Leading inexperienced people in the wilderness, even by someone with the skills Reese Vega had, was a recipe for disaster. The only person he would do this gig for was his brother. Even then, he was starting to regret it.
Reese stood to the side of the trail, the vanilla scent of ponderosa pines wafting around him, and wished he was hiking alone. The trip had originally been booked by Holcomb Springs Outfitters as a snowshoe tour, but the snow had melted to slushy piles on the trail and only remained in the shadows of the trees. Still, it was a beautiful day, if only he could enjoy it. Alone.
As the group of several girlfriends who had come up for a weekend away passed him, one of the women screamed and jumped, grabbing her friend’s arm. “What was that? I heard something in the bushes. Is it a bear? Or a mountain lion?” She shot Reese a wide-eyed look.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Probably just a squirrel.”
With all the noise they’d made, most wildlife was long gone. Even the chattering blue jays had left the area. The squirrel was probably hoping for a handout. Reese craved the quiet of the outdoors. It soothed him in a way nothing else could, especially after his injury. But this… this was not the kind of outdoors he liked.
But it was a peace offering for his brother who ran Holcomb Springs Outfitters. Maybe it would help mend the fences Reese’s enlisting in the military had broken in his pacifist family. He could only hope. They had wanted him to be someone different than who he was. They hadn’t exactly been in his corner.
He pointed for the group to continue on the trail while he remained behind to check on the stragglers. There were always stragglers. It gave him a chance to grab a minute of quiet. His headache had worsened from the chatter of the women. That and their endless flirting. He’d almost take another tour of duty compared to more tourists.
But due to his traumatic brain injury, that was no longer an option. And he’d told his brother, Raul, that he’d help run his outfitters shop until Raul got back on his feet. Literally. He’d had knee surgery and couldn’t lead the hikes and camping trips. And being as the outfitter shop was the family’s main source of income, Reese couldn’t say no.
It was only temporary. He’d do his family duty and make an attempt to improve relations. And then he could figure out what he was going to do next. And it wouldn’t be escorting tourists through the wilderness.
Reese stepped toward the guest who had fallen behind. The man wasn’t wearing proper hiking boots. His tennis shoes were soaked from the slush, and he was breathing hard, his face red. Many people had no idea how the seven-thousand-foot altitude could affect them.
“Not too much farther. The lookout point is just ahead. Great view of the lake. It’ll be worth it.” Reese tried to infuse his voice with an enthusiasm he didn’t feel but Raul would expect. Raul was so much better with people than he was.
The man glanced up, nodded, and then went back to staring at the trail. Not enjoying the beauty around him, missing the whole point of a hike in the woods.
Reese shrugged as the man plodded past him. Not his problem. He rubbed his temples, hoping to ease the pain. Reaching into his pack, he grabbed a bottle of Aleve and popped a couple into his mouth, washing them down with water from his bottle.
A yelp went up from the area of the lookout, and Reese sprinted up the trail. One of the women on the girlfriends’ trip was sitting on her bottom a little way down the slope of the lookout, just before the sharp drop-off.
Her friend rushed over to him. “We were trying to take a selfie with the lake in the background. I think she stepped off, and then she just fell.”
He nodded and knelt beside the woman. Another two steps, and she would have been over the drop-off. People didn’t have common sense. He should have been up here to keep an eye on them. But then what about the straggler? He didn’t know how Raul did it.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” He scanned the woman, looking for any obvious sign of injury.
“My ankle. I think I twisted it when I stepped back and tried to catch my balance.” She glanced up at him and gave him a small smile.
He tugged her jeans up above her ankle. At least she had boots on. He palpated the area. “Does that hurt?”
She winced. “A little.”
It wasn’t swollen, but that could change quickly. “What’s your name?”
“Andrea.” She looked up at him and bit her lip.
He should have remembered. Raul would have remembered. He never did live up to his family’s expectations. He reached in his pack for an Ace elastic wrap from the first aid kit. He eased off her boot, wrapped her ankle, then slipped the boot back on with the laces loosened. “That should stabilize it to get you down the hill. Do you think you can put any weight on it?”
“Maybe. If you help me.”
A glance shot among her friends, smiles they didn’t try to hide.
Great. Was this a set up? “Okay, everyone get your final pictures, and we’ll head back.” He slipped his arm under the woman’s shoulders. “On three, we’re going to stand together. Just put your weight on your good foot and lean on me.”
Her “okay” came out breathy.
“One, two, three.” He pushed to his feet and pulled the woman up with him.
She gingerly put weight on her foot then immediately retracted it. “It hurts to stand on it.”
