The River House

by Carla Neggers

  He stood straight, stretching out his lower back and surveying the field. “It’s easy to forget how pretty it is out here. I haven’t hiked up Carriage Hill since high school.”

  “You can see Quabbin from the top.”

  “I remember. Have you hiked to the summit since you moved back here?”

  She shook her head. “Not since high school, either. Want to go?”

  “Sure, why not? Did you bring water?”

  “I did. I noticed you didn’t, but I’ll share.”

  They left the blueberries on a rock in the shade and headed across the field to a trail that would lead them up the hill, all the way to the top with its spectacular views. They’d done the hike many times as teenagers, and she’d done it with her parents and brother. There’d been times she’d wondered—hoped—there was more to life than a hike up a hill, but her attitude had softened since then. She knew it was being here with Gabe, too. For now, she wanted to let herself enjoy his company without propelling herself into the past or the future.

  “I parked at Olivia’s place,” he said as they paused at a steep section of the trail. “Maggie was there. She’s waiting for Brandon to get back from the White Mountains with his adventure travel clients. She’s preparing lunch for everyone. She invited us.”

  “You told her I was here?”

  “She saw you pass by. She was already at the house.”

  “I didn’t notice her vehicle.”

  “She walked down from the barn. Olivia and Dylan are waiting there for the adventurers.” Gabe’s gaze settled on Felicity. “I’m seeing Dylan later on.”

  “About what?”

  He gave a slight grin. “I knew you’d ask.”

  “Saying I’m nosey?”

  “Interested. He and I have business to discuss.”

  “Ah. Intriguing.”

  “We’ll see.”

  She thought he might continue with more information, but he didn’t. “You’re figuring out what’s next for you. You’re ready.”

  “I am ready. You’re good at what you do, Felicity.”

  “But it’s what I do,” she said. “It’s not who I am.”

  He took a drink from her water bottle and handed it back to her. “Let’s go.”

  They reached the top of Carriage Hill in another ten minutes. Breathing hard, sweating, Felicity stood atop a rounded boulder and looked out at the view of the valley, flooded decades ago to create the reservoir. The waters continued for miles out of sight, behind more hills.

  “Hard to believe we’re supposed to get rain later today.”

  “Perfect weather to make blueberry cobbler,” Gabe said next to her.

  She glanced at him and noticed he didn’t look winded. Whatever he did day-to-day, his schedule had to include exercise. She wasn’t particularly winded, either, but she could feel the lack of sleep in her muscles.

  They didn’t linger on the summit. For one thing, lunch beckoned. For another—Felicity couldn’t explain it. She wanted to be around him and didn’t want to. She knew he’d leave. She knew they couldn’t be friends the way they’d once been friends, not just because of last night. Because of everything. Swimming, talking, sitting by the fire, their families and friends, Knights Bridge itself, their memories of growing up there. She embraced all of it, without any of the anger and hurt of three years ago.

  Gabe was quiet on the hike back down the hill. They fetched their blueberries, but he nodded toward the inn. “Shall we join Maggie and company for lunch?”

  “I should get back.”

  “You said in your note you’re taking today off.”

  “Sort of. I added that in parentheses. Plus there’s cleaning and laundry and errands.”

  “All right. I’ll meet you there and help.”

  She tilted her head back and eyed him. “When’s the last time you cleaned and did laundry?”

  He grinned. “Doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how.”

  But he’d called her bluff, and he knew it. Felicity smiled. “Lunch at Carriage Hill sounds great.”

  * * *

  Brandon Sloan arrived at the Farm at Carriage Hill in time for lunch. He looked sweaty, rugged and happy—not just to see his wife and their sons, Felicity knew, but because he’d been off doing something he loved. He’d walked down to the antique house after seeing his adventure travelers off, on their way back home to their jobs and lives.

  “How are the White Mountains?” Maggie asked him as she set out a simple meal of salads, cold meat, rolls and ginger cookies.

  “Gorgeous. I found a great spot to take you and the boys.”

