Whatever, Forever Read online

  On the pretense of waiting for her nonexistent dinner partner, she wandered over to what appeared to be an antique quilt in a shadowbox on the wall. She inspected the painstaking stitch work and admired the obvious age. Then she read the brass plaque on the bottom of the frame.

  “This quilt was made by Miss Adeline Jeannette Hoyt in 1867 as part of her trousseau in anticipation of her marriage to Joshua Kingman, one of the earliest homesteaders in this region. The Wedding Ring Ranch took its name from her quilt pattern.”

  After reading the plaque at least four times and scrutinizing every stitch she could see, she looked around, hoping Dave might be among the crowd, but she found only the hospitality employees making ready to serve dinner. Finally she claimed a seat between a retired veterinarian whose wife continually shouted into his hearing aid and someone’s surly teenage son who had positioned himself as far from his equally sour-tempered mother as possible. Oh, well, what’s one evening? I have tomorrow to look forward to, after all.

  The next morning she waited until Kelsey cleared out, then put on her new yellow bikini and a tie-dyed gauze wrapper and went down to the pool. Two or three early birds had not yet finished swimming laps. She decided not to get wet at the moment, sat down on a chaise lounge, and took out her notebook. She dispensed with her e-mail, then found her place in the novel she had bought specifically for poolside reading. It held her attention for all of four minutes. Then, with a rush of warmth, she saw Dave approaching. In shagged-off jeans, flip-flops, and a faded Wedding Ring Ranch T-shirt, he looked the part of a proper pool boy. The skimmer and chemical kit he carried only reinforced his appearance. He waited politely until everyone was out of the water, then cleared away the few leaves and bugs the cleaner had missed. When he sat down on the edge, she went to join him, dabbling her toes in the water while he did a pH check.

  “So, did you sleep okay last night?” he asked her at length.

  “Like a baby. All this fresh air.”

  “Riding will do it to you,” he agreed. “And speaking of outdoorsy, a group is going river rafting day after tomorrow. We’ll drive up almost to Lake Kachess and float all the way back to the dock here.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “You can still sign up. It’s not full yet. I saw the register just a few minutes ago.”

  “Are you going to be there?”

  He gave her half a shrug of affirmation. “I’m a general all-around equipment and animal wrangler. And if you want to go riding again, there’s a star-watching party on the thirteenth. That’s when the meteor showers peak. There’s no moon that night, so the stars will really be out, and at this altitude they look so close you could almost reach up and pick a handful. It’s really beautiful. We’ll be riding back up to the ridge close to where you and I were yesterday.” He paused to compare the color of the pool water in his test tube to the guide on the inside of the test kit lid. “Chlorine level is fine. You can go in any time you want to. I have to clean out the filter, but that’s no biggie. The only thing is, I can’t throw the trash out because some lady thinks she lost a ring in here yesterday. People lose jewelry in the pool all the time. That and contact lenses.”

  “Well, I don’t wear contacts and I wouldn’t wear jewelry in swimming. That’s just begging to lose stuff.”

  “Some of our guests here aren’t exactly Ph.D. candidates, you know.”

  “I hope you don’t mean my sister.”

  “Oh, it looks like she’s trying really hard to be somebody’s trophy, but she’s bound to have a brain or two. She’s a travel agent, isn’t she?”

  “Yes. That’s why we came here. I wouldn’t have thought to come to Washington. I’m strictly a Houston girl.”

  “Wow. That’s a whole different world. How do you like Washington?” He leaned over to rinse out his test tube, and the interplay of wiry muscles across his back made her mouth go dry. Though he did not have the type of physique that would bulk up with exercise, his definition spoke of hours pumping iron.

  “Washington is totally beautiful,” she managed after an awkward pause.

  “Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

  “You’re so lucky to be able to live around here. But you aren’t going to get in trouble for talking to me, are you? I mean, I know most places like this have strict rules about employees fraternizing with guests.”

  He shook his head, his smile wry. “It won’t be a problem. Nobody’ll say anything as long as I’m not blatant about it. Besides, they’d have to think twice about firing me. I’ve been around too long and I know too much.”

