Next August (3 page)

She takes a small white bottle from the cabinet.” Do you have any drug allergies?”

“No.”

“You’ll need to take these as directed for one week, and then come back here in ten days to remove your stitches.” She hands them to me.

“Will you be here?”

“Anyone can help you if I’m not here.”

I guess this is where a normal person would ask her for her phone number, but I can’t do that until I know more about her.” Thank you for your help, Nashville.” Her name just rolls off my tongue. I like the way it feels. I’d like to know how she feels underneath those scrubs.

“My pleasure. No mountain climbing until that is completely healed. Tell Sam I said hello.” She smiles sweetly.

☀

As soon as I get into my Jag, I call the head of my security detail. I should feel bad about calling him after midnight, but I pay him a lot of fucking money. He can just deal with it.

He sounds tired when he answers the phone.” Mr. Rylan.”

“Good evening, Wayne. I need you to do a complete background check on Nashville….” It dawns on me that I don’t know her last name. There can’t be that many people with that name.

“Do you have the last name for me, sir?”

“No, but I know she is from Nashville Tennessee and she is a nurse working out of Moab General. That should be enough for you to go on. I want the information on my computer by tomorrow morning.”

“Will do, sir.”

CHAPTER THREE

Nashville

The apartment light is still on. I walk in, and Anna is laying on our beat up old denim couch watching a movie.

“You’re up late.” I put down my purse and join her on the end of the couch.

“I was waiting up for you. Like you do for me when I work a crazy shift.” She sits up.

She works odd shifts to make extra money to buy all the clothes and shoes that she craves. I work extra shifts to help my parents try to save their farm back in Tennessee. Daddy isn’t able to do it all alone anymore, so he had to hire some help and the weather the last couple years has wrecked havoc on the farming business. Momma says they’re barely staying afloat, and they’re in jeopardy of losing the farm that has been in our family for a hundred years.

I had a blissful childhood. There is just such a freedom about growing up on a farmland, growing your own food, riding horses, herding cattle and collecting eggs from the chickens. Most all of that is gone now. There are only a few cows and chickens left.

“How was your shift?” Anna asks.

“It was a little weird.” I scrunch my nose at her and get more comfortable on the couch, drawing my legs underneath me.

“Why, what happened?”

“Remember the two guys we met on our climb today?”

“Yea, the cute young guy with the braces and his totally rocking hot friend.” She beams at me.

“Since the totally rocking hot friend injured his hand on the climb down, I told him to come see me in the ER. He showed up at the front desk asking for me.”

“So what was so weird? You told him to come and see you.”

“Most of the time he just kept staring at me. For some reason, I got the feeling he was terrified to be there, but he came anyway.”

She laughs.” Have you looked in the mirror lately? I’m sure he was there to see you.”

“I thought so at first, but he never asked me for my phone number. He comes across as a city boy and rich, so not my type.”

“Last time I checked, you haven’t had a type since your first year of college and that didn’t work out so well.” She pats my hand.

“Yes, but this guy is dark and mysterious. I feel like he’s hiding something.”

“Dark and mysterious…. tall, dark and handsome, rich... these don’t sound like bad things to me Nash. Oh…. I have an idea…let’s google him.” She hops off the couch and walks over to the computer desk.

“Did you get his last name?”

“This is crazy. I’m sure you’re not going to find anything.” I join her anyway.

She types August. . . “What’s his last name?”

“Rylan.” I wait as she enters his name into google.

“Oh my god Nash. He is mega rich. He is the owner of Rylan Designs in Seattle. Look at the size of his building.”

I grab a chair from our two seater kitchen table. I read the specs and his building is fifteen stories tall and houses several corporations. His office is on the top floor.

“Enough about the building. Let’s check out his profile.” She sounds excited. “He is twenty-eight years old, single, took over his father’s dying business at twenty-one. Turned it into a thriving empire.”

“So, he doesn’t even live here?” Now I’m curious.

“That’s what you took away from that?”

“Single.”

“Single.” She states again and points to his profile picture.” He is gorgeous. That black hair and aviator sunglasses.”

I notice that he’s wearing dark glasses in every picture I see of him. More importantly, I see a beautiful woman on his arm in every picture. A different woman in each picture.

“His right eye has a birth defect. That must be why he wears glasses in all his pictures,” I say.

“Who gives a shit? He is still totally hot.” She keeps flipping through pictures of him.

“Is there anything personal about him?”