  “Oh, my favorite thing, climbing tall mountains with my food spoiling and my clothes sticking to my back, no bathroom, no—”

  “It’s an inn we can use as a base for day hikes.”

  She grinned at her husband. “Now you’re talking. But I’d hike with you. You know that.”

  “Only because you know I’d carry your pack,” Brandon said, clearly amused. “The inn’s nice, but it’s not as grand as where I stayed with Noah and Dylan after our big hike last summer.”

  “It doesn’t have to be grand if it has running water and a flush toilet,” Maggie said.

  Her husband winked at her. “That’s my roughing-it Maggie.” He turned to Gabe and Felicity. “How ’bout you two?”

  “We just hiked up Carriage Hill,” Felicity said.

  “You could always pitch a tent up there,” Brandon said. “It’s not on Quabbin land.”

  Gabe sat at the terrace table. “Mark and I used to camp out in the woods out here. He liked sleeping under the stars better than I did, which is funny considering he became an architect. We never noticed mosquitoes. I probably would now.”

  “Spoiled by life in the city,” Maggie said with a grin.

  Gabe laughed. “I’d at least want a tent now.”

  “What about you, Felicity?” Brandon asked. “Tempted by adventure travel?”

  “When you do inn-to-inn tours, let me know.”

  “We’re planning one in Scotland. Newfoundland’s up next later this summer. I’m leaving that one to someone else. We’re getting started on construction at Red Clover Inn, and I want to take Aidan and Tyler camping. They’ll be happy pitching a tent out at Heather and Brody’s land on Echo Lake.”

  “They’d love it,” Maggie said.

  Felicity was aware Maggie and Brandon had been separated last summer but had worked out the problems in their marriage after he, Dylan and Noah had hiked up Mount Washington together. She didn’t know what had precipitated their near breakup or what compromises had been involved in their reunion, just that they were renovating a house off Knights Bridge common and clearly happy with each other and their lives, separately and together.

  After lunch, Aidan and Tyler whisked Brandon off to show him some discovery in the backyard.

  “He’s never happier than when he’s slept on rocks and roots,” Maggie said with a laugh, watching her husband. She turned to Felicity. “Kylie’s book launch worked out well. She’ll be happy to return to her routines. The fairy-tale books she’s doing are amazing. I’m glad there were no incidents.”

  Meaning Nadia. Felicity nodded. “Everything worked out great.”

  If Maggie wanted to ask about Nadia, she didn’t. “Well, you deserve a quiet day.”

  Gray clouds to the west and a rumble of thunder reminded Felicity of the impending turn in the weather. “My Rover’s down the road,” she said. “I’ll get going. Thanks for lunch.”

  “Anytime,” Maggie said.

  Felicity thanked her and headed out with her wild blueberries. Gabe stayed to meet with Dylan, whatever that was about. She’d resisted asking. Dylan likely still had more connections in San Diego, even now, than he did to Knights Bridge, and Gabe had just spent two months in Southern Califor
nia.

  When she reached the isolated spot where she’d parked, Felicity was surprised when she spotted another car. Nadia was shutting the driver’s door. “I didn’t expect to find you here,” she said. “I’m off for a walk to clear my head.”

  “Alone?”

  “Mmm. I left a note on the windshield in case I get lost or trip on a rock or something, but I’m not worried. I’m not going far. I have a cell phone, but I know coverage can be spotty.” She pointed at Felicity’s container. “Blueberries?”

  “Wild ones,” she said.

  “Yummy. What are you making?”

  “Cobbler, I think.”

  “Gabe’s favorite.” She held up a hand. “Just something I know by accident. It’s not some crazy stalker comment. I’m really sorry I’ve been acting weird—I went overboard trying not to look like a stalker. Look, enjoy your blueberries. I’m off. It looks as if it’s a pretty good walk to reach the water. My dad used to love to fish on the reservoir, before we moved West. I went with him once or twice—I couldn’t have been more than five or six. He told me about the lost towns. I remember thinking there were houses and people under our boat. Little kid logic, huh?”

