Heartache Falls (21 page)

That one stumped Mac. What dream had she abandoned? “Have you had dreams you haven’t shared, Ali?”

She shot him a chastising look. “Culinary school in Europe. I wanted a restaurant of my own. Don’t you remember?”

“I remember the argument you had with your father about spending the summer after your sophomore year in Italy. I thought that was …” He snapped his mouth shut, but she finished the sentence for him.

“A silly, childish dream?”

A rich girl’s tantrum
. “I never thought it was that important to you.”

“After I realized I was pregnant, I didn’t allow it to be important. But I never forgot. It wasn’t drama. It was real. It was my dream!”

At that, Mac knew a slither of guilt of his own. “So, what’s the deal? You want to go to Rome now?” Then before she could answer, he added, “If that’s what you wanted, then why didn’t you go there instead of coming up here?”

She laughed without amusement. “Right. Like you and the kids would have let me get away with that.”

Mac slipped his hands into his pockets. How had he missed this? She really did want something more. It wasn’t drama. It wasn’t a tantrum. It was a dream she’d lost.

A dream he had taken from her.

Ali bent and plucked a bright yellow wildflower from the ground. She twirled its stem between her thumb and index finger and said, “I don’t regret our life, Mac. You need to know that. What I miss is having something that is mine. Something I’ve earned, something I’ve built. I want something that I’ve accomplished on my own, and it’s not going to cooking school in Rome or Paris or Timbuktu. Frankly, I’ve learned a lot over the past twenty years. I’ve learned a lot the past few months as I’ve worked to get the Bristlecone reopened. If I wanted to open my own restaurant, I could do it and probably be successful at it.”

“I’m sure you could. You’re an excellent cook.”

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingertips. “I know this whole thing sounds like one great big pity party, and frankly, it embarrasses me. I don’t regret the choices I made. I’m proud of the job I’ve done as a mother. I think that until recently I’ve been a good wife to you. So my kids grew up and left home about the same time you got the judgeship you’ve worked for all your life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Really.”

“Except now you are empty.”

Mac watched her set her mouth into a grim line and knew he should have kept the guilt-fed bitterness out of his tone.

“No. I’m actually doing just fine. I love my job, and I’ve made wonderful new friends.”

“Like the sheriff?”

She folded her arms. “Is that why you came to Eternity Springs? Do you think there’s something going on with me and Zach?”

He looked down at the ground, then back up at her. “I came here because I wanted you. I was desperate for you, Alison. Desperate enough to risk …”

“Risk what?”

He pursed his lips, then decided the time had come to face that particular elephant. “The deep freeze. I hate it when you do that to me, Ali. It makes me so damn lonely.”

She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t vacation sex, Ali. We made love. Yesterday and this morning, for the first time in months and months, we made love. I want that back in our lives.”

“Me too, Mac. I want that, too.”

“Then come back to Denver with me today. We can put this whole ugliness behind us.”

“What about my job? Do you think I’m so irresponsible that I’d walk out on my job and other commitments in Eternity Springs at the drop of a hat?”

“Why not? Didn’t you walk out on our marriage at the offer of an omelet?”

She flinched as if he’d struck her. “See? This is why I don’t like to talk about our problems. We invariably end up saying hurtful things.”

“Maybe so, but failing to talk about our problems didn’t exactly work, did it?” Mac rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, Ali. I’m thinking we might be better off if we did this with a referee. Sometime last winter you brought up the idea of seeing a marriage counselor, and I vetoed it. I realize now that I probably made a big mistake there.”

She blinked, her surprise evident. “You’ll agree to counseling?”

He hated the idea. Anytime she’d even hinted at
marriage counseling in the past, he’d shot the idea down. The last thing he wanted was to have a stranger snooping around his psyche. He knew that if a psychologist took to probing around in his head, they might just uncover things he wanted to stay buried. They might find truths that had the power to destroy his marriage for good.

