He settled back and didn’t have much to say during the rest of the meeting except to pledge his support in the planning and constructing of the new cabins. He mostly laughed as the girls batted around names—Kelsi said that since they already had a “Bearfoot” cabin, they should also have a “Foxtrot” and a “Wolf Whistle.” Wade dutifully wrote down all the suggestions, but Wes had no doubt that some of those suggestions would mysteriously go missing or be forgotten when time came to make the final decisions.
Mostly Wes watched his siblings interact and felt the love in the room even with Dani’s scowl and the mock fight that broke out when Will suggested a cabin built on a Graceland theme. He felt sorry for Amber. She didn’t know what it was like to grow up with this kind of teasing and mild threatening—Dani said she’d throw Will in the river if he even thought about putting white pillars on the front of one of the cabins.
With only half the decisions made and plans to meet up again on Monday morning, Wes left the office and went to find his midafternoon clients. It was time to climb some more rocks—and hopefully, there wouldn’t be any incidents this time.
Chapter Ten
Amber followed Peter and the others from the landing dock. They all handed in their life preservers at the boathouse, and then Peter asked them to follow him over to the campground area. They squished along behind him, their shoes a little soggy from their rafting adventure.
They passed a curious little house on their way. Gnomes dotted the yard, and Amber counted at least eight bunnies hopping around on the grass. An older woman was out front hanging a wind chime from the eaves of her porch awning. When she saw their group, she stepped off the chair she was using and came running out to greet them.
“Well, there you are!” she said, taking both Amber’s hands in hers. “Took you so long to get here, I thought I’d misunderstood.”
“I beg your pardon?” Amber wondered if this lady was helping Peter with their next activity, but she didn’t think they were running late for it.
“He’s never been too impatient about finding his true love because he always knew it would come along when it was ready. He’s a little mystical that way.” The woman leaned in and whispered, “He doesn’t really need me, but we still have our chats.”
“I’m not sure who we’re talking about,” Amber whispered back. This lady must have mistaken her for someone else.
“Wes, of course,” she said as if it all made perfect sense. “And here you are. A bit late, if you ask me, but we’ll make up for lost time, won’t we?”
There had to be a way to bring this weird conversation to a close. Peter, Giles, and Harold were looking at her curiously, probably watching to see how she planned to disentangle herself.
The woman looked over at them as well. “You’re the folks just coming in to use the fire pit, right?”
“That’s right,” Peter replied.
“Well, why don’t you head on into the campground there and get started, and I’ll bring this young lady over in a minute? She and I have a few things to discuss.”
Peter glanced at Amber, obviously looking for some hint as to what she wanted. The problem was, she didn’t know what she wanted. This lady looked harmless, but she was definitely a little odd.
“Go on,” she said at last. “I’ll be there soon.”
Peter gave one nod, and the three men headed into the campground area.
“Now that we’ve got them out of the way, let’s have our chat,” the woman said. “I’m Jaclyn, by the way. I oversee this part of the ranch.”
“Oh?” If she’d been given a position of trust, she couldn’t be crazy, right? “What all does that entail?”
“I check people in and out of the RV slots, inspect the grounds, let Wade know if anyone trashed the place so he can refuse to take future reservations, that sort of thing.” She walked toward the house, talking as she went, and Amber followed her. “My main job, though, is listening to the fairies.”
At that, Amber stopped moving. “I’m sorry?”
Jaclyn turned and gave her a quizzical look. “Fairies. Small winged creatures from which we get the term ‘fairy tales.’ Gracious, child, surely you’ve heard of fairies.”
“Um, of course I have. I just didn’t realize you had them out here.”
Jaclyn opened her front door and ushered Amber inside. “I can see the confusion. When you come from a place without fairies, like a big city, you don’t know where to find them. The ranch is just thick with them. Thick, I’m telling you.”
Amber glanced around the old-fashioned living room. “Are there any in here now?”
“Of course not! Just the bunnies. The fairies are outside. They don’t like shag carpeting.”
Sure enough, there were more bunnies in the house than there were in the yard. “How many bunnies do you have?”
Jaclyn laughed, a sound Amber liked. It was straight from the gut. “Oh, gracious. How do you count bunnies? The vet said he fixed them, but I’m not entirely sure he did. Or maybe they’ve put out the call and invited all their friends to come live here with them. At any rate, just scoot one out of the way and have a seat. I’ve got peppermint tea and snickerdoodles here for you.”
“I’m not sure I can stay very long,” Amber hedged as she slid one particularly fat gray rabbit to the side and sat on the couch.
“Well, I won’t keep you more than a minute, but I can’t just send you away, either.” Jaclyn carried over a tray and set it on the small table by the couch. “You’ve got some decisions to make, young lady, and you need some guidance.”
“How do you know that?” Amber asked.
“The fairies. Haven’t you been paying attention?”
Amber blinked. “The fairies told you I needed some guidance?”
“Have a cookie. You need some glucose in your brain.”
Amber took a bite, glancing at the front door. If she made a run for it . . .
