6. Rhys
Chapter six
Rhys
R hys drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, wishing the car in front of him would speed up slightly. He couldn’t wait to get back into town and tell Brianna about his morning with the Cantrell Mountain Rescue team.
He hadn’t expected the surge of adrenaline that coursed through him when the rescue helicopter landed back at base and the missing snowshoer was reunited with their anxious family. While it didn’t quite compare to disabling an improvised explosive device in a war zone, at least his odds of survival were higher in the mountains of Colorado than they ever were while he was on active duty.
After making a quick stop at the cafe to pick up a late lunch for Brianna—he knew without asking that she wouldn’t have eaten, as she’d been laser-focused on her store opening—he walked in the door of her store, and froze.
A sharply dressed older woman was pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly, trapping Brianna at the front counter. Even in the dim light caused by the paper over the front windows, Brianna looked as white as a ghost, and seemed to shrink smaller with every word flung her way.
“And romance! What were you thinking, stupid girl! No-one reads just romance. And what will the men buy? They want variety, they want bargains, they want…” Her heavily accented rant trailed off as the woman saw him standing there.
He raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what she would say next. It was a trick he’d learnt from one of his favorite lieutenants in Afghanistan, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Oh hello…” the woman purred. “Those videos don’t do the mountain man justice.”
Rhys resisted the urge to shudder at both her words and the predatory look on her face. He didn’t mind the mountain rescue lads watching Brianna’s videos and having a laugh at his expense, but he hadn’t expected this sort of unwelcome attention in the flesh.
“Thanks.” He hoped the curt tone would flag to this woman, whoever she was, that he wasn’t interested. “Brianna, I brought you lunch.”
She nodded, but didn’t speak. It was like all the light had gone out of her. He’d never seen her like this and could only assume it had something to do with the woman who had now made her way across to him and had one hand wrapped around his upper arm.
“I’m Katerina. Brianna was my assistant for many years, and I taught her everything she knows about the book business. I have no doubt she will make this a success—”
“That’s not what you were saying when I walked in,” Rhys interrupted, his blood pressure rising as the pieces fell into place for him. “You were calling Brianna stupid just a few minutes ago—which she certainly isn’t.”
“And what would you know about the book business?” Katerina sneered at him; all pretense of friendship gone after he called her bluff. Thankfully, she and her overwhelming perfume had taken a step backwards at his harsh words. “You look like some kind of mountain redneck with no skill and even less money. I don’t know why Brianna chose this hillbilly town to set up shop—I can only assume it has something to do with you.”
Yes, it does – but not in the way you’re thinking, you old witch.
He took his eyes off Katerina and turned back to Brianna, who was watching their exchange in a daze.
“Brianna, sweetheart, are you open for business yet?”
“Umm, no, we’re… we’re not,” she stammered. He hadn’t heard her sound that unsure since they cleared the air during their walk around Lake San Christobal. Clearly this Katerina person was making her anxiety flare up big-time.
“Well, you heard Brianna.” Rhys turned back to Katerina and gestured at the front door. “The shop’s closed, so I suggest you leave.” She narrowed her eyes at him, but he drew himself up to his full height and stood firm. “Don’t make me say it again. Get. Out.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as Katerina jammed her ridiculous hat—fur-lined, really? —on her head and stomped out the door, slamming it behind her.
As soon as the door shut, he walked over to Brianna and wrapped his arms around her. She was stiff and coiled tight as a spring, and for a moment he wondered if she would yield to him at all. Then she sighed, and some of the tension left her body, only to be replaced by a fine tremor.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue,” she whispered. “I couldn’t get her to leave.”
“She’s determined, I’ll give her that.” He ran his hands in soft circles over her back. “Do we need to be worried about her coming back?”
Brianna shuddered in his arms. “She probably will. She doesn’t take well to being slighted, and she’s clearly fixated on you, which I hadn’t expected. Nothing would make her happier than adding you to her list of conquests.”
