The River House

by Carla Neggers

  Olivia stirred next to him. “I should get back to Carriage Hill. That’s what I call my inn down the road.”

  “I drove past it to have a look. I like the chives on the sign.”

  She smiled. “You might be the first person to recognize they’re chives.”

  “Felicity snipped a few chives into my eggs at breakfast. She has a pot in the kitchen window.”

  “What a great idea—I love chives.” Olivia stood, placing a hand on her lower back with a wince, then smiling down at him. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to pass out. I did that yesterday.”

  “Not funny, Olivia.”

  She waved a hand, clearly unrepentant. “Now you sound like Dylan. I didn’t really faint. I just sort of fainted. I suppose it’s easier to make light of it when you’re the one who got wobbly and know you’re fine and were never in any danger.”

  “I suppose it is,” Gabe said.

  “Dylan wasn’t thrilled I delayed telling him, but I have to be—I can’t explain it. I guess I just want to maintain my independence. I’m pregnant and I’ve had a few minor incidents, but I’m not an invalid. You know?”

  He smiled. “Never been pregnant.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes, laughing. “Mark would say the same thing. I can tell you two are brothers. I had Felicity and Maggie here, but I’d have been fine without them. I keep my phone handy.” She held up a water bottle. “And now I keep water handy, too.”

  “Glad you’re figuring out what works for you.”

  “Thank you. Me, too.” She patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later. Let us know if you need anything.”

  Gabe watched her head down the stone walk to the driveway and then onto Carriage Hill Road, turning left toward her early-nineteenth-century inn. She looked steady on her feet. She and Dylan had invited him to join them for lunch at their new house, but he wasn’t hungry. He’d had a big breakfast—chives and all.

  He went back inside and helped himself to iced tea from a pitcher in the refrigerator in the barn’s kitchen. He looked out across the fields to Carriage Hill itself. A century ago, the region’s plentiful lakes, ponds, rivers and streams had drawn engineers and politicians from Boston in search of drinking water for the growing metropolitan area to the east. The massive Quabbin Reservoir had been the result, requiring the building of Winsor Dam and Goodnough Dike, the emptying and razing of four small towns and the relocation of their population, and then the flooding of the picturesque Swift River Valley—all long before Gabe had been born.

  It’d been a long time since he and Mark had set off into the protected woods with nothing but a jackknife and a compass. He’d been good with the knife. Mark had been good with the compass. No surprise, maybe, given where they’d ended up in life.

  “As if you’re a hundred years old,” Gabe said aloud, turning from the view.

  Usually when he got this restless and reflective it meant he was about to do something new—start a company, sell a company, go on a trip. Take action. But he was doing something new. He was getting ready to speak at an entrepreneurial boot camp for the first time, and he was sleeping under Felicity’s roof for the first time. That both were in Knights Bridge was part of the problem, maybe. Visits to his hometown had a tendency to stir him up. Even just breezing in and out would drag him into his past. He wasn’t trying to forget his childhood so much as, simply put, accept that he’d moved on. He wasn’t that Gabe anymore. He didn’t have to worry he’d be like his father, dreaming without taking any steps to accomplish anything beyond getting through the day, and then brooding on the inevitable disappointments that resulted from his inaction.

  He needed to be wary of giving in to impulse when he was in this mood. He didn’t want to do something stupid and then leave town, get back to normal and ask himself what the hell he’d been thinking. Easier to resist the urge in the first place than to have to clean up a mess afterward.

  He took his iced tea out front and sat on the shaded stone steps, taking in the quiet and the welcome breeze. Dylan and Olivia’s setup out here on their dead-end road was great for what they had in mind—the occasional boot camp, adventure travel, meetings, parties, weddings, girlfriend weekends and such—but most important, it was the perfect spot for starting a family. They were unquestionably happy here, and with each other.

  Gabe was pleased to be in on the inaugural boot camp. He figured he had time on the family part.