  “It’s understandable.”

  “Your grandfather was from one of the towns, wasn’t he?”

  Felicity nodded. “Prescott.”

  “It was a small farming community. What a hardscrabble existence for most people, but your family—the MacGregors were bankers even then, weren’t they?”

  “A family tradition. I should get these blueberries home. We’re getting bad weather. You know that, right?”

  “That’s how Justin Sloan and Samantha Bennett met. In a thunderstorm. Maybe I’ll get lucky and meet some hunky guy. My weather app says I’ve got about ninety minutes before any real weather gets here. That’s plenty of time for this city girl to take a walk in the woods.”

  Feeling somewhat hesitant and ill at ease, Felicity wished Nadia well and got in her car. She had lousy cell coverage and waited to text Gabe when she turned off Carriage Hill Road toward town. Nadia on walk in Quabbin by gate.

  You saw her?

  Just now. On my way home.

  Good.

  She’s alone.

  Thanks for letting me know.

  By the time Felicity reached her house, the sky had darkened with ominous-looking clouds. The radar on Felicity’s phone showed storms approaching but not overhead. She took her blueberries inside and set them on the kitchen counter. Had Nadia spotted her Land Rover and decided on the Quabbin walk? Had she followed Gabe? Whatever she was up to, Felicity didn’t like the idea of her being out in unfamiliar woods with severe weather on the way.

  But wasn’t that the whole point? Nadia wanted people thinking about her.

  Specifically, Gabe.

  It might not be romantic jealousy at work, but it wasn’t anything good.

  She let Russ know and wasn’t surprised Gabe hadn’t been in touch. Maybe he was leaving Nadia to her own devices—not getting sucked into her drama—or was handling her on his own. Either way, Russ promised to investigate.

  “I hope I’m not meddling,” Felicity said.

  “You’re not, but meddling makes sense when you’re dealing with someone off her stride like this woman is.”

  “Russ, if she went on this hike with the idea of hurting herself—”

  “You said she left a note on her windshield?”

  “That’s what she told me.”

  “I’ll take a look. Kylie’s deep into her work, but you can save me some cobbler.”

  “This is what happens when you tell people you’re making blueberry cobbler.”

  But her attempt at levity was short-lived, and when she hung up, Felicity had to work at focusing on cobbler. She started by picking over the blueberries, getting rid of stems, bits of leaves and two tiny ants. She washed them and spread them on towels to dry. She could have worked on the dry ingredients, but she took her laptop out to the deck. Thunder rumbled in the distance but she took a few minutes to check her email. It wasn’t too bad, considering she’d been off-line all day.

  A text came in from Russ Colton: All clear. She found a tick crawling on her and beelined to her car. Off to her grandmother’s house.

  A tick would do the trick for most of us.

  Yep.

  Felicity debated a moment but decided not to ask if Gabe was with him. Felicity put Nadia out of her mind and dove into answering her emails. She hadn’t anticipated making cobbler alone, but there was no going back now that she had a taste for it. If Gabe didn’t return before she finished her email dash, she’d get started.

  * * *

  Gabe saw Nadia on her way and was grateful for Russ’s intervention with her. Russ had the patience and professional distance Gabe was having increasing difficulty summoning, given Nadia’s intrusions. Fortunately he had his meeting with Dylan, following up a preliminary meeting in San Diego. This one took them into Knights Bridge village. They stood outside the old Sanderson house, a sprawling Victorian built by George Sanderson about the same time he spearheaded the construction of the library where his portrait hung above the mantel. The grand house abutted the small cottage where Phoebe O’Dunn—soon to be married to Noah Kendrick—had lived when she was the library director. The quietest and eldest of the four O’Dunn sisters, Phoebe had discounted marriage for herself. Then she’d met Noah at a costume charity ball in Boston, and both of their lives changed. Gabe had gotten the story from his sister-in-law. He’d been surprised at his growing interest in townspeople, whether ones he’d grown up with, like the O’Dunns, or newcomers, like Dylan, Noah, Samantha, Russ and Kylie.

