The Escape Collection: (The Escape Collection) (55 page)

I placed the sprig on my pillow and shook out the first article of clothing in the pile. The skirt was long and bright and the fabric flowed when I swung it back and forth. It was like nothing I’d ever wear. Stephanie would probably love it. She’d tell me it was enlightening and would let my spirit be free. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’d seen a very similar look on Steph before.
 

At least it was clean, and it did look comfortable.

I tugged off my jeans and pulled the skirt on. I couldn’t help it, but the moment I put it on, I had to spin. The blue and green fabric swirled around me. The silver threads caught the light and sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the window.
 

I laughed at myself and grabbed a blouse from the pile. There were three of them, all made of a thin, gauzy white cotton. Lavender flowers had been embroidered on the hem of the one I held, daisies on another, and a red flower of some kind on the third.
 

Trading the blouse for my t-shirt, I felt lighter right away. Even if I looked like a hippie, the clothes were comfortable and I didn’t have to deal with an annoying waistband that felt a little too tight. I yanked the elastic out of my ponytail and using my new brush, picked out the tangles, letting my hair hang loose around my shoulders.
 

I felt a little like I was playing dress-up, but there had been nothing normal about the last few days anyway, so why not?

My little bedroom was a mess, and while a stack of clothes on an unmade bed at home would have been the norm, it bothered me to have the serene environment of the cabin messy. I grabbed a few hangers and hung everything up in the wardrobe; bundling up my dirty jeans, I tucked them inside as well.
 

The bed was completely disheveled. I couldn’t remember my dreams, but by the looks of things, I’d had a rough sleep. I reached to straighten the blankets, and a flash caught my eye.
 

A silver key lay in the middle of the bed. It must have fallen out of the bag. I held it between two fingers and examined it. It was too small to be a house key, and not the right type to fit into a padlock. Strange.

Sheena must have dropped it in the bag by mistake. I left the room and put the key on the kitchen counter so I would remember to take it to her when I went back to town.
 

The view of the meadow beckoned to me through the window, and with nothing left to do, I pushed open the screen door and went to sit in the rocking chair.
 

I had no idea what time it was. Kayla would be done at school. Had Jon picked her up? Did he remember to take her to dance class? I should call.

I looked back to the house, where my phone was. What would I say? He’d tell me to come home. How could I tell him I didn’t want to? I couldn’t tell him that all I wanted was to be alone.
 

“No,” I said aloud. “I’ll call later.”

I was probably lying. But even I knew I’d have to call Jon at some point.
 

For the moment, I forced my mind to shift gears and decided to try a relaxation technique I’d read about in Meditating Mommies. The book suggested focusing on one image, the first one that came to mind, until it became so clear that it took over all other thoughts, releasing stress.

I closed my eyes. It was worth a try.
 

A picture of a pick-up truck appeared in my mind. An older model, blue truck. Exactly like the one that had been parked in front of Sheena’s store earlier.

A strange choice to meditate on, but I went with it.

I focused on the outline of the truck. The unrolled windows. The tool box in the back. The roar of the engine.
 

The slamming of a door jarred me from my meditation and I opened my eyes. Craning my neck, I could see the same blue truck parked down the lane, close to the tree line.
 

“Bizarre,” I said, and shook my head. “This meditation stuff works a little too well.”

I watched, and a moment later, Jason appeared from the driver’s side.
 

Of course. It had to have been Jason’s truck I’d seen at the store.
 

He pulled out a chain saw and wheelbarrow from the back, heaving the heavy equipment with ease. Even from a distance, I could see the muscles of his back straining against the fabric of his shirt. His masculinity was obvious and raw. Very different from Jon’s perfectly groomed good looks. Very different.
 

He must have sensed my eyes on him because he turned around and smiled. Damn if my stomach didn’t flutter a bit.
 

“Hello there,” he called. “Hope I didn’t scare you this time.”

“Nope. Of course, it helps when I know you’re coming.”

