Fixing Forever

by Caroline Lee

  “Sounds do-able.”

  “In the morning.”

  Andrew knew what reaction his sister wanted, and he gave it to her. “There’s a six-fifteen in the morning?”

  The two kids laughed, and the sound made his heart lighter. At their mother’s gesture, they popped up and began clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, their bickering making him smile. It reminded him they were safe and happy and growing up normal.

  “I’ll do pizza next time. Easier clean-up.” He ate dinner over at his sister’s at least once a week, and they ate with him frequently too. In a job like his, where things were constantly changing and could quickly become overwhelming, it was relaxing to have a bit of normalcy like Thursday evening dinner with the kids.

  Heather handed her plate to her son, then sank back in her chair with a sigh. “Pizza with Unca Andrew?” She always used the kids’ old nickname for him—Sean had invented it when he couldn’t say “uncle”—to make him smile. “Sounds like a fun Friday night.”

  Friday night…? Friday night…

  Oh yeah!

  Andrew scrambled to pull his phone from the back pocket of his work pants. He’d changed out of his uniform shirt before coming over, but the black pants with all their pockets were ubiquitous. While his sister watched, he pulled up his personal email. Seeing the unread message queued through Soulmates.com, he breathed a little sigh of relief.

  “Want to clue me in?” Heather asked, amused.

  “I’ve got another first date.” And while the words were meant to be dismissive, Andrew couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he read IndianGoddess’s email. “With a gal named Rachel, apparently.”

  “Apparently? Oh, you’re using that dating site? That’s one of the good ones, right?”

  In the years since her divorce, Heather had shown absolutely no interest in dating again, and understandably so. But she’d always encouraged Andrew’s sometimes exhaustive efforts.

  Andrew had worked in the Engineering department at River’s End Ranch for over fifteen years, and in that time, he’d seen what felt like hundreds of couples meet and fall in love. Why, in the last two years alone, there had to have been close to sixty new marriages on the ranch! And while he’d been pretty young when he’d first started working here, he was no longer young…and no longer interested in being single.

  But despite his many—many—attempts at dating, it seemed he just hadn't been able to get past that first date. What particularly irritated him, all too often the gal he’d dated ended up marrying someone else quite soon after their one and only date.

  It had gotten to be a little bit of a joke, between him and Heather. And half the ranch.

  So he joined Soulmates, when he’d heard about it, and had been impressed with the women he’d been matched with. Most of them were nice, and thanks to the algorithms, all were very compatible with him. He’d even gone on some second and third dates with them. But none of them had made him want to think about…

  Well, none of them had made him want to think about forever.

  Until recently.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with the site.” He cleared his throat as his finger hovered over the “reply” button. “In fact, I’m pretty excited to meet Rachel. Tomorrow.” She wanted to go to Quinn Valley, and there was no way he’d agree to that. But still… “I think we’re a pretty good match.”

  “Yeah, but…” Heather’s green eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief. “You thought that on your last three dates too.”

  She was right. But this one felt…different somehow. He shrugged. “Rachel didn’t even tell me her name until today.” He waggled the phone in his sister’s direction. “We’ve been chatting now for two weeks and she’s just interesting. Different. I’m looking forward to meeting her in person.”

  “Fair enough. Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know,” he muttered as he typed out his reply.

  Dear Rachel,

  You have no idea how nice that feels to say. I’m glad I know your name now, and you know mine of course. I’ve just been telling my sister how much I’m looking forward to meeting you, and a Friday night date seems perfect. Unfortunately, I really can’t come to Quinn Valley—sorry. I’d be happy to pick you up and take you someplace else, if you don’t want to drive. We could come back here to Riston, or we could go to Post Falls or Lewiston, or someplace even further away.

  Not too far though, because apparently I have to be up really early for my niece’s hockey practice.

  I hope it’s not a deal-breaker?

