Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
R iley was glad, as she parked at the inn on Monday morning, that it was going to be a slow day. Carson’s teammates had checked out on Sunday, leaving the inn almost empty. Mrs. Nickle was still there, along with an elderly couple and half a dozen college girls driving through the area. The inn was only expecting one check-in today, a Ms. Jensen. The woman had called to see if she could still get the month-long rate, had seemed desperate to get that rate, and in a moment of generosity, Riley had agreed.
They wouldn’t be busy at all.
She didn’t even feel that bad for coming to work ten minutes late. It was the first time she hadn’t been early in over a year. She hadn’t been able to force herself out the door any earlier and hoped Lucas had the day off. Maybe she wouldn’t have to face him today and wonder how much Jace had told him about Saturday night.
If Lucas knew, he would either be furious or smug that she’d been involved in a cheating kiss with his twin. Either way, he’d give her no end of grief.
She sent up one last prayer that Jace had enough sense never to mention their kiss to Lucas, squared her shoulders, and strode inside.
Not only was Lucas standing in the lobby, he’d apparently called a company meeting because most of the staff was there as well. Rusty and JoAnn, the inn’s chefs, sat on one couch. Rusty was tall and broad-shouldered with close-cropped blond hair—the sort of man who’d been in the military at some time and could take down enemy combatants if necessary. He made a sharp contrast to JoAnn and her grandma vibe.
Wendy and Mariah, the housekeeping team, sat together on a different couch and were similarly mismatched. Wendy’s light blue uniform was clean, crisp, and as professional-looking as a nurse about to assist in surgery. Mariah hadn’t ever tried to calm her dark curls, and her shirt looked like it had gone through either a bleach accident or an attempt at tie-dying.
Kathy, the waitress/dishwasher, sat in a chair, wearing one of her brightly colored tops. She liked to make a statement, and sometimes that statement was: oncoming traffic won’t make the mistake of not seeing me.
Glen, the maintenance man, leaned against a wall, chewing on a toothpick because he was trying to give up smoking but still liked to have something in his mouth.
Sara and Jody, the desk clerks, sat in the side chairs, looking impatient. They both would clearly rather be somewhere else. The only person missing from the picture was Oscar the groundskeeper.
Another woman stood in the group, a perky thirty-something brunette in business wear and a hundred-watt smile.
“Here’s Riley,” Lucas said, using his manager voice. “So now we can get started.”
Riley’s first thought was that something horrible was happening. Carson was firing everyone. Her gaze bounced between the woman and Lucas, trying to discern how bad the news was.
He smiled at Riley, a wide grin without regret or discomfort. So maybe it wasn’t something horrible. What was going on?
“Everyone else has already been introduced to Mrs. Cisneros from Professional Solutions. She’s here to do team-building exercises with us.”
Lucas had mentioned that he was having someone come to the inn to do that. Well, threatened was a more accurate term. And he always used the term trust-building instead of team-building. He’d put the event on the company calendar for March. Why was the woman here now?
“I thought we weren’t doing that until next month,” Riley said. She should’ve known better than to come in late.
Lucas rocked back on his heels, looking cool and professional in front of the group. Every bit the boss. “I decided not to wait. Today is slow, so it’s a good day for it.”
From the couch, Rusty snorted. “Apparently we need some emergency trust-building.”
Riley laughed nervously and fiddled with the necklace she wore. “Why? Did somebody do something untrustworthy?”
Lucas’s gaze went to her, just a little bit challenging. “I don’t know. Did they?”
Oh no. Lucas knew. He so knew.
“It’s still about you, dear,” Wendy whisper-shouted to Riley.
Of course it was about her. Everyone knew that Lucas had threatened to have these trust-building exercises every time he was frustrated with her. Did they know why he was frustrated with her now? No, he wouldn’t have given them those details.
Riley sank into a chair. The only advantage to being stuck doing a group event was that Lucas wouldn’t say anything to her about Jace while everyone else was listening.
“For the exercises,” Lucas said, “Mrs. Cisneros wants us to split up into groups of two. Housekeeping will be one team?—”
Before he could say more, Kathy called out, “How come Oscar doesn’t have to be here?”
“None of us need to trust the landscaper,” Rusty said. “He does his own thing.”
