Hold Me

by Susan Mallery

  “Ladies.”

  Destiny turned and saw Kipling walking toward them. As he approached, she felt an odd tightness in her chest, followed by a ridiculous urge to flip her hair and giggle.

  “Hi, Kipling,” Starr said. “We’re getting elephant ears. You want one?”

  “Yeah, that sounds great.”

  No one was in line behind them, so he stepped next to them.

  “How’s summer camp?” he asked Starr.

  “Good. I like the different classes. A couple of us are talking about forming an a capella group. You know, just girls singing, but it could be fun.”

  Destiny did her best not to stomp her foot as she listened to Starr’s easy conversation with Kipling. How did he do it? He asked one or two simple questions, and Starr wouldn’t stop talking. An a capella group? She shared all kinds of things she didn’t tell Destiny.

  While they were making progress toward getting to know each other, there was always something in the way, and Destiny had no idea what it was. For reasons she couldn’t explain, her sister held back with her.

  “No musical instruments?” Kipling asked. “That’s ambitious.”

  “It’s harder than it sounds,” Starr admitted. “Just singing without music isn’t bad, but when you try to make the other sounds, like percussion, it can get silly pretty fast. But we’re going to try it.”

  A couple of families got in line behind them. Kipling moved closer. Destiny found herself wanting to lean against him, to ask him to help her with her sister, because she was obviously not doing as good a job as she thought.

  “Making friends?” Kipling asked.

  “Oh, yeah. A lot. Some of my friends are from LA, but a few are from here in town.”

  “That’s nice,” he said. “You can see them on the weekends.”

  “Sure!” Destiny jumped in. “Anytime. Or if you wanted to invite some of them over for dinner or something, I’d be happy to cook or just order pizzas.”

  Starr glanced from Kipling to her. “Seriously? You wouldn’t mind if I had friends over?”

  “Of course not. I want you to have fun this summer.”

  “Cool. Thanks.”

  They moved up in line. Starr turned her attention to the menu. Destiny looked at Kipling and mouthed “thank you.” He grinned and shrugged, as if saying it was nothing. Which, to him, it probably was. He had an easy way with people. One she would like to share.

  She told herself to be grateful for the improvement in her relationship with her sister and to take her small victories where she could. Having Starr enjoy the summer was one that would make both of them very happy.

  * * *

  DESTINY FOLLOWED THE COURSE laid out on the tablet screen which, she thought as she circled yet another downed tree, was easier said than done. She and Aidan Mitchell were about thirty miles northeast of Fool’s Gold in a rugged area just past the small valley where wind turbines spun in the constant canyon breeze.

  They’d left all signs of civilization behind several miles ago, and the noise of the turbines had long faded. Out here there was only the hum of nature.

  “I was thinking up here,” Aidan said, pointing.

  She looked up from her screen and studied the relatively flat ledge where he had indicated. The area looked big enough, and the location was good.

  “I like it,” she said, then eyed the steep terrain between where they were and the ledge. “Can we get there from here?”

  “I’m game if you are.”

  She handed him her tablet and turned so he could tuck it into her backpack. When the flap was secured, she gave him a thumbs-up. “Lead on.”

  Aidan set a brisk pace, but she was able to keep up. These woods were not all that different from those in the Smoky Mountains. Trees, underbrush and scurrying animals. She smiled, thinking Grandma Nell would be appalled to know Destiny had reduced her beloved Smoky Mountains to generalities.

  She started up toward the ledge, following Aidan. He climbed over a downed tree, then turned back to help her scramble over the huge trunk.

  When she put her foot down on the other side, she started to slip on damp leaves. Aidan immediately grabbed her around her waist. When she was steady, he released her.

  In that moment of contact, Destiny found herself wondering if she would have any reaction. A tingle or a desire to lean closer. There was nothing. Not the slightest whisper of interest.

  They climbed the last twenty or thirty feet up to the ledge. Once there, Aidan pulled two water bottles from his backpack and handed her one.

  “What do you think?” he asked, barely winded from their climb.

  She looked around at the large, flat area. “I’ll have to measure it, and we’ll need to have a geological survey done, but I think we have a winner.”

  Part of the system the town had ordered included adding several cell towers in remote areas. Not only would that help those who were lost call for help, but it would also aid the volunteers by giving them access to the HERO command center and each other.

  Cell towers cost about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars each. But because of the difficult location and the extra surveys required, the price of these would be closer to two hundred thousand. But money had been put aside, so Destiny was determined to get the towers in the best locations possible.

  She shrugged out of her backpack and pulled out a tape measure. Aidan helped her figure out the length and width of the ledge. She recorded the information on her tablet, then took plenty of pictures and recorded their exact location. Only then did she sit down next to him and take in the view.

  They were at about forty-five hundred feet. The air was cooler up here, but still warm. She could see where an old avalanche had taken out the side of a mountain a couple hundred years ago.

  She could see trees and sky and mountain, but nothing civilized.

