There was a delay in her response. “He’s here. I’m surprised you didn’t keep him home if you weren’t going to be here to pick him up.”
“That’s why I’m calling. I usually ask someone in town to look after him while I’m gone. Would you be willing to let him spend the day with you?”
“But I have nothing to—”
“Glenda has a leash for him at the campground office. I’ve also left a small bag of food and treats there in case he needs them. There is another stash at Patsy’s café if Glenda isn’t around.”
The tags of Hudson’s collar clanged together in the background. She must have been petting him.
“I guess I can.” Her voice didn’t have the same energy Rick had grown accustomed to. It was monotone and slow. Perhaps he had called her too early?
“You’re sure it won’t be a bother?”
“No. I was hoping to check out a trail today, but he might be too tired for that.”
Rick laughed and switched his phone to his other ear before grabbing a briefcase from the passenger seat. “If it is a short trail, he’d love to go with you. Try the waterfall or the river loop trails. They are beautiful locations and wouldn’t be too long for him.”
Silence lingered. He didn’t want to hang up, but he was at the door to the building and would soon bump into familiar faces.
“Thank you, Molly. I will pick up Hudson and take you out to dinner.”
“That sounds fine.” She had little reaction to his comment, but she was no doubt distracted by Hudson’s need for her attention. Still, their brief conversation was all he needed before he ended the call and flung open the door to the marble-floored lobby. His father strode across the room from a bank of polished elevators and checked his watch.
Rick slowed his pace. The man had a commanding presence. With his shoulders, his arms barely swayed at his side as he stepped. His hair had grayed over the years and rather than color it, like Rick’s mother had, his father embraced the gray saying people respected a man who didn’t hide who he had become. In his father’s case, it was a sixty-year-old version of his twenty-year-old ambitious self. Never slowing down, his father knew who he had become and was determined to make something out of Rick.
“Where have you been?” he asked through his teeth. His father always slapped on a smile whenever he dressed Rick down in public. Appearances were everything. He grabbed Rick by the arm and pulled him toward an open elevator. “They’ve already been here for twenty minutes.” His father pushed the button, directing the elevator to the tenth floor.
The lift was quiet and sparkled from every chrome surface. The gentle movement of the elevator left the occupants to focus on their business conversations and not on the stability of the cables that prevented them from descending into the basement.
Rick answered, “But the meeting isn’t until nine o’clock.”
“Well, they wanted to socialize beforehand. You could have shaved before you came.”
His father’s first rule of business was to always have a clean face. No one wanted to do business with someone who tried to hide himself behind facial hair. Not even five minutes into his arrival, Rick had already arrived later than the clients and he didn’t look the part of a business executive or his father’s son.
“Who are we meeting with?”
“You’ll see.” His father adjusted his tie and tugged on his suit jacket before running a single hand over his hair.
Rick’s tongue stuck to his mouth as he tried to swallow. He ran his hand over the stubble on his jaw and stared down at the floor. Maybe he could have shaved before he left home, but his father still wouldn’t have liked the length Rick would have left it. While the look might not be satisfactory to his father, it made Rick happy.
The elevator doors opened onto the tenth-floor lobby and seated on a leather-upholstered couch, Valerie’s red-lined smile greeted him.
“Rick,” she purred. Valerie strutted toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder with a slinky smile. “My, you’re looking rather rugged.”
His father stood between him and the elevator. There would be no escape from coming face-to-face with his ex. Valerie wore her blonde hair in a bun and her favorite tight black skirt and fitted floral blouse. It was an outfit that showed off her figure and her family’s money. If she was trying to show Rick what he was missing, it wasn’t going to work on him. Not anymore. Finally, he noticed the two other men standing nearby who now attempted to look busy as they stared down at their phones.
“It’s good to see you.” He stepped past her, loosening her grip on his shoulder. His father cleared his throat. Clearly, he expected Rick to give Valerie more attention. “Are you here for the meeting?”
“I am.” She grabbed the back of his arm. “Sit with me.” Unable to politely detach himself from her grasp under the watchful eye of his father, Rick allowed Valerie to guide him toward a meeting room at the end of the hall. Now he understood why his father summoned him back.
Valerie’s father rose from his chair. “Rick. So good to see you.”
“Mr. Turner.” He greeted Rick with a firm handshake, as if he still was in the running to become his son-in-law.
“When we started talking with your father about the deal, I told him we wanted him to put his best man on the job.”
“He has plenty of those to choose from.”
Valerie’s father laughed and moved his chair closer to the table. “Nonsense. Ever since I met you, I saw your potential. I still don’t understand why you continue to work with your father instead of coming to work for me. We could use a man like you at our company.”
“Should we get started?” Rick’s father glared at his son from across the table. Leaving his company to work for someone else would be the ultimate betrayal, even if it suited Rick to do so.
It was a three-hour meeting with Rick leading the negotiations. Occasionally, Valerie would rub his arm in encouragement whenever she sided with him. They weren’t together, yet she put on a show as if they were. Much like their former relationship, the meeting ended without a commitment.
