Learning to Live Again

by Taryn Plendl

  The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Austin ended up following the stock market on his phone and returning emails. As they pulled up into the parking lot of the condos, his phone rang. It was his boss, and knowing he couldn’t let it go to voicemail, Austin answered it. After several minutes of talking through an issue regarding a client, he finally followed through the doors where Nick and Chelsea had disappeared before him.

  Austin was momentarily stunned by his surroundings. The condo was spectacular. He glanced around, quickly taking it all in before he was rushed by a squealing Talia. “I am so glad you made it!” Austin squeezed her back, trying to catch his balance, laughing at her excitement.

  “It’s good to be here. Thank you for inviting me.” He laughed.

  “Well, to be honest, I didn’t think you would come.” She took a step back.

  “What? Why?” He frowned.

  “Well, you rarely leave the city anymore.” Austin knew she was talking about how much he worked.

  “Yeah, I know. I am excited to be away though,” he confirmed.

  “Ten days, Austin. How are you going to survive?” she joked.

  He held up his phone, causing her to roll her eyes. “We have food in the kitchen. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him farther into the open room. He looked behind him as Talia pulled him along. The view was gorgeous through the wall of windows, and seeing the ski slopes made him want to get out there. It had been a while since he’d been on skis. Hopefully he could still do it.

  Austin shook hands with the guys and gave Ava a hug before spotting the petite woman standing behind Trevor. Honestly, she momentarily stunned him. She was beautiful in such a natural sort of way. So different from the socialites he had on his arm for company events. Austin had always been a fan of long hair on women, but this woman wore her hair in a dark, short pixie cut, and it was downright sexy. Her skin was flawless with a bit of color on her cheeks and puffy pink lips that made him want to lean in for a taste. Whoa, where was this coming from?

  “Austin, do you remember Rachel?” Holy shit! This was Trevor’s little sister? Talia motioned at the same woman he had been blatantly ogling. Austin shook his head as he stepped forward. “No, I’m pretty sure I would have remembered her.” He smiled, holding out his hand. “Austin Montgomery.”

  Austin took her outstretched hand into his, loving the way her small hand fit inside his much larger one. Her smile was infectious. “Rachel Dawson. It’s nice to meet you, Austin.” Austin let go of her hand as Trevor walked up and placed his arm across Rachel’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything, but Austin got the distinct feeling that he knew he was checking his little sister out, and Austin could tell that Trevor was very protective of her. Austin smiled at him and nodded before turning around. He wasn’t going to challenge it. Trevor could easily kick his ass and he knew it.

  “So, as soon as you guys get settled, we can eat, and then we’ll go out and get a Christmas tree, but before we do that, Tom is going to take me to the little shop on the corner. I saw some jewelry through the window on the way in that I’m pretty sure was made just for me.” Talia stated and placed a kiss on Tom’s cheek before she turned back to the food.

  ***

  Austin spent the ten-minute ride to the tree lot pressed against Rachel in the third seat of the large SUV. If he thought she was beautiful before, it was nothing compared to how sweet she smelled—like cotton candy and vanilla. Her features were so petite, and even though she looked like she could afford to gain a few pounds, she was still breathtaking. Austin had the urge to take her small hand into his own. Just sitting next to her had him half aroused, which was so completely out of character for him.

  Austin’s phone vibrated nonstop during the ride, alerting him of what he was sure were very important emails that he knew he would have to answer when they finally got out of the vehicle. Austin cringed every time it went off, watching how Rachel frowned each time, glancing sideways at him. He knew his phone could be obnoxious, which is why he had set it to vibrate, but in such close quarters, it was nearly impossible to even hide the vibrating sound.

  Austin knew his coworkers were able to handle things while he was gone, but it wasn’t in his nature to step back completely. He was hands-on and involved in every aspect of his work. He knew there were things he was able to navigate, even from thousands of miles away. He just needed to excuse himself for a minute and take care of things. If nothing else, the incessant vibrating of his phone managed to quell any excitement below the belt for the time being.

