The River House

by Carla Neggers

  “Speaking of romance-killing comments.”

  He laughed, dropping his arm from her as they started down the road. “Now I keep feeling ticks in my shorts.”

  “I keep sharp-pointed tweezers in the bathroom.”

  “Ah. Good to know.”

  He disappeared into the bathroom when they got back to her house. Felicity went into her bedroom. Her soaked underwear had dampened her dress. She peeled off everything and left it all in a heap on the floor while she checked for ticks, spiders, mosquitoes and anything else she didn’t want crawling on or stuck to her. She didn’t find anything, just bits of leaf debris and bark. It was her usual post-swim routine, but it felt different today.

  She jumped in the shower, and when she emerged, she presumed she no longer smelled like a trout.

  When she returned to the kitchen, Gabe greeted her with a glass of iced tea. “No ticks?”

  She shook her head. “You?”

  “None. I found a spider and escorted him outside where he belongs. Don’t know his chances, but he’s on his own.” He made a face. “Something to be said for swimming pools.”

  “Is that what you want in your next house?”

  “If I move to California, for sure, but I doubt I’d get in it much.”

  “Not the same charm as our swimming hole.”

  “I generally hit the treadmill for exercise, and I don’t have a lot of time for things like hanging out at the pool or walking along the beach. Hanging out in general.”

  “You don’t take the time, you mean. You’d rather do other things. Work. Do you hang out with friends?”

  “More than I used to. What about you? What’s your life in Knights Bridge like these days?”

  “Other than skinny-dipping in the river?” Not waiting for an answer, Felicity sat at the kitchen table with her tea. A few more minutes and she’d have to leave for the library. “Work, house, more work, more house, some friends, some family. I hope to establish a more normal work schedule and get things done on the house and have more time for friends and family. I was away from Knights Bridge for a long time. Some old friends and I don’t have anything in common anymore. I’ve made new friends—people I didn’t necessarily have much to do with in high school, like Olivia and Jess, and new people, like Russ and Kylie.”

  “Then being here is a fresh start more than a restart.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it really is.”

  “I’m glad you’ve made a place for yourself here,” Gabe said. “Need to get going?”

  She nodded. “You’re welcome to ride into town with me, but I have to be there early and leave late.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  “Do you plan to contact Nadia?”

  “It’s best I don’t,” he said. “That’s my instinct, and Russ agrees.”

  “Makes sense.” Felicity held up her glass, suddenly feeling awkward, self-conscious. “Thanks for the tea.” She pushed back her chair. “Time for our badger book party.”

  Twenty

  Felicity’s first stop was Rivendell. Gabe saw that he hadn’t thrown her off schedule with their walk and quick swim, and the fresh dress she’d put on looked as good as the one that had gotten wet. The women attending tonight’s party were dressed up, waiting for the car Felicity had arranged to take them into the village. Audrey Frost was driving herself and Daisy Farrell. In the two years since his grandfather had moved to assisted living, Gabe had learned not to make assumptions about the elderly residents and their motives, capabilities or health.

  Of course, party-planner extraordinaire Felicity MacGregor had arranged with the staff to make sure she had a little something for those who weren’t attending, including anyone on restricted diets.

  While Felicity saw to her craftspeople, Gabe checked in with his grandfather at his small apartment. “I always liked Felicity,” his grandfather said after Gabe explained why he was there. “Thought you two would be married by now, but you never did like to do what anyone thought you’d do.”

  “Saying I was a difficult teenager?”

  “Difficult, period.” The old man grinned. “I was blunt even before I hit eighty.”

  “Plain-spoken,” Gabe amended.

  “And maybe unpredictable is a better way to think of you. Do you still like to be unpredictable?”

  “I don’t know if I ever liked it. These days I like to think I’m spontaneous and flexible, able to maneuver after a setback and capitalize after a coup.”

  “You’re not set in your ways.” His grandfather sank deeper into the worn cushions of his well-used chair. “I thought I’d die at home. To be honest, I never thought I’d see seventy-five, never mind eighty-five, and here I am.”

