Chasing Treasure: Granite Lake Romance

by Jody A. Kessler

  “Know what?” Bodie asked. “Is this about Vanessa’s mom being moved to the nursing home?”

  “This isn’t the time or the place for this conversation.” Vanessa’s voice shook. She closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest.

  Tears leak onto Vanessa’s cheeks from beneath dark lashes. Unfortunately, no one other than Treasure seemed to hear Vanessa as Shane and Carolyn talked over her.

  Shane shook his head. “You ignorant bastard. They’ve totally kept you in the dark.”

  Carolyn said, “Don’t be angry. I thought she told you.”

  Bodie said, “Someone tell me what is going on.”

  “Vanessa wants you to forgive her and take her back,” Shane said. “I’m stepping out of this cluster fudge.” He started to go around his mother and Vanessa, then stopped and glanced back at Treasure. “Welcome to the Everett telenovela. It you stick around, I’ll bet you fifty bucks it gets better. You can have a beer with me on the deck while we watch the fallout.” He winked and gestured with a tilt of his head for her to follow him.

  Treasure tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. She didn’t get to answer Shane though because Carolyn wasn’t finished.

  “Bodie, Vanessa has been a part of our family for a long time. We need to be here for her and the baby.”

  “I’m pregnant.” Vanessa stared into Bodie’s face with tear-filled doe eyes.

  Bodie stepped back and accidentally landed on Treasure’s boot. He startled and sidestepped again. Then Vanessa was in his arms, head buried against his chest.

  Treasure moved out of the way and Carolyn took her hand. “They could use a minute alone. Why don’t you come inside with me?”

  Carolyn’s voice was kind and soft as she verbally smacked Treasure. Treasure stumbled out of the way and out of Carolyn’s slimy grip. Vanessa blithered on about her dead boyfriend and how scared she was about being a single mother.

  Treasure turned for the driveway intent on leaving immediately. But Bodie’s mom wasn’t done with her. “It’s for the best that you leave now, Treasure. They need a private moment. Thank you for coming. You’ve been a wonderful friend and work associate to Bodie. I do appreciate your dependability.”

  The disbelief of how this woman treated her was tantamount to none. Embarrassment rivaled shock and Treasure couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  * * *

  “You are something else, Vanessa.” As much as Bodie hated the cruelty in his voice, he couldn’t stop himself. What did she think she was doing?

  “Please, don’t be angry. That’s the last thing I need right now. I’m so mad at myself.”

  The hurt and despair in her voice softened his resolve a little, but he still pushed her away from him. Bodie was torn between watching his mother lead Treasure toward the house and wanting more information about Vanessa’s complicated life.

  “I’m trying hard not to be mad right now, but you can’t expect me to open my arms and take you back just like that.”

  “I’ve missed you so much, Bodie. I made a terrible mistake. I still love you.”

  He blinked and then blinked again. “What!” The anger resurfaced and he took another step away from Vanessa and her pleading eyes. The months of heartache and confusion after she left him last fall were apparently still raw. He planned to spend the rest of his life with her and she broke off their engagement. He had already bought a damned tuxedo for Christ’s sake. After the breakup, he slept on his friend’s couch for months, envisioning his future as a single male in his late twenties.

  “Do you love me because Jason is conveniently out of the picture?”

  Tears welled up and spilled down her pale cheeks. It was a low blow, but what was he supposed to think?

  “Were you seeing him before we separated? You can’t stand there and tell me you love me when you were in a committed relationship with some other guy, and carrying his child.”

  “I swear I never cheated on you. I met Jason in November. Bodie,” She sniffled and lifted her chin, finding the courage to continue. “For awhile I thought I loved him, but the truth is, I was considering breaking up with him before I found out I was pregnant. Then he was hit by a truck on the 101 and…” She stared down at the ground and then back up to his face. “I’m not a terrible person. I made a terrible mistake and now I’m trying to fix it.”

  “I can’t do this with you right now, Vanessa.”

  “I understand.”

  “I think you should leave.”

