Sunset Thunder (3 page)

“Yeah, well, what else am I supposed to do now that your sister has abandoned me to live in Oakston?” Kate’s youngest sister, Abby was Izzy’s childhood best friend to this day. A team of only two, they were wild, obnoxious, smart and blunt...both of them were lacking the filter Violet perfected.

“To work in Oakston,” Marc pointed out. “Abby runs their newest store location, regardless that Riley has enough money to take them both on a permanent vacation in Hawaii.” Marc added the jab. It was his way to try and convince Izzy to stop flaunting around the resort, taking advantage of the amenities and work.

Izzy gasped and her big eyes flew around the crowd, mostly questioning Kate and Kent. “Do you think Abby and Riley would go on vacation without me? To Hawaii?”

A round of groans echoed through the hall, as Izzy missed Marc’s point.

“I am texting−no I am calling her,” Izzy announced, her hand already pulling her cell out. “If she thinks just because her
boyfriend
is a money bag, that she’s ditching me on the next vacay, she is sorely mistaken.”

“Abby wouldn’t just pick up and go on vacation without telling you,” Eliza said. “You two have been friends forever.”

Marc mumbled under his breath only loud enough Violet and Kate heard him, “Nevertheless, Izzy doesn’t need a vacation. She needs a job.”

They grinned at him.

“Yes, she would. She went and fell in love with Riley and didn’t tell me. Gave me no warning,” Izzy pointed out.

“There isn’t exactly a warning when it comes to falling in love,” Kate said.

Violet wouldn’t know. She’d never been in love before.

Izzy waved her off. “Please, you and Marc had years of warning. Mom and Carl had even more years of warning. And Abby...Abby...she knew years ago, she just didn’t bother to tell me.” Izzy still didn’t call their Uncle Carl “Dad” even though he was her biological father and she’d known longer than any of them. She had dropped the Uncle, so hopefully she was on her way to a deeper relationship with Carl. She was just taking it in sweet, slow Izzy style. Funny, when all the other aspects of her life were buzzing busy.

“Catclaw Operation re-opened and I am going to pull the cat claws out on Abby instead of Joel.” Izzy made a hissing sound and slashed her nails through the air.

Rosemary laughed. “You don’t have claws Aunt Izzy,” she said. “You’re not a cat. You have fingers.”

Rosemary distracted Izzy from her Abby melt-down and she tickled her niece. Rosemary’s laughter filled the hallway. The comforting sound mixed with her family’s concern made Violet wonder why she had allowed today’s meeting to aggravate her in the first place. It was just another meeting. The same as every other couple who believed in their happily ever after. Violet would help them plan for it, when deep down she knew happily ever after didn’t exist, but she would convince every couple that walked through the front doors of the resort otherwise.

Now, if she could only convince herself not to roll her eyes when Ryder Carlex walked his playboy-self through the front doors bragging over the phone about his sexual affairs.
What were they? Still in high school?

Violet would bet that Ryder still hadn’t grown up enough to call himself a man. Her bet was of no value since she did not plan on talking to Ryder long enough to evaluate his maturity.

Get this Bensen party in and right back out.

RYDER CARLEX SLID his cell phone into the pocket of his white cargo shorts. He shook his head at the belittling phone conversation between him and long-time friend, Joel Bensen.

Putting the conversation out of his mind, he stared down at his dad.

Donald Carlex sat hunched over the end of his fishing pole, still attempting to bait his hook. At this rate, they were going to be here until the sun set in a beautiful arrays of rich pinks, oranges and purples in the distance as it disappeared behind the lake.

That didn’t sound like that bad of a day to Ryder, but his had promised Joel he’d attend the wedding meeting. Sitting at the edge of the dock, basking under the hot summer sun, with a man who barely left the comfort of his house anymore, was nice...calming...easy−not anything like the meeting was bound to be. Considering Ryder only saw his dad once a month, he wanted to enjoy every second of their time together. Donald was the only immediate family that Ryder had left in this world and more days than not Donald didn’t even know Ryder anymore.

From an outsider’s perspective, one would assume his father had let himself go. His once tall, broad shoulders were now thin and hunched, lacking the muscle they once carried. The dark blonde hair he’d kept maintained, cut and styled to perfection during his executive and presidential days in the Carlex family business, Carlex Grocers, was now overgrown with more grey than blonde and his chin was often peppered with corresponding grey scruff.

“Dad, I’m late for Joel’s wedding planning,” Ryder said, sitting down beside him and dangling his feet over the edge of the dock.

Early mornings, like today, the sun rose in the east and the tree’s lining the edge of the property shaded the dock and the rippling water at their feet.