Glen raised his hand. “I also do my own thing. I don’t think anyone needs to trust me. Can I be excused?”
“We definitely need to trust you,” Sara said. “You’re in charge of fixing things when they break. If we have to do this, so do you.”
JoAnn turned to Rusty. “They’re never going to let us out of this. Cooks are the most important to trust because we could easily poison anybody. No one would be able to tell the difference between a hemlock root and a parsnip. Foxglove or spinach—it looks the same.”
“I used to trust the cooks,” Jody said, “but now I’m having second thoughts. Is it normal that they know what look-alikes can poison people? I know zero ways to kill a person and get away with it.”
“That’s why I trust you.” Sara leaned over the side of her chair to give Jody a fist bump. “Front desk teammates rule.”
Glen raised his hand again. “Will we be planning murders for our trust exercises? Because if we are, I want Oscar on my team. He knows where to hide a body.”
Wendy clucked her tongue. “We all know where to hide a body. All you’d have to do is throw it in the river. Accidental drowning. No one would be the wiser.”
“First of all,” Lucas said, in a voice louder than the others, “planning murders isn’t part of our trust-building exercises.” He looked to Mrs. Cisneros for confirmation.
She had a sort of appalled look on her face but was clearly trying to hide it. “No murders,” she chimed. “Just some fun games.”
Lucas returned his attention to the group. “Second, an autopsy would show whether someone drowned or had been killed previously to throwing his body in a river. That’s not a viable option.”
“I want Lucas on my team,” Kathy called. “He definitely knows how to get rid of a body.”
Jody raised her hand. “In the winter, I only work part-time. I don’t feel like I should have to trust anyone until I get dental benefits.”
Lucas drew in a patient breath. “We could all use some team building. Besides, we need an even number of people for this. Sara and Jody, you’ll be on a team.”
Kathy folded her arms. “How come the horse handlers don’t have to take part in the trust exercises? Even though it’s the off-season, technically they work here.”
Mariah elbowed her. “Oh honey, ain’t no way anybody’s ever gonna trust them.”
Kathy’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I trust them,” and then in a lower voice, she said, “What do you know that I don’t?”
While Mariah and Kathy bent their heads together to whisper, Lucas clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Back to our assignments. I’m still assigning teams.”
He put the chefs in one group, housekeeping in another, and Kathy with Glen. Lucas paired himself with Riley. Manager and assistant manager.
Why was he doing this? What manner of woe awaited her? Well, whatever it was, she wasn’t going to just meekly take it.
Lucas made a sweeping motion toward his consultant. “Now I’ll turn the time over to Mrs. Cisneros. Let’s give her a big hand.”
The hand everyone gave her wasn’t that big. It was unenthusiastic at best.
Mrs. Cisneros smiled enthusiastically anyway. She made the members of each group sit together and passed around papers and pencils. “I have some prizes for the winners of our games today,” she said in the same cheerful tone one used when talking to children at a birthday party. “We’ll start with a game you may be familiar with: Two Truths and a Lie. Everybody writes three things about themselves on their paper. Your goal will be to figure out your partner’s lie.”
Riley raised her hand. “I think they’re all lies.”
Lucas gave her a hard stare. “I haven’t written anything yet.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Riley smiled at Mrs. Cisneros. “What do I win?”
Mrs. Cisneros gawked at Riley with a frozen expression. Apparently, she didn’t usually encounter problem participants.
JoAnn wrote something on her paper and in a sing-song voice said, “This is why we’re stuck doing this today when I should be ordering food for next week’s menu.”
“I can’t fire my assistant manager,” Lucas fake-whispered to Mrs. Cisneros. “It’s in her contract. I’m hoping you can fix her.”
Riley huffed and stared at her paper, trying to think of things she’d never told Lucas. It proved harder than she’d imagined. She wrote one statement, then erased it.
Lucas seemed to be having the same problem. He wrote a list, then ripped his paper in half, folded up the half he’d written on, and put it in his shirt pocket.
He returned his attention to the paper that was left and wrote the number one on it.
“Why did you just do that?” Riley asked.
“I decided I didn’t want to tell you those things after all.”