  Chapter 3

  Rachel couldn’t wait to get out of the vehicle. She felt crowded and claustrophobic and was just about ready to fish that damn phone out of Austin’s pants pocket and toss it out the window! She was trying to enjoy the surroundings and listen to the conversation in the seats ahead of her, but all she could hear every few minutes was that ridiculous buzzing.

  When Austin had first come into the condo this morning, Rachel was quite taken with him. He had blond hair, much like Talia. His eyes were very blue with such long eyelashes they seemed to fan down on his cheeks every time he blinked. She was pretty sure she may have audibly gasped when he flashed her that panty-dropping smile of his, and that didn’t even compare to the rockin’ body he was sporting. Rachel wanted to get to know him a bit, maybe have a conversation, but it seemed like he was so engaged with his phone that he seemed completely unaware of what was going on around him. She was in Colorado for a reason—to let go of everything else and to find herself again. She felt like she’d lost a part of herself over the past year, and she was determined to take these ten days and learn to live again.

  ***

  The door swung wide open as the guys tried to pull the very full tree though the much smaller opening. Nick pulled from the front while Tom and Trevor pushed from the back. Rachel wasn’t sure if Austin was helping or not. He had gotten back on his phone the minute they pulled back into the condos. By the time he had finished with his phone calls at the tree lot, they had all but chosen their tree—without his help.

  “What is that frown for?” Chelsea sidled up to Rachel, nudging her with her shoulder.

  Rachel let out a sigh. “I’m just being judgmental and snarky.” She wasn’t proud of it. She realized she knew nothing about Austin, but that hadn’t stopped her from getting herself ruffled over his excessive attachment to his phone. It really wasn’t her business anyway.

  “Is it about a certain blond guy?” Chelsea inquired as they glanced back at the comical push and pull show going on in the entryway.

  “Is it just me, or has Austin basically been on his phone since the moment he got here?” Rachel asked quietly.

  “Actually, it was like that on the drive from the airport, too,” Chelsea admitted. “I think he has a hard time letting go of work. I’m not sure your brother and Ava would drop everything either if our company wasn’t closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s. They just didn’t have anything on their plate.” She smiled.

  “I know you’re right. I guess I’ve just had too much time lately and a renewed look on life. I just don’t want to miss anything, you know? I have to remember that not everyone feels the same.” Rachel smiled softly.

  “It’s okay, Rachel. Everyone knows where you’re coming from.” Chelsea squeezed her shoulder.

  Suddenly the tree gave, knocking Nick down, pinning him under it as Tom and Trevor continued to push the tree through the door, walking over Nick in the process.

  “Son of a bitch, dude!” Nick’s muffled shout came from under the tree.

  “Sorry.” Tom chuckled as he stepped over Nick, careful to not hit him in the head with the trunk. They laid the tree in the center of the floor as Trevor asked Ava where she thought the stand should go.

  Chelsea and Rachel stood over a prone Nick, trying to hide their smiles. “What are you doing on the floor, Nick?” Talia asked as she came out from her room with string of lights she had brought from home for their tree. �
�As usual, laying down on the job.” She winked at Chelsea and Rachel as she walked over to Ava.

  Chelsea helped Nick back to his feet, pulling some of the pine needles off his sweater in the process. “Really? I swear, the next person to use me as a frickin’ doormat is getting beaten like a piñata!” Chelsea giggled and kissed him on the cheek before Nick stomped over to where the guys were standing the tree up.

  “Nice of you to come help, Nick.” Trevor chuckled.

  “Fuck you, dude!” Nick pouted, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Trevor, followed by a headlock.

  “Guys, really. Can we focus for two minutes?” Tom asked, struggling to hold the tree on his own.

  Talia smacked Tom on the butt. “You’re doing great, babe. Way to hold everything together.”

