by Kay Correll
“Cece, can I get you anything?”
“I—no—yes.” She scrubbed her hands over her face and squared her shoulders. “Yes, let’s take a glass of wine and go sit on the swing and watch the sunset. I’m tired of… well, I just want to relax.”
She carried a quilt held against her while he carted the two glasses of wine outside to the swing. He sat beside her and she dropped the quilt onto their laps. He handed her a glass, and she took a small sip, savoring the flavor. “Ah, that’s what I needed. A good red wine. My dad’s swing. A pretty sunset.”
He settled an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She leaned against him and a small sigh escaped her lips. They sat in silence with the gentle motion of the swing calming her. Calming him. He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him and smiled.
Still, they sat in silence.
The sky erupted in oranges and yellows and a streak of purple arched above the mountains. “That is so beautiful. This view here on the lake never ceases to soothe my soul.”
“It is very peaceful here,” he agreed.
She looked up at him again. “Thanks for staying. For being here.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.” And there wasn’t. He wanted to be right here by her side. And even with the Eric incident today, they seemed to have found their way back to an even footing, and he was very grateful for that.
One lone star blinked in the deepening sky. “First star. Make a wish.” Cece pointed to the heavens.
“I really don’t wish for anything right now. You wish.” At this very moment, he had all he could have hoped for and he was perfectly content.
She closed her eyes and a serious expression crossed her face. She opened her eyes and smiled. “There. I made a wish.”
“What did you wish?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”
“Well, we can’t have that happen, can we?” He took her hand in one of his and balanced his wine glass against his knee with the other. They continued to swing gently as the evening swathed them with its calm darkening skies.
A handful of stars began twinkling above them, then more and more as the sky turned an inky dark blue.
“I should probably go in now and let you get home.” Cece turned to him.
“I said I’d stay as long as you wanted.”
“I’m okay now. I am.” Her voice sounded more like she was trying to convince herself then convince him.
“I think we should just sit here a bit longer.” So they did. He took her empty glass and set it and his gently in the grass beside them. He turned back to her and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her face up to his. He looked questioningly at her and she nodded slightly. He lowered his lips on hers, finally, finally getting the chance to kiss her again. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he’d kissed her like this. A mistake he didn’t plan on making again.
He finally pulled away, and she looked up at him, a bemused expression on her face. “I’ve missed those kisses.”
He gave a low laugh. “Me too, woman. Me, too.” So he kissed her again in the magical starlight.
Chapter 18
The next day Zach went to look for Cece at the lodge. Tomorrow was supposed to be gorgeous weather, and he hoped to play a little hooky and convince her to do the same.
She looked up from her desk as he stood in the doorway. A smile spread across her face and warmed him and made him very happy they were in this better place now. Back in sync.
“Hi.” Her eyes sparkled with pleasure.
He stepped into the room. “So, I was thinking. Tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgeous day. I thought I’d try to convince you to play hooky with me. Take the afternoon off.”
“What did you have in mind?” She stood and walked around her desk and right up to him. Close. Inches away.
What had he been saying? He had no clue.
He leaned down and kissed her, one hand circling the back of her neck to pull her closer. He lost all thought of his grand idea. She finally pulled away and smiled at him. “So the plan? What do you have to entice me away?”
“What?’ Oh, his hooky plans. “I thought we could go on a hike.” He rushed to explain when he saw her eyes start to cloud over and she took a step back. “Not a hard one with steep drop-offs, just an easy one, up over the ridge by Grace’s Peak and down to Lost Lake. It’s an easy trail. No heights, no drop-offs.” He knew that area well and had specifically chosen that trail because of how easy it was, but it was also very beautiful.
“I—I can’t.” She stepped back behind her desk. “I’m really too busy. I need to help Bree, and I still have things to finish up with the chalet.”
“You could take a half day. I’m sure Bree wouldn’t mind.”
“I can’t.” Her words were sharp, and he looked at her in surprise.
“Okay, I understand.” But he didn’t. Not really. She’d been pretty okay with the idea of taking time off until he’d asked her to go on a hike.
“I better get back to work.” She settled onto her desk chair.
“Okay, yes, I should get back to work, too. I’ll see you later.”
She nodded, and he left the office, feeling adrift and once again not sure of his footing with the woman. How did this keep happening?
He headed down the pathway to the job site, his mind racing, turning over possibilities of what he’d done wrong. Just last night… everything had seemed perfect between them. He’d kissed her in the moonlight. Kissed her a lot. Everything had seemed better between them.
But now? He paused and stooped to pick up a smooth stone from the water’s edge. He tossed it into the lake and watched the ripples spread across the water. Ripples. Every action, every decision, had ripples. He raked his fingers through his hair, exasperated. He didn’t know what decision had caused this ripple.
“If you were trying to skip that rock, you failed.” Jason walked up to him, picked up a small stone, and skipped it across the water. “What’s up? You have on what my mom calls a thinking face.”
