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“See you bright and early.”
Dinner was stolen smiles between Chandler and Rick, but Chandler kept urging him to do something. “Chandler, stick your head back in your phone. It did make dinner quieter.”
“Dad, you nagged me almost to death.”
“Still.”
They’d been talking about things, leaving a lot out, but Colby didn’t notice, and I tried to stay out of it. In the morning, during the next run, Rick did tell me more about himself. On the top of that same overlook, we sat on the log and got our breathing back to near normal before he said to me, “You want to know about me. I’m sorry, but for me, that’s strange.”
“Because you live in a small town where everyone knows most everything. It was the same in my small circles. I’m someone new here that doesn’t know all your secrets.”
“Secrets…” He said it under his breath then continued to look across at the peaks. “I’ve rarely had those. I’m one of those, what you see is what you get, kinda guys. But, lately, I’m discovering new things about myself.”
“New things are always nice.”
“Not always, but this one, well, it has me thrown. It wasn’t anything I ever expected. Now I must navigate things, so I don’t lose myself completely.”
“Sounds like that’s a real fear.”
“I told you about my first wife. My second, however, she’s not someone I speak often about, and there are reasons. She was…is, I’m sure, a terrible person. She put up this perfect portrait of what I thought she was, and it turns out that she was nothing like that. Selfish, greedy, and as a mother, well, she wasn’t good. She barely wanted to spend time with Colby. She insisted I hire a nanny. She even refused to breastfeed him.”
“I’ve heard of postpartum depression. Was it that?”
“No. She was like that before the birth and for a year after. She wanted the home, the husband, the money, but the kids, no. She wanted to be rich and free. I had made her sign a prenuptial agreement, as my lawyers insisted for me to do. It would have given her a nice amount at the end of our marriage, but she couldn’t come after all of it. Well, she tried anyway. She threatened custody courts, taking Colby on weekends, and I knew how that would be. She’d ignore him. I did the only thing I could do. I gave her two million dollars and made her sign away her rights to Colby. She was perfectly happy with that.”
I sat, embarrassed. Sure, I’d had my heart broken, but Jefferyhadn’t been that terrible. He’d let me take everything that was mine, although a lot I left behind because the memories attached would have hurt too badly.
“I’ve been very…afraid of love again. See, Kanan, it’s not just me. It’s my kids. Anyone that wouldn’t want them to be a big and integral part of us, well…”
“How could they not? The kids are wonderful. Colby just charms his way into everyone’s hearts.”
“I’ve seen him wrapping you around his tiny finger.”
I blushed, feeling my face heat as I took the teasing. “He has. I’m mush when it comes to that kid.”
“Chandler, too, he cares for you. He said you have been the person this place has needed around for years.”
That gave me a lift. “Really? That’s sweet.”
“In fact, he’d like you around when he comes home, often, he says, for breaks and holidays.”
I was at a loss as to what that meant. I asked, “In what capacity?”
“That’s something we can figure out when and if that time comes, Kanan. There’s no pressure. If you’re ready to move on after Chandler leaves, I’ll understand.”
After another hour of running, walking and Rick showing me around a few more places that were more breathtaking than the last, we slowly headed back to the houses.
“This place is a paradise. It’s insane.”
“I love my home. I love it so much that each time I see a little piece of it I almost forgot, I smile a bit more when I see it.”
“Well, I’ve fallen for the place. Put me to work walking the trails. For safety, you know,” I said, teasing.
Rick stopped at the path that split, one leading him home, the other leading to the guest house. “Dinner tonight?”
“I’ll be there.”
“It was Colby’s pick for the night, so…I hope you don’t mind chicken nuggets. They’re from our own chickens, organically fed, and lightly breaded.”