  Rachel shook her head at the couples and continued to giggle as she headed to the kitchen for a bottle of water. The refrigerator was packed from the things the guys had brought back from the store. She was pretty sure not everything they bought had been on the list, as she pulled a package of Swedish Fish out of the crisper.

  Rachel closed the door and turned, bumping right into the hardest chest she’d ever felt. “Oh! Sorry,” she gasped as Austin placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. He smelled incredible, making her head light, or it could have just been the fact that she was still pressed tightly against his chest.

  Austin released her at the same time she stepped back. Rachel unscrewed the cap from her bottle of water, tipping it back and swallowing several gulps before allowing herself to look back at him.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.” He smiled at Rachel as he slid by her, reaching into the refrigerator for his own bottle of water. Rachel watched as he took a drink, mesmerized at the way his throat moved as he swallowed. She had never thought that motion to be sexy before, but hell, Austin made it look like visual foreplay.

  “So, what do you do, Rachel?” Austin leaned back against the counter watching her like an animal stalking its prey. It made her shudder before she shook her head, trying to get herself together.

  “Um, I’m kind of on sabbatical.” Rachel bit her lip, nervously. She really didn’t want to get into this right now.

  “Aren’t you a bit young for sabbatical?” Austin raised his eyebrows as her studied her.

  Rachel laughed. “You have no idea.” She changed the subject. “How about you? What do you do?”

  “I work in finance in Manhattan.” Right on cue, his phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to check the incoming message.

  “Austin, can I ask you something?” Rachel tilted her head, waiting for him to tear his eyes away from his phone.

  “Sure.” He finally looked back up.

  “Why are you here?” Rachel asked. She knew her question hadn’t come out like she planned, but she didn’t know how else to approach this. There was a good chance he would be offended and not want to speak to her for the next ten days, but she continued anyway.

  Austin frowned. “I was invited.” He was obviously confused by her question.

  “I know that, but why did you come?” She approached the question from another angle. Rachel wasn’t asking Austin to engage in conflict, she just really wanted to know if he even realized how distracted he was.

  “For a vacation. I guess I just wanted to get away from it all, and this seemed like a good way,” he explained, flashing that dazzling grin again, causing Rachel to almost lose her train of thought.

  “Is that really what you’re doing? Getting away from it all?” She arched her eyebrow before glancing down at the buzzing phone in his hand. Rachel squeezed his arm and smiled as she moved around him and headed back to the Christmas tree experiment currently taking place in the great room.

  “What are we doing for decorations?” Ava asked. Everyone stopped and looked at each other. Apparently they had forgotten decorations.

  “I have the perfect idea!” Chelsea exclaimed.

  Chapter 4

  “I can’t believe we ordered a pizza when we have all of that food you guys brought back from the store.” Chelsea sighed as she leaned back into her chair. Austin just stared at her, mouth open.

  Nick grinned. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”

  “Holy shit, dude. She ate more than any of the guys!” Austin shook his head.

  Nick watched Chelsea with such pride. “She’s a runner. She eats a lot. Usually it’s not pizza, but she has been known to pack away a double cheeseburger every so often between her healthy eating,” Nick explained.

  Austin laughed before standing to help Ava clear the table so they could all resume making the tree decorations. The room had resembled elementary art class at first, but after they had all gotten going, it turned out to be a riot, especially with Trevor’s attempt at paper dolls connected by hands with Ava’s instructions. In the end there were only two that survived his flying scissors, and Nick named them both Tom because each of them was missing a leg. Nick decided they needed a paper representative for each of them on the tree, so he set out in making them.

  Austin was stringing popcorn and cranberries with a needle and thread, sticking himself at about every other kernel. Rachel, who was seated right across from him, working intently on adding glitter to pine cones, distracted him. Austin couldn’t get her remarks about getting away from it all earlier in the kitchen.