He let out a long stream of breath. “I don’t know. Women. I’ll never figure them out.”
Jason laughed. “Truer words were never spoken. I take it this is about Cece? She doing okay after the run-in with Eric?”
“I think so… or thought so. I went to go ask her to join me in playing a little hooky tomorrow afternoon.”
“Good choice. Supposed to be a perfect day weather-wise.”
“So she seemed to agree with the idea until I suggested we go on a hike. Not a hard one. I know she’s afraid of heights. But then she said she couldn’t go.”
“Of course she won’t. She hasn’t hiked in over twenty years.” Jason looked down and kicked the dirt with the toe of his boot. “Uh… she’s not afraid of heights. She’s afraid of hiking. Hiking trails.”
“Yes, she is. I saw it firsthand when we hiked out from my place after the rockslide blocked the road.”
Jason bit his lip. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“If you’d clue me in, I’d sure appreciate it.”
“It’s really Cece’s story to tell.” A pensive look crossed Jason’s face.
“Well, she’s sure not telling it to me. Please, tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ll tell you the gist of it, but then ask Cece, okay?”
He nodded.
“You met Pete, her son?”
“Yep.”
“His father, Peter, was killed in a hiking accident. He died by slipping off a trail, and it wasn’t a hard trail either. Just an unlucky misstep.”
“Really?” He frowned.
“Cece was with him. Saw him trip and fall over the edge. She scrambled down the ravine to him somehow—I’ll never figure out how she did that—and she was sitting with him when he died.” Jason looked out at the lake. “Peter was my best friend. I miss him. He never even got to meet his son.”
“I’m so sorry.” No wonder she’d been so frighten
ed on the way down from his cabin. “But, why wouldn’t she tell me this?”
Jason shrugged. “The rest of it is hers to tell or explain.”
Zach held out a hand. “I appreciate you telling me about this. I don’t want to push her to do anything she’s not comfortable with.”
Jason shook his hand. “No problem. I just thought you should know after you said she’d turned you down. I sure wish she’d at least try some easy trails. We used to all go hiking when we were younger. Had so much fun. Bree and I still do. But Cece refuses to join us, even on easy hikes.”
Too bad he hadn’t thought of a much better idea for tomorrow afternoon. Like a picnic by the lake—no trails involved. He had to pick the one thing that she was never going to do…
“I’d better go. Mom’s got a long to-do list for me. We’re still scrambling to make sure everything is ready for Madeline’s wedding.”
The wedding. He really should get his mind back into the job. “I’d better go, too.” They headed out in different directions, but Zach still had a hard time concentrating on anything but Cece.
Cece looked up to see Zach standing in the door to the office yet again. It better not be another invitation to go hiking…
“Cece, can we talk?”
She wanted to say she was too busy—and she was—but avoiding things wouldn’t solve anything. She stood, pushing the chair back. “Okay.”
“Let’s go take a walk by the lake, what do you say?” His eyes questioned her.
“Sure.” It appeared all she could think of was one-word answers.
She followed him out of the lodge, and they walked along the shoreline until they got to a big boulder jutting out on the edge of the lake. He sat on it and she dropped down next to him.
“So, I thought we had no more secrets, no more surprises.” His voice wasn’t really accusing, just, questioning.
“What do you mean?”
“I asked you to go on a hike and suddenly you didn’t have time to spend with me tomorrow.”
“I said I was busy…” But her excuse sounded fake, even to her ears.
“Listen, Jason told me about Peter.”
Her breath caught and heart began to pound. He didn’t. He couldn’t have. It wasn’t his to tell. She looked at Zach, searching his face, looking for the inevitable sign. It was coming. He was going to break up with her because he’d found out about Peter. He’d never trust her now that he’d found out. And who could blame him?
“He told me about Peter’s accident. How you were with him when he died.” Jason took her hand. “I’m so very sorry. Such a tragedy that he never even got to meet his son. You must have been heartbroken.”
“I—”
“I wish you would have told me. No wonder you were so freaked out on that ledge when we had to hike out from my cabin. I’m so sorry.” He squeezed her hand. “But we don’t need secrets. You don’t have to hide your fear from me.”
She closed her eyes, willing her heart to settle.
No more secrets. No more surprises. She sucked in a long breath and looked him directly in the eyes, getting lost for a moment in the warm depths of his sparkling blue eyes. Eyes filled with understanding.
Only he didn’t understand.
Not all of it.
“Zach, there’s more to the story.”
“So tell me the rest.” Those understanding eyes encouraged her.
She drank in the warmth and acceptance of those eyes for one last time. Because he was never going to look at her the same after she explained it all to him.
“It was a terrible time. I’d just found out I was pregnant, and I told him about the baby while we were hiking. He was so surprised. And then he slipped…” She struggled to find enough strength to go on. “I was with him when he died. The park rangers finally found us and got us out. But he was… he was already… gone.”
“I’m so sorry. It must have been so frightening for you.”
