by Caroline Lee
And it worked. Sorta.
“Hey man, what’s up?”
“Hey, Jace.” Will wasn’t sure why he’d called his best friend, exactly, but it was good to hear his voice. “I just… Nothing, really.”
“Oh yeah?” The other man snorted, and Will could picture him shoving his cell into his shoulder and leaning back in his desk chair. “You bothered me at work to talk about ‘nothing’?”
“Work? You’re supposed to be on your lunch break right now.” Will was lying in the hammock in his backyard, listening to Indy play and staring at the sky. He’d stopped home between tours for a sandwich, only to discover that he wasn’t as hungry as he’d thought. No, the turmoil that had kept him up the last three nights also made his stomach too upset to eat much.
“Lunch breaks are a thing of the past, my friend.” Jace sighed, and Will heard more than what his friend was saying.
“The company’s in that bad shape, huh?”
“Yeah. Hold on.” Will heard him pull the phone away from his ear. “Trevor, I’m headed down the hall for a minute,” he called to a coworker. Will heard the faint acknowledgement, and then Jace was back. “We’re going for a walk.”
“Things are so bad you need privacy just to tell me about it?”
Jace mad a noise somewhere between a laugh and a snort. “They think I’m going to the bathroom. That’s about the only breaks we’re allowed these days.” His voice lowered. “Rumor is that Rollins has started axing people already. We’ve been working overtime to make sure we’re not the next ones.”
“That sucks, man. I’m sorry.”
“If Rollins and Son closes, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to leave Moscow. There’s going to be a dozen better-qualified accountants looking for work, and there’s only so many jobs, you know?”
Will had never understood how his best friend could be happy sitting behind a desk in a suit all day, but knew that the world of accounting was a closed book to him. “That would be terrible. To have to get another job, something outdoorsy, maybe get a little tan…” His friend’s crummy situation didn’t mean he couldn’t tease Jace.
“I’m tan enough, thanks.” Oh yeah. Will had forgotten how touchy Jace was about his mixed race. “But enough about my stressful life. How’s the ranch?”
“Wait, you didn’t actually take me to the bathroom, did you?”
Jace chuckled, and it was good to hear it. “No, we’re in the breakroom, hiding behind the door.”
“Having a snack, I hope?”
“Yes, Mom. Now tell me about the river.” Back before Jace went off to grad school, he and Will had spent every summer rafting and boating and fishing together. “And that hottie you hired.”
“The—?” Will choked a little on the word, and dropped one leg out of the hammock as if he was ready to run.
“The one with the boy’s name you talked about last week. Emmy?”
Will rolled his eyes. “You’re a jerk sometimes. Ellie, and don’t pretend you forgot.”
“How could I forget? You talked about her for like ten minutes straight, man. That’s a record for you.”
No use denying it. “Yeah.” It was a record, because he’d never felt this way about anyone before.
“So…?”
“She’s leaving.” Will sighed. “Day after tomorrow.” It was Thursday, and even though he’d seen her every day—even taken her to the restaurant for a fancy dinner—he hadn’t come up with a way to show her how she meant to him. To show her how much he wanted her to stay.
Jace was silent for a long moment, and then: “I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah,” Will swallowed. “Me too.”
“You try to talk her out of it? Tell her how you feel?”
“Yeah. No. Sorta. I asked her to stay, and she’s still leaving.” Will used his bare foot to push off the ground and set the hammock swinging again. But even being out here, staring up at his clear blue sky, wasn’t helping the ache in his chest.
“Maybe she just doesn’t feel the same way?”
“I dunno.” She sure seemed to enjoy his company—and his kisses—as much as he enjoyed hers. But there was that little word again: ‘sure’. It was impossible to be sure.
“Come on, Will. You’ve got a full day left. Figure out a way to ask her…or a way to show her how you feel. I mean, like really make sure she understands. Otherwise she’s going to leave and you’re never going to be sure that you couldn’t have had something special.”
Sure. Even Jace was using that word. Will needed a way to be sure.
He sighed. “Yeah, I’m working on it.”
“Something big, man. Women like big gestures.”
“Oh, really?” Will snorted. “How would you know?” Jace’s long-standing bachelorhood was a running joke.
“Shut up,” Jace quipped in return, but it was good to hear the smile in his friend’s voice. “I watch a lot of TV, alright?”
“Not a lot of other evening plans?”
Jace chuckled. “I’m not going to hide in the breakroom just to have you insult me.”
“You want to go outside?” Will grinned and gave the hammock another push. “I can insult you out there, too.”
“Goodbye, Will. Think about what I said. You’ve got a day to be sure she understands how you feel.”
“Yeah, yeah. Goodbye, dude.”
Will stared at his cell for a long moment after Jace hung up, listening to the happy sounds of Indy chasing after her egg. Then he sighed and stacked both hands behind his head. Be sure she understands how you feel. A big gesture, huh?
Jace was right; if Ellie left on Saturday, and Will wasn’t absolutely sure that she understood how he felt, then he’d spend the rest of his life kicking himself. On the other hand, if he did everything he could, and she still decided to go back to her life in L.A. and forget everything they’d shared that summer… Well, no one ever died of a broken heart.
