Hope Falls: Can't Forget Her (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Molly McLain

  “I’m sure you’ve cleaned up worse.”

  Uh huh. Way worse. “So what’s the plan for Kyle’s renovation anyway? Will you be spending your vacation with a tool belt on?”

  “Not if I can help it.” He popped the last bit of bread into his mouth and eyed her uneaten half. “You gonna finish that?” She shook her head and he snatched it up. Just like old times.

  “So what was today about then? You said your friend wanted to help his uncle.”

  “To be honest, I’m not sure what Will has up his sleeve. I was just along for the ride.”

  “From what Kyle said, you had a lot to contribute. He was excited about your ideas.”

  He shrugged. “Just trying to make things easier for the little girl. Nothing Vaughn wouldn’t have thought of himself had he been feeling better.”

  An uneasiness stirred in her stomach. Did Kyle know about Vaughn’s poor health? He was investing a lot of money into the project and, while she felt bad for whatever Will’s uncle was going through, her first concern was Kyle.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Rose. It’ll work out just fine.” Ryan winked and reached for his beer. At the same time, the guy on the couch groaned. Loudly. Ryan held a finger to his lips.

  “Mmm, yeah, baby. Lower…”

  “Oh, my—” She slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The guy—Jason, Ryan had called him earlier—began to stir.

  “Shh!” Ryan laughed, too. “You really don’t want to wake him up now. Drunk and horny? Bad, bad idea.” To that, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward the back of the chalet. “Don’t mind the mess,” he whispered when they approached a closed door at the end of the hall. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

  Oh boy. He was taking her to his bedroom? She bit her lip as he guided her inside and flipped on the light.

  “Holy crap, that’s a big bed.” Messed up from the night before, but gigantic and full of comfy looking blankets. Out of nowhere, she yawned. What the heck?

  “I got here first, so I claimed the best set-up.” Ryan pointed to something across the room. “There’s a mini fridge on the side of the bed. Grab yourself another beer while I get the fireplace started.”

  “You trying to get me drunk, Ryan Croft?” she teased while she lifted a book from the corner of the dresser. Not surprisingly, it was a hardcover. Ryan had always been a reader. What did shock her, however, was that it was a business management text. Not his usual sci-fi preference. “You really live it up when you’re on vacation, don’t you?”

  “No, not drunk. Just trying to be hospitable. And it’s reading material for the plane. Don’t judge.

  “Most guys your age would prefer Sports Illustrated or Maxim.”

  “Yeah, well, most guys my age aren’t starting a Master’s degree either.”

  Hold up. “You’re going to school again? Where?”

  He shrugged, trying for casual, though the dim lighting couldn’t hide the pride in his eyes. “Just an online program. Something to get my feet wet while I figure out if it’s what I really want to do.”

  Interesting. She set the book down and watched him add wood to the fireplace. “That’s great, Ryan. I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks.” He gave a humble nod and she took a seat on the edge of the bed while he lit the kindling. Being alone with him felt more comfortable than she’d expected, though they hadn’t finished their conversation from earlier, so she was probably putting the cart before the horse.

  “I left because I didn’t want to hold you back,” she said quietly. Might as well say what needed to be said rather than dragging out the inevitable any further. “If I’d stayed, you’d have wanted to get married as soon as possible, to try again at getting a family started, and you wouldn’t have gone on to school. You would have put me before you and I couldn’t have lived with that. I loved you too much.”

  He stood, facing the fireplace, the muscles across his shoulders bunched tight. “That doesn’t make sense. If you loved me—”

  “I wanted better for you than River Bend. It’s a wonderful little town, but you always dreamed about doing something bigger.”

  “I dreamed about being with you, Rosie. Forever. The rest was just…wishful thinking. Nothing that really mattered.”

  “But it did matter, because one day, sooner or later, you would’ve become restless. Maybe even resentful. Toward me.” She sucked in a shaky breath. “I took the biggest risk of my life that summer. But don’t think I took the easy way out for myself. I did it for us.”

