Read Online Awakened in August (Spring River Valley Book 8) by Clarice Wynter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Clarice Wynter
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to myself. I haven’t missed any scheduled activities.”
“I’m not in boss mode. I’m just concerned. You’ve had four messages from Mr. Thayer since he left here. I hope there wasn’t some kind of issue I should be aware of.”
So Riley had left another message. Drew had been dutifully relaying the calls to her, but she hadn’t called back, mostly because she didn’t want to get on the phone and beg him to come back. She needed to stay focused on the fact that not only had he thrown her over twice the moment he got a call from his office, he’d had to sneak around behind her back to get his messages. As much as she missed him and the way he’d made her feel, she couldn’t imagine spending another minute wondering what other things he might be keeping from her.
“There’s nothing to be worried about.”
“He told me he had an emergency at work. That’s why he needed a ride back to town. Mr. Carter went with him. Do you know anything else about why he left?”
“No. As far as I know, it was a work emergency. He’s a lawyer, so, you know…I’m sure something serious came up. Or rather, he works for a law firm. And he’s waiting to find out if he passed the bar.”
Drew nodded. “Lots of professional pressure on him.”
Lydia mimicked her boss’s expression. “Yep. I didn’t know Mr. Carter had left too.”
“Same reason.”
“Work emergency?”
“So he said.”
“It’s a shame. They both looked like they really needed some extended time off.” Lydia picked at her food. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Riley, except for endless conversations with herself while she was hiking alone, and she was purposely avoiding Gianna who would probably just have said ‘I told you so’. She would have loved to call Lily, but with the reception here in Red Fork being so bad, she would have had to make the call from Drew’s office.
“Speaking of time off, your free day is tomorrow. If you want to take one of the company cars and get off property for a while, I’ll authorize it. If you need to get away.”
“Thanks, I really don’t. I’m perfectly happy right here. I’ll probably just bum around and show everybody a good example of how to do nothing.”
“If that’s what you want. I know the farmer’s market is open early this year. Just saying, it’s good to get away.”
Lydia smiled. She liked Drew. He embodied her philosophy of easy living: health first, balance above all, and dedication to simple pleasures and hard work. She admired that, but over the past two days without Riley, she’d begun to question her own choices. She definitely wasn’t missing the rat race and she never would, but she’d asked herself a dozen times if maybe she’d gone too far when she checked out of civilization. She resented Riley for being dedicated to his work without ever considering that he was telling the truth when he said he loved it. It was wrong to think he needed to be “cured” of his desire to work in the shark tank of a busy corporate law firm if that’s what he thrived on. She’d given all of that up out of necessity, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t handle the stress of it, with the right coping tools, of course.
And maybe with the right person by his side.
She still hadn’t decided if she wanted to take on that challenge, and maybe she’d already lost the right to make the choice. “Do you mind if I stop by your office later? I might as well call him back, just to make sure everything is okay.”
Chapter Ten
The steamy shower had helped with the kink in Riley’s neck, but the two-hour nap afterward had only made him groggy. Nevertheless, he’d tackled the drive to Red Fork, which he discovered took slightly longer in a car than in a bus.
He’d also discovered the distance from the parking area to the resort’s staff cabins was just beyond that of a comfortable walk. By the time he reached Lydia’s cabin, he was on the verge of collapse.
Panting, he
“I’m not in boss mode. I’m just concerned. You’ve had four messages from Mr. Thayer since he left here. I hope there wasn’t some kind of issue I should be aware of.”
So Riley had left another message. Drew had been dutifully relaying the calls to her, but she hadn’t called back, mostly because she didn’t want to get on the phone and beg him to come back. She needed to stay focused on the fact that not only had he thrown her over twice the moment he got a call from his office, he’d had to sneak around behind her back to get his messages. As much as she missed him and the way he’d made her feel, she couldn’t imagine spending another minute wondering what other things he might be keeping from her.
“There’s nothing to be worried about.”
“He told me he had an emergency at work. That’s why he needed a ride back to town. Mr. Carter went with him. Do you know anything else about why he left?”
“No. As far as I know, it was a work emergency. He’s a lawyer, so, you know…I’m sure something serious came up. Or rather, he works for a law firm. And he’s waiting to find out if he passed the bar.”
Drew nodded. “Lots of professional pressure on him.”
Lydia mimicked her boss’s expression. “Yep. I didn’t know Mr. Carter had left too.”
“Same reason.”
“Work emergency?”
“So he said.”
“It’s a shame. They both looked like they really needed some extended time off.” Lydia picked at her food. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Riley, except for endless conversations with herself while she was hiking alone, and she was purposely avoiding Gianna who would probably just have said ‘I told you so’. She would have loved to call Lily, but with the reception here in Red Fork being so bad, she would have had to make the call from Drew’s office.
“Speaking of time off, your free day is tomorrow. If you want to take one of the company cars and get off property for a while, I’ll authorize it. If you need to get away.”
“Thanks, I really don’t. I’m perfectly happy right here. I’ll probably just bum around and show everybody a good example of how to do nothing.”
“If that’s what you want. I know the farmer’s market is open early this year. Just saying, it’s good to get away.”
Lydia smiled. She liked Drew. He embodied her philosophy of easy living: health first, balance above all, and dedication to simple pleasures and hard work. She admired that, but over the past two days without Riley, she’d begun to question her own choices. She definitely wasn’t missing the rat race and she never would, but she’d asked herself a dozen times if maybe she’d gone too far when she checked out of civilization. She resented Riley for being dedicated to his work without ever considering that he was telling the truth when he said he loved it. It was wrong to think he needed to be “cured” of his desire to work in the shark tank of a busy corporate law firm if that’s what he thrived on. She’d given all of that up out of necessity, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t handle the stress of it, with the right coping tools, of course.
And maybe with the right person by his side.
She still hadn’t decided if she wanted to take on that challenge, and maybe she’d already lost the right to make the choice. “Do you mind if I stop by your office later? I might as well call him back, just to make sure everything is okay.”
Chapter Ten
The steamy shower had helped with the kink in Riley’s neck, but the two-hour nap afterward had only made him groggy. Nevertheless, he’d tackled the drive to Red Fork, which he discovered took slightly longer in a car than in a bus.
He’d also discovered the distance from the parking area to the resort’s staff cabins was just beyond that of a comfortable walk. By the time he reached Lydia’s cabin, he was on the verge of collapse.
Panting, he
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