  “Your mom will be upset. She asked me to stay.”

  “You can stay here, but then I’m leaving.”

  “That’s not fair.” She sniffed again and wiped the tears away. “They’re your parents, not mine. I’ll go. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

  Bodie narrowed his eyes and filled his lungs with a deep breath. If she lied to him, he couldn’t tell. Either way, his mother and Vanessa put him on the spot and were attempting to manipulate him into a life of their own devising. It was bullshit. He was staying at his parents’ house as a hiatus until he decided where he wanted to live and work. With the location of the new brewpub undecided, he hadn’t made a definite decision about where he wanted to be. Now, he had serious regrets about sleeping under his mother’s roof.

  “I need time to think about this.”

  She nodded and raised her delicate and pale hand to place it on his chest the way she always liked to. He pushed her hand away and stared into her face. Bodie shut his eyes and tried to calm down. He didn’t care about her the way he used to. Vanessa’s beseeching warm chocolate eyes and her china doll complexion used to melt his insides. Last year, he would have done anything in the world to make her happy, but when he looked at her now, all he saw was a needy woman with a tough future ahead of her and a naïveté about life that made him feel sorry for her. Yes, there was some compassion in him for her situation, but he didn’t want to be involved in any of it. He couldn’t believe he still stood there listening. Where was Treasure? He screwed up again and let his family disrupt his time with her.

  When he saw Treasure’s bike missing from the driveway, he ground his teeth and threw the front door open intending to a talk with his mother about her interfering. This had to stop immediately. He was a grown man, and no matter how much his mother adored Vanessa, she couldn’t continue to force his ex on him. Bodie didn’t see her, so he grabbed his phone and took it outside to call Treasure. She didn’t answer. Treasure was smart enough to ignore her calls and texts when she was on the road. He left a message, apologizing, and asking her to come back or to meet him somewhere. As he ended the call, his mother opened the screen door and stepped onto the deck. She closed the door behind her and took a seat at the table next to him.

  “I’m upset with you,” he said. His temper had cooled, but he wanted his mother to understand her actions were not okay.

  “I suppose I’ve earned it.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “Vanessa left.”

  “Good. If she comes back I’m leaving.”

  “It doesn’t have to go to that extreme. Vanessa doesn’t have any family in California other than her mother and you heard about the Alzheimer’s.”

  “Dad invited me to stay here after my training and because of Rob and Shane being here at the same time. I didn’t come home to be a part of this underhanded matchmaking. Seriously, what is going on inside your head?”

  “I thought Vanessa could use some family right now.” Carolyn tightened her mouth and leveled her gaze on him. “Bodie, there’s more to this than you or Vanessa know. I’m going to tell you something and I want you to please listen without commenting until I have finished.”

  The grave expression combined with her somber tone of voice quieted Bodie’s next statement.

  “When I was twenty-four, I broke things off with your father. I met someone. He was handsome and exciting. He enjoyed many things your father did not. Like going to plays and taking me to fancy restaurants. Your father was m
ore of a picnic basket on the beach sort of man. Surfing and four-wheeling over the mountains was his idea of fun. Kind of like you. I loved those things, too, but the refinement of Larry was exhilarating. I thought it was what I wanted, so I left your dad and moved in with Larry. I found out I was pregnant with Rob. My due date left no doubt that Marshall was the father.

  “It was an extremely confusing time in my life. Larry knew about Marshall, of course, and when I told him I was carrying a child, he was less than thrilled. A side of him I never saw before became very apparent and I realized that yes, Larry had refinements your father lacked, but he was also a selfish, arrogant man who had no interest in being a father.

  “I returned to your dad and he was kind, loving, and accepting of my faults. He forgave me and I never made the mistake again of taking him for granted. It’s been thirty-five years, Bodie. And Marshall and I still love each other.” She reached over and laid a gentle hand on his.

  Bodie stared at their hands as he tried to imagine everything she told him. He never heard the story before. If his father had not taken his mother back, he and Shane wouldn’t be here now. It was a lot to digest, but one thing stood out to him.