  “For a while, I hope. I have to run, Gramps. Be good.”

  He winked. “No fun in that. See you, Gabe. Enjoy your party. The girls had a good time doing up those critters. The writer and artist—what’s her friend’s name again?”

  “Kylie Shaw, but she writes under the name Morwenna Mills.”

  “I wouldn’t have kept that straight at forty. She’s talented. She and Felicity both are.”

  “That they are,” Gabe said. “Want me to bring you your slippers or something before I go?”

  His grandfather eyed him as if trying to gauge if Gabe was teasing him. Finally he shook his head. “All set. G’night, and you be good, too.”

  Gabe met Felicity in the parking lot, and they continued into the village. He watched the scenery out his window, appreciating how little had changed since he’d moved away. No ex-urban sprawl here. The air was clear and dry. The stars would be bright again tonight.

  When they arrived at the library, he helped carry things in. Kylie and Russ arrived, but Felicity shooed them inside. “This is my job,” she told Kylie. “Yours is to be Morwenna Mills.”

  Kylie smiled, obviously ambivalent about the evening ahead. “I love seeing people, but an event like this—it does take a lot out of me.”

  “You’ve got Russ this time,” Felicity said.

  “And a bunch of your badger buddies,” Gabe said, lifting the box out of the back of Felicity’s Land Rover. “Did you bring Sherlock?”

  Russ grinned. “Always.”

  Kylie smiled, too, looking less jittery. “Sherlock, Russ and friends. Can’t go wrong.”

  If she was worried about Nadia, she didn’t say as she headed up the steps into the library. Maggie Sloan arrived in her van with the food for the evening. She burst out of the van with her usual energy, her red hair coming out of its pins and clips. She’d been like that in high school, too. Gabe grinned at her. She seemed to read his mind and put him to work.

  “Brandon still hiking?” he asked, grabbing a covered tray.

  “Home tomorrow. He loves it. Sloan & Sons has tons of work with all the construction going on around here, but he needs these excursions. They keep him from getting restless. We were separated for a while, did you know?”

  “I heard something about that.”

  She nodded. “I’m not surprised. We’ve been together since the beginning of time, I swear. We got married and had kids young, but we both wanted to see what was beyond Knights Bridge.”

  “That’s not unusual for those of us from small towns,” Gabe said.

  “We’re both happy being back here. It’s a great place to live and to raise our boys. We’ve made a place for ourselves with the work we do. Brandon’s a damn good carpenter, and we’ll see how he does with his first adventure travel excursion.”

  “Are you worried he’ll like it too much?”

  “Not worried at all. I used to think Knights Bridge wasn’t a great place to be young and single, but that hasn’t been the case lately, that’s for sure.”

  “Is that a hint?”

  “You’re a tumbleweed, Gabe, but on
e of these days you’ll get swept somewhere and stick, don’t you think?”

  “See me back in Knights Bridge?”

  “I didn’t see Brandon and me returning, but we did, and now we’re having the best time of our lives. Our work, our boys, our extended families, life here. It’s all good, Gabe. It’s not without problems, of course, but that’s life.”

  He smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear it, Maggie. Really.”

  “Excellent. That tray is holding delicate tarts. Don’t go bull-in-a-china-shop on me, okay?”

  He promised he wouldn’t and managed to get the tray up the stairs, into the library and on the food table without incident. At that moment, nothing seemed more important. Maybe it was true—maybe nothing was more important.

  As he headed back outside, he glanced at his phone in case he’d missed a message from Nadia, but there was nothing. He paused and looked up and down South Main and across the common, but he didn’t see her. There were no obvious rentals or out-of-town cars parked yet on the street or in the parking lot, but he knew that would be happening soon. Security wasn’t his job tonight, but he did feel responsible for Nadia.