  “I feel guilty about sticking a cell tower in the middle of all this beauty,” she said.

  “It’s for the greater good.”

  “I know, but it’s still too bad.”

  “I don’t think the deer or bears will mind.”

  Aidan stretched out on the ground. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky.

  He was a good-looking guy, she thought. Fit, intelligent and a successful businessman. Shouldn’t she be considering him for her sensible plan? Except she wouldn’t. For two reasons. First, there was something about him that reminded her of the guys she’d known who traveled with her parents. Roadies and band members who were there in part because they loved the music but also to get women. Lots of women. And second, she couldn’t seem to summon any enthusiasm on the “Aidan as the one” front. When she tried, she only saw Kipling.

  She shifted until she was sitting cross-legged and facing him.

  “Any news on the candidates for Kipling’s second-in-command?” Aidan asked.

  “I know there have been interviews. I haven’t heard any specifics.”

  “I gave him some names. Not that Kipling wants anyone else to solve the problem.”

  She smiled. “You’ve figured that out about him?”

  “That he likes to fix things? Hard to miss it. It’s a good quality in someone you work with, as long as you agree with how he wants things done.”

  “Meaning you’d never work for him?”

  “No way. I like being the boss.”

  “Speaking of the boss,” she said teasingly. “Isn’t he going to be annoyed that you’re goofing off?”

  “Nah. He’s a laid-back kind of guy. What about you? Anyone going to wonder why you’re not working?”

  “I need my guide to get back to the car.”

  Aidan shook his head. “No, you don’t. You didn’t have any trouble on our hike today. You’ve spent time in the mountains before.”

  “The Smoky Mountains. Different from here but just as beautiful.”

  “I agree. Why’d you leave?”

  “I was told college would be a good idea.”

 
; “One of the advantages of living here,” Aidan told her. “There’s a community college and a four-year college in town. I didn’t have to go anywhere else.”

  “Did you want try living somewhere different?”

  Aidan’s expression sharpened for a second before relaxing. “At one time I did. When I was growing up, it was understood that my older brother Del would be taking over the family business. I was okay with that and had no idea what I wanted to do. Then my first year of college he took off. Suddenly, I was the one everyone thought would take over. So I stuck around.”

  Family expectations, she thought. Only Aidan had followed through with his. She, on the other hand, had disappointed both her parents with her decision.

  “Any regrets?” she asked.

  He closed his eyes. “No way. I have a good life. Plenty of time outdoors. I fish and hike and go skiing for a living. Then there are afternoons like this, spent with a beautiful woman. What’s not to like?”

  She laughed.

  He opened his eyes. “What’s so funny?”

  “That was a very reflexive compliment. You weren’t even looking at me.”

  “I’ve already seen you. I can compliment from memory.”

  “While that’s probably true, my guess is you, Aidan Mitchell, are a bit of a player.”

  One corner of his mouth turned up. “I’m wounded.”

  “Am I wrong?”

  “No.”

  She grinned. “I didn’t think so. Let me guess. There are plenty of single tourists who want a hot affair with their hunky guide.”

  He winced. “It would be better for me if you didn’t call me hunky.”

  “But the rest of it?”

  “I do okay. How’d you guess?”

  “You remind me of guys who toured with my parents. If it was Wichita, there must be a new opportunity.”

  “I’m clear on the rules,” he said, sounding only a little defensive. “I’m careful.”

  “I’m not judging,” she told him. “I just think it’s interesting.”

  “My mom keeps telling me that one day I’m going to fall in love. That it will be hard and fast, and I won’t see it coming.”

  “You worried?”

  “No way. Like I said, I’m careful.”

  She wanted to tell him he couldn’t be careful enough. That if he let his hormones rule his life, he was in for some nasty surprises. But she’d tried telling people that in the past. For the most part they didn’t listen. Or they thought she was incredibly strange. Either way it didn’t go well.

  She looked around at the beauty of the afternoon and wished Kipling were here instead of Aidan. Because she wanted to talk to him, she told herself firmly. Wanting to be with Kipling had nothing to do with the isolated location. She just thought spending some quality conversation time with her friend would be nice.

  Nothing more.

  * * *

  KIPLING WOULD HAVE thought that ordering a cell tower was a big deal, but apparently not. He printed out the confirmation invoice and walked over to the giant to-do list posted on the only wall not covered by maps of the area surrounding Fool’s Gold. With sites determined, all three cell towers had been ordered, and surveying would start by the first part of next week.

  Destiny moved next to him. “The tracking equipment shipped,” she said, pointing to another item on the list. “It will be here in the next couple of days. Then we can start serious training.”

  She was standing close enough to get his attention. He knew she wasn’t taunting him on purpose. His reaction to her nearness—blood flowing to predictable places, his complete lack of interest in anything but getting her on a nearby desk and then having his way with her—reminded him it was good to be alive. He liked the chase, and in her case, the reward was going to be even sweeter because he planned to show her what she’d been missing.