  “Vanessa is not carrying my child.”

  “No, she isn’t. But she loves you, and you used to love her very much.”

  “Used to, Mom. I don’t anymore.” He rose from the table. “I’m going for a drive. If, for some reason, Treasure comes back, will you please ask her to call me?”

  Fourteen

  ACCELERATING OUT of the drive, Treasure turned left and hoped the road led her somewhere unknown and far away.

  Vanessa’s pregnant! With Bodie’s child or the dead boyfriend’s? Confusion riddled Treasure’s mind. She couldn’t believe Bodie was a cheater. Was he? She saw them together. Twice. This would explain his moody behavior and the uncharacteristic quiet moments. The way he stared at her, but was lost in his thoughts. Treasure was convincing herself Bodie was back together with his ex and didn’t know how to tell her. What the hell had she done? Treasure broke one of her unforgivable rules. No sleeping with boyfriends, husbands, or fiancés! How could he do this to her? Inviting her over and introducing her to his family. Did they know they were “friends with benefits?”

  She downshifted the motorcycle before the road curved right. The BMW hugged the corners of a tight switchback and then leveled out for a straightaway. She shifted into cruising gear and her mind went back to brooding over Bodie. Something else had to be going on with him. Bodie wouldn’t sleep with her behind Vanessa’s back. Then again, perhaps Bodie was a two-timing jerk. She’d met enough of them to know you couldn’t always tell. The retching sensation in her belly almost made her pull over. This is what emotional attachments did to people. This exact scenario was what she always tried to avoid. She wondered if her need to run away came directly from her mother.

  Treasure’s mom had fallen for an older, sexy biker and had accidentally gotten pregnant. Her father and mother thought they were in love and brought Treasure into the world. As it turned out, the world of bikers and keggers didn’t work with an infant to take care of. A couple months after Treasure was born, Larissa Hagen decided she couldn’t deal with her life — Morton or a baby. She ran away and was never heard from again. Was running away a genetic fault? It had to be.

  Treasure relied on disappearing when life became too tough. She found an unlikely compromise by living a sort of double life. When she needed to express her wild side, she went to clubs and bars as Hope Vogle. Hope didn’t have to be a responsible adult who cared about her reputation. Her last adventure as Hope left a sour and miserable taste in her mouth she had no desire to repeat — ever. Which left her embracing a new reality and moving forward whether she wanted to or not.

  Towering redwood trees lined the two-lane highway through the mountains. In the late evening, their shadows sheltered the road, giving Treasure near perfect visibility without the glare. She zoomed around another curve, letting the bike lean with the grade of the asphalt. As she came out of the curve, she eased up on the throttle and took a deep breath. The mouth of a gorge loomed before her. Granite cliffs rose on either side of the road to meet the pale rose sky of twilight. To her right, the river narrowed and raged over and around boulders as it met the canyon walls and rushed in. Equally excited to follow the watercourse, she took a second to glance up and enjoy the view. Treasure narrowed her focus on the road and accelerated the throttle. The surrounding beauty of nature helped clear the mind junk and she breathed in the scent of evergreen and river mist.

  Treasure rolled down a stretch of straight road and sat up on the seat to stretch her back. Two hours had passed since leaving the Everetts’, and she didn’t know how far she was from Granite Lake and her shop.

  The shop. Another sore point. It was the rock in her boot she couldn’t dump. With the extra money flowing in from her dad’s motorcycle parts, she couldn’t even hate all the junk anymore. She was making more money selling parts online than she made as a paramedic.

  Not that she was officially a paramedic anymore. Deep in her gut, she had a bad feeling she was going to be fired. There had been rumors about cutbacks in funding and the resulting layoffs. Even though she was a dedicated employee and worked hard, her boss had been clear about the marks on her record. Without Bodie there, she didn’t know if she wanted to return. And she loathed the idea of seeing Court again.