  Felicity eased in next to him. “Nadia’s not in the library. I checked with Russ. He made sure she’s not hiding in a bathroom or one of the library’s nooks and crannies—although it’d be hard to check every single one of them. That’s why Daphne Stewart’s secret sewing room in the attic went undetected for so many years.”

  “Decades,” Gabe said.

  “She loved creating a mystery. Nadia’s more straightforward, I think. I’m sorry she’s had it rough lately.”

  “I’m sorry, too, but there’s no reason for her to take her troubles out on anyone else.”

  A black town car pulled up to the library. Gabe tensed, but when the back door opened, a man in his mid-to late-thirties got out, thanked the driver and shut the door and turned to Gabe with a grin. “Relax. I’m Marty Colton, Russ’s big brother.”

  Gabe introduced himself and Felicity.

  Marty glanced at the retreating car. “Man, I wish I had a picture of my arrival. I’ve always wanted to make a grand entrance.” He turned back to Gabe. “If we want to call arriving at the Knights Bridge public library an entrance.”

  “Point taken.”

  “But, hey, it counts. The car wasn’t as expensive as I thought. I got in early yesterday and took a day in Boston to get my feet under me.”

  “Is Russ expecting you?” Gabe asked.

  Marty shook his head. “I’m surprising him. I figured this is as good a time as any to see his new town. Good Lord, it’s cute, isn’t it? I’m such a desert rat. Daphne’s told me about this place in bits and pieces over countless French martinis.”

  “I can imagine,” Gabe said. “You were on the same flight as Nadia Ainsworth. Do you happen to know where she is now?”

  Marty shook his head. “No, I don’t. She seemed nice. Any problem with her?”

  “We used to work together.” Gabe decided that was enough. He motioned to the library entrance. “Russ and Kylie are inside if you want to surprise them.”

  “Russ isn’t easy to surprise. He’ll know I’m here by now. Probably knew the minute my car crossed into Knights Bridge.” Marty sighed as his younger brother emerged from the library. “See?”

  Gabe stepped aside as the two Coltons greeted each other. Russ seemed genuinely pleased that Marty had made the trip East for the party, but he’d obviously had an eye on the hired car and whoever was in it. The pair went inside, and Gabe resumed helping Felicity get the evening festivities set up.

  “Kylie told me Marty didn’t make it to the wedding. Hates to fly,” Felicity said.

  Gabe nodded. “He was severely injured in a helicopter crash in which his father died.”

  “That’s terrible. I knew there was a reason, but it wasn’t the moment to ask for details. How did you find out? Did Russ tell you?”

  “Shannon.”

  “Ah. She could work security herself. Well, Russ seems thrilled Marty’s here now, and I know Kylie will be.”

  Kylie’s sister arrived. She introduced Lila to Felicity and Gabe, no one awkward at the intermingling of personal and professional relationships, given Felicity’s role that evening. Gabe didn’t think he’d ever seen her so comfortable in her own skin—at ease with her work, herself, her place in her hometown. No way was he messing with that.

  “Feeling cocky?” she asked him during a moment’s lull, after they’d finished setting up.

  “About what?”

  “That you were right about me. Aren’t you taking a little credit for my new life as an event manager?”

  He grinned at her. “Let’s see if the badgers behave first.”

  “A few aren’t tightly sewn. I hope their stuffing holds through the night.”

  “I know the feeling.”

  She laughed. “Don’t we all.”

  “You don’t seem as nervous tonight as you did at the boot camp. Kylie’s well-known.”

  “She is, but she’s not you, is she? She’s a friend. Not that you aren’t, but I hadn’t seen you in such a long time, and we’d had quite a parting of ways. I mean, it involved brownies.”

  “It involved deception about brownies,” Gabe said lightly.

  “I’m ignoring you. The boot camp was a first, too. A lot was at stake, not just for me but for people I care about—Dylan, Olivia, Maggie, Brandon, Noah, even Phoebe. Russ, too. And you.”

  “You didn’t want to screw up.”

  “Especially in front of you,” she added pointedly.