She scrolls through a couple of pages.” That is strange, it’s like he was nonexistent until the age of twenty-one. Except for this.” She points to a picture that someone snapped of August standing in front of a headstone holding white canailles. The name on it is Sara Rylan.

I’m curious. “Who do you think that is, a wife, a girlfriend…maybe that’s why he’s single?”

Anna quickly opens another page and types in Sara Rylan.

“It was his mother.” She whispers.

I feel sad for him. I can’t imagine my life without my mother in it.” Does it mention his father?”

Her fingers quickly continue her search.” Huh…. it appears he’s dead too. The only thing I found on him is that August took over his business, but it doesn’t mention him anywhere else.”

“I get the feeling that he’s a loner.”

“Well for someone that is a loner, I’m sure he has lots of people wanting to be his friend. With his financial status and the fact that he’s an eligible bachelor. I’d sure be cozying up to him. His money could fix all my problems.” She laughs.

“Anna!That’s terrible.” I pinch her arm.

“Owe!I love you, but that’s the difference between you and me. I would marry for money. You keep hanging on to marry for love.”

“I could never marry someone for his money. I need his heart and soul.”

“This’s why you will be single for a really long time. You may even die an old maid.” She laughs again.

I hope she’s wrong. I want a happy marriage, like my parents. They still hold hands when they walk together. Mom has always said that dad makes her laugh and they have fun together.”
Honesty always first,
” she says. He still gives her butterflies when he smiles at her. That’s what I want. I don’t care if I’m poor. I have never had money, and I’ve always been happy. Even though money right now would make life easier for my mom and dad. I’m happy just to have a new pair of cowboy boots once a year.

“Maybe I should go after him,” Anna says.

“You will do no such thing.” I glare at her.

“I think someone likes him.”

“No, I just don’t want to see you get your claws into him for his money. He’s sweet in a strange sort of way. Besides, I probably will never see him again, and we are polar opposites. Like you said, I’m sure he has woman like you falling all over him. What in the world would he want with a country girl like me? I would never make it in the city.”

“Well, you have to admit he is dreamy.” She kisses the computer screen.

“You’re awful.” I laugh at her. I know at heart she is just teasing me. We met our first day of college, and we have been best friends ever since. She comes from a family with money, but they have her on a tight budget to learn the value of it. She’s just enrolled to get her masters in nursing. I, on the other hand, am struggling to keep things afloat between my school loans, rent, and helping my parents. There’s no room for me to afford to pursue my masters right now. Thankfully, I have an older Mustang that I don’t have any payments on, other than an occasional repair. I think only hard work and dedication are in my future.

I lean closer to the computer screen.” He
is
very dreamy.”

CHAPTER FOUR

August

Like it does most nights, sleep evades me. I check on my dad and head downstairs. The smell of coffee is a powerful draw for me. Stella has evidently already been here. She has fresh fruit laid out beside a pot of coffee and a mug.

I take it into my office. I’m anxious to get the report from Wayne. My hand is throbbing as I grab the mouse.

Good man, I knew he would have it for me. I click on the file and there is a picture of her beautiful face.

Nashville Jacoby.

Nurse.

Age 26

George and Nancy Jacoby. Parents. Married 40 years.

No Siblings.

Grew up on a farm outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Bank Account number.

Balance $1,045. 00

Savings $200. 00

Address

Cell phone number

Social Security Number

Drivers License number

RN license number

For a nurse, she should have more money. I keep scrolling down.

Student loans $35,000

Breakdown of how she spends her money.

Transfer of funds every month to parents account $2000. 00

Rent $800. 00

No car payment and no credit cards.

Drives a 2008 Ford Mustang.

I pull up the financial reports on her parents. They are behind on all their payments. Their house is not far from foreclosure. It’s obviously the reason she sends them money every month.

I keep reading, but nothing else pops out. No arrest records, college GPA, a picture of what appears to be a boyfriend in college. Hopefully, one that’s out of the picture. She rides horses, or at least she used to ride. She and Anna appear to be pretty close. There are tons of pictures of them together. The only hobby I see is mountain climbing.

Nothing unusual at all. I think I have the perfect job to offer her. My phone rings. “Hello, Wayne.”

“Did you get my email, sir?”

“Yea, I did. Thanks for getting it to me so quickly.”

“I figured if you called me after midnight it must have been important.”

