This Winter Night Read online

  Colton turned on his heels and left. He didn’t know if his talk with Eckhart had gotten through to him. He simply had wanted to make sure Eckhart knew that in the future he would be prepared to deal with him in a deadly and final manner should he resume his harassment of Lauren.

  * * *

  As the weeks passed, to Lauren’s relief, she never ran into Adam when she visited the children’s hospital site. He did phone her one day when she was on the way home from work. She’d looked at her cell phone’s screen and seriously thought of not answering but she did because she wanted to know if he’d fully recovered from his head wounds.

  “Yes, Adam, what do you want?”

  “I’m surprised you answered,” he said.

  “Don’t waste time making small talk.”

  “This is hard for me to say,” he began almost timidly.

  “Well, I have no trouble telling you to go to hell if you’ve called to make further threats. The fact is I saved your life. Nichole had snapped. She was going to shoot you. If I hadn’t been there I don’t know what would have happened.”

  “That’s why I’m calling,” Adam said, “To thank you for saving my life. I do believe Nichole hated me in that moment. She might have done something crazy.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Lauren said skeptically, “What’s the catch?”

  “No catch,” Adam disavowed. “I’m not incapable of learning from my mistakes, you know. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. No seeking revenge or any of that. I, um, I wish you the best.”

  At that point she was really suspicious. “What brought this on?”

  “Almost dying can have a spiritual effect on a man,” was all he said. “Goodbye, Lauren.”

  After hanging up Lauren had wondered if indeed Adam had changed. Only time would tell.

  Nichole had phoned Lauren after she received the tape Lauren had sent to her. She’d had misgivings about destroying all of the evidence and was glad that Lauren had had the foresight not to. They had agreed to keep in touch.

  * * *

  Spring was soon upon them and Lauren and Colton planned a long weekend at her cabin to enjoy the season in the mountains. They set off early one Saturday morning in April in Colton’s SUV.

  “Grandpa Beck wants us to come to the lodge tonight for dinner,” she told Colton as he drove. “Since Mina has been there he’s becoming a lot more social. And she’s transformed the lodge by adding a few decorative touches and bringing the place into the twenty-first century with internet connections. Could you believe he didn’t offer Wi-Fi? She sent photos. His rustic lodge now appeals to a whole new clientele. Bookings have doubled. Grandpa Beck complains that they’ll never have any downtime if things keep up like they have been lately.”

  “Good for him,” Colton said.

  Lauren laughed. “Mina says he complains all the time, but she can tell he’s secretly pleased.”

  “What about Mina?” Colton asked. “Does she like living up there?”

  “She loves it. It keeps her mind occupied, and Mina likes to stay extremely busy so she doesn’t have to think too hard. When she thinks she invariably comes back to the fact that she lost the man she loved.”

  “That must be hard to forget no matter how much she works,” said Colton.

  “It is,” said Lauren sadly. “But what else can she do but take one day at a time and continue living? She knows Keith would want her to find love again.”

  The day was bright and sunny. As they drew closer to the mountains the air got crisper. The leaves on the trees had turned from orange and yellow to green.

  Colton had been looking forward to this weekend. Although he and Lauren tried to see each other at least once or twice each week, it was never enough time. Many of their weekends were spent with each other’s families. There had been birthday parties, Sunday dinners and a big get-together to celebrate Lauren’s parents’ anniversary. He enjoyed getting to know her family. But what he really wanted was more alone time with her.

  He glanced over at her. She was thumbing a text message to someone, her face scrunched up in concentration. Her long wavy hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing well-worn jeans and a short-sleeved Duke University T-shirt. She’d kicked off her sandals miles back. She knew how to relax.

  In fact, she was good at many things, including making him fall in love with her. It had been four months since they’d met on that fateful winter night.