This pronouncement shouldn’t have bothered her but did. He’d either said things that would hurt her and thought better of it, or he’d said meaningful things and had decided not to tell her after all. Both options stung.
She wrote three sentences, tore her paper in half, folded the list, and put it in her pocket.
From across the room, she heard Rusty say, “Looks like there’s still problems in trust land.”
Whatever. None of them had a boss who was their ex.
“Is everyone done?” Mrs. Cisneros asked.
“I need another minute,” Riley said.
She wrote
1.I know that you know.
2.I don’t regret it.
3.You don’t have a say in my life anymore, so it shouldn’t matter.
Done. Number two was the lie.
She waited for Mrs. Cisneros to tell them it was time to switch papers.
Instead Mrs. Cisneros strode over to Riley and in her too-enthusiastic voice said, “My rule is that the last one finished with their list is the first one I read.”
Ugh. She was reading these out loud? She might have mentioned that beforehand.
Mrs. Cisneros plucked Riley’s paper from her. “We’ll see how well her partner knows her, then we’ll vote to see whether we think he’s right.” Mrs. Cisneros’s smile faded as she read the list, but she seemed to realize there was no way around reading it out loud. She dutifully recited everything Riley had written. I know that you know. I don’t regret it. You don’t have a say in my life anymore, so it shouldn’t matter.
Silence engulfed the room. Everyone’s eyes were on Riley and Lucas.
“Number two and three are both lies,” Lucas said. “It matters.”
Riley didn’t have a response to that so just stared at Lucas.
Mrs. Cisneros cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Maybe we’ll skip the group vote this time. Which number is the lie, Riley?”
“Two,” Riley said. “I regret it.”
Lucas’s eyebrows raised in challenge. “But number three is the truth? You don’t think it matters?”
“I said it shouldn’t matter,” Riley said.
“It matters,” Lucas repeated.
“Fine,” Riley allowed. “It matters.”
Lucas slapped his hand on his thigh. “That’s one small success.”
Mrs. Cisneros’s eyes darted between the two of them, and she picked up Lucas’s list.
“Maybe you shouldn’t read that out loud,” Lucas said.
“Read it out loud,” Kathy called. “This game just got interesting.”
Riley lifted her chin defiantly at Lucas. “Does your list involve kissing?”
“Maybe,” he said.
JoAnn let out a thrilled gasp. “Well, now you’ve got to read it out loud. Don’t leave the rest of us hanging.”
“Fine,” Lucas said. “You can read it out loud.”
Mrs. Cisneros shifted uncomfortably. “Number one, I don’t want you to be angry.”
“That’s the lie,” Riley said.
“That’s not the lie,” Lucas said. “Let her finish the list.”
“Number two,” Mrs. Cisneros continued, her cheer thinning, “I thought you knew who I was. Number three, we don’t need to talk about this.”
Jody set her pencil down. “I think I’ve been playing this game wrong my whole life. I always thought the sentences were supposed to make sense.”
Riley stared at Lucas, trying to discern what his sentences meant. He thought she knew who he was? He must have been writing about the Winter incident, not her kiss with Jace. Lucas meant that he thought Riley should know him well enough to know that he hadn’t cheated on her. “I think we’ve already talked about it,” she said.
“We haven’t,” Lucas said, “but we really need to.”
Mrs. Cisneros returned Lucas’s list to him. “Talking things out is always a good idea. Why don’t you two schedule a time to do that, and we’ll move on to the next team’s answers.” She glided over to Glen and Kathy to read their lists.
After that, Riley couldn’t say anything to Lucas because they were supposed to be listening and voting on everyone else’s lists. Riley kept staring at the pocket where Lucas had put the first list and wondering what was on it.
Everyone else’s lists were the usual variety, except for Jody’s. If she was telling the truth, she’d kissed both Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. She won the prize for that game, a mouse pad with the saying The harder I work, the luckier I get.
When Mrs. Cisneros handed it to her, Mariah called out, “Jody has been lucky enough already. She don’t need that. Give it to a girl who’s in a dry spell.”
Sara snickered. “What kind of hard work have you been doing, Jody, and how do I get hired for that gig?”
Poor Mrs. Cisneros.
