I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) (25 page)

I wrap her legs around my waist, then pick her up and back up into the steaming shower. She rinses my hair, then slides down my body and places her feet on the floor. I peck her lips with a short kiss, then turn her body around in the hot shower. I reach for her shampoo, then lather up her hair. I thread my fingers underneath her hair at the scalp, then run them down the length of her long hair. I set her hair to the side and massage her shoulders.

I tip her slightly backward and let the water rinse the shampoo out of her hair. When all the shampoo is out of her hair, I pour some of her body wash in my palm. I lather her up and let my hands run over every inch of her smooth, slick body. I rinse her off, spending extra time rubbing her sweet ass.

I turn the water off, then she grabs a towel and hands it to me. She wraps her hair in a towel and grabs another one for her body. After I’ve dried off, I toss my towel on the counter and take the ends of her towel. I gently dab her skin until she’s dry, then I take the two ends and crash her body on mine. She giggles, then I stop them cold when I take her lips in a hot, passionate kiss.

With a smile on her face, we both get dressed, then with Sadie on our heels, we head out into the family room. As we walk hand in hand, there’s a knock on her door.

“It’s Joss,” Kate says, looking at the door. “She looks worried about something,” she finishes, as we get closer.

“Joss? What’s wrong?” I ask, opening the door.

“Have you seen River this morning?” she asks, her face full of worry.

“No, not yet. Why?” I answer, pulling her into the pool house a few steps.

“He wasn’t home when I woke up. Josh isn’t home either, and Nina has no idea where he went,” she says, nervously.

“Have you tried calling him?” I ask.

“Yes, like fifty times. He’s not picking up, it goes straight to voicemail, same with Josh.”

“Let me try him,” I say, walking toward my purse.

I dig my cell phone out, then dial his number. It doesn’t even ring and immediately goes to voicemail. I end the call and dial Josh. Same thing, his goes straight to voicemail, too. That is odd.

“Nothing?” she asks, walking up behind me.

“They both go straight to voicemail. Maybe something came up at work and they needed to go in real quick,” I say, trying to reassure her. “Have you had any coffee this morning?” I ask, hoping it will calm her down a little bit.

“No,” she answers.

“Let’s go make you some coffee. I’ll call the office and see if anyone is there,” I say, then lead her toward her house.

The wall of doors is half way open and a warm breeze gently blows the sheer curtains in the house. A ruffle of paper sitting on the dining room table catches my eye. I walk over to it and see a rose sitting on top of the piece of paper.

“Joss, did you see this?” I ask, pointing to it.

“See what?” she asks.

She walks over to the table and instantly her worried face relaxes. She picks up the piece of paper and opens it, but then she looks confused.

“What’s wrong? I ask.

“I think it’s written in Braille?” she says, holding it out to me.

I take the piece of paper and sure enough, it’s a note written entirely in Braille. River has had a speech to text program on his computer since the accident. He uses it on a daily basis, and he has a Braille embosser printer that he uses to print out what he needs.

“What does it say?” she asks, looking at the paper, then to me.

“I’m a little rusty on my Braille,” I tell her.

It’s been years since I’ve read it. River used to write me little notes in Braille as kids. It was our secret way of communicating without anyone else knowing what we were saying to each other.

“Well, how am I supposed to read this?” she asks.

“Online!” we both say at the same time.

Joss runs down the hallway and retrieves her laptop from the bedroom, then sets it on the table. She sits down and quickly pulls up a website so she can translate it. Slowly she figures it all out, writes everything down, then reads it out loud.

Joss,

Good morning beautiful. You, Nina, and Kate, all have appointments at the spa at ten. I hope you have a relaxing morning. Your next clue will be handed to you after your morning of pampering.

Love,

River

“What?” Joss says.

“What do you mean, what? It’s a day of pampering! I’m not going to question it,” I say, looking at the clock. “And we better get going! We don’t want to be late,” I finish.

Joss closes her laptop with the cutest grin on her face, then yells up the stairs for Nina.

“Nina! Come on, we’re out of here,” she yells.

“Where are we going? Did you find Josh and River?” she asks from the top of the stairs.

“We’re going to your favorite place! Spa day, courtesy of River!” she returns.

“Hell yeah!” she replies, and races down the stairs.

“Who’s driving?” I ask.

“I’ll drive,” Nina volunteers.

“You guys have a great day together,” Cooper says, walking up to me.

He gives me a kiss, then he opens the front door for us.

Sitting outside the front door is a shiny, black limo and there’s a man wearing a tux standing next to the rear door with a silver platter in his hands.

“Good morning, ladies,” he says, opening the car door. “Mimosas for everyone,” he says, lowering the tray.

Joss and Nina quickly exchange looks, then they look at me.

“Do you have a virgin one?” Nina asks, quietly.

“You mean just orange juice?” I ask, confused.

