Awakened in August (Spring River Valley Book 8) (7 page)

“Thanks, that was very considerate.” She threw the blankets aside and flung herself out of the bed. In the tiny cabin it took three steps to cross the room and open the door. She held it open for him. “And you’re right, this thing between us never even had a chance.”

Riley strode out of the door, pausing on the bottom step to look back at her. “I’m sorry, Lyd. I wanted this to work out.”

She closed the door, managing to resist the urge to slam it. “Me too.”

*

Half a dozen times during the long walk to the resort office, Riley considered turning back. If he didn’t think Brenda would catch flack for failing to lure him back to the office as requested, he probably would have given in to his desire to race back to Lydia’s cabin and beg her forgiveness. The last two days had been blissful, a true release of all the tension he’d carried for the past year while studying for the bar.

Even finishing the grueling exam hadn’t made him feel as good as spending the night in Lydia’s arms, making silly plans to go fishing in the lake, or catch fireflies after dinner or take a drive to an organic farm near the Canadian border on their next day mutual day off. He hadn’t made plans like that since sophomore year of college, right before he’d made the final decision to pursue law as a career. That had been when everything else in his life pretty much stopped, and he’d devoted his every waking minute to academic achievements. Even his trip to Europe had been designed to look good on a law school application and a resume. He hadn’t been spontaneous in nearly a decade.

Of course, jumping out of a warm bed to race five hours back to Spring River Valley so he could put out some corporate fires didn’t really count as spontaneous, did it?

Why had he thought he could make something serious work with someone who had always been so different from him? Lydia had obviously embraced the idea of a simpler life. He’d come to envy that over the last couple of days, but even if he admired her decision to put her mental and emotional health above a career in law, he couldn’t live that way himself. He liked being needed, in fact, some small part of him reveled in the thought that the remaining partners would be relieved to see him. They’d pile work into his arms and expect him to buckle down and get things done while they scrambled to fill the bare spots left by Mitzi’s sudden, though not completely unexpected departure.

The excitement energized him, and he picked up his pace to a light jog, deciding maybe it was all for the best. The parting of ways would have come eventually. Better now, before it got too serious.

“Hey!” An unfamiliar voice intruded on his internal monologue. “Hey—are you the guy with the good cell service?”

Reluctantly, Riley slowed his pace. Running footsteps crunching on the path caught up with him, and he turned to find Dale striding beside him. Just great.

“Cell service?”

“Yeah, I heard rumors.”

The guy looked like a cubicle dweller. His skin still had that pasty color Riley had come to think was normal, and he seemed out of breath from hurrying to catch up.

“I have decent cell service. Why?”

“Just wondering. My battery died last night, and I forgot my charger at home. I was wondering, if you’re headed to the office, maybe I could bum some minutes off you. I’d pay you, of course. The last text I got was about a stock trade, and I’ve got to talk to my broker ASAP.”

Riley handed over his phone. “Here, no charge, unless your broker is in Sri Lanka or something. Just keep up with me; I’m going to ask for a ride back home.”

Dale stopped dead in the middle of the trail, and Riley stopped also, pursed his lips and turned around.

“By keep up, I meant, you know, not fall behind. I’ve got to get out of here today.”

“You’re leaving?”

An uncomfortable feeling settled in the middle of Riley’s chest. Was this guy asking because he had designs on Lydia? “I have an emergency at my office.”

“You’re getting a car?” Dale sounded awed, as though Riley had told him he was personally commissioning a golden chariot from the gods.

“I’m asking for a ride. If I can’t get one, I’m calling a car service. I’ve got to be back in Spring River Valley before the end of the work day.”

Dale ran to catch up with Riley. “Can I come with you?”

“What? Why do you want to leave here? Aren’t you having a good time?” He hadn’t intended his remark to have a sarcastic lilt, but Dale didn’t seem to notice.

“I haven’t made a trade in six days. Do you have any idea how much this trip is costing me, market wise?”

“You’re a day trader, I gather.”

“My wife made me come here. She said if I spent one more day glued to my computer, she’d bury it in the yard, and if I called my broker one more time, she’d name him in the divorce. She doesn’t care that all the money I make goes to keep her in those fancy Dol-chay and Cabana shoes she likes or all the those fifty-dollar-an-ounce face creams that she can’t live without. If it wasn’t for that hot blond camp counselor, I’d have left after the first day.”

Riley balled his fists but kept walking. “So you’re married, then?”

“Thirteen years. Lucky thirteen. Ha.” Dale shrugged. “I’ve been trading for five, and I’ve made more in those five than in twenty years at my day job, but she wants me to take a vacation.”

“Maybe she cares about you.”

The irony in Riley’s statement stung, but Dale didn’t seem to notice. He just scoffed. “Then she should want me to be happy, and I’m only happy when I’m making money.”

“Hmm.” Riley picked up his pace, hoping he’d lose Dale as soon as the trail started to cant uphill.

“So you’re getting a car.”

“I’m hoping it won’t be too much of a hassle.”

“You don’t have any luggage.”

“I haven’t packed yet.” He hadn’t planned on ending his stay, just taking a day or two to help get things under control at the office. Part of him hoped he could come back and talk to Lydia, get her to see who he was and what things about him weren’t going to change and hope she could accept that. But in all honesty, he knew the truth. If he went back home today, he wouldn’t be back, even with another week to go on his vacation; he’d be mired in work, and no one at the firm would encourage him to drop what he was doing and go back to relaxing. That wasn’t how things were done in a busy, successful law firm. “As soon as I get the car squared away, I’ll go get my things.”

“Good, then I’ll have time to pack too. You’ll let me hitch a ride with you, right?”