Did they?
Will groaned and threw his forearm across his eyes. The sound drew Indy, and he felt her nose against his shoulder the same time he heard her gentle “hhhrruuufff”. Without opening his eyes, he reached out to scratch the back of her neck, and had to smile at the way she turned her head so he could reach her favorite spot. Even when he was feeling miserable, Indy could make him grin.
He really was pitiful, wasn’t he?
A big gesture…something to make her understand what her staying here meant to him. What she meant to him.
His fingers fell away from Indy’s black-and-white ruff as he had an idea. It wasn’t a flash of inspiration, but a horrible, wonderful idea of how to make sure.
Slowly, he lifted his phone, and pulled up a number. Not the boathouse, but a personal cell, so that he’d know his message got through. After three rings, a familiar voice picked up.
“Yello?”
“Hey, Soap, it’s Will. Listen, dude, I need a favor…”
By tomorrow afternoon, she’d understand.
CHAPTER NINE
“Have you seen my brother?”
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded angry. Ellie hadn’t recognized the number when she answered—just the area code—and now she had to guess.
“Wade?”
“Yeah.” He sounded like he was out of breath. “Have you seen Will?”
“No, should I?” Ellie folded the red sundress and tucked it into her suitcase on top of the clothing she’d already packed. Truthfully, she was grateful for Wade’s distraction; packing for tomorrow morning’s flight had just made her depressed to know that she was leaving River’s End Ranch.
But the word Wade muttered under his breath raised her brows. “Is everything okay?”
“No, everything’s not okay! Will isn’t answering his phone, and he’s not at his house, but his truck is.”
The panic in Wade’s voice cut through Ellie’s moping. She slowly straightened, and gripped the phone tighter. “What’s wrong, Wade?”
“Soap is out sick.”
“So, if Soap’s at home, and not doing the run, and Will isn’t at the boathouse and no one knows where he is…”
The realization slammed into Ellie, and she whispered a naughty word of her own. “Zack can’t do the run himself.”
“Exactly. The new kid can handle the guests—”
“—but not the rafting, I know.” She knew because she’d hired all of the new staff. Suddenly, the reason for Wade’s breathlessness made sense. He was probably running around, trying to find Will. And Ellie knew she had to join him.
Still clutching the phone to her ear, she slipped into her heels—the pair she’d been planning on wearing tomorrow when she left Idaho for good—and raced out the door. “Where have you looked?”
She listened as Wade listed the locations he’d already checked—in person or by car—while she hurried down the stairs, through the Bunkhouse, and across the lawn to the café. “Hold on, Wade.” Ellie pulled the phone away from her ear as she burst into the kitchens, ignoring the other waitress’s attempts to stop her. “Kelsi! Kelsi, where are you?”
The petite Weston sister stuck her head out from a walk-in-fridge, the shocked expression on her face telling Ellie that guests didn’t normally barge into the café kitchens. “Ellie? What’s wrong?”
“I need your truck. Like, now.”
To her credit, Kelsi didn’t ask questions. Just hurried to the row of hooks by the back door, pulled down a set of keys, and tossed them to Ellie. “Is everything alright?” She looked worried.
So Ellie forced a smile. “It will be.” As soon as I get my hands on Will. She blew her new friend a kiss and pushed past her out the back, to the employee parking lot, and climbed into Kelsi’s truck. “You still there, Wade?” she asked into her phone.
“I’m almost to the boathouse.”
“Good. You check there in person, and I’ll try some other places.”
“Ellie…”
She didn’t know this particular Weston sibling as well as Will or Kelsi or even Wes, but she heard his unspoken words, and sighed. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she cradled her cell phone against her shoulder. “Are you going to do it, Wade? Tell your parents?”
“I have to.” He made some kind of noise she couldn’t identify. “They’re going to find out, because I only found out from the guest-complaint number at the front desk. Without two guides on staff, they have to cancel this morning’s run, which ticked off the people who’d already booked spots. And Mom and Dad…”
“Yeah, I know.” Will’s parents had made it very clear that the aquatics program had to go a full week with no screw-ups—no dropped shifts or missed rafting trips or guest complaints—if he wanted to prove that he could handle the responsibility. If he wanted to keep his share of the ranch. “Isn’t there anything you can do…?” Anything to help your brother?
Wade sighed. “I don’t… I’m sorry, Ellie. I know you worked hard this month.”
His casual comment made her irrationally angry. “Will worked hard this month. We worked together to make this a success.” Today wasn’t just her last day in Idaho, it was also the last day of the last week of her work. Today was the last perfect-record day of a perfect-record week, to prove that Will was responsible enough to handle his share of the ranch… only, today wasn’t perfect at all. “He’s just as capable as you when it comes to—”
“I know, Ellie. I’m sorry. I really am.”
She didn’t bother keeping the bitterness out of her voice. “But you’re not going to do anything about it, are you?” She turned Kelsi’s truck into Will’s driveway, just needing to check for herself that he wasn’t there. “Because he’s not up to your standards—”
Again, Wade cut her off. “I’m at the boathouse, Ellie. I’ll call you if I find him.”
