Chapter Fourteen
“D o you really have to go?” Jack said, lacing a finger through the belt loop of the pants she’d just pulled on and tugging her slightly toward him. He was still lying back in bed, a place she would’ve been very happy to spend the rest of the day, but she’d already be way later getting back to the lodge than she’d said she’d be.
Celeste allowed him to pull her close, and she closed her eyes as he kissed her again, softly this time, a perfect bookend to all of the other incredible ways he’d touched her over the past hour, making her forget all about the disastrous interview, the worries and insecurities melting away under his focused, wanting attention.
She felt her willpower crumbling, until she saw her phone lighting up from inside her purse on the floor. She had to go. “I should have been back at the lodge hours ago. People are probably wondering if I drove off the road or something.”
Jack followed her out to the entrance, where she slipped on her shoes and her jacket. He had pulled on his jeans, but his shirt was still on the floor in his room. Seeing his broad, sculpted torso in the bright light of the living room made leaving feel all but impossible.
She turned to him before leaving. Jack circled her waist and pulled her against him, his hair ruffled and his gaze still filled with desire. She closed her eyes as he kissed the nape of her neck again ever so slowly. He knew how to get to her. “All right. Call me later.”
Call me later. Those three simple words. Not an expression of any kind of feeling, necessarily, but the kind of thing you said to someone when what was happening between you wasn’t a one-time event. Was Jack going to be more than a one-time event?
He was an amazing man, and she was falling for him.
She would call him later.
Jack walked her to her car and stood outside as she drove back to the highway, her entire body buzzing with satisfaction.
She slid her phone out of her purse to see who’d called minutes earlier. Her stomach dropped when she looked at her home screen and saw the notification for nine missed calls, all from the lodge.
Something terrible had happened. There were no texts and no voicemails.
Celeste dialed the lodge’s number, set the call to hands-free, and all but sped away from Jack’s house to the highway, her heart trying to escape her chest.
When no one picked up, she was tempted to hit the gas pedal harder, but this highway was always teeming with speed patrol. She took a deep, steadying breath.
She pulled into the lodge and ran up the back path and let herself in the door.
Her parents were both sitting at the kitchen island, looking unconcerned if only a little confused at how she’d burst through the door.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“Nothing. What—”
“I wanted to ask where you’d left my purple sweater,” said Quinn from behind her. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You called me nine times!” she hissed.
“I really wanted to wear it to coffee with Jasmine. You said your appointment was over at ten.”
Celeste took a steadying breath. “Why didn’t you text? Or leave a message?”
“Jeez,” said Quinn, holding her hands up. “I’m sorry. I thought you were driving.”
She closed her eyes, willing herself not to bite off her sister’s head. What would Quinn say if she knew that only an hour ago, she’d been under the sheets at Jack’s house, thinking of anything but Quinn and her purple sweater?
“Forget it,” Celeste mumbled. “I’ll be in my office.”
She shut the door and sat in her chair and stared at the wall. Maybe it would be better to move on from the lodge. Living and working so closely with her family might not have been the healthiest, the most conducive for her to live an adult life.
Or maybe impulsivity just wasn’t her thing.
*
“Sorry to hear that,” Jack said, flipping open his organizer and running his finger across the calendar until he found May twenty-second, the date he was supposed to host a youth group from a community center in Nanaimo. They’d just called to cancel, citing a budget shortfall for the year. “What if I knock 10 percent off the price?”
“No can do,” said the woman on the other end. “Our funding wasn’t approved by council this year, so the only trip we’ll be doing is to the local park.”
“All right,” Jack said. “Hope we’ll see you in the future.” He pressed End on his home screen, then tossed his phone across the table and leaned back in his chair, grunting. It was the second cancellation he’d had in under a week, the other a local outdoorsmen club that called to see if he’d price match, of all companies, Forrest Outfitters. He had half a mind to tell the guy all about Forrest, but at the time he’d thought Screw ’em. Had he known this other group was going to pull out, he might have acted differently.
He flipped open his laptop and navigated to the back end of the reservations section of his website, where he added a limited-time-offer discount on any booking for the end of the month, then made a post on Instagram to advertise it.
“Come on, Bodie,” he said and whistled. He was frustrated and annoyed and needed to blow off some steam.
The early-evening sunshine was streaming through the trees, lighting up the worn path through the woods that Jack knew like the back of his hand.
Bodie sniffed around, and Jack took some deep breaths of the calm, cool air. He felt for his phone in his pocket. What was Celeste up to tonight? It was Friday, so maybe she’d be available to go out for dinner.