  Approaching the end of the straightaway, she decelerated for a bend in the road. New to the area, she decided to stop at the next pull over and study the GPS on her phone. She fantasized about having a sleeping bag and overnight gear to camp in the canyon. The gorgeous surroundings deserved more of her time. Her father used to take off on his motorcycle and not return for days. When she was a teen, her father’s disappearances weren’t unwelcome. Sure, she worried about him, but she also took advantage of the situation by throwing a party or spending the night with boys. The problem was, she never knew when he’d be back. Or if he was coming back. It scared her, although she never told him. How could she not imagine her father disappearing? That’s what her mother did. Why didn’t her dad realize she had anguished over him not returning? He had to understand abandonment. Her mother left him, too. Now, she was acutely aware of the need for escape, and how much freedom it brought to clear her head of anyone other than herself. The urge to sleep on the ground next to the river was so strong Treasure began searching for a grassy spot under a tree she could make do with. She kept rain gear, a lighter, and some other miscellaneous items in her saddlebags. Who needed a sleeping bag?

  Focused on this spontaneous decision to sleep outdoors, she nearly crashed into the back of a stopped car in the road. She braked, swerved, and avoided colliding with the rear corner of a red coupe. Treasure glanced in her rearview mirror. There wasn’t much space on the side of the road for the cherry colored coupe to pull over or break down. Amber emergency flashers blinked off the canyon walls and asphalt. With heart hammering and adrenaline pounding through her veins, Treasure thought the driver could have coasted a few feet farther to the side.

  Damn, she could have killed herself. The driver of the car will be lucky if she isn’t slammed into by the next vehicle. If Treasure had been driving a semi, the little car would have been pulverized.

  Treasure slowed the bike and glanced back again. Realization sunk into her endorphin-drenched system with eye opening clarity. She recognized the red car. Plus the flash of brunette hair and creamy complexion of the driver could only be Vanessa.

  A pull over spot came into view and Treasure down shifted the GS to turn around. Treasure set her teeth and let her resolve to help Vanessa sink in. The weight of it dragged at her, but Treasure parked in a safe location well off the road and unbuckled her helmet. She took three deep breaths and climbed off. Before jogging over to Vanessa’s car, she glanced at her phone, checking for reception. It didn’t surprise her to see there wasn’t any. The canyon walls were steep and high. Town was miles awa
y. What was Vanessa doing along this stretch of scenic highway? Treasure doubted she was out for a drive, but couldn’t deduce one logical thing about what made Vanessa tick.

  The river roared, echoing off the cliff walls as she trotted alongside the road. Vanessa sat in the driver’s seat staring down at her lap, and apparently unaware of Treasure’s arrival.

  She went to the passenger side so she wasn’t standing in harm’s way on the asphalt. Treasure tapped the window and Vanessa jumped. Seriously? How unaware of one’s surroundings could a person be? She hadn’t snuck up on her.

  “Get out of the car,” she called, loud enough to be heard over the river and through the glass.

  Vanessa opened the door and walked around. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Did you follow me?”

  The question wasn’t exactly snooty, but that Vanessa would immediately jump to that conclusion annoyed her. Vanessa sounded genuinely curious, but also wary. Treasure needed to utilize the behavioral adjustment techniques she reserved for pain in the ass patients. Otherwise, she would never get through this.

  “Yeah, I did.” She couldn’t help throwing out one sarcastic remark. Treasure wasn’t on duty, and Vanessa wasn’t her patient. She rolled her eyes when Vanessa moved away from her.

  “Are you going to hit me?”

  Treasure actually laughed at the absurd question. What had Bodie told Vanessa about her? “You should pull your car farther off the road. I stopped because you’re a road hazard. You’re lucky you haven’t been rear ended.”

  Vanessa stared at the car. As if the universe agreed with Treasure a pickup truck came around the corner, slammed on the brakes, blasted his horn, and veered around the coupe, barely missing the bumper. Vanessa’s eyes widened and moved away from the road hazard.

  “My car stopped running. I’m not sure what to do. I was trying to get a signal on my phone, but the canyon is blocking reception.”