  —Andrew

  Quinn’s Pub was the name of the restaurant his cousins owned in Quinn Valley, and as soon as he’d read her email, he’d cringed a little. He couldn’t imagine walking into that place, much less on a first date, and having to face relatives he hadn’t seen in years. Sure, he spoke with Gramps and Grandma sometimes, and of course, he still saw his parents and Katie and the twins on holidays.

  But Quinn Valley contained too many Quinns for him to feel comfortable. Not after what Uncle Bob did.

  “Hey, Earth to Andrew!”

  At his sister’s teasing call, he jerked his attention away from the screen—which he hadn’t really been seeing—and realized the kids were long gone. Heather was already brewing the special dessert drink they both liked. He smiled slightly as he watched her unwrap the two fun-sized Milky Way bars and drop them into the mugs, already anticipating how they’d taste once the decaf coffee was poured on top.

  “So, a date with Rachel, who’s special. Sounds nice.” She winked at him. “What else is going on? How’d the sprinkler project go at work?”

  “Ugh.” He slouched in his chair. “I’d been happily not thinking about that, you know.”

  “Sorry!” she said cheerfully. “What else happened today?”

  Sometimes he thought Heather just enjoyed hearing the ridiculousness of trying to keep a place like River’s End Ranch afloat. Lord knows he wouldn’t mind not talking about it when he wasn’t on call, but the way she always laughed at his stories loosened his tongue.

  “At some point last night, the industrial dishwasher in the restaurant overheated and the coil cracked. We had until lunch to find a replacement and fix it, but we’re already over budget, and I couldn’t get one for the right price, so they’re going to have to hand wash until tomorrow morning.” He groaned, remembering the manager’s reaction when he’d explained that bit of unwelcome news. “I’m tired of having to train these people on how to take care of the machines they rely on. We’ve had four kitchen managers in three years!” It was galling, knowing the high turnover in hospitality meant more broken stuff. “And October is budget month, which means we’ve already allotted the money for the next fiscal year, and guess what we didn’t allot for?”

  He could feel his pulse pounding in irritation. The last time he went to see Doc Baker, the man had told Andrew he had to watch his blood pressure. But how in the heck could he watch his blood pressure in a job where he had fifteen subordinates who all dropped their problems in his lap? A regular hotel might only have four or five—or fewer!—guys, covering the hotel rooms and meeting spaces. But a resort like River’s End Ranch employed its own plumber, electrician, certified pool operator, two HVAC technicians, a full-time and part-time mechanic, and eight regular engineers. And every single one of them looked to him to deal with the stuff above their pay grades.

  The problem was, Andrew was beginning to realize this amount of stress was above his paygrade too. When he’d started working at River’s End Ranch, the place had been much smaller and simpler to manage. He’d helped build it into the grand tourist attraction it was now, but having to run the thing had turned into a job too big for one guy. Especially a guy who wasn’t as young as he’d once been.

  “Wow,” Heather said softly, as she set his Milky Way coffee in front of him and slid into her chair. “I didn’t realize it was that…” She shrugged and pulled one knee up. “Stressful, I gue
ss.”

  “Yeah.” The crooked grin he sent her way wasn’t really convincing, judging by her slight frown. He sighed again. “Sorry for being a downer.”

  “I just thought it was good for you to laugh about the work, you know? The sprinkler system fiasco was pretty funny, you have to admit…”

  Remembering their last conversation, Andrew had to chuckle too. Then, remembering the little goat’s adventures, he began to laugh, and it did feel good. “How the heck did I get stuck overseeing a petting zoo, Heather? The horse stables were bad enough—thank goodness they’re new and aren’t falling apart—but I don’t remember any animal pens or irrigation systems in my contract!”

  She was chuckling too. “That’s because, when you started, no one could imagine how much the ranch would grow. And who would’ve guessed a goat could eat through brass?”

