CHAPTER FIVE
Alex couldn’t believe it when Nick came out of the cabin all chummy with the new renter. For some reason, it irked her that he wasn’t the fugitive. Which made no sense, but sometimes feelings were fickle that way.
After making dinner plans with her friends, she beelined straight back to the office to search for Brody Collins—her cabin and the office were the only two places on the property with Wi-Fi.
“No! No. No.” Alex groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked, brows furrowing with concern. “Is it about the escapee? Is he close?”
“Worse.” Alex turned the computer monitor to face Lauren. “This is who checked into cabin twelve.”
The search had returned page after page of Brody Collins, famous travel writer for a magazine called Wanderlust. Articles he’d written and pictures he’d taken from the Loire Valley of France to the plains of Africa to the beaches of Antigua. And hundreds of reviews he’d done over the years.
“You think he’s here to critique us?”
“Why else?” Alex frowned. “Humph. My first impression was far from stellar, that’s for sure.”
“Well, now that we know, we’ll make it up to him. Ensure his stay is nothing but perfect.”
“Then it looks like we’re sucking up only because of who he is.”
“What should we do then?” Lauren asked.
“Beats me. And my friends all think I’m so lucky.”
“I hate to add salt to your wound, but while you were off Nancy Drew-ing, we had two more cancellations.”
“There is one positive thing about that,” Alex said. “It gives us time to finish setting up the rec cabin without the noise inconveniencing too many people. I was a little worried about that.”
“Good point. Lyle and his guys are coming tomorrow to do the bookcases, right?” At Alex’s nod, she added, “Anyone who does show up, I’ll put in the outer cabins.”
Alex debated offering a more heartfelt apology to Mr. Collins, but decided her motives would be too transparent. She also risked coming off as insincere, since she really wasn’t all that sorry. He was the one who acted cagey and lied to her. What was she supposed to think?
She walked down to the waterfront and onto the dock.
This was her favorite view. The crystal blue lake was like a quartz rock split in two.
Surrounded by trees and a backdrop of majestic mountains, both reflected in the clear, still water.
The leaves were already starting to turn.
Soon, the forest would be ablaze with color. It never got old.
A rustle in the bushes behind her caught her attention. The noise was too small to be alarming, probably a squirrel, hopefully not a skunk. As she returned to shore to investigate, a mid-sized duck popped out of the reeds—not full grown, but not a duckling.
“Well hello, cutie,” Alex cooed, squatting for a better look. “What are you doing here all by yourself? Did you get left behind?”
The little brown duck waddled over, and she could tell something was wrong with its wing. Well, more than “wrong,” half of it was missing.
“Oh, my. Did something attack you? Come here, baby, let me see.” Surprisingly, it did as she asked and approached her. “You poor thing.”
Thinking it could be hungry, she ran to her cabin and searched for food. No bread. No crackers. Did ducks eat celery? She settled on a can of tuna. Halfway to the dock, she met the little fella on the trail, like it had tried to follow her.
“Sorry, we eat low-carb around here,” she said. “Until I get to the store, this’ll have to do.”
Alex plopped down in the middle of the path, pulled out a small chunk of meat, and held it out in offering. After a thorough sniffing, the duck trusted her enough to approach.
“Since you’re kinda plain—not that there’s anything wrong with that—I’m gonna assume you’re a girl. It’s really a shame the boys are the pretty ones in Duckland. Can I call you Daisy? It’s not very original, but it’s cute.”
She herded it back to the water and dumped the remaining tuna in a pile by the boathouse. “That should tide you over for a day or so,” she said. “I gotta go, but I’ll check on you later.”
When she got out of the shower, she found she’d missed a call from Drake. He’d followed up with a text saying he was coming to town on Friday.
Friday? That was only three days away. She panicked.
Everything had to be perfect when he got here.
This visit might be her only chance to convince him how fantastic Green Valley Falls was.
They couldn’t do long distance forever. And Alex wasn’t leaving.
That meant the only hope of a future was to convert him to small-town living.
She wanted to be more optimistic about attempting a long-distance relationship, but she would temper expectations.
Her limited experience with men had left her jaded, but maybe Drake was different.
Maybe he would actually do what he promised and mean what he said.
Supposedly, there were men who did that. Alex had just never met one.
When she pulled into The Rusty Nail parking lot, she was surprised to see the rental car from cabin twelve. Although she shouldn’t be. As the largest restaurant in town, it made sense he’d come here for dinner.
More shocking was that when she entered and found her group, Brody sat next to Nick at their table. How had that happened?
“Hey, yo,” Tess greeted as Alex approached. “Saved you a seat and already ordered your skinny margarita.”
“Where ya been?” Juliet asked.
“I found an injured duck by the lake and had to take care of it.”
“You mean as in…” Tess drew her finger across her throat and made a choking sound.
“No!” Alex said. “Why would you even say that?”
“The wilderness is a harsh place,” Juliet said. “Especially if it’s hurt, it’s only a matter of time before a fox or a raccoon gets it.”
“She’s not wrong,” Nick said. “I wouldn’t get too attached.”
“Daisy is a tough cookie.”
“Oh, dear,” Tess said. “She named it.”
“I’m with Alex,” Faith said. “It’s possible the thing can survive.”