“If you dig up anything else let me know.” I hang up and stuff the phone in my pocket. I hear the back door open and the sound of Stella opening cabinets. She looks up when I enter the kitchen.

“Good morning. Wait, why aren’t you out for your run? You run every morning.” She puts away groceries as she talks.

“I’m going,” I say. “I had something pressing I needed to do this morning.”

She shoos her hand at me for trying to help her put away the groceries.” This is what you pay me to do, Mr. Rylan. Now go away.”

“Are you ever going to call me August?” I give her a charming smile.

“I will call you August when I know longer work for you, so unless you plan on firing me, you are Mr. Rylan.”

“You’re fired then.”

She turns around and gapes at me.

I put my hand on her shoulder.” I would never fire you. My house would fall down without you. And I don’t know how to cook.”

“Oh, Mr. Rylan, if I didn’t work for you I would take you over my knee and spank you for giving me a heart attack.” Her Italian accent comes out when she’s flustered. It’s heavy right now. I laugh out loud and kiss her on the cheek.

☀

I stretched, put on my wireless earphones, cranked up
One Republic
, and
start my run along the mountain trails. Southern Utah is beautiful. My mind drifts to how I ended up here. It’s the one reason I can thank my dad for fucking up so badly. There were so many lawsuits after the car accident, the one that killed my mother and left Sam paralyzed. Dad faced vehicular manslaughter charges because of my mother’s death. His name was all over the news. That started the downfall of his company, and our lives. Somehow he avoided any jail time. I’m sure his high paid attorney’s got him off. Claire sued him for medical bills for Sam, but somehow the bastard claimed restructuring of his company and filed chapter thirteen. He hid all his money from the courts and didn’t have to pay Claire a dime.

I didn’t find any of this out until I was in college. On one of my breaks I went to see the old man, and I heard him bragging to one of his friends about it. I was fucking furious with him. When I confronted him about it, he insisted I’d heard him incorrectly, so I did my own digging. The company was broke, but he had taken all the money out of it and put it in offshore accounts. I was an amateur hacker, so I could link the accounts back to him.

When I confronted him again, he kicked me out of the house. He went on another drinking spree that night and got in another car accident. Even though he was drunk, the other driver was actually at fault. The driver was killed instantly and the family came after Dad in full force. His lawyers protected him again, but his name was once again front page news. My mother’s name also smeared all over the paper again.

“Millionaire Tom Rylan owner of Premier Designs in Seattle Washington killed his wife Sara and walked away a free man. Now he’s killed again.”

I couldn’t handle going through my mother’s death again. So I devised a plan and quit college. I met him at his house late one night and told him I now had access to his offshore accounts, and I was giving the money to Claire and Sam. That very night, my father had a massive stroke. He hasn’t spoken since. I made his mess go away and moved out from under the watchful eye of the city of Seattle. I changed the name of the company and restructured it. Logistically, I needed it to stay in Seattle, but I didn’t need to live there to make it work.

I stop for a water break and enjoy my surroundings. As far as the eye can see the red rock of the canyon stands out against the backdrop of the endless blue sky. There’s a freedom being outside here, in this place, that I never feel anywhere else.

I sit down on a rock and pull out my cell phone. I programmed her number the minute I saw it on the computer.

☀

“Hello,” she says.

“Nashville, this is August.”

“How did you get this number?”

“I’m a man of many means.” I don’t give her time to respond.” I have a job offer for you.”

“I already have a job I love.”

“I think you will at least want to consider it. The pay is outstanding.”

“This is just a little weird, don’t you think?”

“Meet me for dinner and we can discuss it.”

“I don’t think so….”

I interrupt her.” Let me start over. Will you please let me take you to dinner tonight to discuss a serious job opportunity?” I’m not accustomed to people turning me down.

“You mean like a date?”

She is so frustrating.” No, not a date. I don’t date my employees.”

“You want me to work for you? I’m a nurse, not a car designer.”

I never told her what I do for a living. She must have googled my name. Good thing people only see what I want them to see.

I try for very sweet.” I promise you. It’s in your field of expertise.”

She pauses and I hold my breath.” Okay,” she finally says. “Where do you want to meet?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven. Wear something casual.”

“Let me guess. You don’t need my address because you already have it?”

I could lie to her and tell her I don’t.” I have it.”

“Well put this on your list of discussions tonight. Stalking is not allowed!” She sounds curt. It’s kind of a turn on.

“Duly noted.” I hang up before she has a chance to change her mind.

