Unlucky in Love (10 page)

“Um, took a joyride with a cowboy?”

“Really?” Katie's voice registered disbelief.

“I swear! And it was…fun!” Lexi rolled her eyes, knowing Katie would see right through her.

“Mm-hm.”

“I've done other things on the list, I swear. But I'm also a little busy working here. Let's not forget I have a job, okay?”

“Okay, but you're running out of time to get to that final item. Just saying.”

Lexi didn't have to look at the list to know which one that was, and she rolled her eyes. “No intention of getting there, sis.”

“Fine. So maybe you don't have to
do
a cowboy. How about just kiss one?”

“Kate?”

“Do it for me?”

Lexi laughed at her wheedling tone. “I don't
want
a cowboy.”

As she set down her phone and felt her eyes scan the stables, looking for one particular cowboy for the hundredth time today, she sighed.

Did she?

“Have you ever been paragliding?” Gunnar asked the question casually, like he didn't already know it would send Lexi reaching for an inhaler or a Xanax. It was Tuesday morning, and she'd been organizing supplies in her little first-aid office when he'd poked his head through the door.

“Para what?” She looked up, eyes wide.

“Paragliding. You know, where you head to a peak, strap on some fake wings, and fly?” He sort of hated himself for tormenting her with his casual description, but hey. She was the one who'd said she wanted to amp up her wild and crazy side. He was just offering her an opportunity.

“I—I know what paragliding is. Just didn't know you could do it…here.”

“It's an excursion package. That sorority reunion group wants to do it, so I got elected to take them.”

“Shocker.” She said the word almost under her breath, but he heard it loud and clear, and he didn't know why, but it made him smile.

“I'm sorry, what?” He leaned closer.

“I said
awesome
. Sounds like fun.”

“Ah.” He nodded, backing up. “Thought I heard something different.”

“Nope.” She turned away, then back to him. “Are you the only guy going?”

“Yep. We don't do the instructing. There's an outfit up in the next town that has actual professionals.”

“Always a good plan when you take your life into your own hands, I guess?”

He smiled. “So is that a yes? Want to come?”

“Gunnar? Tiny question here. Are you
trying
to torment me, or does it just sort of come naturally?”

“Hey.” He put up his hands. “You're the one building a selfie library. I'm just trying to give you an opportunity. If you're trying to prove you can go all nuts out here, I can't think of a better picture to send than you strapped into para wings, with just the blue sky in the background.”

Lexi sighed carefully, and he knew she was weighing his very logical statement against her very real fear of dying. He knew the dying thing would win, but it was kind of fun to watch the internal battle happen.

“Okay.” She nodded. “I'll do it.”

“What?”

“I will. I'll do it. You're right. It's perfect.”

“No. It's really not.” He shook his head. “I was kidding.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You're not doing a paragliding expedition today?”

“No, I am. I mean, yes. We are. But it's not—you're not—I really don't think—”

“I know.” She put up a hand. “
It's not necessary. You're not that kind of girl. I really don't think it's a good idea.
Is that what you're trying to say?”

“No.”
Yes, for hell's sake.

“Well, so far it looks like I'm all talk and no action, right? I mean, really. It took me
how
long to even get on a horse here? It's borderline pathetic. So yes. I'm going paragliding. Me and the Alpha-Beta-soup chicks. I can keep up with them.”

He nodded slowly. “You're sure?”

“Absolutely!” She forced a smile, but he could see the panicky shine in her eyes as deep pink spots grew on her cheeks. God, he loved redheads. There was no emotion she could really hide, with that practically translucent, beautiful skin.

He cleared his throat. Her skin wasn't what he needed to be focused on here. “All right. We leave in an hour.” Then he hooked a thumb toward the three cabins the sorority women were staying in. “Pretty sure they're down there doing shots to work up their courage. You might want to go do a couple, just in case.”

Oh, holy mother of God. Lexi stood on the ridge two hours later, setting her feet so the wind didn't tip her over. What in the
world
had she been thinking? Delta-Gamma-whatever chick number three was getting strapped in, about to take off, and Lexi was about to lose her breakfast.

