River's Destiny (River's End Series, #8)

by Leanne Davis

  “Who would that be?”

  “Brianna.”

  Charlie’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “Brianna, as in Brianna Starr? Are you sure you’re thinking clearly?”

  Cami smiled and cupped his face as she smooched his lips. “Yes, of course I mean her. That Brianna. Brianna Starr. We spent a lot of time together over the last school year and she’s intrigued, sympathetic, interested, and supportive of all the children. I have related a whole lot about this job to her since my time there. The individual kids’ stories really touched her and affected her in ways that surprised me. I honestly think she’d be a good fit. She’s the only one I would trust to honor the title of camp facilitator and the only one I would assign to it next year.”

  “I’m sorry you have to give up anything.”

  “Well, we’ve given up years of our time. I think this is worth it and that’s why it’s right.”

  He squeezed her closer to him. “I hope it lives up to every expectation. And if you say Brianna is the right person to cover for you, then I believe you. I know how much you care about that place and the kids who live there. So… one last goodbye?”

  Smiling softly, Cami rumpled his hair as her gaze scanned his. “Do you have any idea how many goodbyes I haven’t wanted to say, but did because of what you needed to do?”

  His arms drew her closer. “I do. I finally and fully do. I also appreciate how hard it was for you. I can hardly stand it now.”

  “That’s quite a startling change. But I need to do it right. Closing up loose ends, and not burning bridges that I intend to come back to. I could see us living in the Everett area someday. You could work in Seattle, and I could work with the Shield Shelter again. But I also see all the opportunities that are being offered to you right here and now. Surprisingly, this has awoken a passion in me to see new things and experience the world first hand. But I’d like to do it with you as a couple. You and me, Charlie, with no more separations, other than the mundane absences that work and training and other responsibilities might entail.”

  “That’s exactly what I want. How long do you think you’ll need?”

  “The summer? I’ll go home on the fourteenth as scheduled and return here in six weeks.”

  “Six weeks?” he groaned as he nuzzled her neck.

  “That’s child’s play for us, Charlie.”

  He nodded. “I know. You’re right. About all of it, of course. I admire you for that. I just suddenly felt very needy.”

  She laughed and kissed him. “I’ve always felt needy. But now? I feel less need and more want. It makes all the difference.”

  He kissed her briefly.

  She tilted her head and then ran her thumb over his bottom lip. “So… Just one more goodbye, and then I hope to never again separate from you.”

  “One more. And then, never again,” he mimicked, smiling and looking deeply into her eyes. The relief was bittersweet to Charlie. He held her against him and spent hours just talking, planning, dreaming, and imagining before Cami fell into an exhausted, deep sleep. Charlie, however, couldn’t sleep. Slipping away from the bed, Charlie grabbed the phone and dialed the one person whom he knew would understand.

  ****

  Jack Rydell picked up the ringing phone after hurrying in from washing his hands. “Charlie?” he called over the line, more than excited to hear his son’s voice.

  “Hey, Dad. Am I interrupting anything?”

  “Nah, Erin and I just came in from work and… that’s not what matters. Tell me what’s going on?”

  Jack waited the long moment, his heart hammering in his chest. “Charlie?” he muttered almost breathless, his stomach twisting. What if, once again, the timing wasn’t right for them?

  “She said yes. Yes to everything, Dad. I can’t really believe it. She definitely liked my marriage proposal although she was shocked. How could she not realize…? Anyway, I know how she had to struggle to believe how much I love her. But she said yes and promised to think about the rest of it.”

  “What changed?”

  “Now she wants to stay here until I graduate and she’s even open to getting a job here or who knows? Maybe we’ll go to London or New York or just somewhere else.” His breath faltered. “I don’t think we’ll be coming home, at least not permanently, for many years, dad.”

  Charlie’s tone was hesitant, but Jack’s smile was huge. Clashing emotions climbed up his throat. Leaning his head into his hand, Erin made a small sound of distress. He lifted his gaze to hers, shaking his head and smiling to tell her it wasn’t bad news. It was good. No, it was the best. The greatest news ever. “Charlie, I am so happy. I can’t tell you how much I wanted this for you. You earned this. You always managed to succeed at anything you chose. I can’t believe you, my son, have chosen to become an international financier.”

  “How did you always know that? Why didn’t you ever try to make me do what the rest of the valley was doing? Doing the work that you, Ben, and even Ian, Joey and Shane were doing? How did you know I was so different and why did you let me be?”

  Laughing with a choking sound, Jack remembered all the times he tried to support Charlie’s quirks and differences. Jack was smart enough as a father to respect them. “Your intelligence was always higher than anyone else I ever knew. Your insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge told me you were meant for more than anything so ordinary as working here. I knew you were special and gifted and wonderfully different. I would have been content if you decided to settle down here and be like me or Ben or Ian. But I just knew you were destined for so much more, Charlie Rydell. My extraordinary son.”

  “You’ll be okay with us gone so long then?”

  “I’ll miss you like crazy. But your destiny isn’t here. It never really was, Charlie. I always knew that deep down in my gut. I’m just grateful I got to raise you for a precious little while. But your destiny requires that you seek change and see the world. All I could ever want is to see you reaching your full potential.”