☀

Stella is vacuuming when I return from my run. I pull the plug out of the wall, and she starts shaking the vacuum cleaner, trying to make it turn back on. I laugh and she turns around.

“You’re nothing but trouble today, Mr. Rylan.” She says with her hands on her hips.

“I hate to cause more trouble for you today, but do you think you could make dinner for two, around eight o’clock?”

She sashays over to me.” Now this is interesting.” She’s teasing me.

“You never have guests. Except for Mr. Sam, of course. Will he be joining you? I like him. He picks on you.”

“That he does, but no. Sam will not be joining us. This is a business dinner.”

“Does this dinner guest happen to be of the female persuasion?” Her voice just went up a few octaves.

I call back to her, “It’s a business meeting Stella. Nothing more.”

☀

The shower removes the sweat and grime from my run. I wrap a towel around my waist and open my massive walk-in closet. I have rows of expensive suits. Suits for work, suits for entertaining clients, and tuxedos for the elaborate affairs that I am obligated to attend. I told Nashville casual, so I opt for a pair of jeans and a black button-down shirt. No tie.

I study my face in the mirror. I have a pretty thick five o’clock shadow from not being able to shave with my injured hand. I’m always so clean shaven. The all-American boy. This is definitely a different look on me. Why am I so nervous? It’s not like I haven’t conducted employee interviews in my home office before. I do a background check on all employees that work in my home. But this is an unusual scenario anyway. She wasn’t applying for a job until I offered it to her, and I have never had any job candidates for dinner, much less have job interviews inspire me to contemplate whether or not to shave my face. I briefly wonder what my scruffy face would feel like against the soft skin of her cheek or better yet, the inside of her thigh. I really need to get my shit together when it comes to this woman. I’m a grown damn man, but I’ve never been in love. I have had plenty of sex, but it has always been emotionlessness. Just an act. I’ve enjoyed it but never had a real connection. These feelings make me anxious.

I dial up Sam and put him on speaker phone while I get dressed.

“Hey, how is your hand?” he asks. “Did you go see that pretty southern nurse?”

Straight to the point.” Yes, I did, and my hand hurts. How did your physical therapy go today?”

“I was able to walk the length of my driveway with my braces on.” I can hear the smile in his voice.

“That’s great. Before you know it you won’t even need your wheelchair anymore.”

“Did you ask her out?”

“Actually, I’m picking her up at seven, and I’m bringing her to my house for dinner.”

“Wow, you must really like her. You never invite girls over.”

“It’s not what you think. I’m going to ask her to work for me.”

He is quiet for a moment.” That must mean you want her to take care of your dad. I don’t think that is such a good idea. She might expose you, and ruin everything you have worked for. You know I don’t like your father, but I don’t want to see anything happen to you. Can’t you just date her?”

I appreciate the fact that Sam wants to protect me.” I have it covered. Don’t worry. I need to go or I’ll be late picking her up. I’ll see you next Friday.”

The thirty-minute drive goes by too quickly. I pull up at her apartment complex and see her old Mustang. There’s a cowboy hat perched up in the back window, and a sticker on her bumper that says
“save a horse ride a cowboy.”

Fuck. I’m not a cowboy. The apartments look well maintained, but I don’t see any security measures in place. I walk up the three flights of stairs and find her apartment at the end of the hall. I raise my hand to knock and the door flies open.

Anna, who only stands about an inch shorter than my six one frame, greets me with a mischievous grin.

“Hi August, remember me?”

“Yes, I do.” I reach to shake her hand and she grabs me into a hug. Someone needs to teach this woman about personal space. As I awkwardly pull out of her embrace, I see Nashville standing behind her laughing.

She looks beautiful. She has on a simple pale blue dress that matches her eyes. As I scan her body downward, she has on cowboy boots. I don’t think I have ever even seen anyone in that kind of boots. Fuck me boots, yea, but not those. Somehow she makes them look sexy. Her dress is cut showing just the right amount of cleavage. She has a small waist and curvy hips. She is much shorter than Anna. Her long blonde hair is down with some curls at the end. I like that she barely has any makeup on, except for those lips. She has a soft pink shade on that makes her lips look so damn fuckable.

“You look nice.” I smile at her.

“Thanks, so do you.” I see her scan my body as well.

“You two kiddos have fun.” Anna flips past me apparently heading out for a run.

“So are you ready?” I’m suddenly anxious about being alone with her.

“Let me grab my purse and lock up.”