  “And not just brass!” He tossed up his hands in frustration. “We switched to stainless and he still keeps eating the darn irrigation heads! How does he manage that?” Andrew shook his head, still chuckling helplessly. “I swear, it’s a good thing baby goats are as cute as they are, because it’s amazing I haven’t murdered the thing.”

  Heather was outright laughing now, and it was good to hear. “Goat-murder! Capricide, I guess?”

  “And don’t even get me started on the screw-up in the vehicle barn! Paul and Chuck did their best to re-wire the electrical grid, but the thing can only take so much. And yesterday, we found the goat eating the fourth hole of the put-put course!”

  Heather's chuckles subsided much sooner than usual, and he tilted his head to watch her as she stared thoughtfully at her coffee. Andrew sighed heavily and sipped his own hot, sweet concoction. One of the jokes around the ranch was that since he quit cigarettes, he always had to have something in his mouth—gum, chips, sunflower seeds—but his preference was real food. And as far as he was concerned, a Milky Way bar dissolved in coffee was real food.

  After almost a minute of silence, Heather spoke hesitantly. “I hate to say it, but have you ever considered a new job?”

  “You know what? I have.” It was a really hard admission to make, but it was the truth. “I helped build River’s End Ranch into what it is today, but…”

  “But what it is today is too much for one guy to handle,” she said gently.

  His breath whooshed out of him in one giant agreement. “I don’t know how Wade Weston can handle the whole thing.”

  “He’s the general manager,” Heather pointed out. “And he has subordinates who handle each aspect of the ranch. You’re the chief engineer, and every single aspect of the physical property has to go through you. Maybe you should promote one of the other guys to co-chief. Or just, I dunno, leave the ranch and go do something else. Become a goat herder,” she teased.

  “Ugh. Wherever I go, I don’t want to see another goat ever again.”

  She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “I didn’t expect to hear you say that.”

  Shrugging, he admitted, “I never thought to say that. But I’m tired. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished—”

  “And you should be.”

  “Thanks. I’m proud, but I didn’t expect the ranch to ever be this involved, you know? I started out just taking care of a hotel, and now there’s, well, all this.”

  Heather smiled gently. “If you’re serious, I’ll help you with some job searches and applications.”

  “Whoa!” He chuckled and held up his free hand. “Let’s not do anything crazy. Give me a few weeks, things might be back to normal.”

  “With that goat running around, I don’t think things will ever be normal again.”

  “And besides, I’ve got something better to look forward to.” He winked.

  She squeezed his hand once, then withdrew, obviously okay with the change in topic. “Ah, yes, your date with mysterious internet-girl Rachel. Tell me about her.”

  Leave it to Heather to focus on the topic she knew would set him at ease. He smiled, then told his little sister—the woman who meant so much to him—everything he knew about Rachel, and why they were so compatible. And as he did, he felt his muscles relax and his heart ease.

  After what seemed like a thousand first dates, tomorrow’s date was going to be special. He just knew it.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Rachel parked her car—a sensible, dark green sedan with four-wheel drive—in the street in front of the Golden Fortune Chinese restaurant. Andrew’s refusal to come to Quinn Valley hadn’t exactly been a deal-breaker, but it had been a little bit of a red flag.

  What was he hiding?

  He’d been willing to pick her up in Quinn Valley, but he’d just said right before that he “really couldn’t” come to her town.

  It was odd, that was certain. She’d decided to keep the date anyway—though would drive herself, thank you very much—and resolved to weasel out of him the details of this particular oddity. They’d emailed a few more times and eventually decided on a date in Riston, just because it’d been ages since she’d had Chinese food, and Golden Fortune’s chef was really talented.

  Even if Andrew turned out to be a con artist and a total creep, at least she’d get some yummy walnut shrimp and lo mein out of the deal!

  When she reached the restaurant door, she hesitated. Should she go inside?

  They agreed to meet at the restaurant, but not where specifically.

  Out here on the sidewalk, even though it was getting dark—darn these early sunsets in winter!—and cold, or inside where they wouldn’t have the chance to really talk before having to deal with the hostess?