  “Loads of time,” he said under his breath, before he could get carried away.

  He heard a vehicle on the road and then the driveway, until it finally came to a stop in the parking area off to the side of the barn. He recognized Felicity’s old Land Rover from when her brother had driven it. It was dented and rusted in spots, but it looked to be in good shape. Even if she could afford one, Gabe doubted Felicity would ever go for a BMW or Mercedes-Benz. She was into function these days, and the Land Rover was well-suited to trekking on the area’s back roads in any weather as well as to hauling her party supplies.

  He got to his feet slowly as Felicity came up the stone walk. “Hello, again,” she said. “Enjoying the shade and breeze, I see.”

  “Feels good.” He studied her as she approached the steps. She had a tight look about her. “What’s up?”

  She waited until she was standing in front of him before she replied. “Who is Nadia Ainsworth?”

  Not what Gabe was expecting. “Nadia? Did she contact you?”

  “We just had lunch together.”

  “Where?”

  “Smith’s. Where else? I don’t know her. I wasn’t about to invite her to my house, and I gather she’s not the type for a picnic on the town common.”

  Gabe took a couple of steps deeper into the shade, not quite onto the grass. Nadia. Hell. How had she managed to follow him to Knights Bridge? Why? He’d seen Nadia last week in Los Angeles. She’d mentioned she needed to close out her grandmother’s estate in New England, but she hadn’t indicated she had plans to head East anytime soon. She was a top-notch customer service specialist, but her life was complicated these days. Her husband, David Ainsworth, had bought Gabe’s company and then walked out on Nadia a few weeks later.

  That was a few months ago. David had assured Gabe the two events weren’t connected, but Gabe hadn’t asked. What went on between the Ainsworths was none of his business—and he wasn’t going to let Nadia drag him into it. She’d tried in Los Angeles, and she hadn’t been particularly subtle about it. Now she’d lured Felicity to lunch. He had every reason to be annoyed with Nadia’s games, but Felicity had enough on her mind with the upcoming boot camp. He’d deal with Nadia.

  He tamped down his irritation. “What did Nadia want with you?” he asked.

  Felicity tilted her head to one side, eyeing him, then stood straight and sighed. “Steam’s coming out of your ears, Gabe. Did this Nadia step out of the lines by contacting me? Did I step out of the lines by meeting with her?”

  Of course she’d seen through him. “It’s the humidity,” he said, not bothering to try to sound as if he was serious. “I’m not used to it. I was in California too long.”

  “The humidity. Good one.”

  He ignored her light sarcasm. “Where is Nadia now?”

  “Enjoying Smith’s peach pie, I think. She had a turkey club but didn’t seem inclined to resist pie. Does she work for you or did she make that up?”

  “No one except Shannon works for me since I sold the company.” He took a moment to soak in the breeze, listen to the birds. Didn’t help particularly. Steam probably was coming out his ears. “I’ll speak with Nadia. She must be confused about her role. I’ll straighten things out. I’m sorry she troubled you.”

  “It wasn’t any trouble, really. I needed lunch, and I love Smith’s turkey clubs. I love their pie, too, but I’ve been into the brownies. Anyway, it worked out. I got the impression Nadia was fishing fo
r information more than anything else. There was only so much I could tell her.” Felicity put one foot on a step and leaned forward, as if giving her thigh a stretch. She straightened, eyeing Gabe again. “You don’t have a good expression. Nadia isn’t some deranged stalker who’s going to boil your pet rabbit, is she?”

  “Don’t worry about her.”

  “Is she going to boil my pet rabbit?”

  “Felicity, you don’t have a rabbit. I don’t have a rabbit. It’ll be fine.”

  “Is she an ex-girlfriend?”

  “No, but I’ll take care of the situation. She’s not your problem. She’s excellent at her work, and she’s smart. She understands the necessity of getting immediate feedback from customers and using that information to revise products and plans. She knows how important it is to pivot quickly in the business we were in.”