“I think,” Valerie said as she leaned in closer to clasp his arm, “we should continue this conversation over lunch.”
Rick rose from his chair while Valerie still clung to him. “As much as I’d like to, I need to head back.”
“Come on, Rick.” His father also rose from his chair. There was a smile on his face, which to anyone other than his son would read as a pleasant expression. To Rick, his father was sending him an obvious message to not turn down Valerie’s offer. “Stay for lunch before you hit the road.”
Rick cast his gaze toward the meeting room’s newly installed and fresh Berber carpet. If he wanted to keep his job, he needed to prove his worth and get the deal done. He nodded.
His father clapped his hands. “Ah, very good. I will get my assistant to make reservations… unless the two of you want to go someplace without us old men tagging along.”
Both men laughed while Rick stood in awkward silence beside a blushing Valerie and her intense eyes.
“Is it a business lunch?” Rick asked.
Mr. Turner smiled and placed his hand on Rick’s shoulder. “Lunch will be whatever we make of it, isn’t that right, Charles?”
“You are correct.” His father opened the meeting room door and stood to one side.
Mr. Turner led the way toward the elevator and smiled. “Any chance you might move back to the city?”
“I haven’t—”
“Robert Fletcher has made Rick a rather significant offer on his property,” his father interrupted. “Isn’t that right, Rick?”
Once again, he nodded. “Yup.”
“Oh, Rick.” Valerie tightened her grip on his arm. “That’s wonderful. I’ve been waiting for the day when you’d move back.”
“I haven’t decided, yet.”
His father laughed. “He doesn’t want to jinx it.”
“He is a businessman, like his father.” Mr. T
urner slapped Rick’s back. “You’re wise not to make plans before the ink is dry. You never know when things fall through and you end up with an unexpected surprise.”
Rick laughed as his jaw tightened and the minutes dragged on. He had already spent more time in the city than he had agreed to. Now, it would be hours before he could escape back to Lemon Grove.
Chapter Fourteen
She couldn’t say no. Not to Hudson. When Rick called, those little brown eyes stared up at her as he lay at her feet and she couldn’t refuse Rick’s request. Of course she would take care of Hudson while Rick was in the city. It wasn’t because she remained hopeful for a date, but because the poor old dog needed someone to look out for him. For a moment, she had considered suggesting someone from in town, but Molly changed her mind when Hudson let out a long sigh. If the dog appeared relaxed about the entire ordeal, she would be, too.
She refused to allow Rick’s comments of promising to do his best to be back in time to have the effect he had been hoping for. She wouldn’t sit around pining for him. Until he showed up at her campsite, she would consider his promise to be a line he fed her to soften the blow. He needed someone to watch Hudson and nothing more. A meal would be payment for her babysitting services and not some romantic gesture.
Molly considered herself among the lucky ones. At least she had seen through his act before getting sucked too far into his game. A few days later, she might have ended up like the other women who waited on him as he gallivanted around meeting who knows who in the city. Maybe he thought it easy to call upon visitors to Lemon Grove. He could flirt with whoever he wanted, knowing they would leave in a week or so. There was no commitment needed when relationships came with a pre-determined time limit. It was another bad relationship avoided, and it was a close call.
“At least you’re a good boy.”
Hudson beat his tail against the ground as she stroked his head and waited for his walk. As Rick had said, Glenda had an extra leash at the campground office and spare food, which Hudson gobbled up. Glenda questioned Molly as she encouraged Hudson to eat faster. She asked why Rick had chosen Molly to look after Hudson and not someone local, like herself. Molly gave her no answer, instead telling Glenda to ask Rick when she saw him. If he wanted to string multiple women along, he should be the one to sort out his mess. Molly was only babysitting Hudson for the day and wasn’t his mediator. Whether Rick paid her with a meal or not, it didn’t matter to her. She wanted company on the trail, and she had a furry companion to accompany her.
Hudson leapt into the passenger’s seat of her car and whined as she exited the campground. He was excited to spend time with her, even if Rick had found other things to do, or people to be with. They would still have a nice day together.
Finding the parking lot at the waterfall’s trailhead was easy on the single-lane gravel road that reached a dead end at the river’s edge. There was nowhere else to go but turn into the hard-packed gravel circle that would have been tight to turn around in on a busy day. But did Lemon Grove ever get busy? Today, the parking lot was empty and Molly chose a spot in the shade nearest to a laminated map attached to a bulletin board and two pegs stuck in the ground to mark the start of the trail.
Hudson pawed at the window and wiggled in his seat before Molly opened the door for him to exit.
“Are you ready to go for a walk?”
His tail brushed away the dirt from the polished stones embedded in the sand.
“Alright. Alright.”
Molly leaned back, attempting to keep Hudson from pulling her off her feet.
“You’re strong when you want to go somewhere.” Hudson ignored her, stretching the leash as far as it would go to reach the post, where he lifted his leg. “Of course,” she giggled. “You mustn’t walk down a trail with a full bladder.”
Molly scanned the map, noting the route from the parking lot to the waterfall, and saw it would be a good two hours to complete the round trip. She glanced down at the pup as it continued to sniff the ground near her feet.
