The two men embraced, and it wasn’t long before Wes encapsulated them both in a huge bear hug.
Natalie’s eyes burned with happy tears for their reunion, as Janet clapped and clapped.
“Wes!” Pops called out in a muffled, panicked voice. “Break the huddle before I pass out!”
Both brothers stepped back to give their father some room to breathe, and saw that he was grinning.
“Gotcha!”
Everyone laughed with relief.
“I’d forgotten how much he loved to play practical jokes on us.” Derek smirked.
“Just for that, you’ve got to promise to take your medicine. No more passing out in the parking lot,” Wes scolded lightly. “You damn near gave me a heart attack.”
“You just get well,” Derek added. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Indeed,” Pops replied. “I see you’re still chasing women!”
Derek draped his arm around Natalie and kissed her on the top of her head. “Only one, Pops. Only one.”
Her body warmed as Derek tugged her even closer.
“This is Natalie, and she was the one who helped me realize I needed to change.”
“A good woman will do that,” Pops replied, nodding approvingly as Natalie stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek. “Hold on to her, Derek. Treasure her every day, as if it were your last.”
Something electrifying crossed between them as Derek stared into her eyes, and she felt like she was the only person in the world. And the only woman for him.
“You can count on it, Pops.”
A nurse burst into the room announcing it was almost time for Pops to have lunch and then a nap.
“But I just woke up!” he complained.
“Remember your promise,” Wes warned.
“Okay, okay,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “I want to get out of here, too.” He looked around. “I don’t think Medicare will pay for a private room.”
Derek patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Pops. I got this. I want you to rest and recuperate in the best surroundings possible.”
“It’s about time you put that money to good use!”
Natalie glanced at Derek, but he took his father’s obvious jab at his lifestyle in stride. She was glad he didn’t take offense, and it was clear that behind the criticism was a man who truly loved and missed his son.
Wes and Derek talked and laughed until the lunch tray was served and Pops shooed them all off so he could eat in peace and quiet. They left, promising to come back and visit later in the evening.
When they stepped out into the hall, Wes clapped Derek on the back. “I’m glad you and Pops are going to work things out.”
“Me, too.” He squeezed Natalie’s hand. “I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for, but I’m ready.”
Wes yawned so loudly the nurses glared at him. “Speaking of time. I think it’s about time for me to take a nap myself.”
Janet shot him an annoyed glance. “And I have to go back and get ready for tea. Let’s get out of here.”
The four of them took the elevators to the front entrance of the hospital.
“What are you guys going to do?” Janet asked.
Natalie needed to go back to Belle Amour to pick up her bag. The reunion of the Lansing men was a success. As much as she didn’t want to leave, it was time for her to go home. She opened her mouth to inform everyone of her plans, but Derek beat her to it.
“I’m going to show Natalie a little more of Baker’s Falls. Don’t wait up.”
In her eyes? Only questions.
In his? Unknown surprises.
And when he looped his arm through hers, she went willingly, led only by her heart.
* * *
Derek could not believe his good fortune as he steered the Jeep toward the center of town, heady from the emotional events of the day. Pops forgave him, he had the woman he loved by his side and in a couple of days he would be back on the basketball court.
The trouble was he wasn’t sure that’s where he belonged anymore.
Although he’d promised his father to be there as long as he needed him, he was under contract to the New York Skylarks. He had a job to do. Pops would understand.
Wouldn’t he?
The windows were cranked open, the unseasonably warm spring air caressing their faces, ruffling their hair, making him yearn for the ease of summer, when all concerns about the future seemed to disappear.
Hold on to her, Derek. Treasure her every day, as if it were your last.
Right now, he wanted to pretend it was summer. He didn’t want to think about the future. It was the perfect day for a drive, and the perfect day to forget.
The hospital was only a few miles from the town. The shops surrounding the square were a little crowded, but the atmosphere was still what the local chamber of commerce described as “quaint” or “homespun.” Growing up, he’d thought Baker’s Falls was just plain boring. But now he was surprised to find he was excited to share the town with Natalie.
He glanced over at her. She was being unusually quiet this afternoon, even at the hospital, although he suspected that was out of respect for his family. Hopefully she wasn’t regretting all the time they’d spent together the past few days.
“How about a picnic by the falls?” he asked, maneuvering the car into a parking spot.
She nodded and he drank in the smile that reached her eyes.
Taking her hand, he led them into a gourmet food store and coffee bar. The place was set up like an old-fashioned general store with wide-planked pine floors and country decorations. The scent of coffee beans, maple syrup and candles wafted through the air.
For their picnic lunch, they chose apple-pecan chicken salad on croissants, pita chips and chocolate-chip cookies for dessert. Derek grabbed a bottle of white wine. He had a lot to celebrate today.
“There are seven falls in the area,” Derek said once they were back in the car. “And I’m going to take you to my favorite one.”