  He smiled as he returned his attention solely to his driving. He was remembering a conversation he’d had with his mother a couple days ago. She’d come by the office because she wanted to tell him that she was going back to work. For years she had been an interior decorator. His father would build the houses and she would design the interior of the model homes. His father often said that the houses he built were structurally sound and built to last, but if not for his mother’s contribution no one touring them would see them as homes.

  That day in his office, Colton had said, “Why would you want to go back to work? Dad left you financially secure. You don’t ever have to work again. Why not enjoy life? Go to Paris. Run with the bulls in Pamplona. You can do anything you want to.”

  “Running with the bulls is a man thing,” Veronica had said with a smile. “Besides, working is what I want to do, not be on a perennial vacation. I need purpose in my life. I need to contribute something to society.”

  “You’re contributing something to society by being my mother,” Colton said in response to her plea for purpose. “I still need you. Jade needs you. You’ve got two grandchildren to spoil. A lot of mothers would be trying to marry me off, and you’re looking to go back to work.”

  “Honey, you’re a hairbreadth away from fulfilling your father’s and my wishes for marrying you off,” Veronica told him smugly.

  That had gotten Colton’s attention. He’d stood up behind his desk, rested his hands atop it and glared down at his mother who had the grace to squirm a little in her comfy leather chair across from him. “I know that tone,” he began, his voice firm. “What do you know that I don’t?”

  “Darling, do you remember my telling you about that game your dad and I used to play? Whenever we’d meet a young lady we thought would suit you we’d say, could she be the girl for Colton? Well, Lauren was at the top of our list. Of course back then she was married to that horrible Eckhart man but we always held out hope. After your father died and you went to our cabin and had to spend time with Lauren I figured it was fate. I’m delighted that you and Lauren finally got together. I’m sure your father is somewhere laughing.”

  Colton had sat back down behind his desk, his eyes on his mother. Shaking his head in wonder, he said, “When were you planning on telling me this?”

  “On your wedding day,” said Veronica, smiling. “But since the wedding’s on lock I’m telling you now.”

  “The wedding isn’t on lock,” Colton told her. “I haven’t even told Lauren that I’m in love with her yet.”

  This put a look of concern on Veronica’s face. “You don’t love her?”

  “Yes, I love her,” Colton said out loud for the first time. “I love her but I’m trying to pick the right time to tell her. Lauren’s experience with Eckhart left her heart bruised and battered. I don’t think she’s going to want to be in love anytime soon, even if she does love me.”

  “Huh?” said Veronica. “Speak English, please.”

  “Eckhart swept her off her feet,” Colton explained. “Our relationship has been a whirlwind, too. How we met, the quick attraction—everything points to it being too soon to declare my love. She’ll never take me seriously.”

  “You can’t be sure of that unless you tell her,” said his mother.

  Now, as he drove toward Bryson City, Colton wondered exactly how he was going to convince Lauren that the love he felt for her was real
and not infatuation or lust. At some point in a relationship built on lust a transition to love has to be made for the couple to stay together, right?

  This weekend he resolved to let her know how much he loved her.

  Chapter 13

  “Oh, my God, girl, you look good!” Lauren exclaimed upon seeing Amina later that evening. She and Colton had driven over to Grandpa Beck’s lodge after resting awhile then showering and dressing for dinner upon their arrival at her cabin.

  Lauren had barely set foot out of the SUV before Amina hugged her tightly. “So do you,” Amina said in her ear. “Being in love suits you.”

  The sisters both had on jeans and dressy blouses, but Lauren had on heels and Amina wore her trusty athletic shoes.

  Lauren looked at her sister whose skin was glowing with good health. “I can’t hide anything from you.”

  The lodge, a ten-thousand-square-foot three-story building made of hand-hewn pine logs stood in the midst of a pine forest. The lodge itself had eight guest rooms but there were also six small cabins dotting the property. Spring was Benjamin’s busiest season even before Amina had become his partner. They were fully booked.

