Masks and Lies

by McKechnie, A C J

  She was right as well. There was absolutely nothing around these parts to do, which meant that he’d have to think of something. Come up with an idea to entertain her. He had about thirty hours to find something to do to impress the girl.

  Normally it wouldn’t be too hard, but around these parts it seemed almost impossible. Maybe he’d ask someone for some advice. But who? And did he really want to involve anybody else in his plans?

  No, he should just do this on his own. He was a grown man of twenty-eight, fully capable of wooing a woman, though admittedly he hadn’t done so in a while. This job had preoccupied him since it had landed in front of him so that he hadn’t had any time or inclination to go out with any women. He’d had enough on his plate without adding in a jealous female into the mix. And no doubt any woman would be jealous of him chasing after a young attractive single woman. No, he hadn’t needed that sort of hassle in his life.

  Now he was feeling out of practice, however. Now he wasn’t sure how to proceed. Now when it mattered the most he didn’t know what to do. Smiling as Kendra returned with his change, he left a healthy tip and headed out as he scoured through his brain for what to do tomorrow night.

  It had better all be worth it in the end. He was spending a heck of a lot of time and effort on this one responsibility. He just hoped that Kendra was right, and the reward was sweeter because of it.

  Chapter Five

  A knock on her front door caught Kendra’s attention and she inhaled deeply before heading to the portal. Opening it, she smiled when she saw Nick on the other side.

  “What are you wearing?” she asked in amusement as she took in his appearance.

  “What? What’s the matter with it?” he asked as he looked down at himself, and Kendra just raised an eyebrow at him while trying not to smile too widely.

  “Should I get changed?” she asked, indicating her own attire of jeans, sneakers, and a feminine top.

  Looking at her critically, he said, “You might want to wear boots if you have any, and maybe a more fitted top.” When Kendra cocked another brow at him he quickly explained himself. “That thing’s just going to end up in the way,” he declared and she looked at him in confusion.

  “What exactly are we doing?” she asked as she waved him in and headed back to her bedroom to change half of her outfit.

  “It’s a surprise,” he said with what she suspected was a smile in his voice.

  “Obviously something outdoorsy,” she said loudly so that he could hear her through her bedroom door.

  “What makes you think that?” he shouted back.

  “Why else would you look like a younger version of Walter?”

  “I’ve seen photos of Walter when he was younger, the man wasn’t bad looking,” he said in defense, and Kendra allowed herself to smile widely while he couldn’t see.

  “You sure you want to spend the night with me and not him?” she teased as she opened her door to stand in front of him wearing the requisite boots and a snug western-style woman’s fitted shirt.

  “Oh, most definitely you,” he said huskily as he scanned her figure, and Kendra found herself blushing, before she wrapped her arms around herself protectively. The action seemed to snap Nick out of his contemplations and he smiled at her before holding out his hand for her to grab.

  Nervously swallowing, Kendra reached for the appendage and gripped it lightly, surprised to find herself feel a shock go through her at the contact. With a little jump, she pulled back and stared at him in surprise.

  When he looked just as shocked, she rubbed her hands down her jeans and said, “Must be the carpet. It’s a pain for static.”

  Nick smiled back at her and then gestured with his head for her to precede him out of her apartment. Making her way down the stairs, Kendra headed down to his car and waited for him to catch up.

  “You’re not locking up?” he asked in concern, and she smiled at his confusion.

  “No need,” she said. “Everyone knows everyone ‘round these parts, Nick. And even if that weren’t the case, I don’t have anything anybody would bother with,” she added with a shrug before he unlocked his car and handed her into it.

  “Nowhereville,” he mumbled, and Kendra looked at him with a furrowed brow.

  “What?” she asked.

  “This place really is something else,” he muttered at her, and she felt her brow furrow even more at his manner. For a man who thought that the place would make a great tourist destination, his tone wasn’t exactly complimentary.

  “Granville’s a great town,” she defended. He must have heard her serious tone as he shot a surprised glance her way and smiled sheepishly at her.

  “It is a great little place,” he affirmed. “I’ve just been frustrated by its charm today. Makes taking a girl out and impressing her kind of difficult when there’s nothing to do in it,” he explained.

  Trying to put the past few minutes out of her mind, Kendra instead decided to do her part with regards to making conversation. “You must have come up with something though. You seem thoroughly prepared for tonight.”

  “I came up with something,” he affirmed. “Though I have no idea how much you’ll like it. It’s not much. And especially considering that you’ve just got back from travelling around Europe.”

  “How’d you know about that?” she asked in surprise, and he laughed.

  “Small towns do have one advantage: no secrets apparently,” he teased, and Kendra tensed. What else had he heard about her? Noticing her reaction, he cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, everyone’s been incredibly excited about all of your adventures lately. What made you go?”

  “I wanted to do something. Something exciting. Something different. When I landed in Granville, Betsy took me in. She and I sat down and talked about what I wanted in life,” Kendra explained, and found herself surprised at how open she was being with Nick. It had been this way the last time that she’d opened up to him as well. That first encounter had been the same, she’d found herself telling him everything, as though she knew that she could trust him.