However, if he chose the right therapist and set some ground rules going in, he was confident that he could control the situation. Right now their marriage needed more help than he knew how to give it. “Yes, I’ll agree to counseling.”

It was a huge concession from him, and when Ali heard it, her smile bloomed slowly and tremulously. “Oh, Mac. That’s huge. I never thought you’d make that concession, and it makes all the difference in the world.”

“It does?”

“Yes. Mac, I don’t feel right about abandoning Celeste before Bristlecone reopens. I think I could fix it to where I work part-time in Denver and part-time in Eternity Springs, at least until the restaurant is up and running smoothly.”

That wasn’t what he wanted, but it was better than nothing. “So you’ll do it? You’ll come home?”

“Yes.” She took two steps toward him, about to fling herself into his arms, when the sound of a motorcycle’s engine grabbed both his attention and hers. They turned toward the noise and spied Celeste Blessing racing toward them on the path from the road through the forest. She drove to within a few feet of them, then braked the bike. Removing her helmet, she said, “Ali, I’m so glad I found you. Rose called.
You’ll never believe who wants to talk to us about the Bristlecone. Lorraine Perry!”

“Lorraine Perry?” Ali repeated. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. She apparently stayed at Angel’s Rest last week incognito and peeked in while Zach was installing the curtain rods for you. She wants to meet with the two of us right away.”

“Who is Lorraine Perry?” Mac asked. And why was the sheriff installing Ali’s curtain rods?

“She’s a famous chef,” Ali explained. “She has a television show and is a best-selling cookbook author.” To Celeste, she said, “What’s her interest in the Bristlecone?”

“They haven’t given me all the details, but what they have said leads me to think it could be big for Eternity Springs. Huge.” Celeste smiled apologetically at Mac. “I’m so sorry to break up your afternoon, but I really need to borrow your wife for a few days.”

“Days?” Ali repeated. “Not hours?”

“The meeting will be in Los Angeles. Tonight.”

Mac exclaimed, “Tonight?”

Ali said, “Los Angeles!”

“Yes. Luckily, Jack Davenport is up at his mountain estate today and he said he’d fly us to Gunnison in his helicopter if we can get there in …” She checked her watch. “Forty minutes. He’s leaving to catch his own flight home, so he can’t wait any longer.”

Mac shook his head. “You can’t get anywhere from here in forty minutes.”

“She can if I take her on the Gold Wing and we go
straight to Eagle’s Way. Once we get to California, we can stop and buy clothes and whatever else we need.”

Mac didn’t like this plan at all. The situation was spinning out of control. He and Ali had been in the midst of a significant discussion that would have far-reaching consequences for their marriage, and now she was just going to dash away on a motorcycle? Wearing a wet shirt? “Do you even have an extra helmet?” he demanded of Celeste.

“Bear loaned me one of his.”

Great. Just great
. “Just who is this Davenport person, anyway?”

“He owns an estate on Murphy’s Mountain—actually, I think he owns the whole mountain.”

Mac didn’t care what was in the guy’s bank account. “Is he a licensed helicopter pilot? Do you know what sort of training he has? I don’t like the idea of you just winging away with some rich frat-boy type who flies his own birds on the weekends for just enough hours to keep his license.”

Ali gave him an entreating look as Celeste explained. “Jack was a pilot in the Marines, and he’s still connected with the government in some way. You need not worry about her safety with him.”

“He’s not a sheriff somewhere, is he?” Mac asked, a definite grumble in his voice.

Celeste asked innocently, “Do you have an issue with sheriffs, Mac?”

He shook his head and waved the question away. “I just want to take care of my wife.”

Ali placed her hand against his chest. “I appreciate that, Mac. I do. You’ve been taking care of me in one
way or another since the day we met. Don’t you think it’s time I learned to take care of myself?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re one of the most capable people I know.” When she smiled, he realized he’d made her point for her.

