could fall in love at first sight, but the moment Janelle walked into his dealership, his heart was never the same. Fast forward one more year, and Tim finally mustered up the courage to propose to Janelle while they were enjoying a fourteen day cruise throughout the Mediterranean.

After returning home from Europe, Timothy spent two weeks working in the office to tie up his end of the year duties in preparation for his annual winter escapade in Vermont. Janelle worked in the grueling restaurant business, planning private events for a few of Boston’s higher end establishments, but after getting engaged, Timothy encouraged her to take some time off from work and to enjoy the spoils of his eccentric lifestyle. She had always been a strong independent woman, but her job in her ladder years had become chaotic and unfulfilling.

So she decided to quit and vowed to use the time away to clear her mind and to focus on the next level of her career. Timothy encouraged her that he had enough money saved and plenty more coming in with his dealership salary, that if she chose to, she would never need to work again.

Janelle wasn’t crazy about the idea of being jobless, and she hated the idea of losing her independence, but she loved Timothy. She was crazy for him. So she convinced herself to indulge her fiancé. At least for now.

Afterall, they got engaged after only one year of dating and Janelle secretly held reservations. Was that enough time to truly learn and trust another human being?

She hoped it was.