She held up a finger. “That’s not all.”
“Okay.” He searched her face.
“Peter… Peter was Bree’s boyfriend.”
“I don’t understand.” A frown settled on his face.
“I slept with Peter while he was dating Bree. It was a mistake, both Peter and I knew that right away. But, clearly not soon enough.”
“You slept with your sister’s boyfriend?” She didn’t miss the disbelief in his tone.
“I did. And I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. Except, I don’t regret having Pete. Not at all. It was the one good thing that came out of it.”
“But you and Bree seem so close.”
“That just happened recently. We barely spoke for over twenty years. She avoided anything having to do with our family. It tore our family apart. Though that’s all on me, not her. I can’t blame her. But this last year we worked things out. She’s forgiven me.”
“For cheating with her boyfriend?” Skepticism flooded his eyes.
“She has. I don’t know how she has, but we’ve worked past it. Our boys are good friends now. And… well… we have our family again. I just wish we could have worked it out before my parents died. My mom would have been so happy.”
He sat in silence, but he’d dropped her hands. Her cold, empty hands.
“I know you have a thing about people cheating. I know what Felicity and your partner did. How much that impacted your life. I just… I’m sorry. I can’t change my past, though. But I’m not the same person. I was really young. And stupid. And, well, I don’t really have an excuse.”
His phone rang, breaking the silence, and he took one long look at her before snatching his cell from his pocket. “Hello.” He turned to look at the lake while he listened. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” He pushed off the boulder and stood, brushing off his jeans. “I’ve got to go. Problem at the job site.”
“Zach, wait…” She reached out for his hand, but he shoved it in his pocket.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go and… I need some time.” He turned around and headed toward the chalet.
She sat on the cold stone, staring out at the lake. She wouldn’t allow herself to cry. Not now. Not this time. It was all her own doing. She’d made that mistake all those years ago with Peter, and it haunted her life to this very day.
Chapter 19
Bree was doing dishes at the cabin when Cece got home. “Hey, I thought you might be going out with Zach tonight.”
“That’s not going to happen.” She leaned against the counter.
Bree turned off the water and dried her hands on a towel. “What do you mean?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re broken up for good this time.”
Her brows shot up in surprise. “But I thought—”
“Right. Me, too. But that was before I told him about Peter.”
“You told him… everything?”
“Everything. And he just… walked away. But who could blame him? He hates cheaters. He’s always been clear on that.” Her shoulders slumped and despair swept through her.
Bree walked over and leaned against the counter beside her. “Maybe he just needs a little time. He cares about you. It’s obvious.”
“Maybe. But cheating is the one thing he can’t forgive. I can’t blame him. I’ve ruined it. But it’s my fault. I deserve this for what I did.” She stared down, noticed the bruise on her wrist, and tugged on her sleeve to cover it.
“You don’t deserve this and you’re not that same young girl.”
“I’m not. But… I did cheat and I can’t change that. And I’m pretty sure that’s the one thing he can’t forgive. He’ll never trust me now.” She’d made so many mistakes.
“Then he’s a fool.” Bree hugged her close.
“I’m at least glad things are good between you and me now,” Cece whispered as she leaned against her, taking in her older sister’s comfort and strength.
“Things are good between us and I’m very grateful for that,” Bree agreed.
Cece didn’t have t
he energy to move, so she didn’t. Not even after Bree went over to finish the dishes, then headed to her room. She didn’t like the hopeless feeling that settled around her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t chase it away. She felt like she’d been so, so close to getting what she wanted, and it had all been snatched away. And it was her own fault.
But at least she’d told him the truth. No secrets.
Zach tried to concentrate on the job at hand. Check the invoices and make sure they matched up to what they’d actually received at the job site. No matter how many times he ran the numbers, they didn’t match. Not from one vendor. So it definitely was his error, not a true problem with the orders.
He did know where the real problem was. It was the fact that he’d fallen for a woman he didn’t know if he could trust. Something he’d sworn he’d never do again. Granted, she’d been much younger when she’d had the affair with Peter… but it instilled this doubt in his mind. A doubt that dug at him and prodded him to back off.
His life was probably too busy for a girlfriend anyway. That one lonely thought didn’t do much to comfort him. He sighed and took another stack of invoices, determined to match them up with the proper orders.
“If you aren’t the biggest fool in Sweet River Falls.”
Zach looked up from his desk to see Jason planted directly in front of him. “What?”
“I talked to Bree. I heard that Cece told you the whole story about Peter.”
He scowled. Why did everyone need to know about his relationship with Cece? “She did.”
“And you just walked away? Didn’t talk things out?”
“I got called back here. I’ve got a job to do. My first priority.”
“Your first priority should never be work over people you care about.” Jason challenged him.
“But—”
“No, hear me out. Women like the Stuart women don’t come along every day. Smart, funny, talented, hard workers. Not to mention they are both beautiful. And you, my friend, are a fool.”
“So you’ve said,” he said wryly.
