Chapter 12 #3
She parked the rented car in the Inn’s parking lot; the breeze coming from the mountains stroking leaves of every shade of green and the red, white, and pink geraniums Tansy laid on the wrap-around porch of the Inn.
With her bag in hand, Jade opened the front door, sending a happy bell trilling in the room. She stepped inside.
Her mouth dried. The suitcase slipped from the grip of her fingers and fell with a thump on the carpet.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
In the middle of a group of four guys, talking to them and handing them papers, stood Tom.
Her heart’s desperate attempt to break out of her chest and go to him was impressive, but even more so was how her feet kept her frozen to the floor despite her longing. Tears welled up while a chuckle tried to surface, only to be brutally suppressed.
Tom.
Her Tom.
Still tall as she remembered, he towered over everyone in the group.
His strawberry blond hair was cut short on the side and longer on top.
Ginger beard. She loved beards, and his was simply perfect, full but perfectly trimmed.
His fair skin was tanned, possibly from spending a lot of time outside.
He’d been the only human who loved hiking and climbing as much as she did.
She always made fun of it, telling him he should have been an oread, too.
He smiled at the people, and her knees nearly gave way.
Then he turned around to leave.
His eyes, a piercing glacier blue, locked onto her.
His face hardened, his features becoming unyielding as stone.
She opened up her senses—she just had to—and caught the emotional shift as sharply as one would notice a frozen gale in the desert.
He shifted from calm and relaxed to stormy and furious.
Hurt. So much hurt. Then he saw her wings, and his expression and feelings softened.
Not by a lot, but the first violent reaction eased.
He walked in front of her, his eyes scanning every inch of her face with an intensity she remembered.
And the jumble of anger, want, and incredulity he was feeling left her as disoriented as if caught in a tornado.
Then, slowly, inch by inch, he raised his hand and touched her cheek with steady fingertips, as if reassuring himself of her presence.
His touch burned her, her entire being focused on the sensations it kindled.
Then, right when she managed to get enough oxygen in to tell him something, anything, his eyes sobered, and his feelings hardened. He dropped his hand, walked past her, and left.
Jade closed her eyes, swallowing. She would have faced his anger.
His resentment and condemnation were valid.
But after the emotional storm she knew he’d gone through, it was difficult to accept that he had so effortlessly shot down his emotions, locked her out, and strolled away without breaking a sweat.
That cold dismissal cut deep.
Jade hadn’t realized she hugged an arm around her stomach and was folding onto it like she was physically hurt.
She pulled in a couple of long breaths and swayed a little, struggling to return upright.
When her brain was kind of back, she made it to the counter.
Another moment, and she was able to hit the bell on it, sure she could speak.
Tansy appeared; it took her one look before her smile opened up. “Jade!”
“Oh my god, Tansy!”
Jade knelt down to get at gnome-level and hugged her. “It’s been so long!”
“I know how things were with your mama and grandma, but let me say it: I’m so sorry,” Tansy said.
“Thank you.”
Jade felt a delicate touch on her wing and met Tansy’s raised green eyebrows. “Uh.”
“Yeah. Uh.”
“I see.” Tansy patted her hand and walked back behind the counter.
“You’ve got some work cut out for you,” she said cryptically, but then added before Jade could ask what she meant, “I’ll take you to your room.
Dinner is between six and eight. You let me know if you need anything, all right?
That being a tube of toothpaste or a friendly ear. ”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. A lot.” She followed Tansy up the stairs. “I’m going to see Elara and Aryon later this afternoon.”
“I figured.” She stopped in front of a door and handed her the key. “All yours, my darling.”
The room was spacious and airy, spotlessly clean.
The scent of herbs—lemongrass and lavender—lingered in the air.
Big windows allowed a view of the mountains, and that voice, that call, hummed louder in her blood.
A sigh escaped her lips. “I ran into Tom downstairs,” she said, hoping it had come out more easygoing than what she felt.
“Yes. He’s taking a group out on Sentinel Glacier tomorrow. I offer deals to his groups.”
“He’s a guide?”
“He’s a lot of things. He has a climbing gym. Teaches climbing, mountaineering, and survival. Or something like that. He’s part of the Search and Rescue and the Emergency Response Teams. And he guides.” Tansy shrugged. “I don’t know how the man has the time to sleep.”
A smile tugged at Jade’s lips. Yes, it made so much sense that he was all those things. He’d always been a workaholic. “Is he,” she cleared her voice. “Happy? Is he happy?”
“I don’t think I’m breaking anyone’s confidence here, as it’s well known in town he had a couple of rough years.” Tansy sighed and leaned over the doorframe. “First his wife left, then his dad passed. It was hard. He’s okay now. I assume. And that’s pretty much all I’m going to say.”
Jade stared at Tansy, struggling to put together all the things she’d just said.
Sean, Tom’s father, had been a sweet, joyful man.
She’d liked him a lot and often wished he’d been her dad–only to realize it would have made her relationship with Tom all kinds of icky.
It was difficult thinking he’d just gone.
And she never had the chance to say goodbye.
And then... Tom was divorced? You had to be married to be divorced, and Tom was married? As in married?? And divorced??? He was not the type to divorce anything. He was steady, he was loyal. What the hell happened?
“I see I gave you a couple more things to think about,” Tansy considered. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
“Thank you.”
Tansy left, and Jade sat on her bed, considering a few options. Crying seemed like the best one.
She sat in front of her computer instead and emailed Nadia, her assistant.
She was supposed to work on a new fall collection, but she didn’t really see it happening.
It might have to be delayed, which meant very many things had to be rescheduled, and so on.
What a headache. Thank God she paid Nadia to manage that—and any other headache.
It went without saying Nadia would now be thrilled.
Then she opened the window to let the wind get inside, lay on the bed, and stared at the mountains.
TOM HAD WORK TO DO. Glacier trail always required more attention, especially when guiding a small group of twenty-somethings with zero experience and way too much self-esteem.
But hey, they paid; he would take them up.
And that meant equipment checks, paperwork, and route planning. A lot of effort and time.
He didn’t drive to the office at the gym.
He didn’t drive home, either.
Tom kept on driving out of Mystic Hollow town limits, straight on to where the trees started, and parked at the bottom of the trail. Then marched the twenty minutes to Cat Lake.
He sat on the soft grass. And hid his face in his hands.
Jade was back in Mystic Hollow.
He wiped his calloused palms on his eyes, then lay down facing the cloudless sky.
She was still beautiful. Even more so, as time had refined her youthful features into a breathtaking woman.
The memory of her softness lingered on his fingertips–her brown skin shimmering as it caught the light like polished stone.
The silken strands of her dark auburn hair, the color of autumn leaves caught in a breeze. Striking eyes of emerald green.
She’d added wings since the day she’d left him and the town. She must hate what it meant.
“I can’t stay,” she’d told him so many years ago, tears on her face ravaged by crying. “They will never let us be together, and I can’t stay here without you.”
She could have fought. They could have done it together. Regret raised its head and snarled, but he steadied against it.
What would she do this time? Possibly, she’d keep running. Deal with whatever she had to with the clan and go back to... wherever she called home.
Which was not Mystic Hollow. Or him.
KEEP READING Winging It – Love Edition