Natalie said little as they drove the short distance to the falls, and Derek started to worry. It was as if she had something she wanted to tell him, but she was just waiting for the right time. He tried to forget that she’d never told him her feelings about him, but that was getting increasingly hard to do.
Maybe today would be the day.
He knew exactly how he felt about her.
He loved her.
Yet the way she was acting right now wasn’t very loving. It was almost as if she were trying to distance herself from him.
He rubbed his thumb against his temple.
Would he ever figure women out?
“This particular waterfall is a little hard to get to,” he said, glancing down at Natalie’s sneakered feet. “I’m glad you have your walking shoes on today, not those high heels. Even though you did look very sexy in them yesterday.”
She smiled and seemed surprised that he remembered. Her slender legs wrapped around his waist, drawing him into her core, possessing him fully, was something he never wanted to forget.
He pulled off the road, the tires crunching gravel. Derek could hear the roar of the waterfall even before he opened the door. Natalie got out and grabbed the lunch while he took a blanket from the back and shoved it in the crook of his arm.
“I can hear the waterfall,” Natalie commented, looking around. “I just can’t see it.”
Derek pointed straight ahead. “There’s a path to it right over there. Follow me and watch your step.”
The roar of the falls grew louder and louder, and the dense forest seemed to part itself in two as they walked the narrow dirt path, studded with exposed tree limbs.
In a short time the flat path ended abruptly at an uphill mix of rocks. He climbed up
first, set down the blanket and reached to assist Natalie.
When she reached the top, he set the bags on the blanket, gathered her into his arms and kissed her. The sweetness of her lips made him want to do more, made him love her as he’d never loved himself.
“I’ve wanted to do that for hours,” he muttered, inhaling the lush apricot scent of her hair. He tilted her head back and his lips sought hers once again, fed hungrily as she cleaved her body against his.
“Derek,” she said, pulling her face away. “What about the falls?”
She turned, and he kept his arms looped around her small waist, needing to keep her close to him.
As they both looked on, he was struck again by the natural wonder in front of him; the water cascading like a bride’s veil, cut in two by glacial rocks and boulders. It spilled over the edge, flowing easily, before crashing into the pool of water below and merging into the narrow stream.
Where was the water’s final destination? he wondered.
A lake? The Atlantic Ocean?
What was his?
Natalie sucked in a breath. “It’s beautiful.”
Her voice was round with awe and he exhaled in relief. She was a city girl, a born-and-bred New Yorker, that he wasn’t sure she would like it. He was glad he’d brought her here.
Derek nodded. “As beautiful as they are, there’s an unfortunate story behind these falls.”
She turned to face him, her eyes dark. “Tell me about it.”
He bent and spread the blanket over the flat, brown shale. When he was finished, he sat and offered his hand to Natalie. She knelt beside him and opened up the paper sacks.
“I don’t know if it’s true or not,” Derek began, unscrewing the cap from the wine bottle. “But the story I always heard was that a young man and his new bride were exploring the area. They were trying to cross the river when they were both swept away and over the falls to their deaths.”
“That’s horrible,” Natalie said with a shudder, tucking her legs under her. “And sad, too.”
Derek shrugged and poured wine into the coffee cups he’d picked up from the store, and handed her one.
“Love hurts,” he said wryly with a gestured toast, keeping his voice light. But inside, the words lodged like a rock in his brain, and he believed them because he’d experienced it so much.
The sound of the falls grew louder in his ears as he waited for her to touch his cup to hers.
But she never did and instead took a sip of wine, keeping her eyes on him.
“Love doesn’t have to hurt, Derek,” Natalie said quietly, setting down her cup. “It can heal, if you let it.”
Her words stunned him and he silently accepted the sandwich she handed him, and the knowledge that she was right.
Yet he didn’t know what required more courage. Loving someone? Or allowing love the time it needed to work its way into all the cracks and crevices of his broken heart, making it whole again?
He wasn’t sure he was brave enough to do both.
Though he wasn’t really hungry, he opened the wrapping and took a bite. The chicken salad, probably delicious on any other day, tasted bland on his tongue as it went down hard against the lump in his throat.
They ate in silence and kept their eyes on the falls. Derek’s mind churned like the water hitting the rocks, flowing out into the unknown. As with the couple in the ancient legend, he and Natalie were crossing over to something different—unexplored territory. He wasn’t sure if the feelings they had for each other, so new and unspoiled, would survive the journey.
Finishing his sandwich, he balled up the empty wrapping and stuffed it in the sack.
“I’m so glad you and your dad are speaking again.”
He nodded, felt a frown tug at his lips. “I’m just sorry I waited so long. I don’t know why I did, but I guess I was afraid.”
“Of what?” she asked before biting into a pita chip.
“Not so much that we wouldn’t reconcile, but that we would. Crazy, huh?”