He should have her friends help her back down the trail. “Let’s get one of your friends on the other side.”
Another woman stepped to the side of Andrea, and between the two of them, she hobbled down the trail.
“It’s a good thing we have a strong guy like you to help us out of trouble,” the friend said, someone else whose name he couldn’t remember.
And there it was. Raul was married, so maybe he didn’t have women hitting on him all the time, but there was almost always one on every tour he’d done so far. “Best not to get into trouble in the first place.”
He got them back down to the van and loaded up. “Do you want me to take you to the urgent care clinic? It’s not big, but we have a doc who can check out your ankle.”
Andrea shook her head. “No, it’s not as sore as it was at first.”
Her cheeks tinged pink, and he wondered if it hurt at all.
“Besides,” she quickly added, “my friends can take me later if I need to go. I’ll just put some ice on it back in our room.”
They pulled into Holcomb Springs Outfitters parking lot. Raul came out in his knee brace to help the guests with their gear and thank them for coming.
Reese closed the van door as the last guest left.
Raul laid a hand on his shoulder. “You should thank the guests and ask them to come back. Let them know we enjoy serving them.”
“Even if we don’t?” Reese brushed past him and carried the gear into the back of the shop. He’d have to repack the first-aid kit. “I don’t lie.” He opened the kit and rummaged through the supplies.
“It’s not lying. It’s good business.”
Reese grunted. He never was going to see eye to eye with his family on things. Important things.
“How’d it go?”
“Fine.” He told Raul about Andrea’s injury. “I’m not convinced it wasn’t an elaborate setup by her and her friends to flirt with me.”
Raul grinned. “It’s all part of the game. I should keep you around, put your face on the brochures and ads. It’d be good for business.”
“I’m only here until you are well enough to lead the tours again.”
The grin disappeared from Raul’s face, and his whole body deflated as if more than his knee was injured.
Reese almost wished he could take the words back, but what was the point? Raul needed to know the score. Reese repacked the bag and made sure everything was ready to go for the next trip. Military preparedness had been ingrained in him.
Raul put his hand on the door leading from the back of the shop to the main floor. “Want to come over for dinner?”
Reese recognized the olive branch. “Tell Marissa I appreciate the offer.” He knew it’d come from Raul’s wife. “But I wouldn’t be good company. My head’s killing me. I’m going to go lie down.”
Raul’s brow furrowed, but they’d been down this road enough that he knew not to baby Reese. Instead, he gave a short nod. “Come on over if you change your mind.”
Reese lifted his chin, hefted his backpack, and headed out to his classic 1978 red-and-white Bronco. In a few minutes, he was on the road heading toward Holcomb Lake and the garage apartment on Raul and Marissa’s lake house, looking forward to staring at the water and appreciating the quiet, hoping it would calm his pounding head.
He should give Raul more credit. He was trying. But in the end, would anything change? He’d trusted his family to have his back and they’d let him down. Letting himself get too close, too trusting again, would only end in heartache.
* * *
Ella Sommer’s neatly ordered world meant that on Saturday nights, while Mom was bowling with her friends, Ella had dinner with Amanda. Ella liked nothing better than ending the week with a good meal shared with a good friend. She parked her Subaru in front of the restaurant in downtown Holcomb Springs. This time of year was her favorite, between holidays when it was just the locals and not full of tourists, when she knew practically everyone she saw.
By the end of February, her fifth-grade classes always got restless. Christmas break was too far in the rearview mirror and spring break was around the corner, just not close enough. Winter had kept them cooped up for too long. So dinner at Bella Sorgenti with her co-teacher and best friend, Amanda Elliot, was the break she needed. And they hadn’t even had the opportunity to dish about the Spread the Love dinner dance last weekend, an event Ella had purposely chosen to serve at from the kitchen, where she heard some gossip but couldn’t see who all had attended. It was long past time for a girlfriend sesh.
She climbed out and headed for the wooden sidewalk. Downtown tried to maintain a Western theme in a nod to its gold-rush roots. Watching that she didn’t step in a pile of slush, she barely noticed that someone was holding the door to Bella Sorgenti for her.
“Thanks,” she mumbled and then looked up. Her feet froze in place. “Oh, hi, Lucas.” She had avoided her ex-fiancé and coworker at school as much as possible since their relationship ended over Christmas break.
“Hi, Ella. How are you?” His brown eyes were warm, and for a moment, she thought he genuinely wanted to know. Maybe they’d moved from the avoidance stage to the cordial stage.