“Uh . . . yes,” she answers, looking at Joss.

My eyes go big, as I intake a quick breath when I realize what’s going on. Nina’s pregnant! Oh my God! Nina’s pregnant! My eyes travel down to her belly, then back up to her eyes. She nods her head yes, then places her hand over her flat stomach. I smile a warm smile at her. She smiles at me, then Joss takes a mimosa and gets into the limo.

“I’ll take hers,” I say, then take a drink in each hand and get in the car.

Nina gets in behind me, then the chauffeur closes the door. Joss opens the mini refrigerator and takes out the orange juice. She fills a champagne flute, then hands it to Nina with a smile.

We head downtown, and we’re delivered to the front door of a posh spa. Inside, we’re each greeted to a personal specialist, then whisked away and pampered. Our bodies are massaged, our faces have been detoxed, and our fingers and toes painted. Now we’re all sitting side-by-side in salon chairs, as each of our hairdressers puts the final touches on our washed, cut, and styled hair.

The chauffeur reappears, walks over to Joss, and hands her another letter.

“What’s it say?” Nina asks, excitedly.

“Is it written in Braille again?” I ask.

“No, it’s in Josh’s handwriting. It says our next stop is at the place of our first date,” she says with a smile.

“How fun is this!” I say.

We stand from our chairs, admire each others gorgeous hair, then load back into the limo.

The car heads down the busy downtown streets, but then starts to head out of the city.

“Where was your first date, Joss?” I ask confused, because to me it looks like we’re heading back home.

“Home,” she confirms with the sweetest, most content smile on her face.

The driver stops in front of River’s house, then opens the car door. He opens the front door and we walk inside to a quiet house. I’m confused because there’s no food on the table. Joss walks straight through the house and folds open the back wall of doors. Sitting in the center of the back deck is a beautiful table, set with fine linens and a gorgeous flower centerpiece. Nina and I follow her outside and take our seats at the table. Maddy appears from out of nowhere wearing her catering uniform and pours wine into each of our glasses. She smiles, then goes back into the house to retrieve the first course. Joss quickly stands up, reaches across the table and downs Nina’s glass of wine, then sits back down before Maddy can see her. We all giggle, then Maddy comes back outside carrying plates.

She eyes us suspiciously, then places our plates in front of us. She sees Nina’s empty wine glass, then grabs the bottle to refill it.

Nina places her hand on the top of the wine glass and says, “Oh, I’m good, thank you. One glass is my limit.”

Over the next hour and a half, Maddy brings out a total of five courses. The last course is chocolate covered strawberries. She sets mine and Nina’s in front of us, then places a plate with a note in front of Joss.

She shoves aside the beautiful, large, chocolate covered berries and opens the note.

“What’s it say?” I ask, wiggling my fingers, dying to know.

“It says
, I hope you’ve enjoyed your day. In each of your rooms you will find an outfit. Please put them on and find me on the
. . .” she says, but stops. “I don’t know how to say these words,” she says, holding the note out to me.

“
L’amour vrai,
” I read in a whisper.

“What’s that mean?” Joss asks.

I sit back in my chair and smile. In my head, I always see my dad’s smile and his lips moving as he says those two beautiful words to my mother.

“Kate, what does that mean?” Joss asks again, impatiently.

I haven’t thought about my dad’s yacht in years. We never really used it much, that I remember. I think I’ve only been on it once, maybe twice. I honestly thought it had been sold over the years.

“KATE!” Joss yells.

“It’s a yacht my dad bought for my mom,” I finally answer.

“You guys have a yacht?” she asks, surprised.

Maddy returns to the table wearing a beautiful evening gown and an even more beautiful smile.

“What are you guys waiting for? Go get dressed!” Maddy says, waving her arms.

We all smile at each other, then suddenly it’s a mad dash of moving chairs and feet, as Nina runs upstairs, Joss runs down the hall, and I head to the pool house.

I race over the floorboards of the deck into the pool house, to my bedroom, and find a beautiful sequined evening gown complete with shoes and jewelry laying on my bed. I squeal, then quickly get dressed and run back to the main house as ladylike as I can in three-inch heels, anxious to see the other girls dresses.

I join Maddy just as Nina walks down the stairs in a beautiful, flowing goddess-looking gown. She makes a grand gesture like a queen as she takes the last few steps, then she stands next to us and we wait for Joss.

“Come on, Joss! You’re killing us,” Maddy shouts down the hallway.

Her bedroom door opens and Joss walks down the hallway wearing a floor length beautiful gown. The tips of her sparkly shoes poke out from her dress with each step she takes toward us. She stops in front of us, then does a little twirl. She looks absolutely stunning.

“Joss, you’re beautiful,” Nina says, giving her a hug.

The front door opens, then the chauffeur waits patiently. We look at each other, then squeal with excitement.

“To the marina,” I say, as we pass the chauffeur and head to the waiting limo.