Jaclyn sat down across from her and poured out the tea. “I’ll make this very simple because I know you’ve got places to be. Life gives us choices, and sometimes those choices are between two things that seem equally right. At times like that, we’ve got to decide which thing we want most.” She sat back and smiled like she’d just answered all Amber’s questions in one fell swoop.
“Yes, I can see how that’s true,” Amber said. Why had something so elementary required a private conversation over tea and cookies?
“But it’s not just true!” Jaclyn slapped the arm of her chair, and Amber jumped. “It’s necessary. If you don’t ask yourself what’s going on deep inside you, you might never know, and you might live a shallow kind of life when you could be living something rich and deep and meaningful. And do you want to make that kind of mistake? I don’t think so!”
“No, of course not,” Amber replied. “But what if I don’t dig deep enough?”
“Ah! That’s an excellent question.” Jaclyn picked up a cookie and chewed it, looking thoughtful. “It will hurt. You’ll see things you don’t want to see. But then underneath that, you’ll find peace. That’s how you’ll know you’ve reached the layer you’re supposed to reach. Oh, and yes, he really is as good as he seems.”
“Wes?”
Jaclyn rolled her eyes. “Of course Wes! Who do you think we’ve been talking about this whole time? Listen, girlie. I’ve known this family for a long, long time. I’ve held every single one of those children in my rocking chair, and their hearts are as good as gold. I know you’re worried about getting hurt, but you don’t need to worry about that with him. He’s had relationships in the past that haven’t worked out, but it’s never been because of meanness—in fact, he’s still friends with them, except for the one who got married to someone else. That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?” She gave another laugh, and Amber couldn’t help but join her.
“Now go. You have a few things to do here yet, and I’m keeping you from it. Your choices are yours to make—they always have been, but I just wanted to be sure th
at you were making them for the right reasons and not out of fear. Fear is a terrible reason to make a decision.”
“I agree,” Amber said, coming to her feet. “And thank you for the snack.”
“Any time. I’ve always got the tea kettle on.”
Amber closed the door behind her and crossed the yard, walking toward the campground. That had certainly been unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome, and Jaclyn had spoken a lot of truth. She was afraid. She’d been afraid most of her life. That’s what had driven her—the fear of failure. The fear of being unloved. The fear of being stuck in a town that didn’t understand her, a job that didn’t challenge her, a relationship that didn’t value her. Instead of moving toward the things she wanted, she was moving away from things she didn’t want, and that was reacting out of fear rather than acting in faith.
And if that’s what the fairies were flying around telling people, well, more power to them.
Up ahead in the gathering dusk, she saw firelight flickering through the trees. Peter stood on the trail, so she knew it was their fire and she wasn’t about to stumble upon some poor, unsuspecting family and interrupt their S’mores.
“How was your visit?” he asked as she drew closer.
“Interesting. She gave me tea and cookies and life advice.”
“Huh. For a moment, we wondered if you’d been kidnapped.”
“I’m not entirely sure I wasn’t.” She gave him a bright smile. “So, what’s our activity for tonight?”
“Come sit down by the fire, and we’ll get started.”
Giles and Harold looked up and greeted her as she took her seat on a folding camp chair by the fire. It snapped and sent a dozen sparks in the air, and she breathed in deeply. She’d always loved the smell of a campfire, but she hadn’t been camping in an awfully long time.
“I’d like to thank you for coming out here with me this weekend,” Peter began, standing in front of them as though they were in the boardroom. “Things haven’t gone entirely as planned—only half of us made it to the top of the cliff, and we weren’t able to carry out our rafting activity as I’d anticipated.” He cleared his throat. “Nevertheless, I believe we can still pull some good out of our trip.
“We sit here tonight by the light of a campfire. The woods are dark and dangerous, and they’re unfamiliar. We don’t know which way to go for safety. We must rely on each other for guidance.” He reached into a backpack that sat on the ground and pulled out some bandanas. “Please blindfold yourselves. No cheating.”
Amber tried not to smirk as she tied on her bandana. Peter sounded like a Boy Scout leader or something.
“I will be your guide through the darkness,” he continued, “but you must trust me. Please stand up and take four steps to your left. No, wait! Your right! Sorry. Your right.”
“Are you sure you mean right?” Harold asked.
“Of course I’m sure. Four steps.”
Amber did as she was told, and the crunching sound of boots on twigs told her the others had too.
“We’ll now begin to walk through the woods, but you must listen to the sound of my voice for your safety.”
This was interminable. He had them walking around trees, ducking under branches, and at one point, he had them put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them to go down an incline, all while blindfolded. Amber didn’t like feeling so disoriented, but most of all, she felt like they were at some kind of kids’ summer camp, and she still didn’t get the connection between this and workplace unity.
At last they were back where they started, and Peter had them move their blindfolds and sit down again. “As you can see, communication is vital,” he said. “Without it, no one would know where they were going. And trust is crucial—if you didn’t trust those around you, you’d never reach your end goal.” He turned to Amber, who was still doing her best to look pleasant and not bored out of her everlovin’ mind. “Amber, because you’re the newest partner of the firm, we’ve been watching you, and we have to say, we’ve been pleased with your efforts to be a team player. None of us got into the spirit of the weekend like you did and participated in the amateur night—you did a great job. How did your lesson go, by the way? Did you climb the cliff?”
