Sweet Serenade (Riverbend Romance 3) (6 page)

“His father, Bill, wrote several books about canoeing and wilderness tripping. They were kind of my dad’s bibles. Dad and I watched their instructional videos over and over when I was young. Anyway, it was a real honor to meet Paul. We paddled with his group for a few days, through the canyons.”

“It must have been amazing.”

“Yeah.” She fell silent for a few minutes.

Reed watched her walk. Already her green shorts looked dry. She didn’t seem to be favoring one leg over the other, though she was breaking no speed records as she’d done on their previous carry. Somewhere in the current she’d lost the tie holding her braid. Now her red-gold hair fell tangled against her shoulders.

They passed the eddy where they’d taken the canoe out on their first run.

“The mosquitoes on the Nahani were horrific. But we left the fly off the tent lots of nights to watch the aurora borealis.”

“We don’t see the northern lights often this far south.” Reed’s shoulders ached with the weight of the canoe, and he shifted it slightly. No way was he going to call a halt and have her insist it was her turn to pack it. A girl—a woman—would never carry a canoe on his watch. Not while he was able.

“Strike one against Riverbend.” Carly chuckled. “Maybe I’ll have to move north again.”

“I’ve only seen them in color once, when I was a kid. Evan and I lay out on the trampoline and watched the skies dance.” Reed allowed the memory to ripple over him. “After that, you couldn’t convince me God didn’t exist.”

She turned and glanced at him. “I hear you. Nature is so amazing, but there isn’t anything quite as enchanting as the northern lights. The reds and greens, all dancing together to a music all their own. One night they covered most of the sky, coming together above us in an apex. I closed my eyes and listened to them crackle.”

Reed had never seen them like that. Never heard them at all. “If you move north, I’m coming, too.”

The words hung in the air.

“Thought you were a Riverbend boy, born and bred.” Her voice carried a hint of teasing.

Whew. She was going to let that slide. “It’s true. But Canada is a big country, and I haven’t seen much of it. What you’re describing is something I’ve longed to experience since that night when I was ten.”

They entered the parking lot, and Reed leaned the canoe against the rack on his truck. He flexed his shoulders, unable to stop himself.

“Let me.” Carly stepped behind him and kneaded his shoulders, once again going straight for the tender spot.

The cure was as painful as the knot, but he endured the massage for the delight of feeling her hands on him. After a moment, he turned and slung one arm around her. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She hugged him back, turquoise eyes looking into his.

Why had he said earlier he wouldn’t kiss her again? All he wanted was to gather her against him and kiss her senseless. His words, however, had been true. He wasn’t a man who went around kissing girls. He never had been. Before he kissed Carly again, he was going to know for sure she was the woman for him.

He was pretty sure that time was coming.

Chapter 7

Neil’s already sour face deepened into a full-on frown when his gaze fell on Carly’s legs Monday morning. “What happened to you?”

She’d thought about wearing long pants to work, but it was well over thirty degrees Celsius. Way too hot for covering her legs, especially if she was out on the water with clients. She tried for a casual shrug. “Took a spill.”

“Off what, a roller coaster?”

In a manner of speaking. “Not exactly. What’s on the agenda today?”

Neil’s arms crossed over his chest. “What happened?”

He wasn’t going to let it go. “I found myself on the wrong side of a canoe. I’m fine. Really.” Carly fingered the stack of brochures on the counter of Base Camp Outfitters.

“Where were you? Don’t you know you should have a guide when you’re running a new river?”

“Yes, I had one.”

Neil shook his head. “Someone wasn’t paying attention.”

Carly’s fuse was ready to blow. “Neil, it was my day off. Today I am here, at work, ready to get started, and well able to do my job.” She turned her back to him as she rounded the counter. “What do I need to know?”

He glowered at her. “You’ve got a middle-aged couple for a tour of Sandon Lake at ten. I hope they’ll believe you can keep them on the inside of the canoe. The looks of you doesn’t inspire much trust at the moment.”

Carly gritted her teeth and smiled. How was Neil at reading the rest of her expression? “Pretty sure no one will go swimming in the lake unless they want to.”

“See to it.”

