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

“I’m not in boss mode. I’m just concerned. You’ve had four messages from Mr. Thayer since he left here. I hope there wasn’t some kind of issue I should be aware of.”

So Riley had left another message. Drew had been dutifully relaying the calls to her, but she hadn’t called back, mostly because she didn’t want to get on the phone and beg him to come back. She needed to stay focused on the fact that not only had he thrown her over twice the moment he got a call from his office, he’d had to sneak around behind her back to get his messages. As much as she missed him and the way he’d made her feel, she couldn’t imagine spending another minute wondering what other things he might be keeping from her.

“There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“He told me he had an emergency at work. That’s why he needed a ride back to town. Mr. Carter went with him. Do you know anything else about why he left?”

“No. As far as I know, it was a work emergency. He’s a lawyer, so, you know…I’m sure something serious came up. Or rather, he works for a law firm. And he’s waiting to find out if he passed the bar.”

Drew nodded. “Lots of professional pressure on him.”

Lydia mimicked her boss’s expression. “Yep. I didn’t know Mr. Carter had left too.”

“Same reason.”

“Work emergency?”

“So he said.”

“It’s a shame. They both looked like they really needed some extended time off.” Lydia picked at her food. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Riley, except for endless conversations with herself while she was hiking alone, and she was purposely avoiding Gianna who would probably just have said ‘I told you so’. She would have loved to call Lily, but with the reception here in Red Fork being so bad, she would have had to make the call from Drew’s office.

“Speaking of time off, your free day is tomorrow. If you want to take one of the company cars and get off property for a while, I’ll authorize it. If you need to get away.”

“Thanks, I really don’t. I’m perfectly happy right here. I’ll probably just bum around and show everybody a good example of how to do nothing.”

“If that’s what you want. I know the farmer’s market is open early this year. Just saying, it’s good to get away.”

Lydia smiled. She liked Drew. He embodied her philosophy of easy living: health first, balance above all, and dedication to simple pleasures and hard work. She admired that, but over the past two days without Riley, she’d begun to question her own choices. She definitely wasn’t missing the rat race and she never would, but she’d asked herself a dozen times if maybe she’d gone too far when she checked out of civilization. She resented Riley for being dedicated to his work without ever considering that he was telling the truth when he said he loved it. It was wrong to think he needed to be “cured” of his desire to work in the shark tank of a busy corporate law firm if that’s what he thrived on. She’d given all of that up out of necessity, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t handle the stress of it, with the right coping tools, of course.

And maybe with the right person by his side.

She still hadn’t decided if she wanted to take on that challenge, and maybe she’d already lost the right to make the choice. “Do you mind if I stop by your office later? I might as well call him back, just to make sure everything is okay.”

The steamy shower had helped with the kink in Riley’s neck, but the two-hour nap afterward had only made him groggy. Nevertheless, he’d tackled the drive to Red Fork, which he discovered took slightly longer in a car than in a bus.

He’d also discovered the distance from the parking area to the resort’s staff cabins was just beyond that of a comfortable walk. By the time he reached Lydia’s cabin, he was on the verge of collapse.

Panting, he hauled himself up the three steps to her door and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again and still no response.

He sank to the top step, still breathing heavily and wondering if there would be room for a treadmill in his new office. He seriously needed to get in better shape. Forget a treadmill. At the moment he needed an oxygen tent.

He’d made the decision to go back to his own cabin for a cool shower. Fortunately, Green Solutions didn’t take late check-ins. Even though he’d left, his cabin was still his for the rest of his stay. The administrator, Drew, had told him he was welcome to return any time. He hauled himself up from the steps just as a lithe shadow crossed his path.

It took every ounce of his remaining strength to lift his head, but the view was certainly worth it. Backlit by the afternoon sun, Lydia looked amazing with her hair loose and flowing around her shoulders. She wore a sheer cover-up that just barely hid her black and white bikini top.

Hands on her hips, she glared at him. Perhaps it was delirium, but he was certain he caught the slight upturn of the corners of her mouth.

“I thought you’d returned to your vampire lifestyle. Isn’t it dangerous for you to be out in the sunlight?”

“Probably. I do sort of feel like I could burst into flames. Have you got anything cold to drink?”

She pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you just let yourself in and take what you wanted?”

He dropped his head, wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm, and sighed. “I deserve that. I came back to apologize. I’m sorry, Lyd. I’m not going to pretend I’m any good for you…in fact I’m almost certain I’m not what you deserve. But you’re good for me. Will you forgive me for not trusting you?”

She stared at him for so long he was certain she’d say no, but finally she held out her hand to him and helped him up from the steps. “It’s really all my fault anyway…if I’d given you the full dose of tree-hugging brainwashing none of this would have happened. Come on, I’ll get you some cold green tea and a carob cookie, and maybe we can get your color back to normal.”

He would have smiled, but he was too tired. The exhaustion was worth it, if he could be with her again and take another shot at making things work between them.

*

“So what happened at work? Did you leave them wanting, or did you clean up all the mess with the partner’s resignation?” Lydia asked once Riley had downed two bottles of green tea. He passed on the cookies, but at least he looked better. When she’d first returned to her cabin after a swim in the lake and found him there, she was worried about him. He looked so tired and miserable. Now at least, he was smiling, though it was just the dopey grin of a guy who thought he was no longer in trouble.

“I worked through the weekend, and when Brenda found me asleep on a pile of legal briefs, I realized I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing.”

“Brenda again, huh?”

“She’s a friend—the one who told me to get my ass back here and fix things between us.”

“So falling asleep at your desk was the turning point, not ending up in the ER with chest pains?”

