by Tara Randel
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she assured herself. Yes, she might be a tad controlling, but this was his first tour and she needed to be proactive. Just because thoughts of the man had taken up residence in her brain wasn’t a good reason to show up out of the blue, but she wouldn’t scrutinize her actions too closely. Instead, she remembered how Deke had taken the lead a few days ago when Lyle showed up. She still couldn’t get over how he’d known just what to do, his expression serious as he jumped into action with no concern for his well-being.
“Grace?”
Shaking off the direction of her thoughts, Grace felt her face heat and coughed to cover her reaction.
“As I was saying, the opening ceremonies for the Summer Gold Celebration start Saturday, but we need to keep the hype up on weekends throughout June and July, ending with a big blast in August.”
“That’s a lot of work.”
“But worth it. We’ll have tourists coming to town all summer long. We need the publicity to make us a premier destination.”
And with any luck, Grace wouldn’t be here. She’d be back in her Atlanta office, catching up on the work she’d left behind, delving into new cases and making up for lost time.
“So I was thinking about your walking tour.”
Grace looked up from reading the schedule. Didn’t like the gleeful expression in Lissy Ann’s eyes. “What about it?”
Her mother had actually come up with the idea a few years ago. Inspired by a candlelight walk she’d heard about in another big city, she had suggested they do the same here in Golden. She and Grace had worked together gathering all the details about how the town was founded and planned a tour that focused on the history and original buildings that dated back to the first settlement. On Friday and Saturday nights during the tourist season and on special holiday weekends, they led visitors on a foot tour around Golden. It quickly became a hit, which proved her mother could really make this business work if she was 100 percent committed.
“Since you already focus on the history of Golden and how we’re here because of the gold rush, the committee feels it would be in the town’s best interest for you to dress in period costume during the celebration when you lead the tours. Just like your mama does.”
“Wait. Did you say dress in period costumes?”
“I know you heard me the first time, Grace.”
Yes, she had, and immediately analyzed the suggestion, thought through the logistics and came up with a big, fat no. “I’m afraid that won’t work for me.”
Lissy Ann shoved a hand on her slim hip. Today’s outfit of a blouse in pastel pinks and greens with white capris and flat sandals reminded Grace of all the times in school when Lissy Ann had made fun of Grace’s less-than-trendy wardrobe. Grace had hated the taunts, but she couldn’t help her clothing choices. Her weight had fluctuated wildly back then, finally reaching a number on the scale that made her cry with embarrassment. And eventually, forced her to take a good look at what she was doing to herself. Pressure at home and trying to fit in at school when all the kids teased her about her jailbird daddy had pushed her to the edge until she got ahold of her inner demons and started eating healthily and exercising regularly.
Still, old memories haunted her. Her stomach clenched, but she ruthlessly pushed the reminders of the past away by smoothing the slimming charcoal pencil skirt she’d worn with a pale pink blouse and pumps. Grace lifted her chin even as her fingers trembled, silently daring Lissy Ann to argue with her.
“C’mon, Grace. This is for the good of Golden. It’ll create more tourist attention for Put Your Feet Up, and you know it.”
She did. Didn’t mean she wanted to dress up in a stifling costume in the heat of the summer and relive the snickers behind her back.
“Besides, your mama signed off on it.”
Grace swallowed a groan. It had been only a few days, but was this what her mother’s cryptic promise to help the family business had entailed? Give her some time, her inner voice harkened. Time Grace didn’t have, but she wasn’t about to push her injured mother either. She’d just have to make do.
“I’ll talk it over with her.”
“Wonderful.” Lissy Ann beamed. “I’m hoping you’ll see the advantages of our plans, including the busy weekends.”
“You do realize I won’t be here.”
Lissy Ann blinked. “And why not?”
“I work in Atlanta.”
“So come home on the weekends.”
Like she wanted to work all week, then come back to Golden and work the weekend. “It’s not that simple. I put in long hours at the firm.”
“Grace, I don’t see why you had to run off. You can set up a practice right here in town, for heaven’s sake. We could certainly use your expertise around here.”
Oh, no. No, no, no.
“We all assumed you’d stay here anyway,” Lissy Ann said, in more of a questioning tone, as if digging for details.
Which she wouldn’t get.
“I like living in the city.”
Lissy Ann shivered. “You’d never get me out of Golden.”
The statement surprised Grace. “All I ever heard in high school was how you were going to travel the world. What happened?”
Picking at the strap of her bag, Lissy Ann averted her eyes. “I said a lot of things back then.”
Never one to let things go, Grace prompted, “Like?”
“I was going to get a high-powered job. Marry well and have kids. Rule the town.”
“You got the married and ruling part right.”
Lissy Ann’s gaze met hers. Grace expected a snarky reply, but instead Lissy Ann went on to say, “I admit I gave you a hard time, Grace, but I always knew you were going to make a name for yourself. I wasn’t at all surprised you went to law school. You could debate circles around the rest of the team in high school.”
Grace blinked. Was that a compliment?