The damp wood cooled the back of Ryder’s legs, reminding him of this very chapter in his young life. Days spent fishing with his dad during the summers his family stayed at this lake house outside of Willow Valley. Just like now, when he was young it was rare to spend time with his dad. Donald was always working. Often he would leave Ryder and his mother at the lake house for a week or two to return to the office and manage the two-hundred store locations they owned.

Now, their roles had reversed and Donald stayed at the lake house all year round, while Ryder took his position as president of Carlex Grocers. A position Ryder had never wanted, a position he honestly didn’t think he was very good at...and now he was leaving his dad to go wedding planning.

Wedding planning? Wedding planning!

Ryder wasn’t even sure why Joel asked him to attend the wedding planning in the first place. Wasn’t that something the women did? And wasn’t it generally done sooner than a month before the wedding?

Ryder couldn’t be positive of either of those statements, since he didn’t remember much of anything from Joel’s first wedding. The planning and the wedding had taken place during one of the hardest times in Ryder’s life and he didn’t recall what had transpired before, during or after Joel and Violet’s wedding.

Ryder had shown up, but he’d already dipped into the alcohol. He threw back more shots and by the time he left, his memory was hazy at best. It wasn’t the most notable time in Ryder’s life, actually it was rather depressing. At the time, the actions that led up to those days felt like Ryder’s world had been kicked out from under him and his whole world was falling.

But now, after the death of his mother and the fall of his father, Ryder was conscious he’d acted a bit dramatic back then over the circumstances.

Speaking of weddings, didn’t Joel find it the least bit uncomfortable...unconventional...that his ex-wife was planning his second wedding?

Ice queen.
That was Joel’s nickname for snobbish, arrogant, and heartless, Violet Caliendo. And now she was planning her ex-husbands wedding, in her families resort, the very one she had married Joel in. She must have one iced-up heart to perform that duty...but seriously, why the hell had Joel or Missy thought sharing their vows in the same resort as Joel’s first ceremony was a good idea?

It was damn well odd and didn’t make sense to Ryder whatsoever. 

As odd as it was, it wasn’t Ryder’s problem. He had enough of his own struggles redesigning the entire grocery chain, updating the look and product to re-introduce modernized stores.

Besides, Joel had always done whatever he wanted. That was how he’d ended up bankrupt after his parents passed away. He had ignored everyone’s advice with his careless smirk and wave while hastily squandering away his inheritance...and it was a helluva lot of money. Of course, he landed himself broke, bankrupt and crawling to Ryder for help.

Ryder would have said no, he’d warned the poor fool, but Ryder’s mother insisted on allowing Joel to stay at the lake house until he could pick himself up. That had been almost a decade ago.

“Ryder, I can finish up here,” Susan offered from her lawn chair at the lake’s edge. Susan Burke was Susan was one of his dad’s two live-in workers. Most times, Susan stuck around even when Ryder was spending the day with Donald, just in case he had an episode.

Ryder paid for the finest private care and the two women he hired didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t anyone else’s damn business what was going on with his father and the people Ryder hired had signed confidentially contracts to ensure their silence.

Ryder looked down at his dad, still struggling away. If he was all there in the head still, Donald would have said,
Son,
it’s Joel’s second marriage and he can manage without you
.
Come on boy, bait your line and let’s catch us some dinner.
His voice would have been strong, thick and yet wrapped with love. They would have spent the day fishing and the night cooking their catches. 

Ryder missed his dad more than words could express. It felt like a part of Ryder had slipped away with the dementia that was taking all the parts of his dad away, leaving him often confused with a child-like mind. He wouldn’t even know who Joel was now.

Ryder didn’t want to leave. It was a good day when his dad left the house. Even if Ryder spent the whole day watching his dad try to wiggle that worm onto the hook, the tranquility of it was worth it.

Susan knew when to step back, giving them father/son space and when to step in and take charge. It eased the stress in Ryder’s life. It eased his longing for the wonderful man, the wonderful father, lost deep in the depths of his own brain. 

Ryder needed to go. If he didn’t, Joel would phone him back and start right into extracurricular activities that Ryder had dropped after university...when he had grown up. He wasn’t sure if Joel had ever grown up, or if he ever would for that matter.

“Thanks Susan.” Ryder stood. “You’re alright to get back to the house?” He knew she was, but he asked anyway.

The short, slim brunette stood from the chaise, where she’d been reading a book, giving them space. She lay the blue, chenille knitted blanket that had been covering her body against the morning chill, over the edge and settled down on the other side of his father, folding her legs under her.

Susan wore a permanent, kind smile on her oval-shaped face and never did she send Ryder any seductive looks, like most women did. She didn’t wink her brown eyes at him, or throw fake laughter his way. She didn’t touch him like he was contraband she couldn’t resist or make him sexual offers she thought
he
couldn’t resist. On top of everything Susan did, Ryder truly appreciated the respect she had for him.