But before she could speak, she noticed a woman with him. A beautiful woman she had never seen before. Who had her hand threaded through Lucas’s. So, not a cousin or visiting family member. Well, of course Lucas was dating again. Why not?
“Uh, good. Meeting, ah, someone for dinner, actually.” He didn’t need to know it was Amanda.
Lucas tugged the woman closer. “I’d like you to meet Sophie Graff, my fiancée.”
Sophie took a half step forward. “So nice to meet you. You teach with Lucas, right?”
Ella didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Too many competing thoughts and emotions flooded her, and it took all of her self-control to keep them from showing. At least, she hoped that’s what she was doing.
She nodded, hoping she didn’t look like a bobblehead doll. “Yep, I work with Lucas.” But before she could politely extricate herself from this mess and get inside and drown her emotions in carbs, Sophie stuck out her left hand. Was she supposed to shake it? Did she not want to let go of Lucas’s hand that much? Then the dazzling diamond caught Ella’s eye. The ring.
She barely gave it a glance. “That’s very lovely. Well, have a great evening. I’d best get inside.” Sidling around Sophie, she let the warmth and comforting scents of Bella Sorgenti envelop her. Scanning the room, she didn’t see Amanda. She stepped up to the podium. “Hi, Selena. It’ll be Ms. Elliot and me tonight. She’s not here yet, is she?” Ella had Selena in her classroom the first year she’d taught.
“No, but your favorite table is open. I’ll bring her back when she comes.”
“Thanks.” Ella made a beeline for the private booth and slid inside, avoiding making eye contact with others in the restaurant. She just couldn’t deal with being polite to anyone at this moment. Selena followed with a basket of warm, buttery garlic bread and a bottle of sparkling Italian mineral water. Ella took a bite of the bliss and closed her eyes.
So Lucas hadn’t wasted any time moving on. Dating, she had suspected. After all, he was a catch. Thin, with a close-cropped beard, always dressed well, had a good job. But engaged? They hadn’t been broken up three months yet. And Sophie clearly wasn’t a local girl.
Amanda slid in the booth across from her. “Sorry I’m late.”
“If you’d been here a few minutes earlier, you could have witnessed one of the more awkward moments of my life.”
Amanda reached for the garlic bread. “Which was?”
Ella gave her the rundown, watching Amanda’s face. “You knew, didn’t you? That’s why some of the conversations in the teachers’ lounge stop when I come in. I thought it was just about our breakup.”
Amanda shook her head. “I didn’t know for sure. But I’d heard some snippets that made me wonder. I didn’t think he’d be engaged though.”
Miranda came over and took their orders, which were always the same. Spinach lasagna for Ella and whatever seasonal ravioli there was for Amanda. And a piece of tiramisu to split for dessert. The routine was as comforting as the food and company. And after the shock Ella had, she needed some comforting.
After Miranda left, Amanda leaned her forearms on the table. “How are you feeling?”
Ella shrugged. “Shocked mostly. Maybe numb, I don’t know. I’m actually not sad. I don’t want Lucas back. I wasn’t even that sad when we broke up. What’s wrong with me?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. Lucas is one of those guys who looks good on paper, but there really wasn’t that magical chemistry between the two of you that great couples have.”
Ella waved that away. “That’s only on the Hallmark channel or romance novels. Relationships need more than chemistry.”
“I know, but they need chemistry too.”
Amanda was an inveterate romantic, so Ella wasn’t going to argue with her. Ella’s nature was more practical. It was why, she supposed, they worked so well together. Their styles complemented each other. The best tactic was to change the subject.
“Any news from the Spread the Love dance since I was stuck in the kitchen the whole time?”
Amanda thought for a moment. “Wally and Stan put everyone to shame with their dancing, as usual. For a couple of old guys, they sure can move. You’d never guess, the way they plant themselves at the booth at the Jitter Bug Too or the hardware store.”
“And we raised enough money to upgrade some of the equipment at the community center. Not every kid wants to play basketball after school in the winter.” Since she volunteered there a lot helping with tutoring, she had a sense of what the kids wanted. “I’m hoping we can install a climbing wall.”
Amanda pointed a piece of bread at her. “Maybe we could get Reese or Raul Vega to teach the kids.”
Ella’s lovely dinner turned to lead in her stomach. “Reese? He’s back? On leave, or is he out of the military?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you know? He was at the Spread the Love dinner with Raul and Marissa. I guess he’s helping out while Raul’s knee is healing.” Amanda’s gaze narrowed at her. “What’s going on? You look pale. You didn’t even react that strongly to Lucas.”