  “Well, if you’re sure. I mean, I’d feel terrible if I cost you your job. I know how it feels. I did network and desktop support for a hospital. I’d been there eight years and then it got bought out. The purchaser had their own IT department, and just poof, like that, three of us are out of work.” She snapped her fingers by way of emphasis.

  “I’m sure if you’re good at what you did, you’ll find something else pretty soon. There are a lot of IT jobs out there.”

  “Hopefully. I mean, I have my Master’s in computer science, and I’m no dummy.”

  “I can tell that. Well, Audrey, I do need to go. I have a lot to do today. I’ll see you at the river run.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Me either.” He rose, touching her shoulder lightly in passing. It gave her a delicious shiver that supplanted even the heat of the August day.

  Audrey found that only two spots were available after she signed up for the river trip. That was a close call; she would have hated to disappoint Dave. Already she found herself growing fond of him. Though he was only a ranch hand and offered what Kelsey would term “no possibilities,” his lightheartedness and warm smile went a long way toward brightening what Audrey had feared would turn out less a vacation and more an ordeal by sister.

  Audrey had set her alarm for seven, but she awoke a few minutes early, and out of mercy for her sister, who had come in during the wee hours somewhat the worse for wear, she silenced it, slipping quietly out of bed. Besides, she had no desire to wake Kelsey and run afoul of her temper. Since she had showered the night before, she dressed, ran a comb through her hair, and clipped it into a ponytail. She skipped makeup altogether in favor of SPF 50 sun block and a touch of waterproof mascara. Then she donned her new bikini and topped it with cutoff jeans and a madras shirt. In a moment of mischievousness she tied up the tails to show her midriff.

  After breakfast the guests filed out to two big courtesy vans. Audrey hung back as the others boarded, hoping that Dave might be one of the drivers, but she found herself mildly disappointed. One was an older man and the other the woman who functioned as Wedding Ring’s concierge. Audrey boarded last, finding herself a seat next to a reticent teenager who seemed bent on arguing with his sister across the aisle.

  The ride up the river seemed interminable, even though she thoroughly enjoyed the incomparable Cascades scenery. Then the buses, followed by a big Ford F-350 pulling a box trailer, turned down a dusty, bumpy road that ended at the river.

  “Okay! We’re here! Everybody out!” the van driver caroled. The gaggle of tourists obediently debarked, including the two squabbling teenagers. Audrey tagged them, then looked around just as the driver’s door of the big truck opened and Dave stepped down. Her heart gave a little hitch in her chest and sped up. Three other ranch hands climbed out, opened the trailer, and started handing out inner tubes and flotation vests. Audrey waited before queuing up, and noticed that a girl she pegged to be eighteen or nineteen skipped out of an adjacent line to stand in Dave’s. When her turn came, she dissolved into giggles and could not figure out how to adjust the buckles of her vest. Indulgently he did it for her, then looked past her batting eyelashes and caught sight of Audrey. He gave her a big smile that made Giggles look around. When she figured out his line of sight, she gave Audrey a distinct dirty look. Pointedly Audrey slipped in at the end of Dave’s line.

  When her turn came, Dave pawed through the f
lotation vests and handed her one.

  “Can I play helpless too?” she asked, looking up through her lashes. He laughed, spontaneously and honestly.

  “I wouldn’t believe you any more than I believed her,” he said quietly. Nevertheless he held up the vest for her, clicked the plastic buckles, and tightened the straps down. “There. Service is our middle name,” he continued, his voice slightly louder. He handed her an inner tube as the woman leading the party gathered everyone around her.

  “Okay, everybody. I know you read the flyer we gave out about the dos and don’ts. Big ‘do’ is stay together. We’re going to have a couple outriders at the end whose job it is to make sure nobody gets left behind. This river isn’t that swift, although it’s on the high side right now because we’ve had some rains and they’ve been letting water out of the dam. There really aren’t any heavy rapids, at least where we are. It’s all gentle water except that there are five irrigation dams to float over. They range from four feet to a drop of about eight. They’re a heck of a lot of fun and nothing to worry about. Just hang on tight and don’t get dumped off your tube. We’re ready to go now. Let’s have some fun.” She began ushering the group into the river.