She shook her head. “It’s normal. You weren’t sure how Wes or your father would react to your intentions. Thankfully, everything turned out well.”
He held up his cup in a toast. “Thanks to you. You gave me the kick in the pants that I needed.”
This time she toasted back, lifting his heart and his spirits.
They sipped their wine as leaves crinkled and waved above them. He looked into her eyes, gaining strength for what he was about to say.
“You know, when I play basketball...” he began, wishing he had one in his hands to calm his nerves. “I know exactly what to do. I’m expected to control the ball, ensuring it gets to the right players. The coach sets his game plan and I help him execute it to the best of my ability.
“But in a relationship, I don’t know what’s expected of me. There is no game plan. There’s only my heart...and how I feel.”
He took her hand, opened her palm and moved his lips over the surface. “I’ve only known you a short while, but you’ve already made a huge impact in my life,” he murmured, his eyes closed. “So I can’t figure out why such an amazing woman like you isn’t snatched up yet.”
Her eyes widened and she trembled under his touch. “Believe it or not, I haven’t had the time for a relationship.”
He lifted his head from her palm and pulled her onto his lap, groaning as her soft buttocks nestled against him.
He cradled her close. “Make time for one,” he commanded, lowering his lips inches above hers. “With me.”
When he tried to kiss her, she pulled roughly away and stood. “What kind of a relationship could we have, Derek?” she asked, wiping her hands down the front of her pants, as if he were a crumb she was trying to remove from her clothes.
He jumped to his feet. “I don’t have a specific plan. Can’t we just figure it out along the way?”
She shook her head. “I don’t see how it would work. We both travel so much. We both love our careers. You said so yourself—you weren’t sure you could give it up for a woman. What changed your mind?”
“I fell in love with you, that’s what changed it!” he declared, hating that they were arguing and confused at how everything had changed so quickly. “I want to build a life with you.”
“That’s just it, Derek. You can’t build a life with someone when you’re still trying to pick up the pieces from your old life. You need to concentrate on healing and rebuilding your relationship with your family. Not starting one with me.”
He went to her, gripping her shoulders lightly.
“Can’t I have both? Can’t we?”
He tried to pull her toward him, but she twisted away, taking his heart with her.
“Not people like us. We’re too driven, too focused. And we have too many people depending on us to make the right choices.”
He started to argue when his cell phone rang. When he saw who it was, he groaned but answered anyway.
“Yeah, what’s up?” he said harshly, turning his back on Natalie and walking away.
“Where are you?” Tony snapped. “I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”
Derek had purposely ignored the calls from his manager and he waited until he was out of earshot of Natalie before responding.
“I came back home. I’m here with that life coach you hired.”
“Is she helping you?” Tony asked.
He looked back at Natalie, where she stood, with her hands on her hips, questions in her eyes. “Yeah, she’s helping me.”
She’s just not loving me.
The pain of rejection squeezed in his chest and he barely heard Tony yammering at him. “You’ve got to come back to New York right away. Tonight, in fact.”
His mind suddenly snapped to attention. “Why? My suspension doesn’t
end till Tuesday. I was planning on staying here through the weekend. My dad...”
His voice trailed off and he was glad he shut up. He didn’t want Tony to know about his reconciliation with his family or Pop’s being in the hospital. Tony would turn it around into a publicity ploy, cheapen all the emotion Derek took from being forgiven, tarnishing everything he and Natalie had worked so hard to fix.
Now he was on his own.
“You have a very important meeting tonight, or did you forget?
Derek slapped his hand on his forehead. In light of everything else that happened, he had forgotten. Damn Tony for calling and reminding him.
“You can’t miss it. You promised you’d be there. Can I count on you?”
He shut his eyes, Natalie’s words floating through his mind.
We have too many people depending on us to make the right choices.
“Yeah,” he muttered, opening his eyes. “I’ll be there.”
He hit the end button. This meeting that required his attendance had been planned weeks earlier, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Things with Pops and Wes were still new, still fragile. Plus he and Natalie hadn’t had a chance to talk things over.
But it couldn’t be helped now. His brother and father knew who he was, what he was all about. He hoped and prayed they would understand.
This was who he was!
As for Natalie, from the way she was acting, it appeared that she didn’t love him anyway.
He sucked in a deep breath, held it as long as he could. When he exhaled, he rocked back on his feet, knowing that he’d have to let Natalie go, too.
He’d been ready to commit to her, yet it was obvious she didn’t feel the same way. He no longer needed to worry about making a choice where she was concerned. She’d made it for him.
Derek pushed his disappointment and heartache aside for the moment, walked back and started to pack everything up.
“Is there anything wrong?” she asked.
“No, but I have to go back to New York,” he said, folding the blanket over his arm. “Right now.”
“Now?” Her voice was a mixture of hurt and confusion. “Who was that?”
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