Episode 92
EPISODE 92
DAYDREAMS
River
Getting Heather to leave my room after our shower was awkward to say the least. After my release, I turned off the water and handed her a fluffy white towel from the warmer. She wrapped it around herself and grabbed another to dry her blue-tipped hair.
She made some conversation about nothing in particular that I don’t even remember, all the while I was subliminally sending her a message to leave.
The message didn’t get to her.
She continued blathering on about something while I opened the carry-on I was supposed to take to the mainland with Sienna and mindlessly threw the few items back into the dresser drawers. Brett didn’t take a bag with him this morning. He plans to be back sometime tonight.
Finally I turned to Heather and decided to be frank. “I’ve had a great time with you, but I have some business to attend to.”
“Oh,” she said. “Yeah. Of course. I had a great time too. See you later?” She scurried into her workout clothes.
“Of course.” I escorted her to the door of my suite and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
That was an hour ago, and I feel like shit. I don’t use women, and I didn’t mean to use Heather, but in reality, that’s exactly what I did. I like her. I’m attracted to her for sure. But my mind was elsewhere while we were together. I’ll apologize later when I see her. Maybe I can make it up to her once my head has cleared.
I’ve been ruminating, and finally I open my walk-in closet and kneel in front of the small safe. Inside is my phone. I’ve honored the no-devices policy, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to be completely cut off. I enter the combination and open the door to the safe, but it’s not my phone I reach for.
No.
There are a few things that mean so much to me that I didn’t want to leave the country without them. I pull out a yellowing envelope and open it. Inside are a few dog-eared snapshots from my youth. The first is of my old mutt Ernie. I’ve had many dogs since him, but he holds a special place in my heart. I’m not religious or even spiritual—other than my pure love and respect for nature and the land—but Ernie and I had a connection so profound that to this day I believe he was my familiar.
“What should I do, Ern?” I ask out loud.
Sometimes he answers in my head, but this time, he doesn’t.
I turn the next snapshot—my mom, dad, and me before Dad’s accident. It’s crazy how much I resemble my father. Same dark hair and eyes, same muscular build, though I’m slightly taller. My mom, of course, was always beautiful, with dark hair and striking blue eyes. My parents were true partners, running the ranch side by side. As hard as Mom worked, she always had three meals prepared for Dad and me—and for most of my friends. Seb and Jake especially liked to come around at lunch and dinnertime.
Which brings me to the third photo. The five of us one summer. We were twelve or thirteen. Brett and I had already hit puberty with a vengeance, so we towered over the other three. Alex, Seb, and Jake caught up with us the next summer.
A lump forms in my throat as I turn to the fourth and final photo.
The four of us.
Brett, Seb, Alex, and I, dressed for Homecoming our junior year in high school. It was our first school year without Jake. We’re dressed to the nines—even Seb, who never had any extra money. He found a decent black suit at the thrift store and my mom altered it for him and bought him a white cotton shirt and a blue silk tie to wear with it. Our hair is combed, our faces shaved, and each of us holds the corsage that we’ll present to our dates later.
And we’re smiling.
Except we’re not.
The smiles are all forced, and I can easily see beneath every one of them.
Dark circles mar Brett’s blue eyes, and Sebastian’s cheeks are slightly hollow. He dropped some weight after we lost Jake, and Coach was on him all the time about it during football practice. “Get some meat back on those bones, Tate. You can’t block without muscle. And you, Barrett, get your fucking head in the game!”
Yeah. My head wasn’t in the game that season. Insomnia plagued me. I went to bed every night fearing that the next day the cops would come pounding on the door after finding something to tie us to the horrors of that summer.
None of us got any the night of Homecoming. We took our dates home right after the dance and then raided Seb’s mother’s stash of liquor. We headed back to my parents’ ranch and got blackout drunk in the old barn. That’s when we sealed our pact again.
That we’d make something of ourselves. That we’d never again be tempted by someone else’s riches.
That we’d make our lives count.
We lived up to that pact, and here we are.
So many things have changed for us…except for one.
We’re still waiting for that fucking shoe to drop.
I jolt out of my daydream when the phone in my room rings. I hastily shove the photos back into the safe, lock it, and then grab the receiver.
“Yeah?”
“Sebastian, it’s Evangeline.”
I rub at the ache on my temple. “What the fuck is it now? I agreed to stay. What the hell else do you want?”
“River…”
I should apologize for barking at her, but I don’t. “Evangeline, I agreed to stay. You know my terms. Two weeks, and you’ve already burned part of that time.”
“I understand.” She pauses a moment. “I’ve arranged an activity for the rest of the day. Something we’ll do as a group. Sort of.”
“I thought Emily and June were supposed to have dates tonight. You know, since they weren’t chosen for private dates last night?”
“Change of plans. Brett’s not here, so we’re tabling that. I’ve spoken to Emily and June and they’re fine with it.”
I gulp down the spike of jealousy I feel at Emily’s name. She and I have nothing in common except scorching chemistry in the sack.
“Okay,” I say. “What’s the plan then? And can I get out of it?”
“River…”
I sigh. “Fine. What is the plan?”
“A cook-off.”
I nearly drop the phone. “Uh…I don’t cook.”
“That’s part of the fun. You’ll learn. Chef, along with his two sous chefs, Marc and Katie, will teach you. I brought in a fourth chef as well. You’ll be divided into teams of two.”
My heart drops to my stomach. I already know who I’ll be paired with.
“Each team will create one course,” Evangeline continues. “Then we’ll all eat dinner together and everyone, including the chefs, will vote for their favorite of the courses. The team who gets the most votes will get to choose who they’d like to have a date with the next night.”
“What about Emily and June and their dates?” I ask.
“For God’s sake, River. It will all work out.”
“Isn’t Sebastian supposed to do a concert tomorrow night?”
“I’ve rearranged the schedule to accommodate everything. Would you please just trust me?”
Trust her? Is she serious? After everything I found out?
“I can get this back on track,” she assures me. “This will be fun, and it will help build team spirit.”
“This isn’t a team,” I say. “The guys and I may be a team, but the women are all in competition with one another.”
“River, please. It may not be perfect, but it will give us something to do. Maybe get everyone’s head back in this.”
“All right. I’ll participate. On one condition.”
“Which is?”
“I think you know.”
She sighs. “Yes, I know. Need I remind you, though, that the last two times you were paired with Misty, it was at your own request?”
“Because I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I need a break from her.”
“I understand, and I’ve already paired up the teams. You’ll be with June, and the two of you will be responsible for the main course.”
“Great.”
“I thought you’d prefer that. You’re a beef rancher, River. You know a lot about?—”
“I raise it and I eat it. Doesn’t mean I know how to cook it.”
“Fine. Do you want a different course?”
“No. The main course is fine. Whatever. Who are the other teams?”
“Ariel and Sebastian will do the appetizer, Alex and Heather will do dessert.”
“That means…”
“Yes. Emily and Misty are paired together for a salad or vegetable. Or both. I’m not sure what the chefs have in mind.”
Great. Emily and Misty. The one who wants me and the one I’ve fucked into next week.
Nothing can go wrong there…
“You there?” Evangeline asks.
“I’m here.”
“This will be fun. I’m giving you a Misty reprieve, and after all, you’ve got to eat. I need your cooperation, River. Do I have your word?”