He loaded his wheelbarrow and, pushing it, made his way closer to the deck, and me. “It looks good on you,” Jason said, gesturing to my outfit.
 

“I don’t know about that.” I laughed, surprising myself. “It’s not really the type of thing I’m used to. But it’s comfortable. And clean.”

“What are you used to?” he asked. He leaned against the deck railing, crossed his arms and looked up at me. “I mean, what’s your story? Why’re you here?”

My laughter caught in my throat. “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” I choked. I turned away, focusing my attention on a bumblebee nestling into a yellow blossom.

“Wow, that was rude of me,” he said. “I’m sorry.” He sounded genuine, so I turned back to face him.
 

“It was rude of you.”

“I really am sorry, Becca. I have a way of sticking my foot in my mouth sometimes. It’s not my best feature. That and my terrible singing. I’m working on it. The rudeness, I mean.” Jason smiled again and I let myself smile in return. “Besides, Sheena told me to leave you alone.”

“She did?” When he didn’t answer, I added, “It’s okay. I should probably apologize too for the way I acted last night. I guess it’s not very polite to threaten kindness with violence.”

“Forget about it.” He waved his hand, dismissing my apology. “So, what do you think of Rainbow Valley so far?”

I sat back in the rocker and gazed over the field into the trees. “I love it,” I breathed, mostly to myself.

“Well, it’s not too bad for a town of old hippies,” he said.
 

“So there are lots of hippies here? I’ve hardly seen anyone at all.”

“Are you kidding me? Pretty much everyone here is some sort of free spirit communing with nature. Why do you think the town is called Rainbow Valley? It’s not because there are actually rainbows. It’s because years ago the hippies saw rainbows when they were tripping on whatever drugs they’d taken.”

“That’s not true.” I pretended to cover my ears. “Don’t ruin it for me.”

“Actually, I don’t know if it’s true or not,” Jason conceded. “But that’s what I like to think. It’s more interesting than just seeing a rainbow in the valley, don’t you think?”

He looked so cute, trying to keep a straight face. Cute in a deadly handsome way. I couldn’t help it and I burst into laughter.
 

No sooner had the sound bubbled from my mouth, I stopped it. Or tried to. The result was a gagging snort.
 

“Hey,” Jason said. “Don’t stop on my account. It’s funny.”

The burble welling inside me burst forth and I let myself laugh. Really laugh. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t contain it, so I let go and doubled over in my chair, holding my stomach.

It had been months since I’d had a good laugh, and longer still since my stomach muscles hurt from the effort.
 

After a few moments, I recovered enough to sit up and I saw Jason watching me with a grin on his face.
 

I covered my mouth with my hand and swallowed hard.
 

“I’m sorry,” I managed. “I don’t know why I did that.”

“No,” he said. “I told you, it’s okay to let it out—the whole place is kind of bizarre. I’d laugh, too.” He grabbed a tool belt from the wheelbarrow and fastened it around his waist, where it hung low on his hips. “Besides,” he added, “you look like you needed it.”

I had needed it but I didn’t like having it pointed out. He held my gaze for a minute, but I had to turn away.
 

“I have to take care of the deadfall next to Prince’s Pond,” Jason said, changing tracks. “I should probably get going and leave you alone.”

When I looked up again, he was tucking a pair of work gloves into his back pocket.

“Thank you,” I said, and got up from the chair.

“For the deadfall?”

“No.” I smoothed my skirt but couldn’t bring myself to thank him for making me laugh. “Just—thanks.”

He shrugged. “For the record, you have a beautiful smile and an amazing laugh. I get the feeling you don’t use them nearly enough.” He turned away and picked up the wheelbarrow handles.
 

I took a step back, rolling his words around in my brain.

“Hey, Becca?” Jason called, before he turned to go. “Have you seen Prince’s Pond yet?”

I shook my head, too shocked from his earlier comment to speak.
 

“Want to come along? It’s beautiful.”
 

I hesitated. He unsettled me, but at the same time, being around him kind of made me feel like I was free-falling off a cliff into the unknown. And I liked it.

