Harbor Falls

by Fiona Rivers

  “It’s good to see you, Colin.” The man grinned as he gave him a light hug.

  “It’s good to you too, Johnny. This is Adalyn. Adalyn, meet my friend, Johnny.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, young lady.” He tipped his cowboy hat.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Johnny.”

  “I have two horses saddled up for you both if you’re ready to ride.”

  “We are.” Colin smiled.

  They climbed on their horses and before they began to set off on the trails, Colin turned to Adalyn.

  “I’m sorry. I totally forgot to ask you. Have you ridden before?”

  Adalyn gave him a sweet smile. “Yes. I’ve ridden many times in my life.”

  “Whew.” He let out a chuckle. “Even if you didn’t, I would have helped you.” A small smile framed his lips.

  They headed down the trails and Adalyn took in the serenity of her surroundings. It had been a long time since she’d ridden, and she forgot the magic and beauty of it. Darren hated horses so he would never take her. Not even for a carriage ride in Central Park.

  “It’s so beautiful and peaceful here.” Adalyn smiled as she glanced over at Colin who was riding next to her.

  “Yeah. I’ve been coming here for years. I even thought about buying my own horse once.”

  “Really? Why didn’t you?”

  “Life got in the way, I suppose. Olivia didn’t like horses.”

  “Neither did Darren. He hates them so much, he wouldn’t even take me on a carriage ride through Central Park.”

  “That’s terrible. Even if I didn’t like horses, I still would have taken you.”

  Adalyn’s belly began to flutter as the beating of her heart slightly picked up its pace, like it did every time he made comments like that.

  “How do you know Johnny?” she asked him.

  “He’s been a family friend since forever. He and my dad went to school together. After my parents died, Johnny took it really hard, so I’d come out here a lot and visit with him. We’d talk about my dad and all the crazy things he’d done over the years.”

  They rode for over an hour before heading back to the ranch with the horses.

  “How was the ride?” Johnny asked.

  “It was beautiful.” Adalyn gave him a smile.

  “Great as always,” Colin spoke.

  After talking to Johnny for a while, Colin and Adalyn climbed into the truck and started their journey back to Harbor Falls. On the way back, they stopped at Jezebel’s to grab some lunch and then Colin took Adalyn home, but instead of going inside the house, they walked down to the beach. What was a beautiful sunny day, suddenly turned gray as the clouds rolled in.

  “Sure looks like it might rain,” Colin spoke as he looked up at the sky.

  Adalyn pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped on the weather app.

  “Chance of rain zero percent. I’m sure the clouds are just rolling through.”

  “I hope so.” He glanced over at her.

  Moments later after Adalyn said there was a zero percent chance of rain, the sky opened up and it started to pour without warning.

  “Zero percent chance, huh?” Colin grinned as he grabbed Adalyn’s hand and they both ran up the beach and into the house.

  Both of them were soaked by the time they made it through the door and Adalyn couldn’t stop laughing.

  “I’ll go grab some towels,” she said.

  “I have a change of clothes in the truck. I’ll be right back.”

  Adalyn ran upstairs grabbed two towels and handed one to Colin when he stepped back into the house. While he went into the half bath to dry off and change, she went upstairs to change her own soaking wet clothes. Slipping into a maxi dress, she brushed her wet hair and then headed back downstairs and into the living room where Colin was staring out the sliding door at the rain.

  “You can never trust the weatherman these days,” he said with a slight shake of his head.

  “The best rainy days are when you have no plans and can curl up on the couch with a cup of tea or coffee and watch a movie,” Adalyn spoke as she stood next to him.

  “That sounds like a good idea.” A smirk crossed his lips.

  “What? A movie?” Adalyn cocked her head.

  “Yeah. This rain doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon, so why not?”

  “Sure. Okay. Tea or coffee?” She laughed.

  “Coffee would be great.”

  “I’ll go make us some,” she said as she handed him the remote.

  Adalyn took down two glass coffee cups from the cabinet and made the coffee. After adding in an ounce of Bailey’s Irish Cream, she topped it off with whipped cream.

  “Here you go.” She smiled and handed Colin his coffee while taking a seat next to him on the couch.

  “Fancy.” He grinned. “I’m going to assume this isn’t just a regular coffee.”

  “You’ve assumed right. Doesn’t a little bit of Bailey’s and a touch of whipped cream make any coffee better?”

  “It sure does.” He gave her a wink.

  “Do you like romantic comedies?” Adalyn asked as she took the remote from his hand.

  “I pretty much like any type of movie. I’m not picky.”

  “There’s this one I ran across the other day and it looked funny.”

  She turned on the movie called Plus One. Adalyn couldn’t remember the last time she watched a movie or TV with a man. Darren wasn’t big into movies and he was always working, so he never had time to sit and watch one with her. The attempts to watch something together in bed on the rare occasion, always led to Darren falling asleep within the first fifteen minutes. But this, sitting next to Colin, sharing laughs and sipping their coffee together was, as Adalyn thought, nice. She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much. As for Colin, he was enjoying this time spent with her and he didn’t want it to end. He also couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so much or felt this happy.