“Falling asleep at my desk made me realize that I hadn’t learned anything, even though I was so sure I had.” He set his second empty bottle of tea aside and looked up at her from his seat on the bed. “I didn’t know you…I mean, really know who you were until last week when you told me about what happened to you at school. I thought I knew why you’d left—the same reason most people do—the work is too hard, they run out of money, they lose the conviction they had that made them want to be a lawyer. I figured any one of those reasons was your reason, and it didn’t matter which it was, but now I know why you left and I understand it. You did it because you had to in order to save yourself. It was the right reason. I don’t know if I do what I do for the right reasons, but I know there are things about me that you don’t know. Can you take a ride with me this afternoon? I want you to understand. I want you to know who I am.”

Lydia’s heart had been fluttering since the moment she’d laid eyes on him again, and at this moment, with him sitting in front of her, she was ready to break every rule she’d made in the last twenty-four hours about how she wanted to deal with him. She’d told herself she wanted to move on, forget about completely losing her heart to Riley, but now she was ready to follow him anywhere. She wanted to know exactly who he was because she was falling in love with him. “I have to be back here by morning, but yes, I’ll go with you wherever you want me to go.”

He rose and crossed the room to where she stood leaning against her small countertop. He brushed a few strands of flyaway hair from her cheek, and she expected him to kiss her, but he didn’t. He only caressed her face and smiled a little bit sadly. “You’ll be the first person I’ve ever taken where I’m taking you.”

Her nerves tingled at his words. What could he possibly show her that would explain his seeming devotion to working himself to death? She had to know so maybe she could help him overcome it.

She changed in the bathroom while he washed up in the small kitchenette sink, then they headed back to the distant parking area where he’d left his car. “The walk doesn’t seem so long now,” he said when they reached the car.

“It’s only about a mile, you know. That’s nothing.”

“I spent the night slumped over my desk. I practically crawled halfway to your cabin. Maybe the walk seems shorter now because you’re with me?”

“Or because of the antioxidants in the tea.”

He smiled as he opened the passenger door for her. “No, it has to be you.”

The late afternoon was hot and cloudless, a perfect summer day. Lydia relaxed in the air-conditioned car and enjoyed watching the trees roll by. Judging by the signs on the highway they were headed southeast, more toward the city, but away from Spring River Valley.

“How far is this place?” she asked after a half an hour on the road.

“Not much farther. It’s in Westgate, just outside of Albany.”

Lydia wasn’t familiar with Westgate. In fact she’d never heard of it, despite having lived in New York State her whole life. “It’s a beautiful area, but it seems too rural out here for you. How did you find this mysterious place?”

“I didn’t. My parents did.”

A knot formed in Lydia’s stomach. God, was he taking her to see his parents? What on earth for? Were they going to explain to her why their son was a workaholic? “Oh?”

He shot her a sly smile. “Worried, aren’t you? Don’t be. It’s not their house. They live in Rochester, but they visit here once a month, just like I do. I wish I could get out here more often…and in fact, I’m going to make it my business from now on to do that.”

Relieved but still nervous about what she was going to see, Lydia settled back in her seat, her mind whirling. After another twenty minutes, Riley pulled off the main road onto a winding, tree-lined drive that led to a cluster of pleasantly rustic-looking buildings. A sign on a wrought-iron gate read “Kattinger Farm Cooperative.”

Lydia grinned as they passed through the gate onto a dusty road that led to a tiny parking area. “Wow. I never would have pegged you for the farm type. What do you and your family do up here, ride horses?”

Riley shook his head. He pulled to a stop and shut the car off. “We visit my brother. He lives here, and he works here.”

Lydia climbed out of the car, thrilled by the prospect of meeting Riley’s brother. “That’s fantastic. Your brother is a farmer? Why did you never mention that before?”

“Don’t let the name fool you. It’s not a regular farm—well, they do grow the usual things and raise some animals, but they do that for therapeutic reasons. This is a group home. For people with traumatic brain injuries.”

Lydia’s breath caught, and she stared at Riley. “You never…”

“I don’t tell many people. Come on. Landon will be thrilled to meet you.” He held out his hand, and she took it, shaken suddenly by this new and unexpected insight into Riley’s life. He tugged her along toward the main house, and she followed obediently, taking in the details of the place.

On the outside, the house looked like an old Victorian that had been lovingly restored. Inside the front foyer, the atmosphere was a little more professional, with a front desk, non-skid mats on the polished hardwood floors, safety railings, and a chair lift attached to the grand staircase that rose to a second level.

A woman in a light blue polo shirt that read “Kattinger Farms,” greeted them when they stepped into the cool interior of the building. The scent of cinnamon and vanilla enveloped them, and the glow of light wood and bright new paint gave Lydia an immediate sense of home.

“Hi, Riley, how are you?” The woman rose and hugged him as if they were old friends.

“Good, Marla. This is Lydia. She’s a friend of mine I’d like to show around, if I could.”

“Sure thing. I’ll get you your visitor passes. If you want to wait in the green room, I’ll tell Landon you’re here. He’s got equine therapy this afternoon.”

“Sure. Thanks, Marla.”

Speechless, Lydia followed Riley to a room off of the main foyer. Here, the walls were in fact a soothing mint green. A big green couch and overstuffed green chairs dominated what had probably once been the living room of the house. There was a flat screen television on one wall and a few bookcases sat opposite filled with what looked like hand-me-down novels, school books, and children’s books. A coffee table held current issues of popular magazines for both adults and children. Lydia’s heart contracted, and she sank to the couch cushion next to Riley. “How old is Landon?” she asked, fighting a sudden lump in her throat.