  Audrey stepped in, feeling the initial cold. She knew she would be used to it soon, but by contrast with the warm day, the river seemed more than cool. Nevertheless she forged ahead, wading in until she could sit down on the inner tube the way everyone else was doing. The cold water on intimate areas produced various shrieks and giggles from the feminine adventurers, but she was determined not to react. Instead she stood inside her inner tube so it would not get away and splashed herself with the cool river water. When she finally lowered herself to sit in the tube, the shock was not nearly so great. She looked around and saw that Giggles had stationed herself close to Dave and appeared to be having trouble finding her way onto her inner tube. He showed her how to sit down on it, then guided her to deeper water where the going would be easier. Finally, with everyone ensconced in their tubes, the party paddled out and caught the gentle downstream current. With young people in front squealing and splashing, Audrey hung back and gazed around at the scenery. Suddenly Dave materialized next to her, a huge grin on his face.

  “Well, Audrey, what do you think?” he asked.

  “It’s a beautiful area, and the river looks so clean.”

  “It is up here. Farther down, people are running cattle and there are places I wouldn’t want to swim.” He held out his hand. She gave him hers and he drew her to him across the placid water. Even the minimal contact filled her with warmth.

  “Is it this calm all the way, too?”

  “Not quite. In fact, we have a little rapids coming up in a minute. Want to run down the middle? It’s kind of fun.”

  “I’m game.”

  “Great. I didn’t figure you for the wimpy type.” He paddled for the center of the river, where she could see the water bucking into whitecaps. A few other brave souls also headed the same way, forming themselves into a conga line by tucking their feet into the armpits of the one ahead. Dave managed to hook up with the end of the line, which left Audrey in the tail position.

  “Hang on. You’re going to get the best ride,” he shouted back over his shoulder as they lined up on the middle of the rapids. She sank a little lower into the center of her inner tube and hooked her hands under it, not a moment too soon. They hit riffles that soon escalated, bouncing them along and drawing squeals from the girls farther up the line. Audrey took a big splash across her face. The cold water felt more like a caress than a slap, and she added her laughter to theirs.

  Their roller coaster train of tubes broke up over the rapids, and she and Dave were left spiraling around each other. After a quarter mile or so, the rapids quieted and their mad orbiting slowed down. He let go of her feet and swung around to face her. “What did you think?” he asked.

  “That was so fun. Are we going to be able to do it again?”

  “No more rapids. We do have the irrigation dams, though.” He backpedaled and let her float up next to him. The water beaded on his face added its sparkle to his eyes.

  The river flattened out after that, winding around a big curve between tall pines. She relaxed and let the current carry her, ignoring the youngsters who splashed and shouted and tried to race the cumbersome tubes. She looked over at Dave. He almost looked asleep, head back, eyes closed, and a peaceful half smile on his face.

  Ahead she spotted the reason for the calm water. One of the irrigation dams he had told her about came into view. With a shout, the first person dropped out of sight, followed by more hollering and whooping as, one at a time, her fellow tubers drifted over the drop-off. She felt her stomach tighten as the dam drew closer. Dave paddled out a little ahead of her, then slid over the lip feet first. A beat later she followed him, feeling momentarily weightless before she was submerged in the foamy water at the bottom of the dam. She paddled free and caught up with Dave, using the edge of one hand to squeegee the water from her eyes while she sculled with the other.

  “That was so great!” she exclaimed.

  “If you enjoyed it that much, you have four more.”

  “I can see the next one coming now.” She pointed downstream, where the river spread out and slowed, turning the particular shade of vibrant emerald only found in the Northwest. Dave paddled to her, reached out, caught her pointing hand, and pulled their tubes together. They floated side by side and, for the moment, the rest of the world ceased to exist. She lost herself in the mysterious color of his eyes and the happiness behind their smile. It was only a short hop for her imagination to place her in his arms.

