So odds were he hadn’t followed her but was instead out for a stroll and just happened to run into them. Which was good. She’d never had a guest interested in her, though it was known to happen, and the idea made her uncomfortable. The fact that she found him so fascinating was even worse.
“We’re taking a nature hike,” she said as he walked up and fell in step beside her. He was tall and fit and the way he moved was almost hypnotizing. She would have gone as far as to say he was graceful had he not been so glaringly masculine. She’d never known a man who displayed so much confidence with such a complete lack of arrogance.
“Shouldn’t you be in group therapy?”
Will shrugged and made a face. “Therapy isn’t really my thing.”
Interesting attitude considering he was at a retreat that specialized in therapeutic counseling. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but if you don’t want therapy, what are you doing here?”
He thought about that for a minute. “I’m not sure, really. I just knew I needed some time to work things through, to make some changes in my life. This seemed like the right place to do it—where I’m with people who understand what I’m going through.”
Well, she gave him points for honesty. “You should really consider it,” she said. “The therapy, I mean. It’s probably not what you would expect.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said.
They reached the clearing where her group would take their first rest. Overturned logs and tree stumps served as seats. “Okay, everyone, fifteen-minute break. I’d like you to take out your journals and write at least one page.”
“What do we have to write about?” one of the younger girls asked.
“Anything you’d like. It could be a page about something you saw in the woods that interested you or something you’re feeling. Anything at all.” It didn’t really matter what they wrote. Their journals were a warm-up exercise to get the kids loosened up and ready for their group therapy sessions later that afternoon.
The kids dropped their backpacks to fish out their journals, and Abi turned to Will. “You don’t have to wait.”
“I don’t mind.” He set his pack on the ground and sat on an overturned log.
Okay.
Whether she wanted his company or not, it didn’t look as if she had much choice now, not without causing a scene and possibly insulting or embarrassing him in front of the kids. Besides, what could be the harm in a little friendly conversation?
“Keeps to himself, doesn’t he?” Will asked.
She followed the direction of his gaze and saw Eric standing alone, leaning against a tree away from the group. He hadn’t taken out his journal and was instead whacking at the underbrush with a stick, his usual bored expression on his face.
Rather than insist, she let him be. Forcing him would only make matters worse.
She sat beside Will on the log. “I haven’t figured out how to approach him yet. I know there’s a way in, I just have to find it.”
Will leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him. They were long and muscular and covered with crisp dark hair. She’d never been particularly attracted to men’s legs before, but she found her eyes drawn to his and even had a difficult time looking away. What was it about him that fascinated her so?
“He’s a problem kid?” Will asked.
Though she tried not to discuss one guest with another, she was grateful for the neutral topic. And being male, Will might have an idea how she could get through to a teenage boy. “The opposite, in fact. His parents are concerned because he’s become unusually introverted. They sent him here to pull him out of his shell.”
“Sent him here? I thought it was supposed to be family therapy.”
“It is usually.”
“Let me guess—the parents don’t have time.”
“Something like that.”
He shook his head. “That’s too bad.”
“Miss Abi!” Noah appeared in front of them, hopping from one foot to the other, clutching the front of his shorts. “I gotta pee bad.”
Add drama queen to his personality quirks. All he had to do was ask.
“That’s the cool thing about being a boy. Outdoor plumbing.” She nodded toward the dense forest on either side of the clearing. “You’ve got a couple hundred trees to choose from.”
He glanced around, a worried look on his face. “I don’t want to go out there alone.”
“Would you like me to come with you?”
His expression went from worried to horrified. “Yuck! You’re a girl.”
“Would you like Mr. Bishop to take you?”
He looked Will over in the blatant, honest way that kids did, then shook his head. “He’s a stranger.”
“Hmm,” she looked around, wondering how to solve this problem, then got an idea. “What if one of the older boys took you? Would that be okay?”
Noah considered that for a minute, then nodded.
“How about Eric?
“Yeah, okay.”
Perfect. Just the way in she needed. “Eric,” she called, “can I see you for a minute?”
His expression one of sheer disinterest, Eric tossed down his stick, shoved both hands in the pockets of his shorts and ambled over to them. Though he was only seventeen, he stood close to six feet tall. His sun-streaked brown hair was on the long side, and he brushed it aside with a jerk of his head when it fell into his eyes. “Yeah?”
He was trying so hard to not look lost and lonely, it broke her heart.
“Noah here needs to relieve himself, but he’s uncomfortable with the idea of a girl or a stranger taking him,” she explained. “Could you please take him far enough into the woods so he has some privacy?”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter either way to him. “Sure. Come on, kid.”