  “Anyway,” she continued as she thought things over, “when she found out about everything with my mom and father, she thought that maybe I needed a chance to test my wings so to speak. She asked what dreams I’d always had. She wanted to help me to do something that I could be proud of. She gave me a task to aim for. Something I could plan for and achieve.

  “I told her how I’d always liked the idea of travelling. The furthest I’d ever managed to go when I was younger was the closest big city. I’d always wanted to travel places, see things. So Betsy suggested that I do just that.

  “We spent hours poring over magazines and brochures for everywhere in the world. I finally settled on Europe. And it was the best thing that I’ve ever done. A whole year experiencing the life and sights out there. I can’t wait to go back.”

  “You’re going back?” he asked in shocked surprise with a quick glance at her, and Kendra smiled widely before nodding.

  “Oh yeah. Most definitely. It was amazing. Bloody amazing. There’s so much more that I didn’t get to see either. But I need more money. And I missed Granville, and especially Betsy.”

  “How long were you here before you headed off?” he asked in confusion.

  “About seven months, a little bit more.”

  “That’s not long for you to have set up a home for yourself,” he mused, and Kendra shrugged.

  “When you fall in love at first sight seven months is plenty long enough to make a place feel like home and the people feel like family,” she said softly with an equally soft smile.

  “Love?” he asked in surprise with another quick glance. “The Indian?”

  Trying not to laugh, Kendra said, “Of course. And the others.”

  “Others?” he said in a strangled voice, and Kendra lost the battle with her amusement.

  “I fell in love with Granville, Nick. Not a person. The whole area and feel of the place was just what I needed, just when
I needed it. Loving a man isn’t really on my agenda,” she said and watched as he looked at her intently. “You might want to watch the road,” she said in warning, and he snapped his gaze back to in front of him as they travelled down a bumpy lane.

  “So what did you do for the five months before you found your true love?” he asked, and Kendra shrugged, even though he wasn’t looking at her.

  “Not much,” she said before deciding to get the focus off herself. “How about you? What’s been going on for the past two years with you? Last thing I knew you were working for some big multi-national company, hoping to work your way up the proverbial ladder there. What changed?”

  “Got tired of the rat race,” he said crisply before pulling the car over and turning off the ignition. “Ready?” he asked as he looked at her, and Kendra tried to peer through the windows to see what she was supposed to be ready for.

  “I guess,” she said hesitantly.

  “Come on then,” he encouraged with a smile, and she got herself out of his car to meet him at the back of it.

  “What are we doing? Wait. Isn’t this Walter’s land? Are you about to turn out to be some sort of weird serial killer who’s decided that you’re going to hunt me down or something?” she asked with narrowed eyes as she put her hands on her hips. Nick took in her stance and just laughed heartily at her.

  “You’re something else, Kendra Wilcox. Have no fear, I need you very much alive for what I have in mind for you,” he said, and Kendra found her arms wrapping around herself. There was something in the way that he’d said that, something in his eyes that had her uneasy. Almost as soon as she thought that though, he smiled at her, and she shook her head at herself.

  She was just so uneasy and nervous about this whole thing, so unsure that what she was doing was right that she was seeing things that weren’t there. Betsy was right, she just needed to kick back, relax, and see where things were headed between the two of them. Enough stressing, she didn’t need it. All stress did was have her itching, and she really didn’t need that.

  No, she just needed to breathe, relax, and smile. She could do that.

  What was ridiculous was how nervous Mitchell was. It wasn’t like this was a real date, after all, this was just a ruse to get the woman to lower her defenses and become more susceptible to him. But it sure as heck felt like a real date. It had been too long. Clearly he’d been single and on his own for too much time. That’s all it was.

  Though perhaps the nervousness was all to do with his job at hand. That was most likely it. After all, so much was riding on him making progress with Kendra and getting her to open up to him. This had all been a long time in coming. A long time.

  At least now he had a better idea of what had happened in that time though. She’d spent five months travelling around the States before she’d landed in Granville. Then she’d set up her life here while she’d planned her next adventure abroad. No wonder he hadn’t been able to find her; she’d almost been constantly on the move. Though he was surprised that she hadn’t come to his attention when she’d landed in Granville the first time.

  Though judging by its size there wasn’t much chance that things operated like they usually would in a larger town or city.

  “What are your plans then?” Kendra asked as she focused on him.

  “Plans?” he asked in confusion and a little bit of guilt. Mitchell watched on as she narrowed her eyes at him and studied him closely before she explained herself.

  “For our date. You obviously have plans and have yet to tell me what they are. If you’re not planning on killing me, what is the plan?” she elaborated suspiciously, and he nearly smacked himself in the head. They’d been talking about where they were and why. He’d forgotten that part of the conversation while he’d been thinking over his steps to get her to open up to him.

  “You’re not very good with surprises, are you, Kendra?” he teased while moving towards his trunk again.