  He knew she was right. He could easily leave the work in the capable hands of his co-workers, but it was almost an obsession. He had thrown himself into his work for so long, he wasn’t really sure how to let it go.

  Rachel looked up from her pine cones and locked eyes with Austin. He grinned at her, and she smiled back. There was something about her smile that sent a wave of warmth through him. She was beautiful.

  “Hey, look Rachel! I gave you long hair!” Nick grinned as he held up one of his paper people creations. He looked like a small boy waiting for approval.

  “I love it, Nick.” Rachel grinned, but Austin noticed a bit of sadness in her eyes. “It’s perfect.”

  “Have you always worn your hair short?” Austin asked as he reached for another pile of popcorn. He wasn’t sure what he had said wrong, but all activity seemed to come to a screeching halt as everyone looked between Rachel and Austin.

  “Um, no. It’s a relatively new thing for me,” Rachel responded without making eye contact with him or anyone else in the room.

  “I think you look beautiful. Do you not like it?” Austin watched as Rachel set her pinecones down and shook her head.

  “Thank you. It’s not that. It just wasn’t really my choice.” Austin watched as Rachel tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Excuse me, I’m going to get another drink. Can I get anyone anything?” She stood and turned to everyone. Austin watched as Rachel retreated into the kitchen.

  “I’ll come with you.” Ava stood and followed Rachel.

  “Nice job, dumbass,” Tom mumbled and shoved Nick’s shoulder.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Austin asked, looking directly at Trevor. Maybe Rachel had a bad haircut, and he was drudging up some unpleasant memories or something. He was at a loss.

  “No, its fine, Austin. She just really liked her hair long,” Trevor explained, but didn’t shed any light on anything.

  “She really did have the most beautiful long hair, didn’t she?” Talia smiled at the memory. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Austin once again felt like he was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

  ***

  Austin woke with a bit of a headache. He had put back one too many beers last night after Rachel never came back to the table to fix the decorations she had been working on. Nobody would comment further on why his question had made her sad, and it was beginning to piss him off. He didn’t enjoy being on the outskirts of things, and he had a feeling he was missing a crucial bit of information. Of course Ava had just said Rachel was tired, but Austin knew it was more than that, and he decided he was going to find out one way or a
nother.

  After taking a long, hot shower and some aspirin, Austin began to feel slightly human again. With a cup of coffee he would feel brand new.

  The house was still relatively quiet, but he could smell coffee as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. Someone was up, or they had set the timer on the coffee pot. Whatever it was, he was eternally grateful as he poured his own cup of steaming heaven.

  Turning around, Austin saw that the sliding glass door was cracked a bit. As he approached it, he saw a thick red ponytail over the back of one of the lounge chairs.

  “Good morning,” Austin greeted Chelsea. She must have been out running as her cheeks were still slightly flushed, and she was in workout clothes. “Did you go for a run?”

  “Yes, I can’t wait to go shopping later. The village looks really cool. There are cute little shops everywhere.” She took a sip of her coffee as they continued to look at the mountains. “Who did you choose to buy presents for?” Last night, after they finished decorating the tree, each chose a name out of a bowl to purchase gifts for. Trevor took the last name and set it aside for Rachel since she had gone to bed early. They each had a $50 limit and had to shop locally. It wasn’t necessarily imperative that they kept their picks secret, it was just intended to make it random, and that it was. Austin had chosen Nick, and honestly he was pretty happy with that. Nick would be easy to shop for. Just get something that he could play with or talk about, and he should be happy as a clam. Basically anything that would bring attention to him.

  “Funny you should ask.” Austin took a drink of his coffee. “I actually chose your husband.” He grinned.

  “Well, that should be interesting for you.” Chelsea giggled. She apparently knew the fun Austin could have shopping for Nick. “Do you want any hints, or are you going to wing it?” she asked.

  Austin shook his head. “No, I think I will just walk around and wait for inspiration.” He laughed. “Who did you choose?”