  Whoa there, lady!

  She forced herself to take a few deep breaths and shook out her hands by her sides. One of the downsides to a career in management was, well, trying to manage everything. She liked to be in control of everything, according to a therapist she’d once visited, and recognizing it was important.

  Okay. Okay, let’s go with the flow here. Let’s let life happen. We’ll just open the door and go inside and—

  She gave a little mental squeal as the door opened just as she reached for it, totally ruining the pep talk she’d been giving herself. That is, until she got a good look at the man standing there in the doorway.

  A little taller than her, with dark hair and eyes—it was hard to see the exact shade of color in the soft light from the gold lamp hanging over the door—and a beard trimmed close to his jaw. She’d always been a sucker for a well-maintained beard. And shoulders. Which this guy had plenty of.

  Good manners meant she should resist the urge to drop her gaze any lower—to see if he had nice muscly arms too—so she distracted herself with her new mantra:

  Please be Andrew please be Andrew please be Andrew.

  And then he smiled—even white teeth against his beard—and said, “I guess that’s what you meant by ‘IndianGoddess’, huh?”

  Hallelujah! It’s Andrew!

  Wait, what?

  “Oh, the—my user name.” Her hand unconsciously rose to tuck a strand of hair behind her right ear, a nervous habit she’d never broken. “Yeah, it’s—uh—I mean, most people assume I mean Native American, but nope, I’m…um…me, I guess.”

  Could you be a bigger dork, Rachel Priya Chakrabarti?

  And then—holy moly!—he reached out and took her hand, took it right out from behind her ear and held it!

  Held her hand! Right there in the doorway to the Chinese restaurant!

  “I’m Andrew,” he said in what she was beginning to suspect was an entirely too-sexy, gravelly voice. “And I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  Oh.

  “Ra-Rachel Chakrabarti.” Dork extraordinaire.

  If anything, his smile grew. “Let’s get inside before we let all the heat out. Lin is already glaring.”

  Lin? Who was Lin? Rachel decided she didn’t care, because he didn’t let go of her hand as he pulled her gently into the restaurant. She’d taken off her gloves for driving and hadn’t both
ered to pull them back on, and now she was thanking her lucky stars, because his hand was all sorts of warm. And callused. She’d always liked a guy with rough hands; it proved he worked with them.

  Just being near him was making her go warm all over—she was ready to shuck her coat already!—and her heart was beating frantically against her chest. Wow. He was cute and all, but this seemed a little too drastic a response, didn’t it?

  Safe and sound inside the restaurant, Andrew said a few words to the hostess—who Rachel assumed must be Lin—but kept his grip on her hand. Rachel shrugged her purse up higher on her shoulder and decided she didn’t mind his forwardness one bit.

  Didn’t mind holding his hand one bit, either.

  “I’m glad you chose this place,” he said when he tugged her into following the hostess towards their table. “The food’s amazing.”

  “Um, good. That’s, uh… Yay, me!”

  You’ve got a college degree, and you read regularly, Rachel. How come you sound like a toddler around this guy?

  Uh, hello? Because he’s a total hottie, that’s why!

  He smiled at her as he held out her seat—held out her seat! Squeeeee!—and she was halfway glad he had to let go of her hand to do so, because her hands were shaking a bit, she was so excited. Not nervous, no. Just excited.

  The first few minutes were spent in a flurry of taking off their coats, ordering drinks, and looking at the menu. They each ordered two favorites so they could share everything. Very romantic, and she liked that he suggested it.

  But then Lin was gone again and their orders were in the kitchen, and it was just the two of them and Rachel’s heart began to pound in anticipation once more. Andrew sighed and leaned back in his chair, his green eyes—she could see them now—raking her with an appreciative glance. And under his inspection, she felt herself preening a bit, glad she’d taken extra care with her makeup today.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a date with an Indian girl before.”

  He was still going on about her race? Was that a red flag, or was he just curious?