The Peach Keeper (23 page)

“What makes you think your father got fired?”

That surprised her. “Because he never went back to teaching.”

“I was there the day he left,” Colin said. “And he wasn’t fired. He quit.”

Willa sat up and turned to him. “What?”

Colin opened his eyes, then lifted one arm to block out the sun. “When you pulled the fire alarm and then
let that banner fall, announcing that you were really the Joker, my parents showed up almost immediately, demanding an apology from the principal because I’d been his number-one suspect since you put that Ogden Nash quote on the marquee. Your father was called in to apologize, as well. I could tell he was upset with your being escorted out of the school by the police. It was clear he didn’t want to be there, apologizing to us like he’d done something wrong. By that time everyone had figured out that the reason you’d been so successful as the Joker was because you had your dad’s keys and passwords. The principal said to your father, ‘I know it’s not your fault you have a sneaky daughter. You won’t be penalized for that.’ And your father just lost it. He said that if I had pulled something like what you had just pulled and was caught in the act, I wouldn’t have been hauled off by the police. In fact, when everyone thought it was me, no one took action, because of who my family was. He said he was proud of your acts of rebellion, that he wished he’d had the courage to do it himself when he was your age, and that he’d known what you were doing all along. Almost from the very beginning. He said something about being tired of living such a cautious life and for once he was throwing caution to the wind. And he quit.”

Willa was flabbergasted. “That doesn’t sound anything like my father.”

“I know,” Colin agreed. “But that’s what happened.”

“He knew?”

“Apparently so. I thought you should know.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

Colin shrugged and closed his eyes again, and it didn’t take long to tell that he’d gone to sleep. She sat there, her arms wrapped around her knees, thinking about the possibility of her father actually knowing about her pranks all along, about him saying he was finally throwing caution to the wind. What did that mean? She’d always assumed he was happy with his life, happy doing what Grandmother Georgie told him to do. And she’d thought he was ashamed of her actions as a teenager.

She and Paxton had planned to meet at the nursing home tomorrow to talk to Agatha again. Maybe Willa could ask Agatha about her father and Grandmother Georgie’s relationship. If it was like everything else she’d learned lately, there was a lot more going on there than she’d thought.

She didn’t know how long she’d sat there, lost in thought, before she turned to see if Colin was still asleep.

He wasn’t. He was staring at her, one arm propped under his head.

“Did you have a nice nap?”

“Sorry,” he said as he sat up, his ab muscles tightening. “I didn’t mean to conk out on you. I don’t sleep well, especially when I come home. It catches up with me.”

She gave him a sympathetic smile and brushed some of his dark hair off his forehead. “Yes, I noticed that when you passed out on my couch.”

“That is a
great
couch.”

Their eyes met, both smiling. As if by mutual
consent, Colin leaned forward and she met him halfway, their lips touching gently, sun-warm and dry. It wasn’t long before gentle turned hungry and insistent. She found herself leaning back, and he went with her. She’d never felt like this with a man before. He made her chest feel like it was going to explode. God, to feel this way without actually breaking the law was amazing. Okay, so technically they had broken the law by sliding down the rock, but kissing here on the bank, this was simply living in the moment, and there was no law against that.

She felt his hand push at her shirt, and she arched against him. “You’re so beautiful,” he said as her shirt passed over her head, landing somewhere behind them. His hands went to her breasts, and she sucked in her breath. “I think I’ve always been looking for you. I can’t believe you’ve been here all along.”

He pushed her bra to the side and kissed her breasts. She opened her eyes and focused on the top of the rock. Someone could come along at any moment. “Colin, someone might see.”

He lifted his head. “And tell me that doesn’t excite you on some level,” he said as he put his lips to hers.

She pulled at his hair until he lifted his head again and looked down at her. He was breathing heavily. “It excites me now, who I am now, Colin,” she said, because, for some reason, it was important for her to tell him. “This isn’t me being someone I used to be.”

He looked confused.

She suddenly felt sad. This wasn’t going to be what she wanted it to be. How could it? It was built on too
many misconceptions. “You’re not going to stay, are you?” she asked.

He hesitated a moment before he said, “No.”

“So your plan is to seduce me and then leave.”

“There was no plan.” His eyes bore into hers. “Why don’t you come with me?” He wasn’t a disingenuous man. In her heart, she knew that. He was trying to find a way to make this work.

“I can’t leave now. My grandmother is here.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me you’re happy, Willa.”

Disingenuous, no. Astoundingly unaware, yes. “Why don’t you do the same?”

He lifted himself off of her so quickly it was almost as if she’d slapped him. “Of course I’m happy.”

She readjusted her bra and found her shirt and put it on. “Right. That’s why you sleep so well.”

He used both hands to scrub his face, as if finally waking up. He sighed and watched the water for a moment. “We should go,” he said, reaching over and handing her her boots.

Well, at least one of them had learned something about themselves on this hike.

Too bad it wasn’t him.

They followed Tinpenny Trail back around to the trailhead. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was slanting through the trees by the time they reached the parking lot. They climbed inside his car, and Willa left her window down to let the warm summer wind blow on her as Colin drove.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, the first time he’d spoken to her since the rock.

“Starving,” she admitted.