Their afternoon together the day before still felt like a dream, and if it was, he had no interest in waking up from it. That determined glint in her eyes as she’d closed the distance between them, her movements filled with confidence. The fragility he had seen moments before had melted away to a quiet strength that had taken his breath away.
He could still feel her fingers tracing the contours of his jawline before she’d leaned in, her lips meeting his in a passionate kiss that had left him reeling.
He wanted more. The physical piece, for sure. But he was interested in that and so much more. For a second, he had a flash in his mind of them sitting on the couch together, her feet on his lap and Bodie on the floor in front of them, a movie on and the fireplace going.
Maybe he’d drop by the lodge after work and bring by the pamphlets she’d invited him to put out at the front desk. If she was free, he’d invite her to dinner.
Jack could see himself with Celeste, a future he hadn’t envisioned in a very long time.
*
After dropping Bodie off, Jack packed his gear, then drove to the Bow River meeting spot to meet the day’s group. There was a family of four from Dallas, a couple from Ottawa, and two students from UBC’s forestry program who were taking a break from a field-research project in the area.
It was a good group—all beginners but they asked lots of questions, and after a couple of hours, one of the UBC students had the first catch, which seemed to give confidence to the rest of the group, who, one by one, were able to reel in a catch of their own.
They were just starting to clear out of the river when Jack spotted Forrest’s Hummer turn into the parking area, followed by a black Land Rover.
Jack cursed under his breath. Clearly Forrest hadn’t gotten the message the other day. If it weren’t for the fact that his clients were there, he’d have charged right over to him and told him what’s what.
He helped his group out of their waders and watched out of the corner of his eye as Forrest outfitted three middle-aged men from the Land Rover, then led them down to the river.
At least this time he’d brought them farther away from Jack’s space, but it wasn’t an area Jack would have recommended. The water was deeper and there was a section with a strong current, so despite it being on the more dangerous side, it was just a plain stupid place to bring someone to catch a fish, regardless of their experience.
“That was great,” said the mother of the family from Dallas. “Our friends are coming this way later in the summer. I’ll pass along your number.”
“Appreciate that,” said Jack. He eyed the decals on the side of the Hummer, which also detailed Forrest’s website. “Tell them to mention you sent them and I’ll knock 15 percent off the price.” At this rate, he’d be operating at a loss. But it would be worth it just to keep people from booking with Forrest.
After Jack saw off the rest of the group, he spent some time cleaning his equipment by the river and organizing the tackle boxes.
He was about to get into his truck when shouting came from the water. He left the door of his truck door open and jogged down to the river’s edge to get a better view.
One of the men was on his back, struggling to stand up. Forrest was racing toward him, but running through the water wasn’t easy and the man continued to struggle as the river’s current carried him away from the group.
Jack stood watching for a split second, mind calculating the best response. He ran back to his truck, fired up the engine, and executed a quick three-point-turn, then barreled down the gravel path in the direction of the river’s flow. He had to travel faster than the current was taking the man.
He scanned the river ahead as he drove, then pinpointed a spot he knew was on the shallower side. When he was as close as he could get with the truck, he threw the gear shift into Park and leapt out. There was only one place he had a chance of saving the man before the river swept him farther out to the wide basin where it would be impossible to intervene.
Heart pounding in his chest, he ran down to the riverbank. He could see the man, still caught in the current and struggling to right himself. At this point, his waders would be so full of water that it would be all but impossible.
Jack kept his eyes on a semi-shallow area with a fallen tree he could use to hang on to.
About one hundred meters away, he watched the man try to stand up again, then get knocked over by the force of the rushing river. The rocks were slippery, and unless you had tremendous lower-body strength, it would be all but impossible to save yourself, especially when you threw fear into the mix. Knocking your head against a rock was no small threat either.
Holding on to the tree for support, Jack waded in, trying to calculate the best place to stand based on the currents he could see rippling through the water. The branch only extended so far, so he said a silent prayer that he’d be strong enough to continue.
Without his waders, the cold water shot daggers of ice through his skin, and his Blundstones were weighed down like anchors as he tried to move toward the path he predicted the man would take.
Jack approached the spot when all of a sudden, the tree branch gave way and disappeared through the current with the strength of the water. He stumbled into the river, catching his fall against a sharp rock. Blood started to flow from the palm of his hand down his wrist.
He had about ten seconds to intercept the fisher. There was no way he was letting the man get washed by; it was certain death.