  ***

  The flames in the fireplace came to life and soft crackling filled the air. All the while, Ryan’s heart hammered in his chest.

  He heard Rose’s explanation and, to his surprise, it made sense. At eighteen, he wouldn’t have understood and he would’ve argued about her twisted logic until he was blue in the face. But he’d grown up a hell of a lot since then. He might not agree with what she did, but he had to respect it. There wasn’t any point in not respecting it. It wouldn’t change the outcome.

  “Believe it or not, I get it,” he finally said. “And looking back, you’re probably right. The chances of us being where we are in our lives right now had we stayed together are unlikely. But I wouldn’t have minded that other life with you Rosie.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll never know.”

  No, they wouldn’t. Too much had changed.

  Slowly, he turned away from the fire. Rosie stood back by the bed, watching him intently with golden flames reflecting in her dark eyes.

  “This is probably out of place, but you’re more beautiful than I remember.”

  She gave a soft laugh and glanced away, color tinging her cheeks. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or…”

  “It is.” He took a step forward, wondering if that long, glossy hair would feel as soft under as his fingers as it used to. “You were gorgeous back then, but you’re stunning now. I’m sure that sounds cliché and you probably hear it all the time from all those Oscar winning actors you hang out with, but it’s true.”

  Tipping her head to the side, she shot him a cute smirk. “A side effect of spending so much time with guys like that is I’ve long become immune to flattery.”

  “Not trying to flatter you, Rosie. Just calling it like I see it.” And to think they could’ve had a child together. With a mother like Rose, there was no way the little tike would have been anything less than adorable and smart as hell.

  The pressure in his chest slid south to his gut and he closed his eyes, giving his head a shake.

  “What is it?” Rose closed the distance between them, her cool fingers wrapping around his wrist. “You okay?”

  No. Yes. Just… He and Rosie had created life. For a short period of time, a second heartbeat had pulsed inside of her. His baby. And he hadn’t been there to hold her when nature decided to take that life away.

  “Come here,” he croaked, tugging her to his chest and folding his arms around her shoulders. Without thinking, he stuck his nose in her hair and pulled in a slow, deep breath, letting her familiar scent fill his lungs. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me the most. I should’ve been. Shit, it was my job. My responsibility and I didn’t even know.”

  “I didn’t want you to. Not at first— ”

  “No, baby.” He leaned back and pushed his hands into her hair, holding her face close, her sweet breath mingling with his. “I should have known. You were scared and hurting and I had no idea. That makes me a pretty shitty excuse for a boyfriend.”

  She shook her head, but emotion began to shine in her dark eyes. “We can’t dwell on the past, Ryan. Especially the parts we never had control over in the first place. All we can do now is accept what was and what is and move on.”

  Logically, he knew that, but it didn’t ease the regret eating him from the inside out. He was the kind of guy who took care of his business, not the kind that shirked it.

  “You’re right,” he admitted. “
We can’t go back, but we can choose what happens now.”

  She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. “Now?”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I don’t know about you, but I vote we make up for lost time.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Well, you’re up early.”

  Covering a yawn, Rosemary padded into the kitchen and went straight to the coffee pot, barely acknowledging Janine, who sat at the table with the morning paper. “Not that early,” she muttered, making goofy faces as she tried to stretch out her eyes and wake up.

  “Early considering you didn’t get in until after two o’clock.” Janine shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth and smiled.

  Ugh. People and their assumptions. “You stayed up and waited for me?”

  “More like I heard you break into that box you keep buried in your closet.” Her roommate’s grin stretched across her face and Rosemary pinched her eyes shut. So busted. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We all do it. Though I’d prefer not to know that you were probably thinking about my dorky cousin while you did the deed.”