  The movie ended and Adalyn turned off the TV. Grabbing the coffee cups from the coffee table, she took them into the kitchen and placed them in the sink.

  “That was pretty good movie,” Colin spoke. “Thanks for suggesting it.”

  Adalyn turned around and faced him as the sun peaked through the windows. The rain had stopped, and the day went back to how it was before the clouds rolled in.

  “It was good, wasn’t it?” A small smile framed her face.

  “Adalyn, listen,” he said as he took a step toward her, lightly grabbed hold of her hand and stared into her beautiful eyes.

  Suddenly, his moment was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Sighing, he took it from his pocked and noticed his Aunt Rosie was calling. After ending the call, he looked at Adalyn.

  “That was my Aunt Rosie. One of the pipes broke in one of the guest rooms and my Uncle Carl needs help fixing it. I’m sorry but I need to get over there.”

  “That’s okay. I totally understand. I could go with you if you wanted.”

  “Really?” He smiled.

  “Yeah. Why not. That way I can visit with Rosie. By the way, what were you going to tell me before Rosie called?”

  “It was no big deal. We should get going.”

  The truth was Colin had finally felt comfortable to want to tell Adalyn how he felt about her. But then the phone call interrupted him, and now he didn’t know when he would get the chance to tell her.

  21

  Another week had passed as Adalyn stood in the kitchen and helped Luis and Alfred unpack.

  “I can’t believe you’re finally here.” She grinned.

  “Us either,” Luis said as he opened the sliding door that led out to the two-level deck. “I will never get sick of this view. Just look at that, Addy. Look at that magnificent body of water.”

  “She knows, Luis. She sees it every day,” Alfred said as he walked into the kitchen with another box as Queen B followed behind.

  “You are going to love it here.” A
dalyn hooked her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “Of course, I will. I’m with the love of my life, my best friend, and we’ll be working together every day doing what we love the most.” He grinned. “You’ve been exceptionally quiet about Colin lately. What’s going on with you two?”

  Adalyn sighed as she walked away. “Nothing is going on. We’re just hanging out occasionally,” she said as she picked up Queen B and held her.

  “Hanging out as in doing what?” Alfred asked.

  “He took me to his friend’s ranch last weekend, and we went horseback riding. I like him. I really do, but there’s something that just doesn’t seem right.”

  “It’s called fear, darling,” Luis said as he walked past her. “And if you want to be happy again, you need to put that fear away.”

  “It’s not that easy, Luis. And I am happy.” Queen B struggled to get out of her grip, so she set her down.

  “You are, but not completely. I can tell. You’re still carrying that same vibe you were when you were married to that soulless snake and trying to get pregnant.”

  “Can we please not talk about this?”

  “Not talking about it isn’t going to make it go away. If there’s one thing I learned from therapy all those years ago is in order to heal, you need to talk about it, accept it and put it behind you.”

  “You act like what he did was no big deal. He messed with my head. He let me go on thinking for a year and a half I had a chance of having a baby. The man I committed my life to. The one who was supposed to be there to protect me, not deceive me.”

  “You know what I think? I think the issue isn’t so much about what he did. I think it’s about how you feel about yourself for not seeing it sooner. You’re blaming yourself, Adalyn, and I think that’s what you can’t let go of.”

  “I didn’t know you got a degree in psychology,” Adalyn said, and Alfred snickered before walking out of the kitchen.

  “I should have one considering how many years I spent in therapy.” He walked by and kissed her cheek.

  She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as she gripped the edge of the granite counter.

  “Can we please not discuss this right now?”

  “I won’t say another word,” Luis said. “At least not today.”

  Collin had emerged from the stock room when he saw Adalyn walk into the bar and grille. Instantly, a smile crossed his lips as he walked over to her. Seeing her always brightened his day.

  “Hi there.” He grinned.

  “Hey. I just thought I’d stop in for a bite to eat. I was helping Luis and Alfred unpack all day.”

  “There’s a table over here.” Colin led the way.

  “Hey, Adalyn.” Katherine smiled. “What can I get you to drink?”

  “A glass of chardonnay would be great.”

  “One glass of chardonnay coming up.”

  Colin took a seat across from her as she looked over the menu.

  “I’m happy you stopped in. I was going to call you later and ask you if you wanted to go out tomorrow night.”

  “Sure. What did you have in mind?” Adalyn asked.

  “Do you like bowling?” A grin crossed his face.

  “Maybe?” She bit down on her bottom lip as she narrowed her eye at him.

  “You’ve never been?”

  “No.”

  “I think you’d like it. I can teach you. It’s not hard. You just throw the ball down the alley and pray you hit the pins.” He let out a chuckle.

  “Sounds like fun.”

  Katherine walked over and set the glass of chardonnay down in front of Adalyn.

  “Sorry this took so long. Um, Colin.” Katherine nodded toward the bar.