In a semi-crouched position, he engaged every muscle in his lower body and continued taking small steps forward, keeping his eye on the moving target rushing toward him.
For a moment, it looked like he wasn’t going to make it in time, but a larger boulder ahead allowed him to raise himself up to the surface water, reach out, and grab the collar of the man’s shirt.
“Hang on,” he said, passing the man his other hand. “I need you to try to stand up.”
The man’s eyes were filled with fear, but after a few seconds and with Jack’s assistance, he managed to get himself upright again.
“Now put your arm around my shoulder. We’re going to walk back together.”
Jack and the man moved slowly as a pair back to land, where Forrest and the other two men were standing. Forrest waded in as soon as they were almost back to shore. “All good!” he called, as though he hadn’t almost just seen a client washed away under his idiocy.
The man’s friends helped him onto the riverbank, and Jack took a few steps away from the group to catch his breath.
Forrest joined him immediately. “Thanks, man,” he said. “That was some quick thinking.”
Jack glared at him. “You know you almost killed him, right?” he said in a hushed voice. “What were you doing, taking them into such a fast spot?”
“I’ve taken plenty of groups there,” Forrest said. His expression had changed from panicked to defensive.
“Well, you must have a horseshoe up your ass or something. I can’t believe this hasn’t happened yet.”
Forrest glanced over at his group, then back at him. “Thanks for your help,” he said. “I’d better get back to them.”
“Don’t do anything stupid like that again,” Jack said. “Gives all of us a bad name. Even those of us who know what they’re doing.”
Without waiting for a response, he made his way up to the path lining the river’s edge that would lead him back to his truck, wet boots squelching on the gravel.
He shook his head as he slammed the door to his truck, then turned on the ignition.
The only bright side to being soaked head to toe with a bleeding hand was knowing that idiot was about to get his first one-star review.
*
“I’ve got Janice coming at eight tomorrow morning. She’s our best,” Celeste said, smiling at the husband and wife who’d come to the front desk to book a massage appointment for the wife the next morning. “Is there anything I can arrange for you, sir?”
“Just another delivery of those cinnamon buns!” he said, patting his stomach. “I’ll be happy to sit back with one of those and my coffee while she has her massage.”
“Excellent. Well, if there’s anything else you need, you know where to find me.”
The couple made their way to the staircase to their second-floor suite, and Celeste moved back to the office and checked her phone. She warmed when she saw a message from Jack, asking if he could come by to drop off some materials for their pamphlet display, goose bumps forming at the thought of being near him again.
Just as she was about to reply, her phone started to vibrate in her hand with a call coming through. When she saw the name of the screen, her heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath in. “Hello?”
A deep voice came through the phone. “Celeste, this is Stephan Jolliet calling from the Keystone Ridge Resort.”
Celeste grimaced. His voice was laced with bad news. “Yes,” she said. “Hello, Stephan. How are you?”
“I’m well—thank you. We appreciate you coming in yesterday. Celeste, the reason for my call is that I’m speaking on behalf of the team here to say we were really impressed with your interview. But…” he said and hesitated.
But what we actually think is that you had no business applying for this job , she predicted and squeezed her eyes shut, ready to absorb the blow.
“We did have another internal candidate apply from one of our partner hotels in the US and have offered him the job.”
“I appreciate you calling,” Celeste said. She knew she would be disappointed, but what she hadn’t anticipated was the contradictory sense of relief. She wasn’t ready to take on a job of that scope. She needed more experience. She needed to go back to school. She needed—
“We have another opportunity to offer you, however,” he said. “It’s…a bit different. But we think you’re up for the challenge, with your experience at a smaller property. We’re opening a boutique resort on Lagoon Island, just off the northeast side of Vancouver Island. You would be part of the team leading the opening. Helping to train the staff. Establishing systems. It’s a short-term contract with the possibility of extending, if we’re happy with your work.”
Celeste was speechless. “Thank you,” she said. “I—”
“We’d like to invite you for a site visit. It will need to be early next week, though. We’re eager to move forward on this, so we’ll need your decision as soon as possible. I’ll have my assistant make arrangements for you.”
Early next week? The lodge had a number of bookings, an art show opening in the gallery, and the pub was hosting a trivia night. She’d barely have time to think, never mind leave for an island hours away.
“I’ll need to think about it,” she heard herself say, butterflies doing whatever was the butterfly version of a cartwheel in her stomach. “Can I call you by the end of the weekend to confirm?”
