Six #2
“It would be appreciated.” A smile lit up her face as she touched her palm to my cheek. “Now, tell me how you’re doing at the retreat.”
I inhaled deeply, wondering how to answer that question in a respectful way, when I heard my father enter the room again. Only, when I turned to look in his direction, it wasn’t my father standing there with a plate of food in his hands.
It was Natalia.
My body tensed as my eyes locked with hers, and Natalia came to a grinding halt, her shoulders rising to her ears.
“What are you doing here?” I hadn’t exactly meant for the question to come out as harshly as it had, but I hadn’t prepared myself to see this woman today.
“Reid Erickson, I know you did not just speak to her that way,” my mom scolded me.
I winced, turning my attention to her, and muttered an apology. “Sorry, Mom.”
“I’m not the one you should be saying that to.”
Dread filled me as I kept my attention on my mother. But her expectant look turned downright menacing the longer I remained silent.
Clenching my jaw, I slowly craned my neck to look at Natalia again. Through gritted teeth, I said, “My apologies, Miss Barton.”
Natalia’s brows shot up, a hint of a victorious smirk playing at her perfect lips. She took a few steps into the room and sat down in a chair across from the couch where I was seated beside my mom. I was merely grateful she wasn’t wearing anything that left her legs bared to me again.
“Oh, Reid, I appreciate the apology, but I do believe we’re way past formalities. I mean, you didn’t already forget how I tripped, fell, and injured myself at your cabin, did you?”
Mom gasped. “What?”
Before I could respond, my dad returned with the food.
Anything.
I’d take anything I could right now to distract me from this whole situation.
With each second that passed, I was growing more and more frustrated. Or angry, I suppose. No matter what I did, no matter where I went, it seemed I couldn’t get away from this woman. Why couldn’t I go anywhere without her showing up?
My dad handed me the plate. “Thanks,” I said, taking it from him and immediately digging in.
With my focus on the food, I didn’t make any effort to offer an explanation about Natalia’s declaration. Let her be the one to share how clumsy a woman she was.
“You were hurt at Reid’s cabin?”
I didn’t dare look up, but I was sure my mom’s focus was on Natalia. And from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t miss the way my father tensed at the news.
“Sadly, I was.” The rustling I heard was an indication she’d slid her sleeve up her arm to show them what had happened.
“I’d decided to do some decorating with Danielle, and we were working on the cabins on Friday.
I hadn’t realized Reid was even staying in one, and it just happened to be the one I went to first. I tripped climbing the stairs and fell on my arm. ”
It seemed my appetite was bigger than I had initially thought. That, or I was willing to do anything to avoid this discussion, because I’d plowed through half of the chicken and at least a third of the pasta.
“Oh, my gosh. Are you okay?”
“I am, Sylvia. Thanks to your son, the small cut was quickly cleaned up, and he offered me an ice pack to help with the swelling.”
My mom’s hand came to my shoulder. “That’s the man I raised.”
God, there was such pride in her voice. Like she thought there was some deeper meaning behind what I’d done.
“I’m proud of you for stepping up like that, Reid,” my father chimed in.
At that, I tore my attention from the food for the first time and countered, “It wasn’t exactly a big deal. I don’t think you would’ve preferred I do nothing and risk a lawsuit or something.”
His brows knit together. “You think Natalia would sue us because she tripped and fell?”
I shrugged. “I’m the one filling in for you right now, and it was a business decision that I made.”
He shook his head with disappointment and moved to sit in a chair as he muttered, “Why did I think you found some compassion?”
If it hadn’t been for his initial reaction to learning Natalia had been hurt, I might have believed that she’d already shared this with him. She’d said something eerily similar to me that day.
Ignoring the blood roaring in my veins, I thought it was best to return my attention to the plate of food in my hands. As I shoveled more pasta and chicken in, I didn’t dare to look directly across the room at Natalia. I might lose my cool completely if I did.
But it didn’t matter how much I tried to ignore her, because my ears were still fully functional.
“Regardless of what he says now, Barrett, I assure you that Reid was very kind to me when he tended to my wounds.”
“That’s a relief,” Dad muttered. “Are you okay?”