“The winter? Injured?” Tess rolled her eyes.
“Any. Way.” Alex dragged out the words. “Lyle’s guys are coming over tomorrow to build the bookcases. I’m gonna ask them to build Daisy a little house. She can go in there to stay safe at night. She seems very smart.”
Alex glared at Brody when she caught him biting back a laugh. He held up both hands. “It’s a very considerate thing to do.”
“No offense,” Alex said. “But what are you doing here?”
“I invited him,” Faith answered for Brody. “He showed up at the bookstore, and I thought it’d be nice for Nick to have a masculine ally.”
“Whatever,” Alex said, then changed the subject. “Big news, y’all. Drake is coming to town.”
“That was fast,” Juliet said. “He must really like you.”
“Yes,” Faith said. “This is so great. When?”
“Flies in on Friday, and he’s staying for the weekend. This could be my only shot to sell GVF. I need a plan.”
She and her friends huddled up, leaving Nick and Brody at the end of the table to fend for themselves. After a minute, they stood.
“We’re gonna go watch the game at the bar,” Nick said. “Be back when the food comes out.” He gave Faith a quick peck on the cheek and walked with Brody to the bar.
“So, what? Are Nick and Brody BFFs now?” Alex asked with a huff.
“Nick’s not good at ‘friending,’” Faith said. “Thought I’d give him a gentle nudge.” She looked over to where the men sat and gave Nick a double thumbs-up and an encouraging smile when he caught her eye.
“Is it me, or are you a little antagonistic toward Brody?” Juliet asked.
“He just rubs me the wrong way.”
“You mean he saw you in an embarrassing moment, and you don’t like that one bit,” Tess said, arching an eyebrow.
Alex shrugged. They all already knew Tess was right, saving Alex the trouble of having to admit it out loud.
“Which sucks, because I should be kissing his butt. He has the power to destroy me. His ‘review’ could make or break me.”
“It’s tough to overcome a bad first impression,” Tess offered helpfully. “And assuming he was a convict and calling the police on him isn’t the best of starts.”
“We don’t need a play-by-play, Tess.” Alex sipped her drink, wishing she could have a do-over on the afternoon. “I wish I were better at sucking up.”
“When he comes back, just turn on the charm,” Faith said.
“Then he’ll think I’m only being nice because I know who he is now.”
“Do you have a choice?” Juliet asked.
“Never mind all that. I’ll worry about Brody later. We gotta think of stuff I can do to impress Drake. Hike to the falls for sure. What else?”
They brainstormed all the things they liked to do and made a tentative, weather-permitting plan to blow Drake’s socks off. A scenic drive through the mountains. A ride on the Cog Railway. A hike to Green Valley Falls. And pie at Karla’s diner.
They finished just as the food arrived, and Faith waved to get Nick’s attention. He and Brody were talking with Max, Jenny, and their daughter, Lilly—friends from town—but broke away and returned to the table.
“I ran an extra mile for you, my friend,” Alex said to the french fries on her plate, popping one into her mouth. “Hmm.”
“Did you hear the latest on the fugitive?” Faith said. “His nickname in prison is The Grocer.”
“Do I want to know why?” Juliet asked.
“Apparently,” Tess picked up the story. “His murderous rage was set off because his girlfriend brought home the wrong brand of cereal.”
“So, what?” Alex asked. “Because he didn’t like the groceries, they call him The Grocer?”
“I don’t know how they come up with prison names,” Faith said defensively. “I’m just telling you what I heard.”
“It would play better if he were a serial killer,” Alex said. “Get it? A serial cereal killer?”
Faith rolled her eyes. Tess laughed. Juliet nodded. Nick and Brody stared as if she’d lost her mind. She ignored them all and dug into her French dip.
Faith turned to Brody. “How long are you in town?”
“Until next Tuesday,” he said. “I meant to tell you, Alex, that I’ll be leaving for an overnight trip on Thursday. I’ll still pay for the night, just thought you should know.”
“He’s going to propose to his girlfriend,” Nick interjected. “It’s their anniversary.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Juliet said.
Alex offered congratulations along with everyone else, but felt a pang of something weird upon finding out he was basically engaged.
Why would a random guest’s marital status matter to her? She was perfectly happy with Drake. Again, with the feelings-gone-rogue thing. She needed to get a handle on that.
It was actually perfect timing for him to leave. Furniture and appliances for the rec cabin were scheduled to arrive this week. This way, the delivery trucks wouldn’t bother Brody.
After dinner, Juliet grabbed Alex’s check. “This one’s on me. I owe you.”
“What? Why?” Alex said.
“You covered for me at the kennel the other day. I said I’d buy you dinner.”
“That’s just what friends do. You don’t owe me anything.” Alex reached for the check, but Juliet raised her arm, putting it out of Alex’s reach.
“Make her jump for it,” Tess said, clapping. “That’s always funny.”
“Ha. Ha,” Alex said. “It wasn’t funny when we were kids, and it’s not funny now.” She jumped for the bill, hoping to catch Juliet off guard, but was inches short of reaching it.
A deep rumble of laughter from behind made her stop. “I don’t know,” Brody said. “Seems pretty funny to me.”
“Well, no one asked you,” Alex grumbled. Was she going to embarrass herself every time she saw him? If so, she was batting a thousand.