  “Do you think I’m taking Cami away from all that she needs?”

  “How? Not if you two are starting the adventure of a lifetime. Look what she gains and what you both gain together.”

  He sniffed. “Thanks, Dad. I needed to hear that.”

  Jack let out a small laugh. “You, my overachieving son, rarely need to hear encouragement from me. But you have it regardless. You proposed to Cami on the Baltic Sea… yes, my son, you are no longer a local from River’s End.”

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah, Charlie?”

  “River’s End is still the best place to be from.”

  “Yes… to be from.”

  Charlie chuckled. “You know what I mean. It’s a good place to grow up and you were the best father ever. I couldn’t have gotten where I am, and I now hope to go, not without your help and continued support and prodding. You never once insisted that I train the horses or help AJ in the barn or stay on the ranch. You always knew who I was and never required me to be anything I wasn’t. Not even when I failed to go along with the rest of the ranch.”

  “You never failed anything to me, Charlie.”

  “Yeah, maybe not to you. My father. Thank you, Dad. For everything.”

  Jack nodded, and tears filled his eyes as if Charlie could see him nodding. He finally croaked out. “You are forever welcome. Talk to you soon, Charlie.”

  “You too, Dad.”

  Erin was holding their baby girl, and she looked at Jack curiously. “Cami said yes. They are staying in Europe. They intend to spend a few years abroad and work somewhere else. Somewhere probably halfway across the world.”

  “I’m glad he’ll have Cami at his side and they’ll do it together. But are you okay, Jack?”

  “I am. I’m just going to miss him, but also—”

  “Also?”

  “I’m just a rancher here. I could help Ben fulfill his dreams and follow his path, even when he so suddenly veered off. I knew I could always help Ben. But I stress
ed and doubted that I could do the same for Charlie. What he needed in life is the polar opposite of what I know about. Charlie needs the entire world. He was always just… different. Crazy different. And now he’s going to seek his own path.”

  Erin smiled and stepped closer, brushing her hand through his hair. It sprung over his forehead and she repeated her caress in a tender gesture of care. “You doubted your parental skills as a father?”

  He put his hand to the silky head of his sleeping toddler and leaned down to kiss her. “I did. I do. I always will. But I have one son living next door to me, and another living halfway across the world.”

  “And what about your daughter?”

  “Maybe she’ll end up somewhere in between. Whatever happens, she will always have you and me to help her find her dream, her path, and to fulfill her destiny. Whether she chooses to remain alongside this river beside us or reaches out for the stars like Charlie.”

  “And your love and pride for both your sons and their chosen destinies shines in every interaction you have with them. And that, Jack Rydell, is your greatest gift to them, and what you can give to our child too.”

  Jack smiled as he stared out the window. A nagging sadness made his heart ache in knowing Charlie would be gone for such a long time. Even if he were not physically there with them, a soaring sensation lifted his heart in knowing that a piece of him managed to make its way across the world.

  Destiny… Never the same for any two people and never a set course, but a zig-zagging path of trial and error, and more often than not, it is pure luck. Jack’s sons had finally fulfilled their destinies, just as he and Erin continued to live right where he always wanted to be. Beside Erin, Jack continued to expand his family’s legacy and rescue more horses. It was even better because of all the people who now loved him, be they at River’s End or all the way across the ocean. They would always be together and connected, their destinies irretrievably entwined. The Rydell name and legacy and even the ranch and resort were testament to that.

  ###

  Dear Reader,

  I would be so grateful if you took a few moments to leave a review of River's Destiny. It really helps expand an author’s audience, and we really do appreciate the effort.

  If interested, please read on for chapter one of River's Rescue.

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  Sincerely,

  Leanne Davis

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  River's Rescue

  She pulled him out of darkness and isolation… all of which, had nothing to do with the fact that he was deaf. But once out, what if that is the very thing that will rip him from her?

  Isolated for years, without a family, and a guardian who mocked how he sounded, Finn Alexander learned how to interact in a hearing world… while completely shunning the Deaf one. Finn solved his differences by hiding in a barn where he worked with animals all day, and very few people.

  Until Brianna Starr.

  There soon becomes Finn’s life before Brianna and after Brianna. She forces him out of the barn, out of the silence and quiet of his head… and into the world as she sees, hears and experiences it. She is known for being likeable and popular, the very antithesis of him, and yet, with Finn she can’t quite get her footing. Awkward, insulting, and accidentally off-putting towards him, she at least tries to communicate fully with him.

  And honestly? No one has ever reacted to him quite like Brianna.

  Moreover, it works, until the very things she is pushing him towards fills up his life and could so easily rip him away from her. Because as life long ago taught him, some barriers are permanent. Uncrossable. Unbreakable.

  No matter how hard one tries.

  Chapter One

  BRIANNA STARR WANDERED AROUND the barn corner holding a wildflower she picked from the edge of the alfalfa field where a dozen or more horses grazed. Some of the handsome beasts glanced up as she passed the fence, their ears pricking forward, their gazes locked on her. Others looked before returning to their methodical munching. She sighed as the hot sun hung heavy above her. It was only the first week of July. How could it be this hot? Sweat trickled unpleasantly down her back and all she was doing was walking!