  Her grandfather came out of the lodge and hugged her after Amina let her go. She stood eye to eye with him. “Grandpa, you remember Colton,” Lauren said, gesturing to Colton who was coming around the SUV to shake Benjamin Beck’s hand.

  Ben looked up at Colton with a smile on his weathered face. “Sure, I do. How are you, Colton?”

  “Just great, sir,” said Colton. His gaze took in the charm of the lodge and the splendor of the surrounding woods. “This is quite a place you have here.”

  “Wait until you see the inside,” said Benjamin proudly. All four of them began walking toward the two-story entrance of the lodge. Huge tree trunk columns stood sentinel on either side of the intricately carved door that reminded Colton of a totem pole. In the wood of the door there were images of forest animals and eagles soaring in the sky.

  Inside the foyer the ceiling rose two stories, and a curved staircase led to the guest rooms. Pine floors polished to a high gleam stretched as far as the eye could see. A fireplace large enough to roast a pig in was the main focus of the lobby.

  Heavy pine furnishings with beige cushions composed the seating groups near the fireplace and African and American Indian art in the form of wood sculptures and woven throws on the couches and chairs lent a Western charm to the décor.

  “I like it,” Lauren said appreciatively to her sister and grandfather after observing the touches Amina had added to the lodge since her arrival. “It’s not as masculine as it used to be.”

  “I could see the wisdom in Mina’s ideas,” Benjamin said. “Women enjoy getting away to the mountains, too, and now they’ll feel more comfortable here. When I first opened this place I catered to hunters and fishermen. They usually left their wives at home. These days the wives come along. I’m not a stick in the mud, you know. I can change with the times.”

  “Lauren,” Amina said, “let me show you the new kitchen.”

  Benjamin laughed shortly. “We’ll skip that, if you don’t mind. Come with me, Colton.”

  While Lauren and Amina went off to explore the kitchen, Benjamin led Colton to the lounge. Unlike the lobby, the lounge was more laid-back and was the designated place for guests to have a cocktail or catch a game on TV. It looked like a large den except there was a fully stocked bar in the back and a burly bartender ready to mix your favorite libation.

  “What’s your poison?” Benjamin asked as he and Colton took seats at the bar.

  “I’m not much of a drinker,” Colton said. “How about the house beer?”

  “Two drafts, George,” said Benjamin.

  George, a tall black guy in his late forties, must have weighed three hundred pounds, but it was distributed in such a way that he just looked stocky rather than overweight. “Anything you say, Ben,” he said with a smile.

  “George, this is Colton Riley,” Benjamin introduced them. He glanced at Colton. “George has been with me for ten years. He’s my right-hand man.”

  “Which is Ben’s way of saying I do a little bit of everything around here,” George joked as he drew two beers from a steel keg under the counter.

  He set the mugs of beer before them. Foam spilled over the tops, and he wiped it away with a white dish towel.

  “Thank you,” said Colton.

  “My pleasure,” said George good-naturedly and turned away to fill another guest’s order.

  Colton and Benjamin drank their cold beers companionably before Ben broke the silence. “So, Colton, you and Laurie seem to be going strong.”

  “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone call Lauren Laurie,” Colton commented.

  “I’m the only one who calls her that,” said Benjamin. “All the other girls have their names shortened, but no one ever called Lauren by a nickname. I don’t know why. Maybe because she was the oldest. She was a serious child. Her grandmother used to say Laurie was so serious-minded. And that she did everything fast, from taking her first steps as a toddler to saying her first words. I don’t know much about the hierarchy of siblings, but maybe my wife had a point. Laurie didn’t spend much time doing childish things. That’s why I’m glad to see her looking so relaxed and happy. You’ve no doubt had something to do with that, so I thank you.”

  Colton was looking into Ben’s dark brown eyes and wondering what had brought this on. “If anyone’s benefited from our relationship it’s me. She makes me happy.”