She should have done the shots. Then at least she'd have false courage at her disposal here. As it was, she closed her eyes tightly as each woman did her running leap, praying that the glider things would stay straight, that the wind wouldn't die, that the woman wouldn't crash.

They'd done this before, of course. And they each had their own perfectly cute set of wings, while she was standing here waiting to get strapped to a professional.

The
professional
part of this wasn't actually helping.

Only three people left until her turn, and she was pretty sure she was about to faint from pure terror. Meanwhile, the sorority girls whooped and hollered and cheered one another on, none of them looking the least bit like death was a distinct possibility here. Had they
seen
a life insurance application lately?

Gunnar stood closer to the edge of the ridge with the instructors, helping the women with their helmets and straps, many of whom seemed to keep developing problems that required his assistance, she noticed. But was the equipment problematic? Or were the women just looking for some attention from their favorite cowboy?

Lexi'd bet the latter, but the former was a distinct possibility.
Dammit
.

Another woman leaped. Only two left now.

She looked around, wondering if she could conjure up a stray lightning storm or something that would require them making a hasty exit from this ridge. But the sky was a deep, gorgeous blue, and as far as she could see, there wasn't even one little puffy cloud to interrupt the view.

Double dammit.

Could she accidentally-on-purpose manage to sprain an ankle in the next five minutes, maybe? She looked around at the rocks scattered atop the ridge, thinking all she'd have to do is step on one just right, turn her ankle, and have to bow out. It wouldn't be her fault, for goodness sake. I mean, look at all the rocks.

“You looking for an exit that doesn't involve wings?” Gunnar's amused voice interrupted her search for the perfect boulder.

“Nope.” She pasted on her best smile, squaring her shoulders. “Just thinking it's a wonder nobody sprains an ankle running off from this ridge. Look at all the rocks.”

He looked down at her, amused. “You ready? You're almost on deck. Looks like your buddy's ready.”

Her stomach started quivering, and she avoided his eyes as she took a deep breath for courage. Tristan had better appreciate the lengths she was going to here. So maybe he hadn't responded to her pics of the ranch, of the mountains, of her on a horse. There was no way he'd be able to avoid being impressed by her taking on paragliding. No way.

“I'm ready.” She nodded, stepping forward. “Let's do this.”

“You sure, Lex?” Now his eyes were concerned. “You don't need to prove anything here. Not to anybody who matters.”

She heard the message in his statement, and while on one hand it warmed her inside, on the other hand it made her feel more pathetic.

He tightened the straps over her shoulders, clipping the front and pulling it snug. “One question, Lex.”

“All my worldly possessions go to my sister, if it comes to that. Is that what you're going to ask?”

He laughed. “No.” Then he got serious again. “Are you doing this for you? Or for—Tristan?”

She heard him make the effort to say Tristan's name, rather than calling him The Idiot, and she smiled in appreciation.

“For me.”

“You're sure?”

They both turned as the last woman leaped, whooping and hollering and screeching her way down to the ground below. A gust blew up, and for a second, Lexi was almost pulled off her feet.

In that second, she was pretty sure she saw her entire life flash before her eyes…which was an expression she'd always thought was kind of odd, because would that really ever happen? When you were about to die, did you indeed see a high-speed newsreel of your entire existence, just to review it before you expired or something?

And oh, God. If that had just happened, did that
mean
she was about to die? Did somebody upstairs know something she didn't know? Was there a rogue gust just waiting to knock her into the rocks below? She looked up at the sky again. Lightning? Anything?

Another puff knocked her off balance, and she couldn't help it. She grabbed for Gunnar like he was the only thing that might possibly save her from certain death. She clutched his shirt like she'd decided that if she was about to go, he was coming with her, dammit, and his eyes widened as he scanned her face.

He shook his head slowly, then more decidedly as he covered her hands with his. Then he unclipped her straps and slid them down her arms.

“What are you do—wait. Gunnar?”

“You're not doing this.”

“But—” A tiny part of her was annoyed that he'd taken it upon himself to decide something for her—without being asked, thank you very much—but a much,
much
bigger part of her was so glad to have those straps detached from her body that she actually wanted to hug him.

“This isn't you, Lex. It doesn't have to be you.” He shook his head as he handed the equipment to the instructor and unclipped her helmet, looking into her eyes for a long, long moment.