The other end of the line was silent for a beat. “We really are eager to get plans in place. Please let me know by Sunday at the latest.”
“I’ll speak with you then,” Celeste said. Her nerves quickly morphed to excitement as the details of the conversation settled. Lagoon Island. It sounded kind of dreamy.
She opened the map app on her phone and input the island’s name to calculate the distance from Keystone Ridge, then grimaced when the app couldn’t calculate a route. She zoomed out from the map, the vast distance between it and her home staring back at her. The vast distance between her and Jack.
Her mind whirled. Okay, so it was far away. But it wasn’t on the other side of the world. Ava managed to get home when she could, and Celeste would have two days a week off.
If it was real, this thing between her and Jack, they’d make it work.
*
Half an hour later, Jack had changed out of his wet clothes and packed away the rest of his gear.
He glanced at the clock on his dashboard as he approached town. It was just before six and most of the shops would be closing soon, but he only needed to make a quick stop.
The shop attendant at Petal Pusher was pulling in the sandwich board in front of the store. “Mind if I grab something real quick?” Jack asked the young woman.
“Sure thing,” she said. He held the door open for her, then followed her inside the small shop, which was filled with an earthy warm smell and buckets of all kinds of different flowers. He scanned the selection and felt pressure to pick quickly, to let the attendant get on with her night, but there was too much to choose from.
“Who are they for, and what’s the occasion?”
“Uh, a woman, and no occasion, really,” he said.
“Give me five minutes,” she said. “I’ll put something nice together.”
As he stood waiting for the bouquet, he glanced at the community bulletin board to the side of the cash register. A flier caught his eye, with an image of a man and a woman in a float boat, the woman pulling a catch out of the water with a smile plastered across her face. Special introductory price , said the text across the top of the page. He read on to see that the flier was advertising yet another new outdoor-adventure company in the area.
Was no one doing market research? Or was he just bleeding dry for the benefit of all these new startups?
He had to figure out something, fast, before these new operations wiped him off the map completely.
“Here you are,” the florist said. “What do you think?”
“Great,” he said and handed over his credit card, knowing full well he was buying flowers for a woman he wouldn’t be able to afford to date soon.
*
On the short drive over to the lodge, Jack played through a few scenarios in his head. Hopefully Celeste would be the one to greet him at the front desk. How would he explain the flowers to her parents or her sister? He knew one thing she found challenging about working at the lodge was that her whole family knew her business.
Showing up here with flowers was probably inappropriate. But the idea of going another day without seeing Celeste didn’t feel like an option. He missed her badly, and besides, she’d invited him to drop off his marketing materials.
He would leave the flowers on the front seat just in case. Hopefully she was available for dinner.
He pulled into the lodge parking lot and brought his truck to a stop beside Celeste’s Jeep and flipped down his visor to check his hair in the mirror. It was time for a haircut. He pulled on his ballcap, grabbed the envelope of pamphlets and scaled the front steps of the lodge, then paused for a moment before entering, peering through the window to see what was going on in the reception area.
Bingo. Celeste was alone, standing at the desk working on her laptop. His heart swelled. She looked focused on whatever she was doing, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and lower lip jutting out a bit as she leaned in to examine something on her screen. She’d done this in class when she’d been concentrating. It was adorable.
Jack pushed the heavy wooden door open, and Celeste glanced up as he entered. Surprise registered, then a grin spread across her face. For a second, he could see it. Coming home to Celeste, to her sparkling smile and warm energy. The touch of her lips. Falling asleep with her in his arms.
“Hey,” Celeste said. She flipped her laptop lid half-closed, then emerged from behind the desk. “This is a nice surprise.”
The emerald-green dress she was wearing matched her eyes and hugged her body in a way that conjured images in his mind from the day before. He cleared his throat. “Just thought I’d bring these pamphlets by. Thanks for offering to put them out.”
“Of course,” she said. She took the stack from the envelope, and he watched as she made room for them in the wooden display at the side of the reception desk. “I’m giving you the most prominent spot. People take these all the time.”
“Thanks,” said Jack. “Appreciate it.”
Celeste tossed the empty manila envelope onto the front desk. She looked at her watch. “Come on in. Can you stay for a few minutes?”
“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a bite to eat or something. We could walk into town. It’s pretty nice out.”
She looked behind her. “I heard some footsteps upstairs a few minutes ago. Happy hour’s still going for another thirty minutes, so I should probably stick around. But can I get you a drink or something? I have some exciting news to tell you.”
