Page 33 of Finding Love

CHAPTERELEVEN

Falling asleep with Brook in his arms should have been the best feeling in the world. But the fact of where they were, and what was to come in the days that followed, loomed over him. A couple of hours later, he slid out of bed, leaving Brook and Willy to sleep peacefully the rest of the night.

For over a year, he’d avoided logging into his emails, personal or business. He hadn’t left totally unannounced. He had met with the board of directors and informed them he was taking a break. But he hadn’t mentioned that the break would be so long or that he would be off-grid the entire time.

Sitting down to the laptop at the desk in the office downstairs, he logged in for the first time in a year and cringed at the number of unread emails.

A simple search to weed out the important ones narrowed the thousands to hundreds. Another search narrowed them even further until there were eighty-odd emails that seemed vital.

He worked until sunlight broke into the room and he had to stand and close the blinds so that he could see the screen. He didn’t know who had set a tray of hot coffee and pastries on the edge of his desk, but when he looked up again, they were there.

Taking a brief break, he downed a cup and thought about heading upstairs to see if Brook was awake. Then his phone began to ring.

The first call was from Kelly Larchwood, his secretary. The woman had worked for his father, and, after his death, Ryder hadn’t seen any reason not to keep the extremely proficient woman in the same position.

“So, it’s true, you’re back, Mr. Gallant?” Kelly asked when he answered the phone.

“I am.” He leaned back in the chair and rolled his shoulders.

“Will you be coming into the office today? Should I schedule a board meeting?” Kelly seemed eager.

He thought about saying no, but then thought about it and sighed heavily. “Schedule it for mid-morning,” he answered after checking the time.

“Ten?” Kelly replied.

“Perfect. I’ll be there an hour before. Make sure my office—”

“Your office was taken over by Mark Lindgren a week after you left.”

“Right.” He rolled his eyes. Of course the man would have weaseled his way into his office. It was the biggest, with the best view. “For now, find a place for me. I’ll be there in a little over an hour.”

“Will do,” Kelly said cheerfully. “May I say, we are all looking forward to your return.”

He wanted to ask her why, but before he could respond, she hung up.

“You’re going into the office?” Brook asked from the doorway. She was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, and he could see the strings from her swimsuit falling out of the bottom of her shirt. Willy was sitting at her feet, looking bored.

Ryder walked over and wrapped his arms around her. What he wanted was to spend the day lying around the pool with her. Instead, he’d have to shower and see if the suits he had hanging in his closet still fit before dragging himself down to the office building in downtown Seattle.

“Yeah,” he finally answered into her hair. “Just for a couple of meetings. I should be back by dinner.”

“Okay,” she said easily as she looked up at him. “We were going to hunt some food down, then test out the temperature in the pool.”

He smiled. “I think there are some more pastries in the kitchen, possibly some hot coffee.” He ran his eyes over her and noticed that she looked very relaxed.

“Go, do what you need to do. I’m just here for the vacation and to support you. If you need me,” she replied with a smile.

He wanted to tell her how amazing she was. How generous it was for her to set aside her time to be there for him. But her chuckle stopped him.

“Don’t look at me like I’m a saint. I do have some selfish motives for being here.” Her arms wrapped around him a little tighter. “What you did to me last night in the shower being one of them,” she purred.

His smile was quick, and he thought about taking her back upstairs, but then his phone rang again, and he came crashing back to reality.

“Go, do what you came to do.” She kissed him. “Willy and I will be fine here.” Then she and his dog disappeared down the hallway towards the kitchen.

This call was from Mark Lindgren, which wasn’t really a surprise. Kelly had informed him that she’d been working with Mark for the past year, and he would no doubt want to talk to him before the meeting.

“So, you’re back,” Mark said firmly.