She held her hands up to get everyone’s attention. “Our next exercise is an oldy but a goody: the trust fall. You’re going to fall backwards and trust your group to catch you. But don’t do it until I’m there to supervise and arrange the groups. Also, I trust that you all signed your waivers.”
They must have done that before Riley arrived. “I didn’t sign one,” Riley reminded Lucas.
“Don’t worry,” Lucas said. “I’m not going to drop you.” He sent her a penetrating gaze. “Do you believe that?”
“Yes, because otherwise you’d have all sorts of liability problems.”
Mrs. Cisneros was across the room talking to Jody, Sara, JoAnn, and Rusty, demonstrating, with her hands crossed over her chest, the correct way to fall.
Riley’s eyes landed on Lucas’s pocket, and her curiosity got the best of her. “What did you write on your first list?”
He grinned mischievously. “Fall back in my arms now, and I’ll tell you the first sentence.”
Riley glanced at the teacher. She was still speaking to the other group. “You want me to disobey the rules?”
Lucas shrugged. “Wouldn’t be your first time. But you can wait if you want. Maybe what I wrote on my list isn’t that interesting.”
“Fine.” Riley turned her back to Lucas, her hands across her chest. “Are you ready to catch me?”
“Yes.”
He was right behind her. She’d be okay. Still, she hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she realized. It was that she didn’t trust anybody.
That wasn’t a great realization.
She made herself fall backwards.
A second later, Lucas’s arms closed around her. He didn’t let her go. Instead, he bent over her and whispered in her ear. “Number one, I’m sorry that I lied to you.”
She swallowed. He’d apologized for lying about his meeting with Winter before. She’d thought she was immune to his soft-spoken sorrys, but with the feel of his arms encircling her, this time she so badly wanted to believe he meant it. The smell of him, his embrace, it was so familiar.
He set her on her feet.
“Was that the truth or a lie?” she asked.
“You’ll have to hear the rest in order to tell. Ready to fall again?”
Was there a double meaning in that question? Did Lucas want her to fall for him again? “Maybe,” she said.
He laughed. “Maybe won’t get you the second sentence.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” she said.
“Good,” he said. “Fall for me.”
Her breath caught at the double meaning. Why was he saying these things to her? He was making her heart feel fluttery and hopeful. “You want me to fall for you?” she asked.
“Yep,” he said, “I’m ready. Are you?”
It had become hard to think rationally. Perhaps she should walk away from him, but she couldn’t. She had to hear number two. She shut her eyes and fell backwards. Again, his arms enveloped her, embracing her from behind. While she was still lying back in his arms, he leaned toward her ear and whispered, “What I lied about was my identity. I switched places with Jace on Saturday night.”
Wait, what? Her arms flung outward in shock. At the same time, she twisted in Lucas’s arms, trying to get away or trying to turn and see his expression—she wasn’t sure which. Neither happened. All she succeeded in doing was knocking both Lucas and herself off balance.
They went clattering to the floor, him first and her on top of him. He let out a surprised, “Ooof,” and her head smacked into his chest.
“Oh dear!” Mrs. Cisneros called, hurrying over. “Are you all right?”
Riley pried herself away from Lucas, breathing hard. Lucas had been the one who took her home. He’d kissed her. And she’d told him that she’d wanted to marry him.
Or maybe number two was the lie. Maybe none of that happened.
Lucas sat up. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at them.
Mariah shook her head slowly. “I think we all knew this exercise was gonna end up that way.”
Thank you for that vote of confidence, housekeeping team.
Mrs. Cisneros hovered over Riley and helped her to her feet. “Are you okay?
Riley was hyperventilating. She didn’t want everyone to keep staring at her. She couldn’t meet Lucas’s gaze. “I need to go to the kitchen for some ice. I’ll be fine in a minute.”
She marched straight to the kitchen. She didn’t get ice. She headed out the door and sat on the back stoop where the groceries were delivered. The cold air pushed into her, and the deep breaths she took made her lungs feel frigid. She wrapped her arms around herself and resisted the urge to hightail it to her car and drive away.
She had to deal with this. She had to go back in there and face Lucas. Before long, she’d freeze out here.
The door opened. Lucas walked over and sat down beside her. “When you said you were going for ice, I thought you meant the cubes, not the landscape.”