  “The house needs work,” Dylan said. “That’s not uncommon in this town.”

  “A lot of old buildings here,” Gabe said.

  “No shortage of them, that’s for sure.”

  Gabe ran his toe across overgrown grass. “Knights Bridge has its charms. You grew up in Southern California. Miss it?”

  “The weather sometimes but Olivia and I still have a place in Coronado. I bought it before I knew her. She’s added color. She says everything can’t be cappuccino. Her word. I just say it’s neutral.”

  Gabe grinned. “That’s what you get, marrying a graphic designer.” And if he married a party planner? He put the thought aside.

  “No more flying for me until the baby’s here.”

  Gabe noticed the same about-to-be-a-dad tone in Dylan’s voice that he’d heard in his brother’s voice. He wondered if he’d ever hear it in his own voice. He pushed that thought aside and nodded to the house. “It’d make good offices. No problem with zoning?”

  “None. We checked.”

  We meant some combination of Dylan, Noah, the Frosts, the Sloans, probably Mark. The entrepreneurial boot camps, the adventure travel and the destination inn would keep Dylan and Olivia busy, but they needed office space. Olivia had a small office at her antique-house-turned-inn, but she planned to give it up when she and Maggie hired an innkeeper. Certainly there was space for her to work out of their new home, but Dylan and Noah wanted to get into venture capital. They needed to hire more staff and needed proper offices. They didn’t have enough office space at the barn. Knights Bridge was home base for Dylan and Olivia, but they would be on the go even after the baby. Noah and Phoebe planned to be part-time residents of Knights Bridge, dividing their time between the East Coast, the Kendrick winery on the Central California Coast and his home in San Diego. At eighteen, Gabe would never have predicted Olivia Frost and Phoebe O’Dunn would be married to two such men, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel right—it absolutely did.

  “You, Noah and I have had a lot of success at a relatively young age,” Dylan said. “There’s so much opportunity here. So much more to do.”

  “Anyone else in mind to join us?”

  �
��Yeah. We’re just getting started. We’re talking to a woman who just left the NAK board. She has more experience in this area than we do. We’d love to recruit her.”

  “Will she be interested in life in Knights Bridge?”

  Dylan grinned. “Not happening but she can work with us from wherever she wants. You can, too, Gabe, but...” He shrugged. “Your choice. Knights Bridge is your hometown.”

  “Thanks, Dylan. I used to mow the yard here. Looks as if it could use me again.”

  “You’ll think about joining us?”

  “I will, very seriously.”

  “Great. You look as if you’re in a hurry.”

  “I’ve been thinking about wild blueberry cobbler for the past few hours.”

  “Any kind of cobbler is irresistible as far as I’m concerned. Enjoy yourself.”

  * * *

  Gabe stopped at Moss Hill on his way to Felicity and cobbler. Russ met him in the main lobby. “Nadia called me earlier,” Russ said. “She knows she went too far and put people on alert, especially you and Felicity. She’s been in a self-destructive mode. She doesn’t want to end up getting a restraining order slapped on her. She said she knows feeling sorry for herself doesn’t justify acting out inappropriately.”

  “She needs to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.”

  “You’re not the one to help her do that. You know that, right?”

  “Oh, yeah. I know.”

  “I told her not to try to make amends to you and Felicity.”

  “Do you think she’ll take your advice?”

  Russ didn’t answer at once. Finally he shook his head. “No, I don’t, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her route to making amends will be inappropriate if not illegal. She’s got work to do to get her head screwed on straight.”

  “Then again, don’t we all.”

  But Russ didn’t smile. “When are you putting your place in Boston on the market?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Gabe felt his hesitation and suspected Russ noticed. “I didn’t have a solid plan once I sold my company. That was a mistake, but I have options.”

  “Including in Knights Bridge?”

  Gabe hesitated but nodded without going further.