  Twirling the flower she picked, she jerked her head up towards the sky, enjoying the sunlight. She wandered idly around the edge of the barn, after walking most of the perimeter of the property. She didn’t usually come out this far. This barn was a new addition to the Rydell River Ranch, built to accommodate the special needs of the abused and/or neglected horses the owner of the ranch rehabilitated under the name of his charity: River’s Rescues. The barn was off by itself, up high on a bank above the river where it was quiet and the horses were left in peace. She wandered this way now, for no other reason than to clear the kinks out of her muscles after hunching over her computer all morning. She’d been hard at work on her accounts and—thump!

  Startled at the sudden collision, she let out a loud, automatic “oomph!” Her head rattled and jarred before her entire body stopped dead. Stunned for a prolonged moment, her gaze crashed downwards from the sky where she’d been staring. She blinked in surprise as she tried to comprehend what happened; she bumped into a human body.

  A chest, to be exact. A male, sweaty and very naked chest.

  Her head nearly bounced off the guy’s hard clavicle and she rubbed her forehead. The guy had jet-black, curly hair and he stared down at her. His face was completely expressionless. Her eyebrows popped upwards. He wore only low-riding jeans and no shirt. The no-shirt part caught her eye. His skin was darkly tanned and glistening with sweat over the smooth, eye-grabbing muscles. No cowboy hat either, and that was odd. Most of the ranch hands working around there insisted on wearing hats.

  Who was this? She thought she knew all the men that lived and worked on the ranch. But she didn’t recognize this guy. He seemed younger than most of the other workers. And way closer to her age. Her eyebrows shot up and her lips easily slid into a seductive, welcoming smile for a greeting. “Well, damn, that’s one way to say hi to each other, huh? I’m so sorry I ran into you.”

  His gaze darted down to her mouth and his expression stayed just as serious, unchanged, almost as if he didn’t hear or understand her. It didn’t matter that they were all but touching and their encounter physically jolted both of them. She tilted her head and he kept staring at her. Eventually, his gaze simply left her. Shy? Yes. Must be.

  “I’m Brianna… Joey’s stepdaughter?” She kept her voice warm and silky. Flirtatious. Hospitable. Everyone who stepped foot on this land knew who Joey was. Joey Rydell was as close to her age as he was to her mom’s, whom he was married to. Joey was her stepdad.

  But still… Why wasn’t this guy responding?

  Head bowed, his gaze skittered up and down her body before landing right back on her mouth. It stayed on her mouth. Crazily unmoving from her mouth. What?! she almost questioned out loud. What did he expect her to say? But he didn’t say anything. Startled and unsure of what to do when he again didn’t react, reply or even acknowledge their little run-in, she watched his gaze drift off towards the river.

  “Are you new here? I don’t recognize you,” she tried again.

  Nothing. She blinked. Clearly, this guy did not want to talk to her. She cleared her throat, tucked her hands in her jeans shorts pockets and glanced away to hide her embarrassment. It had suddenly become a totally awkward and unexpected interaction.

  She took a step back from him. Confused.

  Was he a little off in the head or some
thing?

  Hot, but yeah… the elevator didn’t seem to go all the way to the top; or perhaps socially speaking, something was lacking. Maybe he was autistic. Her heart twisted. That might be it. A soft smile touched her lips as she regarded the stranger with a new appreciation. That would have been just like Jack Rydell, the oldest Rydell brother and ranch owner, to hire someone who was challenged with limited social abilities.

  Then, as if to confirm her suspicions, his head dropped, he side-stepped around her and just vanished.

  That fast.

  She stared after him. Oh, that was weird.

  Since most of the work the strange, anti-social guy did involved only the horses or the ranch, she guessed it probably didn’t include too many chances of new situations like this one occurring, especially with someone like her. Good thing, because if he represented the public relations for the ranch or the resort, he could literally scare people away!

  Distracted by a figure Brianna spotted walking up to her mom’s porch, she broke into a grin and ran before happily descending on her best friend.

  And quickly forgot the odd man who stared too hard at her mouth. Without even a word. Or expression. Or a hello.

  ****

  Finn Alexander risked a brief glance backwards. When assured that the blond bombshell was distracted by something near the Rydell houses, he could finally feel safe and unnoticed enough to turn back to stare at her. Who was that? Wow. Just wow! He had only been working there for a few weeks, but had already walked, ran, worked and sweated from one end of the property to the other. Being the newest hire, he was naturally the newest grunt worker. He spent a lot of time on his feet traveling from one side of the ranch to the other but he never once saw a woman like that!

  Finn voluntarily spent a lot of time on ranches, period. He’d been working with horses since he was a teen in Idaho. Mostly mucking the stalls, he also managed to gather snippets of horse training and care as well as their history and know-how. During all that time, he was unable to hear anything. It was an affliction he only rarely wished he could change. But staring after the girl who was running towards the house now, he wished he could have heard even a single word that she said.