“Do you think your old legs can make the trip?”
Hudson continued to sniff. He let out a large sneeze and shook his head.
“Hopefully, that is a yes.”
She led him to the trail and down a gentle slope into the trees. The temperature was perfect for a walk. It was warm, but with a cool breeze preventing the exercise from making her overheated. The breeze also helped to keep the bugs away, and insects were the one downside to being outdoors. Birds sang from nearby branches while the forest was otherwise silent. She and Hudson had the trail to themselves. Molly exhaled and stomped out her frustrations. Without the bugs, Molly imagined herself spending more time in the forest.
If only life was this simple. All she needed was a dog and a trail. Everything else, such as work and men, just added frustration to her life. Life was so full of demands, she had missed out on the quiet moments like this. She needed time to be alone with her thoughts and let her mind wander to what might be.
What would it be like to live in a place like Lemon Grove? The smells of the forest had a much more pleasant scent than car exhaust, and the singing birds were preferable to trucks and their air brakes or car horns. If she had to work nine-to-five every day, she needed to be someplace where she could recharge, and living in an apartment overlooking a city street didn’t make her heart sing. The trees did.
She would consider moving to an apartment near to the park, but that would come at a cost and the rent was already at the top end of her budget. And then there was the location. While she would enjoy the view of a park, she would be further away from the coffee shop, which would mean added commute time.
Again, life wasn’t simple like the trail. All she needed to do was walk from point A to point B. She didn’t even need to meet a timeline. This was at her own pace and she could take all the time she needed… as long as Hudson didn’t get too tired.
He seemed to do well for the first ten minutes and the next fifteen. At forty minutes into the hike, he slowed to a crawl. Lowering his body close to the ground, Hudson inched forward. He paused and looked up at Molly.
“Are you getting tired?” she asked.
She heard the rushing water in the distance. When they reached the bend, she might catch a glimpse of the falls.
“Just a little further and we can go back.”
Molly took another step and Hudson dug in his paws. She gave his leash a tug, trying to encourage him to follow.
“Come on, Hudson. We haven’t reached the falls yet.”
He lowered his head, and his collar slid up to his ears.
“I don’t want to be stuck here while you’re too tired to go up or down the trail.”
Molly attempted to walk forward, hoping Hudson would reconsider. As the leash reached its full length, Hudson growled and sprung to his feet, rushing ahead to block her path.
“Will you go a few more feet?”
She lifted her foot and leaned forward. Hudson bared his teeth.
“Okay. Okay.” She took a few steps back, away from the direction of the falls, and his face relaxed. With his head lowered, Hudson followed her, stopping only to glance behind him. “I guess we won’t be seeing the falls today. You might have at least warned me you were getting too tired.”
Hudson continued to walk behind her on their return to the car. Molly reached back and gave his head a scratch.
“It’s okay. I guess it was too much.”
She shouldn’t have listened to Rick. He had said Hudson would manage the walk to the waterfall after his morning adventure, but was it a lie to keep her from turning down his request? What if Hudson had been too tired and collapsed on the trail? It would be impossible for her to carry him back on her own. Would Rick have expected her to abandon Hudson on the trail? She would rather sit in the dark with a tired dog sleeping at her feet until he was ready to walk again than leave him behind.
At least he hadn’t reached that point. He communicated they had gone far en
ough and was escorting her back to the car. It could have ended poorly had his old legs given out. Perhaps Rick knew Hudson would tell her when he reached his limit, but he should have warned her how he’d react. She didn’t like him showing her his teeth as he had. Hudson never showed signs of aggression before, and she hadn’t expected him to intimidate her into turning around.
Now that they started on their way back to the car, his demeanor had improved and his pleasant personality reemerged. It took thirty minutes before his body appeared less tense, which Molly took to mean he smelled the end of the trail ahead.
“You can have a good rest at the campground when we get back. How does that sound?”
Molly’s phone vibrated in her pocket, and she checked her messages. It was Rick.
I’m delayed in the city and won’t make it back in time for dinner. Are you okay to keep watching Hudson? I’m sorry about this. Can we try again tomorrow?
She tucked her phone in her pocket without punching in a reply. It would be easy to use the excuse with Rick of being on the trail and not having a signal or not feeling the phone vibrate in her pocket.
Why was she not surprised he canceled dinner? Probably because she saw it coming. What she didn’t see coming was him asking her to continue to watch Hudson without giving a time when he would return. Was she supposed to keep Hudson overnight? Was that what he meant by “tomorrow”? That would take his ask too far. One doesn’t allow a dog to wander around town and then not come back in time to take it home at night.
A moist tongue licked the side of Molly’s hand.
“What was that for?”
Hudson wagged his tail and trotted at her side. Ahead, Molly saw the trail posts at the parking lot and Hudson took the lead, pulling her toward them.
“You’re ready to get back, are you?”
She opened the door to the car, allowing the warm air to escape and the outside air to cool the interior. Hudson jumped into the seat and sat waiting for her to join him.
Her phone vibrated again.
I’m trying to get back as soon as I can. Please let me know if tomorrow will work.
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