Good grief. Like she had a magic wand. Even Neil’s plastic tubs were tippable. More so than a good canoe, actually. Carly remembered trying to dump her parents’ Clipper with a friend when she was seven. It’d been unbelievably difficult, but they’d finally succeeded. Then Dad had made them bail the water out. She’d never tipped a canoe on purpose since.

Back to her boss. “Anything else on the agenda today?”

“Yes, you have a hike with four people at two o’clock. Remember Miner’s Rock?”

“Uh, yeah, but we didn’t hike all of it last week.”
 

Neil shrugged. “It’s well-marked. Have a look through the brochure at the map and historical info, and you’ll be good.”

The same brochure the tourists had access to, no doubt.

“There are some First Nations’ pictographs just past where I took you.” Neil shoved a printout with diagrams on it across the counter. “The drawings are faint, and who knows what, exactly, they were actually trying to draw? But tourists love that kind of thing.”

Carly nodded. What else could she do? It’s not like she had time to run the trail. The lake tour wouldn’t end until noon. Maybe she could grab a sandwich from Loco-To-Go and try to get at least as far as the pictographs during her break.

Her thoughts drifted to Reed like a compass swung north. He’d said he’d text her tonight. She took a deep breath and exhaled. He was definitely something to look forward to.

~*~

Reed found himself downtown at five-thirty. He usually avoided Riverbend’s core as he would a rock in the river, but not today. He tried to convince himself that he’d only needed to swing by the bank for some cash, but that didn’t explain why he’d parked the truck several blocks away and nearly across from Base Camp Outfitters. From here he could see both front and back doors as well as the parking lot. He realized he didn’t know what kind of vehicle Carly drove, so he couldn’t be certain she was inside.

A few minutes later the back door opened. Neil came out and held the door for a middle-aged woman and Carly.

Reed’s heart sped up. Texting. He’d said he’d
text
her, not stalk her. But he couldn’t let more than twenty-four hours go by without seeing her. Even from here the bruises on her legs were visible. He had a matching set.

Neil locked up and headed for his pickup. The woman got into a car. Carly took a few steps alongside the stone building before noticing him.

 
Was it his imagination or did her face light up as their eyes met?

Maddrey drove out of the parking lot and stopped in the middle of the street beside Reed. “What are you doing here? Spying?”

“Nope. Not a bit of it.” The truck blocked Reed’s view of Carly.

Neil’s eyes narrowed. “If you think you’re going to steal my new employee, don’t even get started.”

Reed stared at the older man. “Steal her?”

“She’s
my
hire.” Neil jabbed his thumb against his own chest. “Stay away from her.”

Carly rounded Maddrey’s vehicle and crossed to Reed’s truck. “Neil, you don’t own me after hours.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times with no sound.

Reed would not grin, though it took all his self-control. “Like Carly says, she’s her own person. She’s your employee. After hours, she and I are friends.” He flicked a glance at her, wanting to gaze at her longer in the worst way. Hopefully once he’d gotten rid of her boss.

Neil mumbled something about consorting with the enemy before peeling away.

Reed’s full attention swung to the beautiful woman standing just outside his truck window. “Did you walk to work? Can I give you a ride?”

She gave him a slow smile. “I’d like that, even though it’s not very far.” She rounded the truck and climbed in the other side.

Man, he should have jumped out and opened it for her. He’d totally missed a great opportunity. He knew where Brittany’s apartment was all too well, but he didn’t want to drop Carly off in under five minutes.

Should’ve had a plan, Daniels.

“Uh, want to get ice cream and go to the park for a bit? Or did you have something else...” He allowed his words to trail away.

“Sounds good. My cousin won’t be home for another hour.” Carly grinned at him. “Not that she has any more right to tell me what to do than Neil does.”

Reed scratched his neck as he turned the key in the ignition. “About that.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s been a bear all day. It was just one more tangent for him to go on.”

“It’s none of my business where you work. I’m not trying to get you to come work for us.” He shoulder-checked and put the truck in gear.

“Is that a possibility?”

He shot a look across the console. “Is what?”

“Guiding for Sandon Adventures instead.”