She was still taking deep breaths. “Was your second sentence the lie? You didn’t really pretend to be Jace on Saturday night, did you? I can tell the difference between the two of you.”
“You’d think, but apparently a couple of glasses of vodka and a pair of glasses changes your perception.”
She blinked at him, waiting to see the smirk that would indicate he was joking. It didn’t happen. “It was you?” she repeated.
“You think Jace was the one who kissed you?” Lucas asked. “He’s got a girlfriend.”
Riley stared at him, taking this in. She’d kissed Lucas on Saturday night. Was that better or worse?
“The good news,” Lucas said, “is that technically you weren’t involved in any sort of cheating, so you don’t need to call Jennifer to apologize.” He dipped his chin. “Although on the other hand, in spirit, you totally were involved in cheating.”
She smacked him in the chest. “I was drunk and vulnerable, and you kissed me.”
“True.”
“Were you just making a point so you could take the moral high ground? People sometimes don’t mean to cheat, but they do?”
“Nope. I told you in my first round of truths that I thought you realized who I was.”
That’s what he’d meant? He’d never been talking about Winter.
“I did tell you,” he went on, “that my answers had to do with kissing. I figured you’d know I meant the kissing that happened Saturday night.”
“You said maybe it had to do with kissing.”
“But I said maybe in a yes sort of way.”
She shivered. Soon she’d start shaking. He took off his suit coat and wrapped it around her. It was such a sweet thing to do. So like him. A pang went through her, a pang of missing him and the way things used to be between them.
“Let’s go inside before you freeze,” he said.
She didn’t get up yet. “Why did you think I knew who you were?”
“When I said ginger tea was your favorite, you said, ‘You remembered.’ How would Jace know what your favorite tea was?”
“Because I served it for your entire family that one time after we all made snowmen.” Jace had been there and had claimed he liked it.
“Oh,” Lucas said. “Turns out that neither of us remembered the refreshments served on that particular occasion. I just remember you making that tea for me when we dated.” He stood up and reached out to help her up. Another familiar thing—the feel of his hand around hers. He kept hold of her hand for a moment, then released it to walk to the kitchen door and open it for her.
She went inside. The warm air surrounded her, heating the chill on her cheeks. She stopped not far from the back door and gave Lucas’s suit coat back to him. Even when he put it back on, she didn’t move. She wasn’t ready to end their discussion yet.
“What was the third thing on your list?” she asked.
He patted his pocket and smirked. “In order to find that out, you have to fall for me.”
“Fine. We can do the last trust fall here in the kitchen.” She faced away from him and crossed her arms. “Let me know when you’re ready to catch me.”
Instead of saying he was ready, Lucas stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Not that kind of fall. I want you to fall for me.”
She gulped. Her breaths were coming quicker and more deeply. “What do you mean?”
His voice was soft and low spoken against her ear, his breath tickling her skin. “You know exactly what I mean, Riley Barlow. You’ve always been able to read me like a book.”
She wished that were true. “I prefer a book with a happy ending instead of a tragedy.”
“Good. No tragedies. Turn around and kiss me.”
She wanted to turn around, a part of her mind was already doing it—wrapping her arms around Lucas, melting into him and forgetting about everything. It would be so easy to surrender her lips to him.
But then what would happen? Hadn’t her parents’ story shown her that when a man was a cheater, he was always a cheater?
Another deep breath shuddered through her.
How could she not kiss Lucas? Every nerve in her body ached to feel his lips on hers.
A compromise was in order.
“I’ll kiss you once,” she said, “then you have to read the list that I wrote.” His list wasn’t as important as that one. He’d understand her reasoning when he read it.
“Okay,” he said. “I agree to your terms.”
This would be her last kiss with Lucas. She would allow herself that much, and she was going to make this memorable.
She turned, standing near enough to see the pale flecks in his blue eyes. He smelled good. He smelled like all the happy days of her past. He slipped one hand around her waist and held her close. She ran her hands slowly up his chest, enjoying the feel of his muscles beneath his dress shirt.
He cupped her chin and lifted it, tilting her face to meet his lips. His mouth came down on hers. First gently, layering light kisses over her lips. Then all at once, gentleness evaporated, and his kiss became intense, urgent.