“Fine.” She was already climbing the front porch steps to bang on the door. “Good luck.”
A pause, and then, “You too.” The phone clicked as Wade hung up, and Ellie began to holler Will’s name.
It didn’t take long to come to the same conclusion his brother had: Will wasn’t at home. Indy wasn’t there, and as far as Ellie knew, Will had only left Indy alone when they’d gone into Riston or to the restaurant for their fancy dates.
Thinking about those dates right now wasn’t helpful. She’d actually cried last night, as she was trying to fall asleep, thinking how much she’d miss this place and miss him. Cried because she’d realized that she might’ve had a chance here, if she’d had the courage to push Will. To find out how he felt about her.
They’d shared some really mind-blowing kisses, and some awesome dates where they’d really connected deeply… and once he’d even asked her to stay. But that had just been to convince her to kiss him again, hadn’t it? Ellie climbed back into the truck, and rested her forehead against the steering wheel for a moment. She wasn’t sure, and that was why she’d cried herself to sleep last night. Why she was getting on a plane a leaving tomorrow morning.
Gah. She knocked her head against the steering wheel once, not sure if she was more sad or angry. She already had enough qualms about leaving River’s End Ranch, but at least she could go knowing that she’d successfully completed the job she’d been hired to do. A perfect-record week, thanks to her. Will’s parents would understand that he was competent and responsible, and his future would be secure.
Only now… Now it was all ruined. Not just her month of hard work, but the reason she’d come to Idaho. The reason she’d gotten to meet—and kiss—Will Weston. All because Soap was sick and Will was missing.
She ticked through the list of places Wade had said he’d checked, and decided there were a few more places to look. As she backed the truck out of his driveway, she had a sudden thought, and had her phone pull up Soap’s number.
“Yello?” he answered on the second ring, obviously not recognizing her number.
“Hi Soap, it’s Ellie Redfern.”
A pause, and she could almost hear the laid-back rafter thinking. “Oh… hey.”
“Yeah, hey. I notice you’re not at work.”
“Uh… yeah. Super sick, sorry.” He added a cough for good measure, and Ellie rolled her eyes.
“Sorry to hear that, Soap. So there’s no chance you can come in today?”
“Uh, no ma’am. Sorry.” Another two coughs she didn’t believe for a second. “I got totally negative vibes, you know? A wicked bad cold, I think.” He gave a few more coughs for good measure. “I’ll be back on the river by tomorrow, I’m sure.”
“Hmmmm. Well, don’t push it. We don’t want anyone else to catch your ‘sickness’, after all.” She didn’t bother keeping the bitter disbelief from her voice. Whatever Soap was up to, he’d pretty much screwed up Will’s chances of inheriting a slice of his childhood home.
“Yeah, uh… thanks, Miss Redfern.”
“Good-bye, Soap.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, but hung up and tossed the phone on the passenger seat beside her. Whatever was going on here, it was hard to believe that Soap had planned it. No, there was one man she needed to find. One man who could explain why her record of perfection had been tanked today, and what the future would bring. Her future, his future…apart or together?
She floored the accelerator as she headed for the road along the river. “What have you done, Will Weston?”
He knew the truck was coming, long before he’d heard it. Something in the air had changed; the lake didn’t seem quite so peaceful anymore, and the woods weren’t as still. Besides, Indy had lifted her head and woofed quietly, her eyes on the faint trail that led towards the road.
They’d been found.
Will turned back to the lake, trying to marshal his thoughts and figure out the best way to explain what he’d done to his brother. Wade had never been in love, as far as Will knew. He wouldn’t understand why Will h
ad made the decision he’d made. Wouldn’t understand what Will felt.
Heck, Will barely understood how he felt.
The sounds of someone crashing through the woods reached his ears, and briefly he wondered how Wade had managed to miss the trail so completely. But when he heard the voice, he knew it wasn’t his brother who’d found him, after all… and his heart sunk into his stomach.
“Will Weston, just what in the—” His head whipped around when Ellie’s voice broke through the clearing. She obviously thought better of what she was about to say, but didn’t stop her advance. “What are you doing?”
She was…magnificent. That was all he could think. She didn’t look like someone who belonged in Idaho, or River’s End Ranch, and that realization made the pit in his stomach open even wider. She was dressed in that sexy black skirt and the red silky top she’d worn to their first dinner, with those killer heels. She was tromping through the Idaho woods in heels, and carrying her cell phone like it was a lifeline to another world?
Ellie stopped in the center of the clearing, crossed her arms, and gave out a barely contained “I’m waiting” vibe. Will even peeked down at her feet, to see if she was tapping her toes.
Sighing, he stood and climbed back towards the shore. He’d been sitting on the old fallen hemlock where he and Jace used to fish, a lifetime ago. It was his spot, now. He thought he’d be safe here. But she’d found him. She knew him well enough to find him.
When his lavender-booted feet hit the ground, he took a deep breath, and confessed the truth. “Hiding.”