“Uh, we don’t have any openings right now.” But wouldn’t it be something, working together? He’d be tempted to fire Evan just so he could. In half a flash, his future stretched out before him, full of adventures with Carly in his bow with several tots in the canoe between them.

Steer in those thoughts, Daniels.

“I wasn’t really asking.” Carly stared out the side window.

He’d blown it. “Tell me about your adventures today.”

“Took a couple out to the lake this morning for a paddle. No moose, though.”

“No grizzly either, I take it.”

“No.” She turned to look at him. “You were serious about one being in the area?”

“That was a while ago. No one’s reported seeing it again.”

He parked on the street by the black and white awning of Glacial Creamery then hurried around to open the truck door for her. He wasn’t going to slip on that one again. Especially not when he saw the smile curve her lips as she took his hand, not releasing it as they wandered toward the display window.

She pointed at chocolate ice cream embedded with bits of brownies while Reed chose maple walnut.

“Want to walk to the park? It’s not far.” Reed handed her the waffle cone with two chocolate-loaded scoops.

“I’ve love to.” She fell into step beside him.

He couldn’t help but notice she held her ice cream cone in her left hand. Was it too daring to take her right in his own? New territory for him, this whole dating thing. He’d always figured he’d get married someday and have kids, but then he’d realized that required talking to girls long enough to find the right one. That had been a challenge since before puberty, and turning twenty-five hadn’t tipped the balance.

Feeling like his canoe was poised at the top of the chute—and him wearing no life vest—Reed snagged Carly’s fingers with his.

She rewarded him with a grin and a slight squeeze before taking another lick of her cone.
 

Reed ran the chute in his mind’s eye and did a victory salute with his paddle at the bottom.
Please, Lord, don’t let me do something stupid and wreck this friendship.
This new friendship he hoped would turn into more. He wasn’t done running the river yet. He hoped he never would be.

~*~

Carly felt like a brazen woman as a flush stole up Reed’s tanned neck. So many guys wouldn’t think twice about holding a woman’s hand, but, to Reed, it obviously was a big deal. He’d apologized for kissing her yesterday, but hadn’t made it sound like a negative, even so.

“Thanks for coming by after work. I wasn’t looking forward to a lonely evening at the apartment watching so-called reality TV with Brittany.” She swung their joined hands a little, just to catch a glimpse of them in her peripheral.

“Me either. I mean I don’t like to watch TV when I could be outside. I didn’t mean I watched it with your cousin.”

How cute was his blundering? Carly nudged his arm with her shoulder. “No?”

He met her gaze, and his fingers tightened around hers. Those deep brown eyes held untold mysteries.
 

For a second Carly forgot to breathe. Then a drop of ice cream dribbled onto her hand. She sucked in a deep breath and ran her tongue around the edge of the cone.

Reed’s eyes watched as though mesmerized.

She nudged him again. “Yours is dripping, too.”

He seemed startled as he lifted his cone and looked at it. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. Don’t forget.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” His grin returned, and so did that dimple. He turned his attention to his ice cream.

Right. They’d been walking. Carly tugged him into motion again. A few minutes later they wandered onto a paved walkway in Riverside Park. Rose bushes bloomed all around the crisp white gazebo, and well-tended flowerbeds lined the walkways with petunias, marigolds, and alyssum.

Shouts of happy children sounded from nearer the river. Carly pointed. “What’s going on over there?”

“Riverbend’s newest attraction. Swimming ponds.”

“You mean outdoor pools?”

Reed pulled her in that direction. “Not exactly. These aren’t chlorinated and pristine.” He grinned. “You could say the river runs through them.”

“This I have to see.”
 

And a few minutes later, she did. A little waterfall tumbled into a large round pond, a sandy beach reaching well beyond the water level. Another manmade stream tumbled into a second pond and from there into a third, where the water returned to the river beyond.

“Amazing.”

Reed leaned closer, pointing. “The top one is the shallowest, and the bottom one the deepest.”

Which would explain why the top level was full of parents knee-deep in water pulling toddlers on floatie toys. And why the pond farthest away had tween boys engaged in a battle of epic proportions with water guns. She narrowed her eyes as she scanned more closely. “No lifeguards?”