“I am. Though I’m a bit disappointed.”
“Why is that?” Mom asked.
I’d finished the chicken and pasta and had finally moved onto the salad. If I didn’t keep transferring the food from the plate to my mouth, I was bound to say something that’d have my mother looking at me worse than she had when Natalia first entered the room.
Natalia sighed. “Well, like I said, the plan was to decorate the cabins. Sadly, Reid told me he didn’t want any decorations on his cabin. I was bummed about it, but I realized I had to respect his wishes, so I moved on to the next cabin. But truthfully, I guess I owe him an apology.”
“For what?” My head snapped up as my father seemed unable to hide his surprise at that question.
Natalia had glanced briefly at my father before returning her attention to me. She wore a truly apologetic expression as she placed her hand against her chest. I wondered if my parents could see the way her eyes twinkled, an indication she wasn’t genuinely sorry about anything she’d done.
“I moved on and decorated the other cabins for as long as the light would allow, and I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Right before I left for the evening, I affixed a wreath to his door. I’m sure you saw it the next morning, Reid, and I truly apologize if it upset you.”
My eyes narrowed on her.
“I don’t understand,” Mom declared. “Reid, why wouldn’t you want her to decorate? You love the holidays.”
Surprise washed over Natalia’s expression, and I wished I’d gone to the cabin instead of making the stop here tonight.
I finished the last of the salad and looked at my mom. “Natalia’s job duties do not require her to decorate, especially not my cabin.”
“But she loves decorating,” Dad interjected. “Natalia has brought nothing but joy to the retreat in so many ways. If she chooses to jump in to help with something that makes her happy, why would you try to take that away from her?”
My eyes shot to his. “I didn’t. She still decorated everywhere else. It’s one cabin. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because she put a wreath up despite my request.”
“I really am sorry, Reid. I would hate to think I did something that might jeopardize my position at?—”
“That’s utter nonsense, Natalia. Reid isn’t going to fire you over something so trivial as a holiday decoration.
While I would certainly take any serious concerns that he has about anyone’s employment at Sandstone Heart into consideration, I can assure you that this is not one of them.
And should my son want to fire anyone, I would hope he’d have a legitimate reason before even considering something like that. People’s livelihoods are involved.”
“Sometimes, sir, it’s far more than that,” Natalia murmured.
My dad offered her a slight nod of understanding, and it was all I could do not to bark with laughter at the absurdity of it all.
Natalia knew what she was doing. In fact, more and more, I believed I hadn’t been wrong to consider the possibility of my father setting all of this up on purpose.
The only question remained whether Natalia was in on it or not. She certainly seemed to be.
Turning my attention to my mom, I held up the empty plate and smiled at her. “This was wonderful. You did an amazing job on it. Sometimes I forget what it’s like to have a home-cooked meal.”
She smiled at me. “You can thank Natalia for it. She cooked and brought it over for your father and me.”
Just like that, Sylvia Erickson had wiped the smile from my face.
Slowly, I returned my attention to Natalia and glared at her. Her face was as bright as ever as she said, “You don’t need to say anything, Reid. I’ve got to admit, I’ve never seen anyone eat a meal I’ve made with such enthusiasm. That’s all the praise I need.”
I growled.
Whether that sound registered for anyone, I didn’t know. Because a moment later, Natalia stood, still smiling, as bright as ever. “Anyway, I should go. I didn’t realize Reid was coming for a family visit, so I’ll leave you all to it.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Mom assured her.
She shook her head, waving her hand in the air. “It’s okay. Honest. I need to get back to my place anyway, so I can get some sleep before a new week starts. It was so lovely to have some time to spend with you, and I’m thrilled you’re truly on the mend. I’ll come by to visit again soon.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Dad said.
“No, no. It’s okay. Stay and enjoy the time with your family. I’ll see you soon, too.” Her eyes shifted to mine. “See you tomorrow morning, Reid. Have a good night.”
The next thing I knew, she was gone.
And all I wanted to do was follow her. But I knew it was only so I could say everything I’d refrained from saying in front of my parents.
Or, at least, that’s what I told myself the reason was.