Page 56 of Fall for You
He wandered the grounds, nodding to employees, striding around like he had someplace to be.
In reality, he was pondering. Where would Charlie’s letters be?
If Charlie had kept Rose’s letters hidden away in an old hunting shed….
Wouldn’t Rose have thought to do something similar?
He scanned the grounds, as if an old hunting shed might just pop up all of a sudden. There were no old cabins on their property…that he knew of.
Crossing his arms, he leaned back for a better view of the hills that shielded the lodge from the populated downtown.
Then again, he hadn’t even remembered the story about the fire—or, at least, not Rose’s part in it. And if there was a structure in the hills they hadn’t developed…
Were there trails nearby they told guests not to hike? There were definitely areas that remained out-of-bounds for safety reasons. Maybe something was hidden away in some pocket of the property he hadn’t discovered yet.
He tilted his head to consider this possibility.
If he really wanted to get to the bottom of this, and still keep his job safe, he had work to do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dallas’s dad clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Good work today, son!”
“Thanks.” Dallas smiled, but it didn’t quite feel legit. Had he done a decent job closing the deal on a new property? Maybe. But it hadn’t felt like a challenge. He’d just done what was expected.
There was a moment there over lunch when he’d had this uncanny feeling like they’d all received their scripts beforehand. Him, his dad, the developer.
They’d all made a good-natured joke, pointed out the pros and cons of the deal, shook hands with a smile when the meal ended. The deal was done, and so was his part in it.
“See you at dinner this weekend?” his dad asked as he walked away.
Dallas nodded and smiled. “Yup. I’ll be there.”
Like he was just about every weekend.
He waved goodbye as he headed to his car. He supposed he could head back to the office.
But the office had started feeling more and more like some corporate version of purgatory since he’d returned from his last trip to Paradise Springs a week ago.
And the thought of going back to that stuffy building when the sun was shining…
Nope. He couldn’t do it. Instead, he headed toward downtown and his ranch-style home near the university.
If he changed quickly, he could be back out and jogging the streets before the sun went down.
Yeah, a decent run was just what he needed to burn off this restless sensation he couldn’t shake.
Rushing to get ready, he changed in record time and soon had his earbuds in hand and sneakers on his feet. He was mid-stretch, his mind firmly stuck on Ronnie and how she’d looked when she’d stretched at the end of their run…
When the ringing of his phone cut through the fantasy like an alarm clock rousing him from a deep sleep. He scrambled to answer it without even seeing who it was.
“Hey, Cowboy. Now a bad time?” Brandon’s voice was loud and familiar on the other end.
Dallas sighed at the nickname but didn’t fight it. “Now’s fine. I was just gonna go for a run. What’s up?”
Brandon launched into a story about Nate that had Dallas grinning as he set out on his jogging path at a walk.
“But actually, the reason I’m calling is…a bachelorette party.”