Then he sighed and turned away. “He doesn't deserve you.”

“Heard you had a little adventure yesterday.” Ma buried her hands in the soap bubbles in the sink, attacking the breakfast dishes while Lexi put away the leftovers from this morning's feast. Cole and Decker had just led the guests out onto the trail for the weekly overnight trip, so the main lodge was strangely peaceful.

“I'm not sure
adventure
is quite the word.” Lexi smiled sadly. “I had great
intentions
of having one, but I chickened out.”

“Well, might be just me, but I guess if I was bound and determined to find my adventurous side, I might start a little smaller than paragliding.”

Lexi laughed as she picked up a dish towel to dry the dishes Ma was stacking on the drain board. “Touché. I think Gunnar might agree with you there.”

“I think Gunnar probably saw you go six shades of white and figured he'd better unstrap you before you had a heart attack up on the ridge.”

“It's possible.” Lexi bit her lip. “I really did want to try it, until I actually got up there.”

Ma paused her hands in the dish water. “Did you, really?”

“Yes?”

“Did you want to
do
it? Or did you want to be able to say you'd
done
it? Because that's a pretty important distinction right there.”

Lexi started to answer, then pulled back. She
had
wanted to do it…hadn't she?

Or had it really been more about picturing Tristan checking out his phone, and seeing a shot of her flying through the sky without a care in the world?

“I'm not sure I can distinguish between the two, now that I didn't go through with it.” Lexi stacked two pots together. “But I honestly am trying to make this summer my own little adventure. Truly.”

“Oh, I'm sure you are, honey. And right now, you've got almost thirty-six hours before the guests get back here from the trail ride. A whole two days stretch out before you. What is it you want to do?”

Lexi wrinkled her nose, picturing the sketch book and charcoals in her backpack…picturing that spot under the giant pine tree, right beside Whisper Creek…picturing a novel, a sketch, a nap.

“Well, I'm—you know—still recovering a bit from yesterday's big-adventure-that-wasn't.”

Ma laughed. “Gonna do some of that recovering from your porch swing? Or maybe take one of your long walks down by the creek?”

“How do you know I—” Lexi tipped her head. “You pretty much know everything that goes on around here, don't you?”

“Sure do. But that's my job. Can't have guests running the place, and I surely can't let the cowboys get hold of it, so I've got eyes on all sides of my head. It's just how it works here.”

Just then, Kyla came in from the great room, ever-present notebook in hand. She looked from Ma to Lexi, then shook her head as she set down the notebook and opened the fridge.

“Lexi, when I was doing introductions and tours a few weeks back, did I mention the part about never getting trapped in the kitchen with Ma doing dishes?”

“No.” Lexi smiled. “But it's fine. I don't mind dishes at all.”

Kyla poured orange juice into a tall glass. “Oh, it's not the dishes that'll get you.”

“What do you mean?” Lexi looked from Kyla to Ma, who was trying to bite back a smile.

“Was Ma just talking about how she's got ten pairs of eyes? How she sees everything that goes on here at Whisper Creek, even when we all think she's not looking?”

“Um, yes? Sort of?”

“Well, that's just her lead-in.” Kyla sat down at the big oak table, opening her notebook. “You're about to be psychoanalyzed. Fair warning.”

Ma turned. “I do not psychoanalyze
any
body.”

Kyla snorted. “Oh, yes, you do.” She put up one finger, then another. “Hayley? Jess? Just for starters? You are the queen of analyzing the innocent.”

“Ha.” Ma puffed out a perturbed breath. “I just like to ask questions.”

“Analyze.”

“I'm interested!”

“Analyze.”

Lexi laughed at the two of them. “Well, good news. I'm terribly uncomplicated, so she'll be bored really quickly.”

“Don't bet on it.” Kyla winked. “The woman's got serious skills.”

Ma rolled her eyes. “Kyla Driscoll, if you weren't the wife of my son, I'd—”

Kyla got up and hugged Ma from behind, then headed for the door. “You'd what, Ma?” When Ma didn't answer, she turned to Lexi. “Don't tell her your deep, dark secrets. I'm telling you, if she likes you, she'll have you convinced you need to move out here in ten minutes flat. This is her way.”