“I have no desire to be anywhere near the woman—just her perfume makes me nauseous.”
“It is rather offensive, isn’t it?” Brianna pulled away from him and smiled sadly. “Even so, I might hold off on creating any more videos of you for social media.”
Disappointment ran through him at her words. Making the videos together had quickly become one of the highlights of his day.
“I know what you can post instead.” He retrieved the bag he’d brought with him, grateful that he’d gotten the last two cinnamon rolls from the cafe. “A review of the best cinnamon rolls in the state. Claire thinks there’s no problem that can’t be solved with a cinnamon roll.”
“If they can solve our Katerina problem, then I’ll give them five stars…”
As they devoured their lunch—he was starving too—she told him about the years she spent working for Katerina, the woman’s appalling business practices, and how her world had imploded when she went to resign. And while she didn’t say it out loud, it was obvious she’d retreated back into the uncertainty and anxiety that she’d tried so hard to move past since moving to Cantrell.
Desperate to take her mind off what just happened, he decided a change of subject might help.
“Did I ever tell you how my parents met?”
“Noooo…” She picked at the remnants of her lunch.
“My Dad and his best friend were in London. Dad was supposed to be meeting someone at another pub, but his mate insisted they pop into a particular pub and see if there was any local talent. He stepped in the door, locked eyes with my Mam, and that was it for both of them. They were married twenty-five years.”
She was smiling as he recounted the story, before the enormity of his last sentence appeared to hit her. “Did you say ‘were’?”
He sighed. No matter how many times he said the words, it never got any easier. “They died in a car accident when Adelaide and I were teenagers.”
“I’m so sorry… I had just assumed they were back in Scotland, and maybe I’d get to meet them one day.”
“They would have loved you.” He decided that instant to go ahead and tell her how deep his feelings for her went. “I’ve always wanted what they had, and I think I might have found it.”
Instead of lighting up, like he expected, she went pale again and stepped away from where they were leaning on the counter. “Rhys—”
“I looked across the cafe that day,” he interrupted, desperate to get this off his chest. “I saw you, and I knew I’d found my person.”
“I’ve, ahh, gotta pee,” she said, making a beeline for the back of the shop where the bathroom was.
He grabbed one of the Valentine’s Day candies from the bowl on the counter and slid down to sit on the floor, flicking the candy from hand to hand. The printed words ‘be mine’ mocked him as he waited for Brianna to come back from the toilet.
I want her to be mine… but apparently, she’s not there yet.
The toilet flushed in the background and he hastily stuffed the candy into his mouth and chewed. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for more sugar, but he couldn’t exactly put it back in the bowl, and he didn’t want to risk Brianna finding it in the rubbish and going into another tailspin trying to work out how it got there.
She met his eyes as she walked back across the room, and he could see from the set of her shoulders that she’d come to a decision while in the bathroom.
“I just need some time.” Her voice was firm, but her fingers shook against her thigh in a rapid beat that would rival any drummer at the Edinburgh Tattoo. “Since I’ve been here, everything has fallen into place, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m actively making choices, or just going along with what’s happening around me. I think I need to figure that out before we go any further with this.”
He nodded slowly. It wasn’t an outright no, at least.
“I’m… I’m also going to keep the door locked now, until I’m open for business properly.”
“That’s a good idea.” He swallowed and held her gaze. “As for the rest of it—if you’re not ready to take what I’m offering, that’s fine. I want you, and I don’t come with an expiry date.
Her shoulders relaxed as his words sank in.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I do like you, I like this, I just need time.”
“On one condition, yeah?” He gestured towards her phone barely visible in her cardigan pocket. “You’ve got my number. When you’re ready to explore what this is between us, you let me know.”
He closed the distance between them and dropped a featherlight kiss on her forehead, before turning away and walking out of the shop. He just hoped he wasn’t turning his back on the best thing that had ever happened to him.