  She was just into an imaginary kiss when they hit the next dam. She expected the screams and laughter, but when the next gaggle went over, the screams turned to genuine fright. Dave snapped into action. He piled from his inner tube and stroked toward the dam with a powerful freestyle. She craned her neck to see what was happening. Just as she came to the lip of the dam she saw that the girl who had flirted with Dave earlier had managed to get stuck in the hydraulic at the bottom of the dam. The backwash caught her and repeatedly ducked her under the falling water, ejected her a yard or so, then sucked her back. She was at the point of spilling out of her tube when Dave reached her. Audrey saw him propel her out of the hydraulic with a huge shove, only to get caught up in it himself. Then she went over the lip and the eight-foot drop sent her stomach flying up to her chin. It took some concerted effort to keep her seat in the inner tube, but as soon as she could see through the flying water she looked around for Dave. She saw only his empty tube. An icy pang of fear shot up through her body. She was on the verge of piling out of her own float when he surfaced several yards downstream and shook the water from his hair like a sheepdog. He looked around for his tube, which had drifted off to one side of the current. Instead of chasing it down, he stroked over to her and flipped a casual arm over hers.

  “Dave, you scared me half to death!” she exclaimed.

  “No big deal. The way to get out of a hydraulic is to dive to the bottom. The deeper current will take you clear of the mixmaster at the top.”

  “Do you always go around rescuing ditzy bimbos in distress?” She heard her relief coming out almost harshly.

  “As often as possible. They get into a lot more trouble than smart computer geeks do.” He looked up at her with an appealing, boyish grin.

  “I promise I won’t get into trouble, then, just to prove I’m a smart computer geek. Want us to go after your tube?”

  “No. I’ll just swim over there. It’ll be faster.” He shoved off and stroked easily with the current, then duck dived and came up under his inner tube. She paddled toward him and he sculled backward against the flow of the river until she caught up. Then he caught her hand again as though nothing had happened.

  The rest of their trip passed uneventfully, and when she stepped out of her tube at the Wedding Ring’s boat landing, she found herself pleasantly tired. She decided she would
skip whatever they offered for late lunch and take a nap before dinner. But as the crew loaded the tubes into the trailer, Dave came toward her.

  “Have lunch with me?” he asked. She felt a sudden rush of warmth that supplanted the last of the river’s coolness.

  “If it won’t get you into trouble.”

  “Let me worry about me, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “See you in the dining hall, then.” He closed the trailer, gave her a wicked wink, and swung up into the front seat of the truck. Still floating, she made her way back to the bus and found the same corner where she had sat earlier. The stink eye she received from Giggles did not escape her.

  The next three days passed all too fast, in a haze of gentle flirtation and the kind of will-he-won’t-he anticipation she had not felt since high school. Then, on the afternoon of the stargazing party, she awoke from her nap to find Kelsey in the room, her linear, spa-honed form draped elegantly across a chair and her latest celebrity magazine on one knee.

  “Well, Aud, it’s good to see you among the living.”

  “They told us to take a nap today because we’ll be up most of the night watching the sky,” Audrey replied around a stretch and a yawn.

  “Hey, listen to this. It’s an article about most eligible bachelors. ‘And at number eight, Bradley Kingman, CEO of Kingman Enterprises. His personal net worth is estimated at eight hundred fifty million dollars. Kingman Enterprises was founded by his father, who branched out from cattle ranching into corporate real estate, but since he turned the reins over to his son, the company has expanded into the construction and operation of resorts and hotels. The company manages a dozen or so four-star hotels and six resorts, including the luxurious Wedding Ring Ranch in Washington State, the property on which Kingman Enterprises was founded. Reportedly Kingman is in negotiations to buy up the bankrupt Sands, Incorporated chain that operates six resorts in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Cayman Brac, and Aruba.’ Imagine that, Aud. He could be right here, right now. Oh, and there’s more.” She licked her fingers and turned a page. “‘Kingman says he likes to work incognito as a staff member in his properties, just to observe operations. He is very much a hands-on manager who strikes a good balance between supervising his employees and giving them their autonomy. He is a graduate of the University of Washington, has never been married, and is thirty-two years old. This lands him in eighth slot in our list of most eligible bachelors in the United States.’ He could be under our very noses this moment, and all you manage to do is flirt with the pool boy.”