He headed into the woods and Noah trailed behind him. Abi could hear him jabbering away. Maybe he would get Eric talking.
“That was good,” Will said.
Abi turned back to him and smiled. “Like I said, the moment would present itself. I just had to be patient.”
“You’re really good with the kids.”
“I love my job. Although, if you had told me four years ago that I would be doing this, I’d have said you were nuts.”
“Why is that?”
“Let’s just say I wasn’t into kids back then.”
“A lot of things can change in four years,” he agreed, a sad, almost wistful look in his eyes.
“Is that when it happened?”
He turned to her. “What happened?”
“The car accident.”
“Yeah, four years ago.” Four years next month, in fact. The anniversary of Ryan’s death. In an odd way it felt as if Will’s life had been on hold since then, as though he were just biding his time, waiting until Vince was brought to justice. He was so close now he could feel the heavy hand of justice by his side, waiting for him to succeed. And he would get that justice, no matter the consequences.
“How did you end up working here?” he asked her.
“Fate.” She looked over at him, and though she smiled, he could see the guarded look in her eyes. She was hiding something, and he had a pretty good idea it had to do with her boss.
After talking with many of the other staff members, he’d concluded that not many seemed to know much about their elusive employer, and the few who did weren’t inclined to discuss her.
He was all the more convinced that Abi was the key, his ticket to meeting Maureen. But it wasn’t going to be a simple operation. There was something about her, something in her eyes he identified with—a connection he felt—and he was pretty certain the feeling was mutual. But he was also aware that his presence made her uneasy, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. That was okay, because he wasn’t sure what to make of her either—what he found so attractive about a woman so plain and unassuming. His wives might have been clingy and dependant, but they were both physically beautiful.
Working undercover he’d learned to subtly—and sometimes not so subtly—insinuate himself into any given situation. He knew just how far to push and when to back off. He didn’t doubt he would get what he wanted. He’d waited too long, worked too hard to let this chance slip away. And there was no rush. He had the better part of four weeks to get what he needed. Plenty of time to win Abi’s trust.
“I guess I should be on my way.” He stood and hiked his backpack up over his shoulders. “I’d like to get a few miles in before I play golf.”
He looked down at Abi and for a second he could swear he saw disappointment in her eyes.
“There’s a sign-up sheet in the office for both individual and group therapy,” she told him. “I’d like you to consider it.”
“I will,” he said, knowing he really wouldn’t. He didn’t need a shrink to tell him he wasn’t cut out for marriage. He’d figured that out all by himself. “Maybe I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
She gave him a noncommittal smile that said whether he did or didn’t was of no consequence to her. “See you around.”
That he would definitely do. She could count on it.
Chapter 4
“Ms. Sullivan?”
Abi looked up from the file on her cluttered desk to the young man standing in her office doorway. The red T-shirt he had draped over his shoulder bore the retreat logo, meaning he was probably her new employee. According to his employee file he was barely twenty, and she didn’t make a habit out of ogling men ten years her junior, yet she couldn’t help feeling a tad breathless by the sight of him. Jet-black hair with dark, deep-set eyes to match. Tall and muscular in all the right places. A real heartbreaker. “You must be Tom.”
“Tom Sterling.” He dropped his duffel bag and walked toward her, hand outstretched, flashing her a lazy, brilliant white smile.
Oh, yeah, this guy was going to drive the female counselors into a tizzy. But considering his shining recommendations, he would be worth the hassle.
Abi stood and took his hand. His grip was firm and confident. “Welcome to Healing Hearts. I appreciate you coming on such short notice.”
“It’s me who should be thanking you. My scholarship doesn’t cover living expenses, so when my last position fell through, I was kind of desperate.”
“I was just looking over your file. Your references are impeccable. As I explained on the phone, you’ll be working primarily with the younger kids.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Great.” She pulled open the file drawer and took out a copy of the employee handbook. “This will cover what we didn’t discuss on the phone. If you have any questions, you can ask me or any of the other staff.” In fact, she was sure the female employees would be falling all over themselves to accommodate him.
“Go see Susie in the main office. She’ll see that you get settled in. I’ll give you the rest of the day to acquaint yourself to the grounds. You report for work eight o’clock tomorrow morning in the children’s activities center.”
He took the handbook. “Thanks, Ms. Sullivan.”
“Just Abi,” she said. “I’ll see you bright and early.”
He shot her one more heart-stopping, slightly shy grin, then grabbed his bag and headed out the door.
Abi picked up the phone and dialed Susie’s extension. “Susie, I sent Tom your way. Could you have one of the counselors show him to his cabin and get him settled in?”