He wasn’t sure he could take much more excitement than he was feeling, fighting the urge to reach out and take a hold of her hand, pull her close and kiss her the way he had the other day, when the small moan that had escaped her mouth had taken him to a place he’d never been before. But he could be patient. “Oh yeah?” Jack said. “What’s that?”
“I would have texted you, but I wanted to tell you in person. So, this is perfect.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I got a call from the Keystone Ridge Resort!”
“That’s incredible,” Jack said. He wasn’t at all surprised, but she’d been doubting herself, and this was important to her. He opened his arms and wrapped her in a big hug, drawing in a long breath as he kissed the top of her head, basking in her soft floral scent and the feeling of her body under the silky fabric of her dress.
He pulled back and grinned at her. “You got the job?” His mind raced, considering what he could do to help her celebrate. He could take her somewhere nice, maybe an overnight at a nice place in Yoho. No distractions. No family around. Just him and Celeste and some time to indulge in each other.
“No,” she said. She ran her hand down the edge of his open jacket, then slid her arm around his waist. He wanted nothing more than to take her somewhere they could be alone. “But they offered me something else.” She looked up at him with a bright smile.
He loved seeing her excited like this. “And what’s that?”
She took a deep breath. “I still don’t know what to think about it, but it could be great. It’s a brand-new resort they’ve built off Port Hardy. It’s super remote. Which, I know, what am I going to do in the middle of nowhere, right? But at least there’s a spa, so manicures are available.”
Celeste kept talking, but all Jack could focus on was the same gut punch he’d experienced when Christine had told him she was leaving him. His mind whirled with what Celeste was telling him as he struggled to maintain a steady facial expression.
He watched as the bright light in her eyes dimmed and her smile turned down a little. “What?”
Jack’s mind raced. She was expecting congratulations and for him to be happy, though he felt anything but. “What do you mean, what?”
“That look on your face.” She stepped back, searching his expression.
Jack dug deep but couldn’t do it. “I don’t know what you—”
He stopped when a young couple appeared at the foot of the staircase, two men holding hands and seemingly aware they were interrupting a private moment. “We’re sorry to intrude,” said one of the men. “But any chance we could order a bottle of wine in front of the fire?”
“And if you have any more of those pretzel bites…” the other man said.
“Of course,” said Celeste. “The wine menu is on the table. Please have a look, and I’ll be there shortly.” The men disappeared to the great room, and she looked back at Jack, confusion in her eyes. “Can you stick around for a few minutes?” she said.
And what? Hear all about the job that was going to take her to a remote area of a different province? “Ah, no, I’ve gotta get back. Bodie needs a walk,” he said. He zipped up his jacket all the way and made for the door.
“Wait,” Celeste said quietly.
The insistence in her voice almost stopped him in his tracks, but he needed out. Jack reached for the door handle. “You go ahead—I know you’re busy,” he said.
He paused before opening the door. He shouldn’t leave like this. But he didn’t know what else to do.
The only sound was the soft classical music playing through the lodge’s speaker system.
“Jack,” said Celeste. “I thought you’d be happy for me. You encouraged me to do this.” Her expression was pleading. It was too much.
“I am happy for you,” he said, almost choking on his words. He knew he was being unfair. He had encouraged her. He’d hoped for her to get good news. But the truth was his buy-in had a limit. Now she was leaving, and he’d be the left-behind all over again. He felt pathetic. He couldn’t be that guy.
“Listen,” he said. He could barely force himself to make eye contact with her, and when he did, the hurt in her deep green eyes hit him like a dagger. “I think you’re great. But this isn’t going to work out.”
Her concern turned to annoyance. “You told me I should go for it.”
“I’m happy for you,” he said, but no one with a brain would have believed him.
She took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Well, you’re doing a shitty job at showing it.”
They stood in silence, until Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He had two choices: Let Celeste know how much she meant to him and pretend they could make it work long distance, only for her to fade away. Or just cut to the inevitable.
He didn’t want any part in her staying behind. This was her life, and if she stayed and things didn’t work out with them, or if, like she was predicting, the lodge changed hands to someone who wasn’t prepared to employ her, she’d just resent him for it. It was best for them both to just move on.
“You’re right,” he said. “You deserve better. ’Night, Celeste.”
She didn’t follow him out, and he didn’t blame her.
He got into the truck and glanced at the bouquet of flowers on the passenger seat and shook his head, then turned on the ignition, a wave of foolishness washing over him. He’d let it happen again, but this time was worse.
This time he’d known better.