Summer at Lake Haven

by RaeAnne Thayne

  She had to laugh at that. “I’m afraid if you’re looking for an expert, you will have to find someone else. I’ve lived here my entire life, just a few blocks from the trailhead, yet I’ve only been to Bridal Veil Falls a handful of times.”

  When she had hiked that trail, it had usually been with friends. Certainly not her mother. Despite living in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Linda wasn’t big on outdoor activities. She gardened a little but mostly had preferred to be sitting at home with a book or watching television.

  Maybe if her father had lived longer, he might have taken her on more of the trails around the lake. He had been a deep lover of nature, both the pristine mountain setting around Lake Haven and the Redemption Mountains and the wildlife who lived all around them.

  “No matter,” Ian said now. “We don’t really need an expert. We can always use a trail map to guide our way. I’m sure the children would still enjoy having you. Maybe we could take a picnic lunch on Sunday.”

  Oh, that sounded lovely. She could imagine sitting beside the falls, enjoying a summer day with them.

  Before she could answer, Ian winced a little, as if only now remembering to whom he was speaking. “You will probably be working in your store, though, won’t you? Forget I said anything.”

  It was a logical assumption. Between all the custom dress orders she was sewing mostly at home in between overseeing daily operations at Fremont Fashions, she was working every single day without a vacation. She had been since her mother died.

  Suddenly the idea of spending a few hours with Ian and his children was undeniably appealing.

  Not the smartest idea, her mother’s voice seemed to whisper in her ear. She had to admit, this time that voice was probably right.

  She was already concerned about growing too close to Ian and his children. After all, they would be leaving in only a few more weeks. Spending the afternoon with them hiking through the backcountry was not a good way to maintain boundaries around her heart.

  She was about to tell him no when she caught herself. Was she really still letting the thought of what her mother might say in a given situation dictate her actions and tell her who she should associate with and when?

  Linda was gone now. If Sam wanted to hang out with Ian and his children for a few hours in the mountains on her day off, what was the harm? She had been working endless days, harder than she had ever worked in her life. She deserved a few hours for herself.

  “I hope to be finished with Gemma’s dress and another one I’m working on by Sunday. A hike in the mountains to celebrate finishing the work sounds lovely actually.”

  He looked delighted and a little surprised that she had agreed. “Great. Let’s plan on it. How long do you figure it will take us to reach the waterfall?”

  Katrina would die laughing if she knew Ian Summerhill was looking at Samantha, of all people, for backcountry guidance.

  “Again, I’m not the expert on local hikes. I hope you don’t expect that from me.”

  “Not at all,” he assured her.

  “I can ask around to be certain. I have friends who have done it many times. As I recall, it’s a little bit uphill at the beginning and then the trail levels. I believe it usually takes the average hiker about an hour. With the children, you might want to give it an hour and a half, since there are interesting things to see along the way.”

  “Not to mention that Thomas can literally drag his heels if he gets the slightest bit tired.”

  She smiled at the visual imagery. Again, he gave her that intense look that made her skin feel hot and itchy.

  “Let’s plan to leave around ten thirty in the morning. Does that work with your schedule?”

  She could fill her day with a thousand things to do. None of them appealed to her as much as taking a short hike into the mountains with Ian and his children.

  “Sounds perfect. It’s still cool enough on our June mornings that we should be comfortable. Can I pack a lunch?”

  “I’ll have Mrs. Gilbert fix some for us, as it was my invitation.”

  “All right. I’ll look forward to it. Meanwhile, please convey my thanks to your children for their loving care of my puppies, won’t you?”

  “I’ll do that.”

  They gazed at each other and she could see the memory of their kiss flicker in his eyes. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to flutter out of control.

  “Ms. Fremont,” he began, but she cut him off.

  “Samantha. Or Sam, even. I don’t think we need to be so formal with each other, do you? I mean, we’ve kissed. Remember?”

  A little frown formed between his eyebrows. “Remembering isn’t a problem. It’s forgetting that seems to be the struggle.”

  The air between them seemed to crackle with awareness and she didn’t know what to say.

  “I’m glad you brought up our, er, kiss actually. I feel as if I should apologize for my inappropriateness that night.”

  She had to laugh at his formal tone. Conversely, it made her suddenly feel far more at ease. “You make it seem like we’re stuck in Victorian times and you’re some stuffy lord horrified to find himself messing about with a downstairs scullery maid. This isn’t Queen Victoria’s time, Ian.”

  He blushed more, which she had to admit she found quite adorable.

  The truth was, she found him adorable. She wasn’t sure she had ever made a man blush before.

  “I’m aware,” he said stiffly. “It was still inappropriate on my part. I want to assure you that my invitation to go hiking with me and the children shouldn’t lead you to surmise that I expect...more kissing.”

  Would that be so terrible?

