Rocky Mountain Holiday (To Love Again Book 4) (6 page)

~~~

She hurried back to the table, where Jenny was basking in congratulatory remarks from Kip and Valerie. Putting a couple of bills on the table for her drink, she picked up her jacket and caught Jenny’s eye.

“You’re leaving?” Jenny asked.

“I have to go to Radium to get Karin and Shelly.”

“Now?” Barry asked.

“Long story, but yes, now.”

Jenny stood, gathering her things. “I’ll come with you.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to.” She didn’t want to pull her away from her evening with Kip.

“I’m coming, that road is horrible after dark.”

“Thanks,” she smiled weakly and turned to Barry. “Can you let Tray know I had to go?”

“Of course,” Barry said, rising to give them each a hug. “Call me if we can help.”

Saying their goodbyes, they headed out. At the door of the bar she turned and blew a kiss at Tray. He looked puzzled, and a little disappointed. She checked her watch and hurried on.

DECEMBER 28 ~ MORNING

When Isabel reached the restaurant, a greasy spoon hidden a couple of blocks off the main drag, the girls already had a table. More a local hang-out than a spot for tourists, the prices were reasonable and, more importantly, they served breakfast all day.

“We’re so sorry, Mom,” said Karin, as Isabel slid into the booth.

“Yes,” nodded Shelly. “Sorry, Mom.”

She was still dead tired. It had been a long drive down to Radium, an even longer drive back. Driving through the mountains so late at night was never a good idea and this time of year, could be downright deadly. They considered staying over, but “No Vacancy” signs were everywhere. Fortunately, she’d only had half a drink before the girls called.

“I still don’t understand what happened there girls,” she said. “You know I’m glad you called. I’ve always told you that I’d rather you call me than be stuck in a stupid situation.” She ordered coffee as the waitress dropped menus off at the table.

Karin and Shelly shared a look and Karin started to explain. It had always been that way. Even as young adults, Karin was still the ‘big sister’.

“It
was
stupid, Mom,” she began. “We went down there with some kids from school and things got a little out of hand.”

“Okay, but I thought you were driving down with Barbie and her brother.”

The girls looked at each other again and Shelly shifted a little in the booth.

“We weren’t completely honest about that,” offered Shelly.

“Meaning what?”

“The original plan was to drive down together, but at the last minute, Barbie’s brother got sick and then her parents wouldn’t let her go without him.”

“So they weren’t even with you?” Isabel shook her head.

“Barbie said she was fine with it,” Karin said, looking quickly over at Shelly. “Anyway, she kind of had a date last night and was happy to stay in town.”

“And her parents knew you were going?”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?” Isabel strained to keep her irritation from creeping into her voice.

“They thought we were driving down with Beth, Barbie’s older cousin,” Shelly said.

“And instead you drove down with the guys I met at the room last night?”

“We’re so sorry, Mom.” Shelly’s voice dropped to a whisper and her lower lip quivered. Another minute of this and she’d be crying again. “We knew those guys from school - or thought we knew them. When they ended up so drunk, we didn’t want to stay with them.”

“We thought of getting another room, Mom,” continued Karin, “but there was nothing left available at the hotel. They were completely booked up.”

The waitress plunked down three breakfast plates, laden with bacon, sausage, ham, three eggs, and toast. “Be right back to top up the coffees,” she said, spinning on her heel.

Isabel grabbed her fork, tucking into the eggs. She surveyed her daughters on the other side of the booth, doing the same. Even though she was annoyed they’d lied, she was extremely grateful they’d called her. She remembered what it was like to be their age, it actually didn’t seem that long ago. Wanting so badly to be part of things, to experience it all. Calling her probably hadn’t been their first choice.

“Look, girls,” she started, in between mouthfuls. Little sleep and the drama of last night had made her pretty damn hungry and greasy-spoon breakfasts never seemed to lose their appeal. “I realize it was probably hard to call me last night, but you made the right decision.”

Karin’s fork stopped mid-air and Shelly almost choked on her toast. Relief swept over their faces.

“Not so soon,” said Isabel, shaking her head slightly. “You made the right choice, but you shouldn’t have been there to begin with. At least, not on your own. And you should have given me the true story.”

“We didn’t know until later…” started Karin.

“Come on, Karin,” Isabel included Shelly in her look, “you girls could have sent me a text or called anytime along the way to tell me your plans had changed.”

“Yes, Mom,” they chorused in unison, heads bowed and intent on their eggs.

“Also, I think you owe Barbie’s mom an apology. You lied to her, too. I doubt she would have let you go with those guys. I’m sure Jean is going to feel somewhat responsible for this.” Both Shelly and Karin looked up, surprised. “I would feel responsible if the same thing happened to Barbie while she was staying in my house,” explained Isabel.

“We didn’t think of that,” said Shelly. “We will, Mom. We’ll tell her we’re sorry. Do you think we can still stay there for the rest of the vacation?”

Isabel hadn’t considered that. She had a lot of work to do and she didn’t think she could get them a room in her hotel. Not to mention Tray and the crazy things she was hoping to do to him or to have him do to her.

“After breakfast, I’ll go with you and we’ll explain it to Jean. Does Barbie know?”

“Yes, but she was still sleeping when we left. I’m sure she hasn’t said anything to her mom,” Karin said.

Feeling a hand resting lightly on her shoulder, Isabel turned to see Tray towering over her.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said.

“Oh, good morning.” Isabel stared up into Tray’s blue eyes. “Sorry I had to rush away last night.”

“Mom?” Isabel looked over and both girls were staring at her, eyes wide.

“Tray, these are my daughters - Karin and Shelly.” He nodded and reached across to shake their hands. “This restaurant is their haunt, not mine.”

He laughed. “Pity, best food in town.” He shifted his balance and cleared his throat. “Can we arrange a rain-check for that drink? Maybe coffee this afternoon?”

“Can you leave me your number?” asked Isabel, anxious to get him away from the girls’ curious stares.

Tray played along, pulling a card out of his wallet which he passed to Isabel. “I’ll look forward to seeing you later,” he smiled at Isabel and nodded to the girls. “Nice to meet you, ladies.”

“I’ll text you,” she said, casually placing the card on the bench beside her, away from her daughters’ prying eyes. She watched him stride away across the room and fit himself into a booth at the back.

“Mom? Mom?” the girls chorused like baby birds. “You know him?”

“He’s a friend of Jenny’s,” she lied, keenly aware of the irony, but she felt like a bug caught on a pin. Since the divorce, she hadn’t dated anyone and she wasn’t ready to have them know what she was up to. At least, not until she knew herself what she was up to. That made sense, right? Yes, she decided, it made sense. What they didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. Besides, even though they’d already opened the topic of her dating again, she was too tired right now to have that kind of conversation.

Shelly exchanged another look with Karin. “What did he mean about last night? Did you have a date with him?”

“No, I just … we were all at the bar after dinner and he was the live entertainment. He’s studying psychology and wanted to talk to me about course choices, so I agreed to have a drink with him after his set.”

“And then we called you?”

“Yes, but you don’t need to apologize for that.”

Karin shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Mom, you always say that you’d rather know the truth of something than not know. Right?”

Isabel nodded.

“Even if the truth is not what you’re hoping to hear, right?”

Isabel nodded again and glanced over to Tray. He was intent on the menu and well out of earshot.

The girls shifted closer together, a subtle unconscious movement, and leaned toward her over the table.

“We saw him the other night, Mom,” Shelly blurted out. “At an open house on Boxing Day. He was with a girl about my age, who was very, very drunk. A tall - and I know you don’t like this word Mom, but - well, she looked like a bimbo. She could barely stand up she was so drunk.”

“The open house you went to after the hot tub the other night?” asked Isabel.

“Yes, one of our friends from school has a chalet here.”

“His parents had an open house, you mean?”

“No, they were out, it was mostly just kids from school. That’s why it was weird, Mom. We didn’t know either of them … and he’s a lot older than his date.”

“How old do you think he is?” she asked.

“Probably thirty, Mom. I mean, she was maybe my age. Probably younger, even. None of us knew her, but I heard someone say she’s a local.”

“What else happened?”

“That was it, really,” said Karin. “We were playing pool in the garage and when we came inside, we saw him trying to get her to leave. But she was sooooo drunk, Mom, hanging all over him, calling him “babe”. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been so disgusting.”

Isabel got the attention of their waitress and made a writing motion in the air. “Let’s head over to Barbie’s and talk to Jean, girls,” she said, pulling her coat on.

“But Mom, are you still going to go out with him?”

“One crisis at a time please girls,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s go.”