“It’s even more beautiful than this.” He waved his arm, encompassing the meadow that had entranced me.
 

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

His eyes challenged me and he said, “Then why don’t you come see for yourself?”

***

I never would have seen the path in the tree line if I hadn’t been following Jason. It was well hidden by a cover of shrubs, and while it looked worn, it probably hadn’t seen much traffic in a while. Once we pushed past the low-hanging branches and overgrown bushes, the trail was easier to follow and wide enough for Jason to maneuver his wheelbarrow, only occasionally getting hung up on a root or large rock.
 

We walked in silence, mostly because I didn’t know what to say.
 

After a few minutes, Jason called over his shoulder. “It’s not much farther.”

“That’s good.”
 

He stopped and turned around. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those women who don’t like to walk.”
 

“I walk lots, thank you very much.” I straightened my shoulders and tried to hide my breathing that had become noticeably heavier in my effort to keep up to his quick pace.
 

“Don’t worry, we’re close,” he said, and continued walking. “It’s not a place we tell the renters about. Some discover it on their own, of course, but most don’t.”

Jason held back a branch for me and I ducked my head to push past. “Why wouldn’t you…” My words drifted away as I stepped out of the woods into a clearing.
 

The thick trees of the forest had thinned to reveal grassy banks that sloped down to a crystal clear pool of water. It wasn’t a huge lake, but it wasn’t the pond I’d pictured either. Delicate ferns laced the edges of the tree line with clusters of red flowers dotting the banks.
 

“So.” Jason came behind me and asked, “What do you think?”
 

“I...I…it’s stunning.”

“You like it then?”

I let my eyes drift over the scene in front of me. It was like a screen shot from a Disney movie. I expected birds to fly down from the tree tops at any moment and start singing to me.
 

“I wasn’t expecting this,” I admitted. “When you said pond, I had an image of lily pads and algae. This is something else altogether.”

“I like it,” he said, and leaving his wheelbarrow, he moved past me towards the water’s edge. “It’s actually not really a pond, but more of a lake. I’m not sure of the definition exactly. The water’s fresh and clean, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“You don’t actually swim in it, do you?” I ventured closer, knelt in the grass and stuck my hand in the water, prepared to be shocked. “Oh,” I said and looked up at Jason. “It’s not all that cold.”

“It’s actually fed by underground springs and one of them must be a natural hot spring, because it keeps the water at a decent temperature. It’s no hot tub, that’s for sure,” he said. “But it’s perfect for cooling off on a warm day without freezing to death.”

“It would be.” I watched my hand move under the surface of the water.
 

“So what do you think? Want to go for a dip?”

“Oh, no.” I snatched my hand back. “I don’t have a suit.”

“Who needs a suit?” Jason unhooked his tool belt and dropped it to the ground before reaching for the hem of his shirt. In one quick motion, he peeled it over his head and was half naked in front of me.
 

I felt the heat in my cheeks but I couldn’t stop staring at his chiseled stomach. He had a body like an underwear model. A really hot underwear model.

I made myself turn away, so I wouldn’t keep staring like a teenage girl. “I couldn’t do that,” I said.
 

“Why not? It’s a warm day. It would be good to cool off a little,” he said. “Besides, it’s not like we know each other.”

“That’s just it.” I turned around to face him at the exact moment he started unbuttoning his jeans. The heat in my face flared and I spun again, focusing on the ground. “I don’t even know you.”

“That’s the point, Becca. We have no preconceived ideas about each other. No strings.”

No strings? Did he just say that? It’s not like we were in a relationship, or going to have one. I was about to tell him just that when I heard a splash. I turned around in time to see him break the surface, water dripping from his shaggy locks. He shook his head and drops went flying. “Come on.”
 

It did look refreshing. I glanced over at the pile of clothes he’d left. It would feel good to swim. A heat flushed through my body.

“I don’t think so,” I called to him. “I’m not that type of woman.”

“Not the type to swim?” Jason moved his hands back and forth, keeping himself afloat effortlessly. “You don’t know how?”