  Ben smiled and changed the subject. “So, when was the last time you saw my big-headed son-in-law?”

  Colton chuckled. “A couple of Sundays ago,” he said. “He and Mrs. Gaines are doing well.”

  “Has he found a hobby since he retired?”

  “He watches a lot of sports.”

  “He needs to get a job. My Virginia still works.”

  “Lauren says the general retired after more than thirty years of emeritus service, that’s what’s on the award he received when he retired.”

  “A man has the right to retire,” Ben told him, explaining himself. “But Fonzi is not the type who can sit at home. He needs to be doing something productive. He hasn’t been retired long enough to realize that. He will one day and if he hasn’t already gone stir crazy, he’ll find something to do.”

  “I get the feeling,” Colton said, looking at Benjamin suspiciously, “that you don’t dislike Mr. Gaines as much as you pretend to.”

  Benjamin laughed shortly. “I don’t dislike him at all. He’s been a good husband and father. That’s all you can ask of a man. We’ve been sparring together for so long it’s become a habit. He’d probably think I was sick or something if I didn’t give him a hard time.”

  “And you’re not mad at him for not giving you a grandson?”

  “I would be one sorry son of a bitch not to be grateful for my wonderful granddaughters. They’re all exceptional women. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to having grandsons one day.” He winked at Colton.

  Colton laughed. “You’re winking at the wrong man. Lauren and I are a long way from having kids.”

  “But you are heading in that direction, aren’t you?” Ben asked hopefully.

  “I am,” Colton assured him. “I don’t know if Lauren is.”

  * * *

  “Are you going to do a little sightseeing on this visit?” Amina asked over dinner. “Or are you just going to spend all your time holed up in the cabin?” She wiggled her brows at Lauren in a leering manner.

  Lauren laughed at her sister’s antics then promptly ignored the innuendos. “I thought I’d take Colton to see Mingo Falls tomorrow.”

  “It ought to be pretty up there this time of year,” Ben said. “Remember, though, the hike leading t
o the falls can be treacherous for those who’re not used to the terrain. So be careful.”

  “Isn’t that on the Cherokee Indian Reservation?” Colton asked.

  “Yeah, mingo means big bear in Cherokee. Mingo Falls is one of the highest falls in the area,” Ben answered before putting a large piece of steak he’d speared with his fork into his mouth.

  “We don’t need special permission to go on the reservation?”

  “No, you don’t need a permit,” Ben said.

  “Then let’s do it,” Colton said to Lauren.

  * * *

  Mingo Falls was located on the Qualla Boundary on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and just outside of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which was the most visited National Park in the United States. Lauren and Colton were able to drive the SUV to Mingo Falls Campground but from there they had to walk.

  The midmorning air was chilly, and fog could be seen in low-lying areas. The mist rose in the mountain air but it began to dissipate by late morning. The sky looked gray and the clouds portended rain.

  Lauren and Colton wore sturdy walking shoes, jeans and T-shirts and jackets. In their backpacks they carried bottled water and a light lunch in the form of ham sandwiches and fresh peaches.

  The climb to the falls was steep and the terrain was rocky and covered with tree roots that made it tricky to walk. It was necessary to be as careful as Ben had warned. As they strolled along the trail they encountered other hikers coming down, and when they looked back they saw others ascending. They heard the falls before they saw them. There was something spiritual about the sound of water falling over rocks.

  When they finally reached the falls, they stood rapt with wonder at the one-hundred-and-twenty-foot example of nature’s power and majesty.

  Lauren stood in front of Colton, who had his arms wrapped around her. “No wonder people risk broken bones to get up here,” Colton said softly. “This is breathtaking.”

  The crashing of the waterfall nearly drowned out his voice, but Lauren heard him and wholeheartedly agreed. “It seems like the most beautiful places on earth require effort to get to.” She sighed wistfully. “Wouldn’t it be great waking up in the morning and seeing that sight first thing?”