“Uh…sure.” What could he say? The car wasn’t his, but he supposed if two people needed transportation, the resort might be more likely to provide it.

“Thanks…uh…sorry. I don’t know your name. I’ve been calling you the ‘guy with cell service’ all week.”

“I’m flattered. I’m Riley.”

“Dale.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been calling you ‘the guy they call Dale’ all week.”

Dale laughed, and Riley forced a chuckle.

“Well, I appreciate you helping me out. You’ve made my day.”

“Don’t mention it.” At least he’d made someone happy today, too bad it couldn’t have been Lydia.

A soft, feminine voice woke Riley from sleep, and his first thought was Lydia had come to rescue him from the relentless mound of paperwork that spilled over his desk. He lifted his head and groaned when the realization hit him that he’d once again fallen asleep in the office.

His vision cleared, but his eyes stung terribly, reminding him he was still wearing his contact lenses. Great. They’d be glued to his eyes and would hurt like hell to remove.

The face hovering in front of him solidified into Brenda Samms, Mitzi’s paralegal. She wore an expression he’d seen his mother wear countless times when she’d found him dozing with his face in a college textbook.

“You slept here again? That vacation was supposed to help you learn some moderation, not get you rested up so you could work yourself to death,” the pretty brunette told him.

He wondered if she’d have been so bold a few months ago, back when she still harbored a crush on him that he’d been so stupidly oblivious to. He knew he wasn’t the guy for Brenda. She’d found someone far worthier of her affections. She and Chase Turner from personnel made a perfect couple, so the office scuttlebutt went, and if nothing else, the relationship had made Brenda much more of a drill sergeant when it came to work.

She shook her finger at him while he peeled a legal brief off his face. “Did you like the ER that much that you want to go back?”

“No…I know. The last thing I remember it was around eight o’clock, and I was going to work for fifteen more minutes.”

“That was twelve hours ago. At least you got a full night’s sleep, right?” She handed him a cup of steaming coffee. “Drink this, go home, and shower. I’ll cover for you.”

He managed a smile despite the excruciating pain in the back of his neck. Where was Dolph? He could use those magic hands right about…
God, I’m in such bad shape I’m thinking about Dolph?

“You’re a million miles away.” Brenda sat in the leather chair in front of his desk. She clasped her hands together and leaned forward. “And you look utterly miserable. To be perfectly frank, you’ve never looked worse.”

“Well, thanks for your brutal honesty.” He sipped the coffee and winced at the noises his neck made when he tried to turn his head. Things were popping and cracking, and a dull pain settled in his forehead that would likely make it difficult to concentrate until it went away. He considered asking Brenda if she had an aspirin handy, but he feared she’d go back to lecturing him. Judging by her expression, there was no way to avoid it.

“I’m sorry, but I’m dead serious. You look just like you did before you left for vacation. Why are you still here? Mitzi’s clients are under control for now, her cases have been reassigned. Is all this stuff on your desk so urgent you really needed to work all weekend?”

“I was trying to catch up.”

“Why don’t you go back to the resort and catch up on your sleep? That’s more important right now.”

He sighed. “Not much point. Things are a little tense at the resort.”

Brenda eyed him. “How can things be tense at a resort that teaches people how to relax?”

“It’s complicated.” He wanted to go back, more than anything, but Lydia hadn’t returned the messages he’d left for her with the office, and she didn’t carry a cell phone while she worked. He honestly had no idea if she even had her own phone up at the resort. He had assumed she’d gotten his messages and didn’t want to speak to him, but he couldn’t know for sure without taking the five-hour trek back to Red Fork.

Brenda leaned back and steepled her fingers in front of her. “By complicated you mean there’s a woman involved?”

“Maybe.” How could he explain he’d thrown away yet another relationship in order to devote every waking moment to his job? How long could he survive that way?

“I’ll take that as a yes. It’s none of my business, so I won’t pry any more, but all I can say is, when you first showed up here, you looked better than you have in months. If she’s responsible for that, don’t let her go.”

Riley didn’t meet her gaze. Hadn’t he given Chase similar advice not long ago? The problem was, he had a lot more to apologize for than just rushing back to the office. He’d broken into her cabin to find his cell phone, assuming she would be angry if he’d just asked her for it. His go-to action was deception, and that was why she hadn’t bothered to return his calls. She didn’t trust him, and that trumped any other obstacle they might face as a couple.

Fighting the stiffness in his neck, he reached up to straighten the pile of work in front of him, then he pushed back his chair and stood. “I’m going home to get cleaned up, and then…I’m going back to my vacation. If anyone is looking for me, tell them they can find me right here, next Monday morning.”

Brenda’s smile lit the room. “Sneak out the back stairwell. I won’t even tell anyone I saw you this morning.”

He considered the option for no more than a minute. He didn’t want to let another
second go by with Lydia thinking he didn’t want to be with her. Fighting not to groan with each step, he grabbed his suit jacket and headed for the door. He paused on the threshold and glanced back at Brenda.

“Thanks. Do me one favor, though, tell Chase…he’s a lucky guy.”

* * * *

“You’re a difficult woman to track down,” Drew Stiles told Lydia when they met at the Long House buffet line at lunch.

She smiled flatly, though she was tempted to admit she’d been keeping a low profile since Riley left, spending most of her time on the resort’s nature trails. “You shouldn’t have any trouble finding me. I thought you were an Eagle Scout.”

Carrying trays loaded with barbeque chicken wings and vegetable kabobs, they headed for a table on the breezy veranda overlooking the lake.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t want to be found.” He slid into the seat opposite her and concentrated his knowing stare on her.

Lydia cursed silently. “I wasn’t avoiding anyone. I just didn’t think I was any good company today, so I’ve kept to myself. I haven’t missed any scheduled activities.”