  Colin looked over and instantly, the color from his face drained.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Adalyn,” he said as he got up from the table.

  After Katherine took her order, Adalyn glanced at the bar and saw Colin talking to a young woman who was perched on one of the stools. The only thing she could tell about her was that she had medium length wavy brown hair. A feeling stirred inside her that the woman Colin was talking to was his ex-fiancée, Olivia. If it was, why was she back in Harbor Falls? Suddenly, Adalyn felt like she needed to leave, so she signaled for Katherine.

  “Is there something else you needed?” she asked.

  “I forgot I have something I need to do. Can you just change my order to a carry out?”

  “Sure.” She gave her an odd look. “I’ll go do that right now.”

  Adalyn pulled her credit card from her purse and handed it to Katherine. “You can just cash me out now as well.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  A few moments later, Katherine walked over with Adalyn’s credit card and a carryout bag.

  “Thanks, Katherine.”

  “You’re welcome. Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. I just totally forgot I had to do something before tomorrow. Have a good night.”

  “Thanks. You too.”

  Adalyn climbed in her jeep and headed home. She thought about going back to see Luis and Alfred but decided against it. Her head was clouded and all she wanted to do was go home, eat and take a long hot bath.

  It was such a beautiful night out, Adalyn decided to take her dinner out onto the deck. Sitting in her Adirondack chair, she thought about how she really didn’t like the chairs and she wanted new furniture for the deck. In fact, she wanted two sets. One for the lower deck and one for the deck off the master bedroom. She dialed Luis.

  “Hello, darling. I thought you went to the Seaside.”

  “I did and I got a carryout. I need new furniture for the deck. Will you go with me?”

  “You know I will. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong. Why do you think something is wrong?”

  “Because you only want new furniture or to redecorate when you’re upset. The last time I was at your place I told you that you needed new furniture for the deck, and you told me the chairs were just fine.”

  “Well, I changed my mind. I want something more comfortable. I spend a lot of time out here, you know.”

  She heard a long sigh on the other end.

  “Are you really sighing at me, Luis?”

  “You’re in a mood. What happened at the bar and grille?” he asked.

  “Nothing, Luis. I swear. I’m just tired. I’m sorry.”

  “Okay then. When do you want to go?”

  “Tomorrow after we close the gallery. Oh wait. I’m supposed to go bowling with Colin. We can go Sunday since we’re off work.”

  “Bowling? As far as I know you’ve never bowled a day in your life.” He let out a chuckle.

  “Colin said he’ll teach me. Besides, it sounds like fun.”

  “Listen, darling, I have to run. Alfred is calling me for help. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the gallery.”

  “Bye, Luis.”

  Adalyn felt bad for lying to her friend about nothing being wrong. But she didn’t want to hear one of his lectures either. She finished her dinner, took the plate inside and went upstairs to start the bath water. While she was laying in the warm, magnolia peach scented bubbly water, her phone dinged with a text message from Colin. Had he just realized she’d left the bar?

  “Katherine said you ended up getting a carry-out. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I forgot I had something to do and it needed to be done tonight. Sorry I just left like that. You were busy and I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

  “I’m never too busy for you.”

  As soon as she read that, a lump formed in her throat. Was he going to tell her who the woman was he left to go talk to?

  “Sorry. I just didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “That’s okay. Enjoy the rest of your evening and I’ll be in touch tomorrow about our bowling date.”

  “Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  22

  When Colin looked over at the bar and saw
Olivia sitting there, a sickness formed in the pit of his belly. He asked himself why she was back in Harbor Falls, and there was only one way to find out and that was to ask her.

  “What are you doing here, Olivia?” he asked as he stepped behind the bar.

  “Hi, Colin.” A small smile fell upon Olivia’s face. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Excuse me?” His brow arched. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I’m moving back to Harbor Falls. It turns out things didn’t work out in Seattle. We need to talk.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. You broke off our engagement one week before our wedding day and took off to Seattle.”

  “I know and I’m sorry.”

  “So what happened? The guy you dumped me for wasn’t who you thought he was?”

  Olivia’s eyes widened. “You know?”

  “Of course I know. The whole town knows, and to be honest, I don’t think anyone is going to be welcoming you back.”

  He felt nothing but rage and disgust as he looked at her. His once beautiful bride to be was nothing more than an ugly stranger to him now.

  “That’s rude of you to say,” she spoke.

  “I’m only telling you the truth. See, that’s what we do around here. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

  “I made a mistake and I’m sorry.”

  “Two years too late, Olivia. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do in the back. Finish up your drink and then you can leave. I really don’t want you in my bar.”

  He threw down the towel he was holding on the counter and walked into the back. He was so upset, he forgot Adalyn was in the bar. When he walked back out, he looked over at her table and saw she was gone.

  “Are you alright?” Katherine asked.

  “Just peachy. Where’s Adalyn?”

  “She left. She got her food for carryout. She said she had something she forgot she needed to do.”

  “I wonder why she didn’t say goodbye.”