  The thought slithered through her consciousness. With no small degree of shock, she realized she wanted more kissing between them. Quite desperately actually. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around his waist, stand on tiptoe, bury her hands in that slightly disordered hair and kiss him until she couldn’t breathe.

  She straightened her spine, vertebra by vertebra. No. Stop that, she told herself, clenching her fingers into fists before they could reach for him. She didn’t need more heartbreak right now, when she was in the middle of trying to rebuild her life.

  She would go on this hike with Ian and his children. They would have a lovely time appreciating the gorgeous scenery around Haven Point and perhaps enjoy a nice picnic lunch together, packed by his children’s nanny.

  He and his children were her neighbors and she owed them much more than a little guide service for helping her with the puppies. Showing him a few of the local sights was the least she could do for them.

  She was strong enough to spend a few hours with him, especially if she continued to remind herself that he and Thomas and Amelia would be leaving in a few weeks.

  She couldn’t allow herself to care about them more than she already did. It would be a disaster and would prove once and for all that her mother was right about her—Starry-eyed Sam still led with her heart and not her common sense.

  Not this time.

  “I’ll see you on Sunday,” she said, trying not to wonder how she would make it through the next few days until then.

  * * *

  AN HOUR INTO the hike with Samantha on Sunday morning, Ian knew inviting her along for this outing had been a grave mistake.

  Oh, she was wonderful company. He couldn’t complain about that part. The children both seemed to adore her and vied for her attention, taking turns telling her in quite astonishing detail about other hikes they’d gone on together at home or when Ian or their mother or both had taken them on holiday.

  Samantha, in turn, was warm and friendly to them as they walked, pointing out landmarks along the way, like a spot local Native Americans tribes still considered sacred and an almost-buried foundation of one of the early European settlers’ cabins.

 
The children were captivated by her stories. Thomas had warmed to her more than any other woman Ian could remember and Amelia was obviously impressed by her fashion sense and style. Both children loved her puppies, of course, which went without saying.

  No, the problem had nothing to do with how she was interacting with the children and everything to do with the trouble he was having controlling his growing attraction to her.

  He was well on his way to becoming besotted. Every moment he spent with Samantha Fremont only increased his desire to continue spending time with her. She fascinated him on so many different levels. He liked everything about her, from the way the sunlight caught in her hair to the patience she showed with Thomas’s endless questions to her rather chagrined acknowledgment that she wasn’t much of a nature enthusiast.

  If he wasn’t extraordinarily careful, he was in danger of making a complete fool of himself.

  When the children hurried ahead on the trail a short way, leaving him and Samantha walking alone together, Ian had to fight the urge to tug her into the trees and kiss her senseless.

  What was happening to him?

  “Gorgeous day, isn’t it?” she asked after a rather awkward moment.

  “Lovely,” he answered, which was nothing less than the truth. He couldn’t remember a prettier June day. The morning was cool at the higher elevation and birds seemed to follow them in the treetops.

  The sky was so open here in this part of Idaho, a vast blue peppered with only a few clouds, and the air had a sweet, citrusy scent as they walked through groves of pines and ancient aspens he knew were probably hundreds of years old.

  “Do you have many trails like this near where you live?” she tried again.

  “England has an extensive walking trail system but nothing quite like this. If you want this sort of wild and untamed mountain terrain, you have to typically go north to the Lake District or into Scotland.”

  “Those of us who live in the Rocky Mountains sometimes take the wilderness outside our door for granted. At least, I do. When all I see is my house and my shop and the road between them, I often forget I live in such a spectacular place. It’s good to have this reminder. I should make more of an effort to get out into the backcountry.”

  She drew in a deep breath of mountain air, while he only wanted to breathe in the essence of Samantha.

  He was being utterly ridiculous.

  “I’m sorry you couldn’t bring your dog along. The children would have enjoyed having her here.”

  “I know, but for now she still needs to stick close to the puppies. They’ll be gone before we know it, then she and I can start walking together. She can be my hiking buddy after you leave.”

  She gave a smile that looked slightly forced and he had the oddest feeling she wasn’t looking forward to their departure any more than Ian was.

  “Do you have new homes picked out for all three of them, then?”

  “They’re going to friends of mine, which makes me happy. I have this idealized image—probably silly—but I imagine them having regular playdates with each other. It’s hard to think of giving them away to new homes, though it’s inevitable. I can’t keep them all. That would be completely impractical. Still, I can’t help thinking about how sad Betsey will be once they’re gone.”

  “I have great sympathy for her. I can’t imagine being particularly thrilled when the children are old enough to go off to university.”

  “Maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll stick around and go to Oxford, then you won’t have to let them go.”

  Except he would no longer be there after the end of the summer and certainly not by the time Amelia and Thomas left for university. He would be at Summerhill House, wrapped up in the mundane business of the estate.