His hand tangled into her hair. She may have moaned. It was hard to say. She felt intoxicated again, intoxicated by every touch of his skin, every place where their bodies connected.
How had she ever kissed him when they were dating and taken all of this for granted? His warmth and closeness made her want to cry because she missed him so badly. She wanted to stay in this kitchen forever, enjoying the feel of his lips against hers.
It was a long time before either of them moved. He finally lifted his head with a smile. “I’ve missed you,” he breathed out. “Don’t tell me you haven’t missed this.”
“I’ve missed this,” she agreed. But then, she also missed Nutella on a daily basis. It didn’t mean it was good for her. That’s what this kiss had been. A splurge of Nutella.
She pulled the folded list from her pocket and handed it to him.
He read it out loud. “Number one, my father cheated on my mother multiple times before he left her. Number two, he was the reason she drank so much. Number three, I refuse to live my mother’s life.”
A flash of pain went across his expression. She wasn’t sure whether it was pain for her or for himself because she wasn’t going to return to their relationship for round two of Crush-Riley’s-Soul.
“I’m sorry, Riley.”
“So am I.” She took the list from him, refolded it, and put it back in her pocket.
“Which is the lie?” he asked.
“You know me, I’m too brutally honest and not good with lies. They’re all the truth, although the second is almost a lie. My mother drank for a lot of reasons. My father abandoning us was just one of them, but it was her go-to excuse.”
“Sorry,” Lucas murmured. His hands were back on her shoulders, and he pulled her into an embrace.
She let her head fall against his chest. She wanted comfort, but even more than that, she needed him to see her point of view. She wasn’t trying to be unforgiving and judgmental; she just had to look out for herself. Most people’s hearts could heal from a few cuts. Hers had been so scarred at an early age that it couldn’t take many more wounds.
“We’re not your parents,” Lucas said.
“Not if I can help it.” She was going to start crying in a few seconds.
“Riley.”
The word was a plea. He kissed the top of her head. She didn’t feel capable of moving away from him. Her feet had a mind of their own.
He lifted her chin, and her eyes automatically shut, waiting for his lips to come down on hers. They did, soft again, warm and gentle.
Walking away from the Nutella jar was one of her weaknesses. Once you had a taste, it was so easy to go back for more. In an hour, she was going to regret all of this.
A startled gasp came from the doorway, and then Mrs. Cisneros’s, flustered voice, “Oh! Sorry to interrupt.”
Riley nearly jumped away from Lucas.
“I came to check on you,” Mrs. Cisneros continued, backing away from the door. “Looks like you’re working out your differences just fine.” She gestured behind her. “I’ll go concentrate on the other teams.” She was gone as quickly as she’d come.
Riley felt her cheeks warming in embarrassment. She took another step away from Lucas and forced a laugh. “Well, I’m sure Mrs. Cisneros does lots of these workshops, but you know what? She’s always going to remember ours.” Riley edged closer to the door, making her way to leave, to flee. “I guess this means I can check off enduring fame from my bucket list.”
Lucas didn’t laugh, didn’t even smile. An unspoken sigh was on his lips. “I just realized you use humor to deflect pain.”
“I’ll remember to put that on my next two truths and a lie list.”
“You use a lot of humor.”
She’d been wrong about regretting kissing him in an hour. She regretted it already.
“Right. I wish I could stay and discuss it with you, but I’ve got a marketing flyer to create, supplies to check, and then a comedy routine about my love life to work on.”
She headed out of the kitchen, ignored the lobby, and ensconced herself in the office to get some work done.
He didn’t come after her.
That was the advantage of being the assistant manager.
It was harder for the manager to blow off his own workshop.
She meant to work on a new flyer but somehow found herself going to Winter Harris’s social media page. Riley had tried looking at it yesterday, but Winter had blocked Riley’s account.
Unnecessary. Riley wouldn’t have ever tried to contact her.
The Riverside Inn had its own social media account though, and Winter hadn’t blocked that.
Jace was right. Not many new pictures showed up on her account, which was odd, knowing her love of the camera. Some photos showed places in England and Spain. Other pictures showed her face, smiling and beautiful as always, but those photos were always taken in nondescript places.
So perhaps Winter had lied about where she was?
Riley still wasn’t sure what it meant.