  “I’m perfectly fine with surprises,” she said with a shrug. “In fact, I love surprises. From people I trust,” she added, and he looked over at her where she was still staring at him doubtfully. As she caught him looking at her she wrapped her arms more tightly around herself, and Mitchell almost winced at the progress that he’d suddenly lost with her.

  Two years ago she’d been much more open, but she’d changed more than he’d first realized. She was so much more distant and hard to reach. So much more cut off from everyone. That trust that she’d displayed without hesitation on their first meeting was missing. Now instead of her freely giving it she was going to make him work for it.

  She’d been open with him in the car, but the shield had gone back up. She was wary of him. Mistrustful. And he didn’t need that. Man, this was going to be tough. She was going to be one hard nut to crack.

  Smiling, in the hope of easing her fears and nerves again, he replied, “I’m sure you’ll come to realize that you can trust me, Kendra. I’m really a very trustworthy man,” he added and felt another twinge at all the lies that he was telling her. “In the meantime,” he continued and gestured to the trunk of his car, “why don’t you come and help me with this stuff?”

  “What is it?” she asked as she edged closer to him and peeked into the dark area.

  “Supplies,” he replied and pulled out some bags along with the extra items that he’d gathered earlier in the day.

  Studying it all, Kendra took in the assorted objects and looked at him quickly before just shrugging and finally releasing her tight hold on herself, loading her arms up as well.

  Making their way towards the area that he’d staked out earlier in the day, with the help of Walter ‘The Tourist Hunter’ Humming, Mitchell found himself looking back repeatedly at Kendra as she silently followed him.

  She was an interesting woman. She was independent and strong, but also vulnerable and fragile. He had a feeling that if she felt threatened or cornered, her fighting spirit would rear its head and she’d be a formidable opponent, but he also had a feeling that she could be easily broken by the right person and circumstances, and he didn’t like the idea of that. Kendra needed to be cared for. She’d had a lot to deal with in her life and didn’t need any more.

  Those horrible pangs of guilt assaulted him at the thought, and he realized that he’d need to be careful with her. There was a very real chance that he could damage this intriguing and unique woman, and he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t really have any emotions linked with or invested in her, but he wasn’t a cruel and hard man, he didn’t want to hurt or harm anybody.

  “Oh!” came the sudden proclamation, and Mitchell looked over to see her staring wide-eyed at the vista in front of her. “How’d you manage this?” she asked as she gently laid her haul down on the ground at her feet before investigating the boat that was tied up for them to use. “Walter’s incredibly protective of his belongings.”

  “Told him that I had a girl to impress. He suggested this,” Mitchell explained while gesturing at the boat, and Kendra looked up at him with a wry smile before shaking her head. “What?” he asked.

  “Nick, have you ever done this before?” she asked in amusement, and he felt his brow pucker. It felt like she was insulting him but he wasn’t entirely sure on that.

  “Done what?”

  “Nighttime fishing,” she expounded while gesturing at the rods and tackle boxes that he had with him. Looking around at all of the supplies that Walter had insisted that he’d need for his date tonight, Mitchell just shrugged again.

  “It can’t be too difficult,” he said and noticed that Kendra was biting her lip while amusement sparkled in her eyes. Clearly the woman was trying not to laugh at him, and he was feeling slighted again. “It wasn’t like there was a lot of choice in what to do,” he said in an affronted manner. He thought he’d done well in coming up with an idea for the pair of them. Okay, so he thought that they’d just be dangling some rods over the small river that flowed through the area while they talked, but this
didn’t seem any more difficult.

  When Mitchell had gone to the local hardware store the man there had told him to go see Walter, that he could help him with his endeavors. So he’d made his way to the older man and explained everything to him. Walter had looked at him and pointed out that you couldn’t fish from the bank at sunset but he could catch some ‘mighty fine walleye’ if he took Walter’s boat out a bit further, then proceeded to direct him to a prime fishing spot.

  So Mitchell had loaded up all of his borrowed supplies and headed back into town to buy some more fitting clothing. Most of his things weren’t exactly appropriate for Granville and he’d run through his small supply of casual clothing as it was. Besides which, he didn’t exactly want to ruin what he did have by getting fish all over himself. So he’d bought some of the local garb and decked himself out in jeans, a flannel shirt, and sturdy boots.

  He was prepared. At least he thought he was. Until he saw Kendra staring at him in amusement with twinkling eyes. If he weren’t so insulted by her lack of faith in his skills, he might have been captivated by those sparkling blue orbs, but he wasn’t. He could do this. He’d prove himself to her, and win her trust and respect in the doing so.

  “Come on. Walter said the best time to do this is just as the sun sets,” he added and loaded their things into the boat. Kendra stayed silent and helped him but he didn’t miss her shaking her head at their actions.

  He’d show her. He would. He could do anything that he set his mind to.

  Chapter Six

  She was trying really hard not to laugh. She really was. But after a whole evening of trying not to she wasn’t going to be able to win the battle with herself this time.

  Kendra had sat through Nick’s attempts at rowing a boat, attaching a lure, casting his line, and general fishing, without giving in to her amusement over it all, but now she was about to laugh. Really laugh. The man was the worst outdoorsman she’d ever met.