~~~

The bright sunlight ricocheted off the mountains as Isabel walked back toward her hotel. Jean had taken the whole thing in stride, as she’d known she would, and the girls would continue staying with them for the rest of the week as planned. Thank heavens for that.

Now she had to figure out what to do about Tray. She hadn’t had much time to think about him since she’d left the bar last night, her focus had been on her family.

But she’d been so excited to see him and finally have more time together. All the desire she’d managed to successfully bury under her work the last few days, had come bubbling to the surface. Her body hummed with anticipation and it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, she was thrilled to feel so alive.

Her feelings for him were growing stronger all the time, but what if the girls were right? What if he was a player? And what the hell was he doing hanging out at college parties?

He’s in college
, that’s what he’s doing there. Still, what about the young woman who was so drunk. And why hadn’t he told her he was in town early? He’d even sent her a text that evening, just to say good night, and had conveniently not mentioned he was in town.

And yet, it didn’t line up with what she thought she knew about him. But in the end, what do we truly know about anybody?

She recalled a client once telling her about a crazy trip she’d taken to Costa Rica. She’d gotten involved with one of the tour guides. One night while they were all out dancing and her date left the table to get drinks, one of the other guides leaned across and whispered in her ear: “Tu tienes los ojos cerrados.”
You have your eyes closed
. The woman, a tad lost in a Latin love affair and only seeing what she’d wanted to see, started paying more attention and uncovered lies and half-truths that told a story of her lover sleeping with multiple tourists - not only women - at the same time. She’d been mortified but glad she’d never broken her rule about unprotected sex.

Tu tienes los ojos cerrados
, she whispered to herself. True, or not true? Isabel didn’t have enough information to figure it out and just thinking of it made her head hurt. She did need to know why he hadn’t told her he was in town early.

She checked messages at the desk on her way through the lobby and took the stairs up to her room. A nap was tempting but she needed to put more time in on the book. Spreading the manuscript out on the table, she let her head fall into her hands for a minute. The sun shining through the window hit her squarely in the eyes.

She jumped up, making a quick decision. It was a beautiful day and she’d had enough drama. She’d worked hours and days on the book since she arrived and she knew, in her heart of hearts, she would accomplish very little today.

Sitting here, she would spin her wheels while she replayed and second guessed everything about Tray and about the time they’d spent together.

Sitting would not get her through the day. She would go skiing and stay busy in the sun and the snow, and have a few laughs with her friends. She sent a quick text to Jenny and started pulling together her ski clothes.