  “Doesn’t sound like an event planner,” Felicity said.

  “She coordinated with resorts on a couple of small corporate get-togethers.” He changed the subject. “Do you have anything you need to do here? If you need a hand, I can carry a box inside—”

  “No boxes.” She stood in a patch of bright sun and squinted at him. “I’ll check on a few things here at the barn and then walk down to Olivia’s inn. That’s where we’re having your party.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.” He motioned toward the parking area, where he’d left his car. “I’ll go see if I can find Nadia.”

  “Good luck.”

  Madly curious. That was Felicity, always digging, probing, a natural for ferreting out people’s secrets. Interested in people, she’d say. Gabe had no intention of further discussing Nadia with Felicity, no matter how curious she was. He didn’t need to explain. What he needed to do was to find Nadia, settle her down and draw some clear boundaries she couldn’t miss.

  Felicity started up the steps, paused and glanced back at him with a knowing sigh.

  He bit. “What?”

  “You and Nadia. You weren’t straight with her, were you?”

  “Straight with her how? She’s a terrific customer development specialist. She knows that.”

  “She has some kind of personal interest in you.”

  “Not that kind, Felicity. Trust me.”

  “Maybe, but I know you, Gabe. You’re the guy who says he’ll call even if it’s bad news and then doesn’t, and when people get upset, rationalizes his behavior by saying not calling is easier on the other person. Your way of letting people down gently whether in a personal or a business relationship. Let them figure it out on their own instead of telling them straight what the score is.”

  “Didn’t we part company because I was too straight with you?”

  “That’s different. We’ve known each other since nursery school.”

  “I can’t remember back that far,” he said lightly. “It’s possible that not keeping a promise to call allows the other person the chance to realize what’s going on and come to terms with the situation in private.”

  “Spares them, huh?”

  “It could.” He had no idea what he was saying but was arguing to argue. He and Felicity used to have back-and-forths like this all the time. “Someone who’s going to freak out and be emotional might rather have a chance to regroup before a conversation happens.”

  “Told you,” she said with a note of victory. “You’re that guy.”

  He grinned at her. “You’re as big a know-it-all as ever.”

  “Me?” She snorted. “That’s a good one. My advice—not that you asked—is to be straight with Nadia. Don’t leave her guessing or twisting in the wind. It’s too easy to read things between the lines that aren’t there, and if they are there—then get them out in the open.”

  “A lot of assumptions in that advice.”

  “What’s between you two is none of my business. I don’t want it to be. I’m not sticking my nose into your life. If Nadia’s a problem, she’s your problem.”

  “I’m sorry she contacted you. I’ll handle the situation.”

  “Good.” Felicity continued up the barn steps. “See you later.”

  Gabe waited until the door shut behind her. Then he cursed under his breath and stalked along the stone walk to his car. He noticed Felicity had parked her Land Rover crookedly. She’d been agitated but not upset. Nadia had stuck her nose in Felicity’s business, but she hadn’t made any threats. The woman was a mess but not that kind of mess. Her grandmother had died, her husband had dumped her and Gabe had sold the company she’d helped build, leaving her with an uncertain future if in no way financially destitute.

  It was added salt in her wounds that her ex-husband had been one of the buyers.

  When she was on her game as a customer development specialist, Nadia was the best, but she hadn’t been on her game in a while. That wasn’t Gabe’s problem to solve, but she was in Knights Bridge. He needed to straighten her out. Bad enough that Felicity had been stuck dealing with her. He didn’t want Nadia pestering Dylan and Olivia.

  As he started up Carriage Hill Road, he glanced back up toward the barn. Quite a spot it was. His brother had done a fine job in designing the house and barn, making them seem part of the rolling New England landscape. Gabe was suddenly sorry he hadn’t been out here sooner. Maybe his delay had prompted Mark to hire Felicity on his younger brother’s behalf.