“Um, no,” Amber said, a little embarrassed. “I was still too scared, so we went on a hike instead.”
“Well, you gave it your best, and you recognized your limitations and stuck with your strengths. Some of us need to learn how to do that better.” Peter looked a little embarrassed too, and Amber was surprised. Was he admitting that he had weaknesses? That was certainly a first, and it definitely made him more likeable.
Harold stood up, a large envelope in his hands. “We’d like to take this opportunity to officially welcome you as a partner in the firm,” he said, holding the envelope out to Amber.
“What’s this? I thought you’d already welcomed me.” It felt a little heavy, like it was more than just some kind of paperwork.
“We did, but this makes everything a little more official. Go ahead—open it,” Harold said, sitting back down and watching her.
Amber slid her finger under the flap and opened the envelope. Inside was a metal nameplate engraved with her name. “That’s for your office door,” Harold said unnecessarily. There was also a key.
“For the office door?” she asked. “I thought I already had one of those.”
“No, that’s for your partner bonus,” Peter explained.
“I don’t understand. What’s my partner bonus?” she asked.
“Oh, not much. Just a new Mercedes-Benz E-class Coupe,” he replied, a smug expression on his face. “Red.”
Amber’s mind went totally blank and she just stared at him. “A car? You’re giving me a car?”
“That’s right. We value your work at the firm, and we wanted to show you our appreciation. You can pick up the car at the dealership on Monday morning.”
Amber turned the key over and over in her hand. “Thank you. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”
Peter reached over and patted her on the shoulder. “Well, that’s how we do things at Finnegan, Finnegan, Cramer, Green, and Russell.”
She laughed. “That’s kind of a long name, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. We’ll talk about that at our next board meeting.”
They walked back to the bunkhouse, one of the ranch employees coming in quietly to put out the fire and gather up the chairs. Their little scamper through the woods still seemed silly, but hey, there had been a car at the end of it, so Amber guessed she couldn’t complain too much.
Chapter Eleven
Wes scanned the dining room, looking for Amber. She hadn’t said she had plans to go into town for dinner, so he assumed she’d be eating here tonight, but he wished he’d asked for sure. She’d be leaving in the morning, and while he knew she had other obligations, he’d hoped to sneak in just a few more minutes with her before the magic ended and everything turned back into pumpkins and stuff.
He glanced over at the far corner, where Will sat with Ellie. Their wedding wasn’t too far off now, and it was easy to see that they couldn’t wait. Their love for each other practically pinged around the room, and he couldn’t be happier for them. That was the kind of love he wanted for himself, what he wanted for every member of his family. Some down, some to go—and some in limbo, like him.
He was just about to turn and leave the dining room when he finally caught sight of Amber. She’d been partially blocked by a ficus tree, but now that he’d spotted her, he wondered how he could have missed her. She lit up the room with her own personal glow, the one that came from deep inside and reached out to him and made him feel warm too. He moved toward her table without even realizing he was moving, pulled to her like a moth to a flame, and then he laughed at himself for having such a corny thought. What could he say, though—it was true.
“Wes,” she said when he walked up. “Can you join us?”
He glanced
around the table at the other three men. “Are you sure I’m not intruding?”
“Of course not,” Peter said, rising and shaking his hand. “You’re more than welcome.” With a minimum of shifting around, there was an empty spot next to Amber, and Wes gratefully took it. Sharing her with everyone else wasn’t ideal, but if this was the only way he could spend time with her that night, he’d take it.
Steve came by and took their orders, and then Peter began to ask Wes some questions about Idaho, all very general, chitchatty stuff. Wes answered, but he reached under the table and found Amber’s hand where it rested on her knee and held it, giving it a squeeze. She squeezed back. Then he squeezed twice, and so did she, a faint smile on her lips.
It was a shame when the food came and Wes had to let go of her hand, but he supposed it was just as well because his fingers were getting a little sweaty.
The meal was excellent, as it always was, but Wes found himself getting antsy. All this small talk, punctuated with polite laughter—it wasn’t him, and it certainly wasn’t the way he wanted to spend Amber’s last night on the ranch. He waited until the other lawyers were chatting about a recent case and then leaned over and whispered, “Can I steal you away?”
“Please, steal me,” she said, and he grinned.
As soon as they were all finished, he stood. “Thank you for inviting me to join you, gentlemen. I hope you’ll excuse me, but I’ve promised a dance to a certain young lady.” He held out his hand to Amber. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” she replied, and he whisked her off to the small dance floor by the bandstand.
Once they were relatively by themselves, with his arms around her waist, Wes took a deep breath. “That’s better,” he said.
“That’s much better. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so suffocated in my life. But I’m being suffocated in style—you won’t believe it, but the firm gave me a car for making partner.”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
Rugged Rockclimber (River's End Ranch Book 8) Page 7