  He didn’t want to think about that. He was still on vacation and didn’t have to immerse himself yet in his responsibilities. Ian quickly changed the topic. “Did you go away to university?”

  She shook her head. “I went to college in Boise and commuted to class or did online coursework. I lived on campus for one semester but my mother needed help at the store so I moved back home and did the long-distance thing.”

  He frowned, wondering about the sort of mother who would deprive her daughter of the necessary experience she would gain living away from home.

  “What did you study? Fashion design?”

  She looked down at the trail in front of them with a distant sort of look. “I wanted to major in fashion but it didn’t make a great deal of sense, considering I knew I would be coming home to run the boutique. Fashion design would have been fun and exciting but a degree in business administration made much more sense.”

  Something told him her mother, the one she had previously told him had been difficult, may also have had a strong influence in that decision.

  “Do you enjoy what you do?” he asked after they walked a few hundred more feet beside a softly singing creek, the children just ahead of them now.

  She looked startled at the question. “Of course. Would I keep doing something I didn’t enjoy?”

  He thought of the years stretching out ahead of him, taking over the family concerns from his father. “People stick with all manner of jobs they don’t enjoy, for a whole host of reasons.”

  “I guess that’s true.” She gazed out at the landscape in front of them. His children were having a wonderful time, he could see. They had picked up walking sticks somewhere along the trail and were comparing them to see whose was tallest.

  “I have always thought I would run the boutique forever,” Samantha said after a moment. “Lately, though, I’ve started to wonder if that’s really what I’m meant to do, you know?”

  He understood completely. “A few years ago, I switched from full-time research to teaching a few upper level classes. I discovered that while I love the research, I have something to give to students, as well.”

  Or at least he did, Ian thought with a familiar pang.

  “Yes. That’s it exactly. I love elements of running the boutique. Ordering in precisely the items I think my clients will like, helping to find the perfect outfit for someone who considers herself hopelessly unfashionable, seeing a client leave the store feeling better about herself than she did when she walked in.”

  “That does sound rewarding.”

  “It can be. But other parts make me cringe. I hate dealing with personnel issues. I had to fire someone a few months ago and it was one of the worst experiences of my life.”

  “What happened?”

  “She was someone my mother hired without talking to me first and Gwen’s personality was difficult. No one else seemed to get along with her. Not the customers, not the other employees. If that had been the only issue, I would have tried to work with her about her people skills. But when inventory started disappearing, always coinciding with her shifts, I studied our security cameras and found proof she was slipping items into her bag and carrying them out. Only one or two a shift, but that could add up. I know of other small boutiques that have gone completely under because of one employee’s dishonesty.”

  “I’m shocked that someone would do that so blatantly here in Haven Point, where everyone seems to know everyone. Didn’t she know you had CCTV?”

  “I think she didn’t think I would ever catch her. She wasn’t a local,” Samantha said. “Her husband transferred from out of state to Caine Tech and she applied after they moved to Shelter Springs.”

  “Well, that explains everything, then.”

  She made a face at his dry tone. “I don’t mean to imply that every local is necessarily perfect. We have our problems, too. I only meant that I didn’t know her from a mannequin when my mother hired her. She didn’t really have references, either. At least none that I ever saw. My mother was impressed because she drove a nice car and had trendy clothes.”

  That only reinforced his negative im
pression of her mother, which he knew was probably not fair. Still, he had the distinct impression from a few things Samantha had said that her mother had spent a lifetime undermining her confidence in herself.

  She had much to offer the world but he was beginning to suspect she wasn’t able to see that clearly herself.

  “I’ve never had to fire anyone and can only imagine how difficult it must be. Do you still encounter this woman around town?”

  “No. Fortunately, her husband took another job shortly after that in California so they moved away. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when I heard she was leaving, especially because she had begun spreading rumors around the community that she had been fired unfairly and had even told people she was considering suing.”

  “You didn’t press charges?”

  “No. Her husband paid me back the cost of the merchandise she had taken. They could well afford it, which was another thing I didn’t understand. Why not just pay for it with her employee discount, which is substantial? He was embarrassed about the whole thing, and to be honest, I just wanted to forget it.”

  “That must have been difficult, coming only a few months after your mother’s death. Especially when your mother had been the one to hire her.”

  “Yes. I think she was dishonest from the day my mother hired her but I didn’t realize it for several weeks. I might have acted sooner if I hadn’t still been feeling a little lost, trying to run things on my own. It was a tough time.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks. If you want the truth, the whole incident left me a bit scarred.”

  “In what way?”

  “I need to hire a few more people to pick up the slack at the shop since I’ve become so busy on the wedding gown side of things, but I’m afraid of making the wrong personnel decision. What if I end up having to fire someone again? I’m not sure I have the fortitude to do that.”

  “You do,” he said confidently. “You’ve done it once. It will probably be easier the second time around.”