  Gabe smiled. “No. If Mark was pissed, he’d just threaten to throw me in the river.”

  The party had made sense, and he appreciated Mark’s help.

  Now he just had to make sure Nadia Ainsworth wasn’t going to cause problems.

  * * *

  The village of Knights Bridge with its oval-shaped green had changed little in decades—probably not since well before Gabe was born. The oldest house, located on South Main Street, had been built in the late eighteenth century, the newest—across the common on Main—before World War II. The library had gone up in the 1870s, and the Swift River Valley Country Store had opened in 1910, or close to it. Gabe didn’t remember every date in his hometown’s history. A few businesses had come and gone—a yoga studio had opened in what once had been a hardware store—but the houses, shops and offices had never been destroyed by fire, bulldozer or well-intentioned village renewal.

  Gabe eased into a parking space on Main Street, in front of the small bank Felicity’s father had shepherded through several decades. He turned off the engine and sat for a moment, pulling himself together. He was off balance, and he hated it. It wasn’t just Knights Bridge or Nadia sneaking into town and manipulating Felicity into lunch. It was Felicity herself. He’d thought he was in control of his “reentry.”

  “Yeah, right,” he muttered. “Should have known better.”

  He got out of his car, shut and locked the door and looked across the street to the common, dotted with shade trees, benches and monuments. He’d already spotted Nadia sitting alone on a bench. He had no idea if she’d noticed him or even would have recognized his car.

  He crossed the street. She glanced up, smiled and waved.

  He waved back. So far, so good. She hadn’t leaped up and run screaming to him. She’d done that in February in a Beverly Hills restaurant. He’d contacted each of his workers personally to let them know he had a buyer for the company. With Nadia, he made it a face-to-face meeting. David, her about-to-be-ex-husband, had asked him to give her the news that he was the buyer. Gabe had managed to get her to calm down before someone called the cops. She hadn’t said so in as many words, but she must have known the sale would be the death knell to her marriage.

  He crossed soft, sunlit grass to her spot in the shade. “Hey, Nadia,” he said casually. “Nice day to sit in the shade.”

  “I’d have sat in the grass but there are ants.” She pointed at a small mound by the bench. “See them? They’re little bitty black ants. I’ve been watching them do their ant thing.” She raised
her chin to him, squinted. “It’s something to do in a small town.”

  “How long do you plan to stay?”

  “As long as I want.”

  “It was just a friendly question, Nadia.”

  She made a face, as if chastising herself. “Sorry. I was going to drive out to Carriage Hill Road, but I decided to take a walk after lunch. I faded pretty quickly.” She tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around her shins. “It’s lovely here, but it’s humid today. I don’t like it. I overheard kids talking about swimming holes. Gah. It was like listening to Tom Sawyer.”

  “There are some great swimming holes in the area,” Gabe said.

  She smiled up at him. “No wonder you left. I bet you couldn’t wait to get out of here.”

  “Nadia...” Gabe realized he had no game plan. “Nadia, you can’t be here, pretending you work for me—claiming that I asked you to get involved in the entrepreneurial boot camp. Pretending to be something you aren’t isn’t going to help anything.”

  “Is that what your friend Felicity told you? Did she accuse me of harassing her?”

  “No. And it’s not what I’m saying, either. Look, why don’t we go for a walk—”

  Nadia leaped to her feet. “I should have known I’d be misconstrued. I was just trying to do a good deed. I know how you are about this place. Your hometown. And I know you can be impulsive. I was worried about this boot camp and this last-minute party.”

  “How did you find out about them?”

  “David mentioned them. We had—” She brushed hair off her face. “We had some matters to discuss, and he told me. From what little contact we had, it’s obvious Felicity is perfectly capable of handling everything. She’s a pro. She has good experience. There’s no reason for concern.”

  “Nadia, I appreciate that you want to help, but you don’t work for me anymore.”