Ella shook her head. “Oh, it’s nothing. We just went to high school together, that’s all, and not even that long. He was a senior when I was a freshman.”
“Uh huh.” Amanda’s gaze didn’t waver. “Spill.”
Ella’s face heated. Why? She’d had so little interaction with him, she had no idea why her body was betraying her. She shrugged. “I might have had a crush on him, but he was the high school bad boy. It was a long time ago. He couldn’t wait to leave town. I’m surprised he’s back.”
That was the problem with letting someone get to know you. They knew you too well. Amanda still studied her. “Maybe he has strong family ties.”
Ella shook her head. “I didn’t get that impression. Raul is quite a bit older. I don’t even remember his parents.”
Amanda grinned. “I didn’t think you knew him all that well.”
“I didn’t. It’s a small town. Everyone knew everyone.” They desperately needed to change the subject. It was suddenly way too hot in here. “Back to Spread the Love. Was Lucas there with Sophie?”
Amanda opened her mouth then closed it. “Yeah.”
“I wonder if she had her bling and if everyone already knows what I didn’t.” Ella poured more sparkling water and sucked it down.
Amanda reached over and touched her hand.
Ella shook her head. “It’s not that I’m upset that he’s engaged. I don’t want him back. I just don’t want people pitying me and talking about me behind my back. That’s all.”
Amanda leaned back as Miranda set the tiramisu between them along with two coffees and to-go boxes.
Forking a bite of the chocolate, espresso, and creamy confection into her mouth, Ella moaned. “This is the cure for everything.”
Amanda nodded, eyes closed with her own bite. After she had taken a sip of coffee, she said, “That still leaves your problem.”
“I don’t have a problem.”
Amanda laughed. “I think you have two: Lucas and Reese. What is your plan? And I know you always have a plan.”
“Eat a lot of this?” She wiggled her eyebrows as she scooped up more dessert. “How can anything be bad when this tastes so good.” She leaned her head back against the booth. “Seriously, though, I can just avoid both of them. If I’ve managed to do it while working with Lucas, I can certainly avoid Reese until he leaves again. I doubt he’d even remember me.” A flash of memory flicked through her brain, but she pushed it away before Amanda could discern something and grill her about it. “Speaking of plans, what are yours for spring break?”
“My parents are using a time share in Palm Springs, and they invited me down. At least it’ll be warm, even if I’ll be surrounded by old people.”
“And college students.”
Amanda conceded that. “Just nobody my age. What about you? Please tell me you are making plans beyond organizing your book collection or spices.”
“Hey! An organized house runs smoothly and saves everyone time. Since Mom and I take turns cooking, it’s important that we both are on the same page where everything is kept.” She pointed her fork at Amanda. “You have benefited firsthand from my organization skills.”
“Point taken. But it’s not an acceptable activity for spring break. You need to get out of here and do something.”
Ella sipped her coffee. “I know. I’ve been thinking about it. You know, Lucas accused me once of being incredibly predictable. That was one of the reasons for our breakup, even. Not that he’s Mr. Adventure. I actually thought being predictable was an asset. But it’s gotten me to thinking; what could I do that would be unpredictable, that I would enjoy?”
“What did you like to do as a kid? Did your family go anywhere special, do anything? You, your mom, and Evan,” she quickly corrected. “Sorry.”
She’d stumbled onto a sore spot in Ella’s life. Her dad had left them when she was ten and then faded out of their lives. “We went camping a few times, usually with another family from church, and we borrowed equipment. It was fun. I remember running around, climbing on things, getting dirty, and none of it mattered.” She put her coffee cup down and smiled. “It was like we were one big family. Mom’s burden was lightened, and it was like Evan and I had a bunch of cousins. I haven’t thought about that in a long time.” She took a sip and tilted her head. “That actually kind of sounds like fun. Not the getting dirty part but being outdoors, not having a schedule. But I can’t camp alone. Ooh, maybe I could go to one of those campgrounds that has trailers already set up. Some of them are retro, really cute. That could be fun.”
Amanda scooped up the last of the tiramisu. “Talk to Anne. She knows everything and will have all the best info, saving you googling time.”
“Good point. I’ll swing by the library Monday after school. I need to meet with her anyway to set up the spring break reading program for the kids.”
“Promise me something.” Amanda turned to her as they left the restaurant. “Do something fun and unexpected, okay? If you don’t have a solid plan, I’m dragging you to Palm Springs with me. Friends don’t let friends organize their spices on spring break.”
Ella laughed and gave her a hug. “I promise. I’ll have fun, and it’ll be unexpected.”