“You went to college,” she said, trying to include Lissy Ann’s achievements in the conversation.
“For about five minutes. Carter wanted to get married and Mama and Daddy agreed...” Her hand cut through the air in a half-hearted wave as if she wanted to brush off her excuse but couldn’t quite manage.
“Why didn’t you tell them to wait?”
“Because we aren’t all a big ball of confidence like you.”
Grace let out a startled laugh. “Me?”
Lissy Ann rolled her shoulders. “You knew how to take care of yourself.”
Because she’d had to.
“Look,” Lissy Ann went on, “I know I was kind of...bossy to you—”
Try downright mean.
“—but I didn’t think it bothered you.” A bright sheen glimmered in Lissy Ann’s eyes. “You didn’t fight back.”
Total and complete shock rendered Grace mute. Finally coming to her senses, she said, “Why would I? You were part of the popular crowd. I was the chubby girl whose daddy was in prison. I knew my place.”
With a shrug, Lissy Ann tidied up the already neat pile of brochures on the counter. “Sometimes the people who hit it big in high school don’t transition well into adulthood.”
On the tails of that revelation, Grace took a closer look at Lissy Ann. Yes, she was dressed to the nines, but once she’d allowed herself to be real, it was evident Lissy Ann had her own ghosts haunting her. Her cheeks were sunken and she’d gone a little too far on the thin side. But her eyes... Grace glimpsed a sadness she’d never noticed before. Maybe because she hadn’t tried.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“How about we forget this conversation ever took place.” With jerky movements, Lissy Ann slung her purse over her arm and nodded to the schedule lying on the counter. “If you have any suggestions, let the committee know. We’d be happy for your input.”
“Sure.
Listen—”
“I really need to run. We’ll talk again.” Finger-waving goodbye, Lissy Ann escaped—yes, that’s how Grace labeled it—from the office. Bewildered, Grace shook her head and sat down to get back to work.
She’d gotten through some paperwork when the phone rang. “Put Your Feet Up.”
“Hey, Grace, it’s Adam.”
Her heart lurched. Adam owned Deep North Adventures, where Deke had taken a group zip-lining.
“Adam. Is everything okay?”
Deep male laughter sounded from the other end. “Don’t trust your new guide?”
“No, it’s not that. I just...”
“He’s fine. The group is fine. It’s Colin and I who have a problem.”
Her chest eased with relief. “What’s going on?”
“Remember the accounting software you convinced Colin we needed?”
“Sure. It’s the best out there.”
“Well, my brother seems to have jumbled it up already.”
“I thought you ran the office and he took care of the tours.”
“Normally. But we sort of got into an argument about our roles around here and he wanted to prove himself.”
Grace bit back a laugh. “Say no more.” The Wright brothers were famous for scrapes they were sorry for later. She’d known them since elementary school, and when they’d all ended up in the tourist business, they’d worked together to promote their companies.
“Mind coming by to take a look?”
She glanced at the desk, mercifully free of the paperwork that had greeted her when she first arrived home, and said, “Sure. Today?”
“If that works for you.”
“As a matter of fact, it does.” She glanced at her watch. “How about eleven?”
“I’ll be here.”
This would give her a reasonable excuse to check up on Deke without being obvious. He might read her intentions the wrong way, but what did it matter? Adam had called her, not the other way around. Excuse or not, she couldn’t deny she wanted to see Deke again.
She said goodbye, reaching for her purse when her cell phone rang. She recognized the caller ID and answered. “Uncle Roy. What’s going on?”
“Not gonna make it back like I thought, Gracie.”
“Did something happen?”
“Yep. I fell in love.”
For the second time in one day, she couldn’t speak.
“Maisy wants me to hang around a bit longer and I’m inclined to make her a happy woman.”
“But what about the cabins? The summer tourists?”
“You’ve been handling the cabin rentals just fine.”
“Until I have to leave.” She ran a hand through her hair, imagining all the future work piling up in front of her. “Mama’s still recovering. I can’t manage your business as well as ours. For one thing, who will do the maintenance work on the cabins?”
“I called Roan. He said he’d cover the cabins for me as usual, and you got that new employee to do the tours. Besides, you’ve got perfectly capable siblings.”
“Capable? Since when?”
“Grace,” his voice warned.
“Nathan isn’t back yet.”
“He will be. And we both know Faith needs something to do, so ask her.”
“Uncle Roy, I—”
“All you’ve been sayin’ is that you need to get back to Atlanta. Can’t do it if you ain’t got any help.”
He was right. Hadn’t she come to the very same conclusion the night she’d spoken to Nathan? But in reality...
“Oh, and just so ya know, my cell reception’s been spotty. Gotta run.”
Grace moved the phone from her ear and stared at the screen.
This was not happening.
Everyone was out to get her. That was the only explanation for the way her life was going. Grabbing her purse, she locked the front door of the office and exited out the back, her mind running in twenty different directions. As she hurried to her sedan, her ankle turned on a loose rock and she nearly lost her balance.