“I’m sorry to run out on you. This isn’t how I wanted our picnic to end.” She rose up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll call you when I get to Los Angeles.”

Mac watched as his wife climbed on the back of a motorcycle, donned a hot pink helmet, and put her arms at the waist of a spry senior citizen who gunned the engine and darn near popped a wheelie as she drove away.

Mac watched until the dust from their passing settled and the sound of the motorcycle faded on the breeze. Then he picked up his fishing pole and turned toward the creek. The isolation that he’d enjoyed so much an hour ago now pressed down upon him with the weight of Murphy Mountain.

He should have brought the dog.

ELEVEN

Mid-August

A hot summer day had cooled into a pleasantly warm evening as Chase Timberlake pulled into the driveway to his childhood home. He’d completed his internship the previous week and had made a mad dash to the mountains, trying to cram a summer’s worth of fishing and fun into a couple of weeks. He braked to a stop, shifted into park, then looked at his passenger, Lori Reese. “Here we are. Casa Timberlake.”

Today’s visit was a command performance because his brother was visiting from California and his parents had announced a family barbecue. Chase was glad to sacrifice a day of vacation to family bonding. He loved his brother and he was anxious to see him. It was too bad that Caitlin hadn’t been able to make it due to some summertime sorority commitment.

“You are so lucky, Chase,” Lori said, admiration warming her tone as she studied the house. “When my mom and I came here for Nic Callahan’s baby shower, I told her this house makes me think of
My Three Sons
and
Leave It to Beaver
.”

Chase shot her a curious look.
“Leave It to Beaver
?”

“My mom bought the DVDs. She’s a fan of old-time TV.”

“Ah. Parents can be very strange.”

“Ya think?” Lori clapped a hand against her chest. “One time for the Halloween party at school she borrowed one of my grandmother’s dresses and pearls and handed out popcorn balls as June Cleaver.”

Chase imagined it and grinned. “Your mom is much hotter than June Cleaver.”

Lori sighed. “She is, isn’t she? I keep hoping one of the newcomers to town will notice and do something about it.”

Chase opened his mouth, then shut it abruptly.

“What?” Lori prodded.

“Guys notice your mom. That’s not the problem. Your mom is the problem. I watched her give men the cold shoulder for two summers.”

“I know.” Lori sighed heavily. “I worry about her. She works so hard between the store and her baking. Nana’s Alzheimer’s is progressing and it’s getting harder all the time for my mom to take care of her. I’d feel much better about going back to school if only Mom had a man around to help.”

Chase understood her concern. He felt that way every time he thought about his mother in Eternity Springs without his dad. Supposedly Mom lived at home again and commuted to Eternity Springs for a night or two each week. Both she and his dad had told him that they had reconciled and were in the process of working out their problems. That might be
so, but he knew his parents, and he didn’t see how this commuting thing was gonna last.

Chase and Lori exited the truck and made their way to the Timberlake front door. Chase used his key, opened the door, and called out, “Dad? Mom? We’re here. Stephen?”

No one responded.

“Bet they’re in the backyard.” He led the way through the house, and as they passed a wall filled with framed candid photographs, Lori paused. “Oh, wow. I didn’t see these the last time I was here. Aren’t you guys too cute? This must be your brother and your sister.”

“Stephen and Caitlin. I’m the well-behaved child.”

She gave him a sidelong look and drawled, “As evidenced by the photo of you jumping off the mailbox wearing a Batman cape and the one of you perched on the roof of the house with … Is that a backpack?”

“I was a World War II pilot. It was my parachute. Stephen, the tattletale, took the picture because he wanted proof to rat me out. My dad about walloped the life out of me when he found out about it.”

“I guess that’s one good thing about growing up without a dad. I didn’t have to worry about dad wallops. Mom swats were bad enough.” Grinning, Lori continued her perusal of the wall. She gestured toward one of Stephen in his high school baseball uniform. “Your brother is hot.”