  Ryan dorky? More like a yummy, sexier version of the guy he’d been in high school. Time and all those hours put in working construction had been good to him. When he’d held her last night and apologized, she’d had a hard time concentrating on anything but how rock solid he’d felt beneath his shirt. And those arms? Wow. It was probably a good thing he’d had a hoodie on, because if his biceps and forearms looked anything like they felt, she would have been a goner for sure.

  “Oh, my God. You were thinking about him.” Janine shuddered and Rosemary laughed as she poured her coffee.

  “You’re the one who insisted I see him last night.”

  “Yeah, to have coffee and so you could mend fences or whatever. Not so you could come home and…you know.”

  “That’s better than me sleeping with him, isn’t it?”

  Janine gasped and her face went all sorts of screwed up. “Oh, eew. Eew, eew, eew. I’m so over this conversation.”

  “Fine with me.” Rosemary lifted a shoulder and checked the clock. “I don’t have time to chat anyway. I’m meeting Ryan at the ski lodge soon.”

  “Ski lodge?”

  “You know…in Tahoe. Where he’s staying.”

  “You’re seeing him again?”

  “Yes, but not seeing as in going out with him. It’s more like we’re hanging out. Catching up and all that.”

  “Uh huh.” Janine narrowed her eyes. “You don’t break out the toy box, then hang out.”

  Maybe not, but so what? Ryan was an attractive guy and it had been awhile since she’d had a man in her life. Besides, it wasn’t like last night was the only time she’d fantasized about him in the last nine years.

  “Good Lord, you’re doing the lusty face thing again.” Jumping up from her seat, Janine shot a disgusted scowl down at Rosemary. “Just do me a favor and keep the shenanigans in Tahoe. I don’t think I could keep myself from the ledge if you brought him back here.”

  ***

  “Can’t believe you’re ditching us for the hot PR agent.” Will slugged Ryan in the shoulder as they waited in line for skis.

  “I can’t believe you scored a chick like that once,” Jason piped up. “Let alone twice.”

  Ryan backhanded his smart-mouthed buddy in the chest and pushed him out of line. The burly guy behind him with four kids in tow happily slid into his place and Jason flipped Ryan the bird before he shuffled to the back of the crowd.

  “Rose and I are just catching up,” Ryan explained to his remaining friends. “It’s been a while.”

  “So I recall. Your entire freshman year was lost to that girl.” Cory smiled.

  Will grunted. “That’s right. Never saw a guy pout so much in my life.”

  “I didn’t pout. I just wasn’t interested in all that college girl drama. Yet.” He grinned and his buddies chuckled.

  “What’s this about college girls?” A feminine voice sounded behind him, and Will’s eyes went wide. Cory snorted.

  “I really hate you guys,” Ryan muttered before he spun around and came face to face with the prettiest, pinkest snow bunny he’d ever seen. “Wow. You look amazing.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “It’s ski gear, Ry.”

  Yeah, well it wasn’t the ski gear he was talking about—it was Rose with hardly any make-up on. His dick approved too, though the nosey bastard really had no say in the matter. Today with Rose was honestly about getting to know each other again. He had no plans to take it further than that.

  “You must do this often, huh?” He ushered her into line in front of him, ignoring the grumble from the cranky dad in back.

  “Meet good looking guys in Tahoe? Heck, yes. Every chance I get.” She nudged him with an elbow and he reached up and flicked the ball on her hat.

  “Still a smartass, huh?”

  “It’s more fun this way.”

  “I bet, but I was talking about skiing. You must do a lot of it, considering you’ve got all the right clothes.”

  A shade of pink similar to what she had on tinged her cheeks. “I’ve loved to ski since I was fifteen years old. When you taught me.”

  Ah. He remembered that, too, though he hadn’t known the experience had made such an impression on her.

  “I hope you’re ready to eat snow today, Croft. I’ve gotten pretty good since we did this last.”

  He grinned down at her. “Maybe I have, too.”

  “Friendly wager?” She stuck out her hand.

  “What’d you have in mind?”