Most women saw Ryder as dollar signs they wanted to tuck into their wallets. Every event Ryder attended single women would flaunt their beautiful bodies at him, using them as a tool to attract his attention. Trying to sort through the ones who were genuinely interested in him from the ones who were solely attracted to his bank account edged near impossible. After Courtney, he lost hope in finding a woman who was what she appeared, who let her true self out, who didn’t smile at him with money ringing in her head. After the lies and deceit of Courtney’s unfaithfulness, Ryder gave up trying to distinguish women. He was nice to the women who thought they were going to woo him, but he kept them all at a distance from his emotions, from whatever, if any parts of his heart remained after Courtney.

“We’re fine, Ryder. Don’t worry about us. Right Donald?” She asked the older man in a softer, sweeter tone than she spoke to Ryder. “We will likely hang out here for a while longer if that’s okay.” Susan knew she didn’t have to ask, but flashed him a smile anyway.

The lake house property flanked Crystal River, a winding river giving access to the boats docked along the luxury cottages along the lake.

It was Ryder’s favorite property. It had also been his dad’s favorite property, which was why he’d planned to spend the rest of his days here. But the main house was too big for his dad to live in with all the confusion already in his head.

Before Donald’s dementia had worsened, they’d decided together that he would move into the servant’s quarters. A luxurious, three-bedroom house built at the back edge of the property. Now, it housed twenty-four hour, seven days a week, and three-hundred-and-sixty-five days a year care Donald.

“It’s never a problem Susan. Thanks again.” Ryder knelt down beside his dad, whose focus had been so consumed with his task, that he hadn’t heard a word pass between them. Ryder gave his dad’s shoulder a squeeze, hating the feel of fragile bones beneath his fingers. “I’ll see you later Pops. Love you.” Ryder kissed the side of his dad’s head, before dragging himself away and toward the house.

Eleven-year-old Sabin, a chocolate brown Great Dane, stood alert at Ryder’s movement. His head darted between Donald and Ryder, debating whether to walk his old composed and collected self by Ryder’s side to the house or...Sabin chose to curl down beside Donald, his owner.

Ryder ruffled his head. “Good boy,” he said, before turning to leave. He wasn’t surprised when Tank, the newest member of the family, a light colored Bullmastiff who was just over six months old, clumsily jumped up from the bone he’d been chewing on and ran circles around Ryder all the way to the house. They pup carried the oversized bone up the winding staircase to Ryder’s bedroom.

Ryder hadn’t been able to take his parents master bedroom, but there were five large bedrooms on the upper floor to choose from. Ryder chose the grand “Sailor’s Room,” as his mother had once called it. The landscaped sea oil paintings hanging on the beige walls added a nautical feel to the room, but his mother hadn’t named the room because of the decor. Positioned in the middle of the house, the glass doors that led to the balcony, overlooked the backyard of flower gardens, and large maple trees which lined the edge of the river, and from this room only, you could see right through the break in the trees to the dock where his dad’s boat was tied.

Ryder paused at the window, taking in the beauty and wishing he had someone to share it with...like his parents had found in each other.

Tank found his usual spot on the rug at his feet. As the afternoon came around, it would cast a beam of sun through the window warming his fur. He continued to gnaw at the bone as Ryder jumped in the shower.

It wasn’t even a fifteen minute drive to the resort, but after a morning spent in the chilly air, Ryder needed a shower and a change of clothes. 

As the warm water from the faucet pelted against Ryder’s back, he couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his mouth. At the very least, watching the Ice Queen in action was going to be entertaining, and Ryder could use a little entertainment in his life. Day after day passed and he found he was working more behind the security of his office walls in the city, or hiding behind the walls of his house, away from people and their questions...away from life.

Violet Caliendo did not like Ryder. He would go as far to say that she detested him, which again made him smirk. How many women did Ryder know that detested him? Zero. All women liked him, whether it was his money or that Donald had passed his wide, broad body down on him and his mother had passed her good looks. Either way, no woman detested Ryder Carlex.

Ryder would be the first to admit that he’d been a jerk at her wedding, but he’d also attempted to make it up to her after he got his life sorted and was left with the guilt of his behavior. She’d declined dinner invites, or gala events and the few times in the last two years when he’d attended Eliza’s social events, Violet had made it abundantly clear she was avoiding him. It only proved the nickname Joel had assigned her was accurate:
Ice Queen
. Joel’s description of Violet: a heartless, cold, and rigid lover.

Amusement was what Ryder was going to be awarded with out of today’s events, not the pleasure of wedding planning, but the satisfaction of watching the Ice Queen with her faultless posture and vigilant eyes in an absurd situation. Excitement was already stirring in Ryder...and it felt good.