“Let’s get something to eat. Let’s not end the day on such an uncomfortable note,” he said, and she appreciated the effort.

“Have you ever been to the Depot Restaurant on National Street?” she asked. “Hikers come in looking like us all the time.”

Once out of Cataract, the first intersection they came to was a four-way stop. To their right was a blue Audi.

“That’s Sebastian’s car,” Colin said, giving them a honk and a wave. “He and Paxton must be heading home from the concert luncheon. I can’t believe it went on this long.”

“Do you want to ask them to join us?” Willa asked, trying not to sound too eager to have someone join them and dispel this awkwardness.

“That’s a good idea,” he said quickly. She guessed she wasn’t the only one.

Colin got out and jogged over to Sebastian’s car at the intersection. He said something to them. When he jogged back and got back in, he said, “Good call. They look like they could use a drink.”

From what Willa knew of Paxton and Sebastian’s relationship, she wasn’t surprised. “I think we all could.”

THIRTEEN
The Joker, the Stick Man, the Princess, and the Freak

T
hey drove to National Street and parked at the old train depot, which had been the lifeblood of Walls of Water more than a century ago, when this had been a busy logging town. But when the government bought the surrounding mountain forest and turned it into a national park, the train stopped coming, and everything had to change. The depot turned into a restaurant and visitor center. The stores turned into tourist shops. And dozens of outdoor sculptures and markers were placed up and down National Street, all depicting waterfalls from the surrounding park. You couldn’t walk more than ten steps on this street before encountering
another reminder that this was the way to the waterfalls. That this was the yellow brick road.

The Depot Restaurant was located in what was once the roundhouse in the old depot. It was full of hikers that day, their backpacks propped against their chairs. Willa, Colin, Paxton, and Sebastian walked in, an interesting foursome, to be sure—Willa and Colin with their wrinkled clothing and tousled hair, and Paxton and Sebastian a beautiful complement to each other in their dress clothes.

They were told there was a wait to be seated, but they could eat at the bar if they wanted to. They decided that was a great idea, especially since Paxton and Sebastian had already eaten and wanted only drinks.

Paxton and her brother sat beside each other, Willa and Sebastian on either side of them. Willa enjoyed watching the siblings interact. She knew they were twins, but they were so unalike that she didn’t really get their similarities until she saw them together—their dark eyes, their kind smiles, the way they teased each other and sat with perfect posture.

After they had placed their orders, Colin, Sebastian, and Paxton all commented on how nice the place was. They’d never been there before.

That made Willa laugh. “You’re such
townies
.”

“And you’re not?” Paxton asked with a smile.

“I’ve stretched my boundaries.”

When their drink orders came, Colin turned to Sebastian and asked, “How long have you been back in Walls of Water?”

“Just a year,” Sebastian said. “What about you? Any plans to move back?”

Colin carefully avoided looking at Willa and Paxton as he said, “No.”

“I don’t get it,” Paxton said, lifting her margarita and taking a sip. “What’s so wrong about Walls of Water? It’s our home. We were born and raised here. Our history is here. Why would you want to be anywhere else? This place defines us.”

“You hit the nail on the head right there, Pax,” Colin said. Paxton and Willa both turned to him with similar expressions of exasperation.

“You don’t like that this place defines you?” Paxton asked.

Colin shrugged. “I’m not the Stick Man anymore.”

“And yet you still want to believe I’m the Joker,” Willa said.

“The Joker was stepping out of your shell. You proved to a lot of people that there was more to you than they thought. It was a good thing.” He toasted her with his glass.

“It wasn’t all about proving I was more than what people thought of me. Being the Joker was a manifestation of a lot of unresolved family problems.”

Sebastian snorted, and everyone turned to him. He was leaning casually against the bar. “You two had it easy. Try being the Freak sometime.”

“I guess you’re the only one who hasn’t changed, Pax,” Colin said. “And I think it’s because you had yourself figured out long before any of us.”

That seemed to hurt Paxton, and Willa wanted to punch Colin on the arm.

“I guess I’m just the Princess of the group, aren’t I?”

“I meant that as a compliment.”

“No, you didn’t,” Paxton said. “You want to know the real difference between me and all of you? I don’t love any of you any less for not being exactly who I want you to be.”

“No, you reserve that criticism for only yourself,” Sebastian said softly.

Silence.

“Is it just me, or did this conversation suddenly get a little too serious?” Willa said.

They tried to laugh it off, and soon Willa’s and Colin’s sandwiches arrived. As they ate, Paxton told them about the magical food at the luncheon, and Sebastian told some funny stories about the society ladies. Colin, who was obviously a voracious eater with an enviable metabolism, finished his Reuben quickly.

Paxton had been turning her glass in circles on the bar, but when she noticed his empty plate, she said, “Can I ride back with you to Hickory Cottage?”

Colin wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I need to take Willa back to her Jeep first.”

“It’s just up the street at my store,” Willa said, setting her sandwich down. “I can walk.”

“Paxton, I can take you home,” Sebastian said. “Willa’s not finished.”

“No. I think I’m finished,” Willa said, and she wasn’t sure why. Everyone suddenly seemed so anxious to leave that she found herself caught up in it. It was like
seeing a crowd run quickly away from something. You don’t stick around to see what it is. You run, too.