  “The one of us who wipes out the most has to buy dinner.”

  He slid his hand into hers. “Deal.”

  ***

  “When the hell did I get so old?” Ryan stretched his legs beneath the table, his knees and ankles throbbing. His back was on fire, too, but he refused to acknowledge it. Bad enough Rose had to watch him face-plant not once, but four times. While kids half his age sailed on by like Bode friggin’ Miller.

  “I’m not sure.” She rolled the last of her wine around in the bottom of the glass and smirked. “I don’t have any experience with that, so I can’t offer insight.”

  “Haha.” He dug out his wallet and slid a credit card into the check folder. “Today will catch up with you, I guarantee it. No one can ski that hard and not feel it eventually.”

  “I told you I’ve had practice.”

  “This year?”

  She twisted her lips. “Well, no…”

  “See? Your pain is coming and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy every time you grimace.”

  “You say that like you plan on seeing me again.” Rose shot him a curious glance as the waitress took the check and their empty plates.

  “I had a good time today.” He relaxed back in his chair, eyeing her carefully. No doubt she’d had fun, too, but that didn’t mean she’d want to spend more time with him. Only one way to find out. “Tomorrow’s Sunday. Are you off or does the movie star have you dusting all of his awards?”

  “First of all, if anyone’s going to dust Kyle’s awards, it’s Janine. Second, I am off, but I’ve started volunteering at the senior center on Sunday afternoons.” She slid her empty glass away and rested her chin in her palm. She’d let her hair down when they’d come back to the lodge and it fell in soft, chocolaty ribbons over her shoulders and creamy white sweater. “You should come along. It’s good soul food.”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “What are you saying? I need an intervention?”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Ha! We could all use that kind of intervention from time to time, Ryan. Hearing the stories they have to share is like a type of therapy all its own. I never leave in a bad mood. Ever.”

  “Hmm. Not sure it’s really my thing.” But if it meant seeing her again, he might make an exception. “Is that all you do? Listen to them talk?”

  “We play games, too. And eat candy we’re not supposed to have, but keep that on the down low.” She whispered the la
st words and he chuckled.

  “You sneak the candy in, don’t you?”

  “Who me?” She fanned a hand against her chest as the waitress returned with his card and receipt. “I would never.”

  He shook his head while he signed the slip and thanked the young woman. “Just like you’d never sneak into the boys’ locker room when a certain football player was in the shower.”

  Her eyes sprang open and her mouth formed into a cute little O. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “No? If I recall correctly, your cheerleading outfit got wet. Among other things.” He took the last drink of his iced tea as she reached across the table and swatted his arm.

  “You were just as guilty,” she hissed, though amusement lit her eyes. “And you still owe me a pair of spankies, mister. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that.”

  “Oh, come on, Rosie. You loved walking out of there knowing you had nothing on beneath your skirt just as much as I did.”

  Her cheeks flamed, but she didn’t look away. “I can’t believe we did that.”

  “I can. Hell, it’s one of my favorite memories of us.”

  “Of course it’d have to be sex.” She rolled her eyes and he shook his head.

  “It wasn’t the sex, babe—it was how fearless you were. You knew the risk and you took it anyway.”

  “I wanted you. Heck, I always wanted you. You were like an addiction.”

  He gave her smile. “Likewise.”

  She laughed softly, waving a hand in front of her face. “Wow, it’s hot in here. Either that or I’ve had too much wine. Which wasn’t smart on my part, since I have to drive home.”

  “I can drive you home, and the guys and I will figure out a way to get your car back to you in the morning.” He stood and held out a hand. “Or you can come back to the chalet and keep me company while I soak these old bones in the hot tub.”

  “Hot tub, huh?” She eyed his offering for a moment before taking it. Even then, she swayed on her feet. “Definitely too much wine.”

  “So what’s it gonna be, princess? Your place or mine?”

  On cue, her phone chimed. “How much you want to bet that’s Janine, checking in again?”