  “I guess I can understand that.” He tilted his head sideways, eyeing her. “I could make an argument that skinny-dipping in the river helped relax you for tonight.”

  “Oh, sure. That was very relaxing. Technically I wasn’t skinny-dipping, but it was madness.”

  “But fun?”

  She smiled. “Maybe.”

  “You have to cut loose once in a while, Felicity.”

  “I hear you, but you don’t have to tell me what I need to do or don’t need to do. I’m not looking to you for that, Gabe.”

  “As if you ever did.”

  Her smiled broadened. “Now you’re getting the idea.”

  A stream of guests came through the main library doors, and she was off to do her thing.

  Gabe went into fly-on-the-wall mode, but it didn’t last. The Sloan brothers in attendance spotted him. Eric, Justin and Christopher. Adam, a stonemason and the quietest of the lot, wasn’t there, and Brandon was still in the White Mountains with his adventure travelers. Justin was with Samantha, his pirate-expert bride and one of Kylie’s first friends in town.

  “How’s it going, Gabe?” Justin asked.

  “Just fine,” he said, meaning it as he watched Felicity direct guests. “Just fine.”

  * * *

  As far as Gabe could tell, the evening was a smashing success. He’d never been to a party for a children’s book author and illustrator. To any kind of book party, in fact.

  He wandered outside while Felicity wrapped up with the last of the guests. He’d help her clean up and load the Rover. Nadia, thankfully, hadn’t turned up.

  Justin and Samantha Sloan trotted down the library steps. Eric and Christopher had left already for their shifts as police officer and firefighter. Justin was a volunteer firefighter—he and Samantha had met when she’d ducked into an old cider mill he owned and it caught fire in a lightning strike. It occurred to Gabe that as little time as he spent in Knights Bridge, he did know a fair amount about its goings-on, mostly thanks to his brother—but he could have told Mark he wasn’t interested, and he never had.

  Justin and Samantha said good-night and headed off, hand in hand, across South Main and the common, toward their rambling, ramshackle inn. If anyone could renovate Red Clover Inn and m
ake it better than it ever had been, they and the rest of the Sloans could—and would.

  Gabe stiffened, noticing the silhouette of a woman on the common.

  Nadia.

  He glanced behind him. A few stragglers chatted in front of the library. He debated alerting Russ, who was inside, but decided there was no need. Let Russ enjoy the rest of the celebration with his wife and his brother. Gabe had no reason to believe Nadia would cause trouble, at least any he couldn’t handle.

  He crossed the quiet street and walked through the lush grass on the common. Nadia stood in front of a World War II monument. She didn’t glance at him as he approached her. “Imagine all the dead and maimed during those terrible years,” she said, staring at the names carved into the polished stone. “It seems like such a long time ago, but my grandfather served in the Pacific. He seldom talked about it. I found pictures after my grandmother died of the two of them. He was in his uniform. They were so young.” She turned to Gabe, her skin pale, colorless, in the dim light. “The march of time, huh?”

  “What are you doing here, Nadia?”

  “Resisting temptation. I had a ticket for tonight’s celebration. I talked myself out of going. I realized today that I’ve upset people here. I didn’t want to be the skunk at the picnic.” She bit on her lower lip, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Gabe. I hate that I’ve made your friends here nervous.”

  “Then take a different approach, Nadia.”

  “Like what?”

  She sounded helpless, at a loss. “Go home,” Gabe said gently. “Change course. You’re dealing with big changes in your life. Talk to your family and friends. Get professional help if you need to.”

  She sniffled and attempted a smile, but there was no hint of it in her eyes. “Yes, well, you make it sound so easy.”

  “I know it’s not easy. Being truthful with yourself and others is a place to start.”

  “That’s a polite way to call me a liar.” She held up a hand. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. I know I haven’t been entirely truthful, but sometimes everyone is best served by a social lie that doesn’t hurt anyone.”

  “I’m not here to tell you how to live your life.”