  But that was for later. Today they had a job to do.

  “How are the interviews going?” she asked.

  Kipling shrugged. “Not great. I haven’t found anyone who’s going to work.”

  She looked up at him, her green eyes concerned. “What’s wrong with them?”

  “One guy was more interested in how much time off he would get than in finding out about the job. Another had no experience.”

  “You don’t have any experience,” she said with a grin.

  “Which is why we need someone who knows what they’re doing. The right person is out there. I’ll figure it out.”

  He knew the value of patience. While his instinct was to simply go for it and deal with the consequences later, he’d learned the hard way that recklessness came with a price. The mountain had taught him that.

  Automatically, he glanced out the window. The northeast view meant he could see the mountains clearly. A perk, he told himself, even as the familiar restlessness filled him. The need was there, like it had been for Destiny. Only this need would never be fulfilled.

  He would never again feel the wind burning his skin. He would never hover in the air for seconds in time before slamming back onto packed powder and tearing down the mountain. The trees, the crowd, would never again be nothing but a blur as he defied the odds. He would never again be G-Force.

  His back hurt, his knee ached and when he woke up in the morning, it took him a good five minutes to get all the kinks worked out. Which meant he was lucky. Damned lucky. But there were moments when he closed his eyes and imagined it was all still there. In his grasp. Until he remembered otherwise.

  “Kipling?”

  He looked at Destiny, who was watching him intently. His brain replayed the last bit of their conversation.

  “My coach drilled certain skills into me,” he said as if he hadn’t been thinking of anything else. “Don’t push the race. Let it come to you. Then plan on flying.”

  “An oddly mixed metaphor, but if it works...”

  “It does.” He leaned against his desk. “How are you doing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “New town, new sister, indoor plumbing.”

  She put her hands on her hips. Amusement pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Are you mocking my time living off the land?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I’ll have you know that I learned a lot, and there is much to be said for a simpler life.”

  “And the indoor plumbing?”

  She sat on the desk across from his and laughed. “I’ll admit I really, really love it. Hot water, especially. And flush toilets. A brilliant invention.”

  “Agreed.” He studied her for a second, letting his gaze linger over the good parts. “I can’t picture you running barefoot through fields, picking wildflowers.”

  “Probably because I never did. I wasn’t staying in some idealized TV world. My grandmother lived simply, which meant she had to do most of the work herself. Fruits and vegetables don’t can themselves. And when you’re snowed in for a few weeks at a time, there’s no running to the corner market.”

  She smiled as she spoke, as if the memories were good ones. He was glad about that. Given the little he knew about how things had been with her parents, she hadn’t had an easy time of it. Kids needed stability. He hadn’t realized that when he’d been young, but once he’d moved in with his coach and had seen what a normal family was like, he’d finally been able to relax. He suspected Destiny’s Grandma Nell had provided the same escape for her.

  “I wish she was still alive,” she admitted. “Not just because I miss her, although I do. Every day. But because of Starr. I think she’s happy, but I’m not sure. We’re connecting more. I’m trying to listen more than I talk, which is actually harder than it sounds.”

  “What about the things you have in common? She’s into music, and it’s got to be in your veins.”

  Destiny drew her braid over her shoulder, then smoothed her hair before tossing it back. “I’ve been teaching her to play the guitar, and next we’re going to move on to my keyboard. She has talent, which helps. She’s a q
uick study. But then she wants to talk about the business, and I’m not the right person. I’ve always done my best to avoid it, which she can’t understand.”

  “Even singing the way you do? You were never tempted?”

  “Not at all. Life on the road is not the fun fest everyone imagines. There’s constant pressure to be visible and at the same time to be productive. Which doesn’t work for me. I need peace and quiet when I write music.”

  “You write songs?”

  She winced, then flushed. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

  “Not possible. Can you sing one for me?”

  “No. They’re private.”

  Secrets, he thought, wondering why she was so reticent. He didn’t know the first thing about how one went about writing a song, but he would guess it wasn’t hard for the words to get personal. Wouldn’t a songwriter have to pull from his or her own experience? Or at the very least, observation? That would mean exposing a piece of the writer’s soul. From what he’d learned about Destiny, she liked emotional distance between herself and everyone else. Which could be part of the problem with Starr.

  “You write the songs for yourself?” he asked.

  “No. I just write them. I don’t have a choice.”

  Simple words, but there was something in her tone. Sadness, maybe? Resignation?

  Without having a plan, he straightened, grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. She rose slowly and stepped into his embrace. Once she was there, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  “I don’t need protecting.”

  “Sure you do. Everyone does from something.”

  “So what scares you?”

  “Not being able to take care of the people who matter to me.”

  Because of what had happened with his father, stepmother and Shelby, he thought, remembering what it had been like to be trapped in a hospital bed a half-world away from his sister. Mayor Marsha had promised to keep her safe and in return, he’d come here and taken over the HERO program.