“Sure thing, Abi. What do you think of him? Is he cute or what?”
“He’s going to wreak havoc on the female staff.”
“If I were ten years younger…” she said with a wistful sigh before she hung up.
Abi knew exactly what she meant. Seeing a young man like Tom, with his entire future ahead of him—it made her feel so…old. As if the best years of her life had been wasted. If she could only go back, knowing then what she knew now. She would have done things so differently.
But there was no point dwelling on the past. Some things you just couldn’t change.
Abi checked the sign-up sheets in the office and shook her head. “Darn it.”
Susie looked up from her computer monitor. “Something wrong?”
“I don’t suppose Will Bishop has been in here today.”
“The guy with the face? Nope, haven’t seen him. Why do you ask?”
“I was just hoping he signed up for therapy, but I don’t see his name here.”
“Maybe he just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She’d seen him heading toward the golf course with a group of men that afternoon and later she’d seen him walking toward the lake, a towel draped over his shoulder. She’d really hoped he would find time to stop in the office, but at least he seemed to be making friends. Maybe one of the other men would persuade him to join a group. She had the feeling that deep down he knew he needed therapy. Why else would he be here? All he needed was a nudge to get the ball rolling.
“Where’s Adam?” Susie asked.
“He’s with the tot group down by the beach. They’re having a picnic dinner. There’s a little boy who’s four, so Adam has a new best friend. He just loves it when the new family sessions start. Would you do me a favor and let me know if Will signs up?”
“Sure thing, Abi.”
Abi left the office and headed for the main dining room. It was the first Tuesday of the session, meaning it was Italian cuisine night. Though meals were served buffet-style, the food was delicious. Despite that Abi had a full kitchen in her cabin, it was usually easier to eat in the dining room with the guests and other staff. However, she tried at least two or three times a week to have a special dinner for just her and Adam—a family night when they would eat together, then sit on the family room floor and play board games or cards or do crafts. Then he would climb into bed and she would read him books until he fell asleep.
Sometimes she would sit and watch him sleep, memorizing every detail of his precious face. Though being a single parent could be rough, she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.
Abi fixed herself a plate with linguine in clam sauce and a slice of toasted garlic bread, then went to find a table, scanning the room, telling herself she wasn’t looking for Will—and denying a dash of disappointment when she didn’t see him there. He’d mentioned seeing her at dinner, although that didn’t mean he’d planned to sit with her. In fact, she didn’t want him to sit with her.
Well, maybe she did a little, but she knew it would be best if he didn’t. He had stirred in her feelings she’d locked away a long time ago. What scared her even more—he made her feel things she’d never felt before.
She headed for an empty table near the back, set her plate down and took a seat.
Even if he had been there and she had wanted to sit with him, she probably wouldn’t have had the guts to approach his table and sit down. The old Abi, the one she’d been before she’d had Adam, would have strutted into the room, happy only when she knew all eyes were turned her way. She wouldn’t have hesitated inviting herself to sit with any man she chose. Of course, she never would have chosen a man like Will. She’d been attracted to men with money and power. Men who served a purpose.
In the end, all it had gotten her was trouble, and she realized now she was better off alone. No man was worth what she had been through.
If that was true, why did she find her eyes straying toward the door? Why did her heart flutter with nerves when she thought about seeing Will step into the room? When she remembered the way he looked at her? She couldn’t help wondering what
it was he saw. Her days of a flat stomach and twenty-four-inch waist had left her for good in the fourth month of her pregnancy, when the morning sickness had ended and her appetite had returned with a vengeance.
Rather than feel disgusted by her expanding figure, she’d felt free. She’d said goodbye to the daily torture of exercising herself to death, to the diet of lettuce and water. With every pound she’d gained, every stretch mark that had appeared on her flawless skin, she’d felt more content, more in control of her life. She was more comfortable in her skin now than she’d ever been.
Maybe some men—men like Will—found that attractive.
Or maybe she was delusional.
Forcing herself to concentrate on her plate and not the door, she shoveled a bite of creamy pasta into her mouth. She would hurry up and eat, go pick up Adam, then call it an early night. It sounded like a pretty good plan, until her eyes strayed up once again and landed right on Will coming through the dining room door. As much as she wanted to look away, she felt frozen in place.
He stopped just inside the doorway and gazed around the room. He’s not looking for me, she told herself, just a vacant place to sit. Then his eyes stopped on her and held there, a grin quirking up one corner of his mouth. Her stomach did a hard flop and the hair on the back of her neck shivered to attention. There was a boyish charm to his smile, but there was no doubt in her mind he was all man.
Out of Sight Page 4