“Slow down,” she muttered under her breath. She reached the car, keys in hand, only to drop them before unlocking the door. As she kneeled to retrieve them, her purse slipped from her shoulder and landed on the ground, the contents scattering around her.
“Really?”
Mumbling to herself, she stuffed her belongings back into her bag and finally slid inside the car. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she took short, jerky breaths, trying to keep the ensuing panic at bay. Without success.
Okay. Conspiracy theory aside, she had way too much on her plate right now to flip out. She needed five minutes to gather her thoughts and put a plan in action, otherwise she was toast. After turning the key in the ignition, she pulled out of the parking spot. If she was going down, she thought on a grim note, why not take everyone with her, family and handsome new guide included?
* * *
DEKE LOOKED FROM his position on the zip-line platform to see Grace exit her car. Dressed in her usual professional outfit of skirt and blouse, she held her head high as she purposefully strode across the parking lot. Her blond hair shone in the bright sunlight and a smile curved her lips, but it was the confidence with which she carried herself that really seized his attention.
“Didn’t take long,” he said, mostly to himself, but Colin Wright heard him.
“What didn’t take long?”
He nodded in Grace’s direction. “My boss checking up on me.”
Colin glanced over his shoulder as Grace started across the parking lot, his brother, Adam, meeting her halfway. He barked out a laugh.
“More like my brother’s got a thing for her.”
This piece of news grabbed Deke’s attention. “Thing?”
“Yeah.” Colin lounged against the wooden railing. In his early thirties, athletic, with an affable smile, he and Deke had hit it off right away. “We’ve known her forever, but since she became a big-shot lawyer, Adam thinks she’s hot and is hoping for a chance with her.”
“Does he have one?”
“Nah. Grace is strictly in the friend zone.”
“But your brother is working on changing that status?”
“Won’t work. Can’t see those two together. They’re too much alike.” Colin straightened up. “Incoming.”
Deke refocused the direction of his thoughts to get ready for the last tourist flying through the air, screaming at the top of her lungs in the final descent to the platform where he stood. Colin readied the brakes to bring the young woman to a safe stop.
They’d been at it for the last two hours, starting with Colin checking the pulley system, Deke checking harnesses and the all-important carabiner that hooked one to the other. Safety rules were reviewed, helmets passed out and secured on each guest before the group headed up the side of the mountain to the platform on the summit. Another Deep North Adventures guide went up to the top to get the guests started while Deke had elected to stay at the bottom, assisting them after their streak downhill, enjoying their enthusiastic shrieks and yells as they finished their ride.
Deke and Colin soon had all the tour guests out of the harnesses and back on solid ground in one piece. Excited chatter and laughs surrounded Deke, but he couldn’t help searching for the lovely blonde who had been in his thoughts more often than he found comfortable. Because really, where could a relationship go with her? Eventually she was headed back to her law career, defending the very criminals he worked to put away. He knew better, yet found himself consciously seeking her out. What was wrong with that picture?
Besides, after getting the information he and his brothers needed, Deke wasn’t sure which direction his life would lead. And while he mentally warned himself away from Grace, who was more than interesting and extremely attractive, the idea of another man also wanting to k
now her better didn’t sit well.
He could almost hear Britt’s amused laughter in his mind. She’d find his reaction to Grace hilarious, since she’d always tried to set him up with one of her friends and it never went anywhere.
The guests had moved inside the building for complimentary drinks as Deke helped Colin stow away the equipment. When finished, Colin slapped him on the back. “You were like a pro over there.”
“I pick up things quickly.” After reading everything he could find on zip-lining the night before, Deke had arrived ready to put his knowledge to work. Once Colin had gone over the mechanics with him, and after a ride down the line to better prepare himself before picking up the tour guests, he and Colin had worked well together. It wasn’t an especially long ride down the mountainside, but he’d been more than ready for the challenges that lay ahead.
“You had a great group today.” Colin closed the door on the shed. “Looks like most of them were experienced. Always helps.”
“Grace said she partners with your outfit often.”
“Yeah. She takes care of booking, we provide the entertainment.”
“So we’ll be working together again, I would imagine.”
“Looks like. Gotta say, I’m glad you’re here. Grace really needs some help until Nathan gets back, and, quite frankly, even when he starts working again.”
“Trouble?”
“Not like he’s negligent or anything. More like he has a short attention span. He was doing fine holding down the business before their mother got hurt.”
“Why’d he take off?”
“Not really sure.” The dark-haired man nodded to the building. “Want a drink before heading back to town?”
“Thanks.”
The day had started out cool, but as the sun rose higher in the sky, the temperature had soared with it. Being in the thick woods had sheltered them from the heat, but now that they were back in the open parking lot, Deke’s T-shirt clung to him. The morning’s excursion had taken a lot of physical energy, but he found the guests made it less work and more fun. A word not found in his vocabulary lately.
“How’d you end up in Golden?” Colin asked, holding the door open to let Deke step inside.
