Page 14 of Lucky in Love
“What should we do then?” Lauren asked.
“Beats me. And my friends all think I’m so lucky.”
“I hate to add salt to your wound, but while you were off Nancy Drew-ing, we had two more cancellations.”
“There is one positive thing about that,” Alex said. “It gives us time to finish setting up the rec cabin without the noise inconveniencing too many people. I was a little worried about that.”
“Good point. Lyle and his guys are coming tomorrow to do the bookcases, right?” At Alex’s nod, she added, “Anyone who does show up, I’ll put in the outer cabins.”
Alex debated offering a more heartfelt apology to Mr. Collins, but decided her motives would be too transparent. She also risked coming off as insincere, since she really wasn’t all that sorry. He was the one who acted cagey and lied to her. What was she supposed to think?
She walked down to the waterfront and onto the dock. This was her favorite view. The crystal blue lake was like a quartz rock split in two. Surrounded by trees and a backdrop of majestic mountains, both reflected in the clear, still water. The leaves were already starting to turn. Soon, the forest would be ablaze with color. It never got old.
A rustle in the bushes behind her caught her attention. The noise was too small to be alarming, probably a squirrel, hopefully not a skunk. As she returned to shore to investigate, a mid-sized duck popped out of the reeds—not full grown, but not a duckling.
“Well hello, cutie,” Alex cooed, squatting for a better look. “What are you doing here all by yourself? Did you get left behind?”
The little brown duck waddled over, and she could tell something was wrong with its wing. Well, more than “wrong,” half of it was missing.
“Oh, my. Did something attack you? Come here, baby, let me see.” Surprisingly, it did as she asked and approached her. “You poor thing.”
Thinking it could be hungry, she ran to her cabin and searched for food. No bread. No crackers. Did ducks eat celery? She settled on a can of tuna. Halfway to the dock, she met the little fella on the trail, like it had tried to follow her.
“Sorry, we eat low-carb around here,” she said. “Until I get to the store, this’ll have to do.”
Alex plopped down in the middle of the path, pulled out a small chunk of meat, and held it out in offering. After a thorough sniffing, the duck trusted her enough to approach.
“Since you’re kinda plain—not that there’s anything wrong with that—I’m gonna assume you’re a girl. It’s really a shame the boys are the pretty ones in Duckland. Can I call you Daisy? It’s not very original, but it’s cute.”
She herded it back to the water and dumped the remaining tuna in a pile by the boathouse. “That should tide you over for a day or so,” she said. “I gotta go, but I’ll check on you later.”
When she got out of the shower, she found she’d missed a call from Drake. He’d followed up with a text saying he was coming to town on Friday.
Friday? That was only three days away. She panicked. Everything had to be perfect when he got here. This visit might be her only chance to convince him how fantastic Green Valley Falls was. They couldn’t do long distance forever. And Alex wasn’t leaving. That meant the only hope of a future was to convert him to small-town living.
She wanted to be more optimistic about attempting a long-distance relationship, but she would temper expectations. Her limited experience with men had left her jaded, but maybe Drake was different. Maybe he would actually do what he promised and mean what he said. Supposedly, there were men who did that. Alex had just never met one.
When she pulled into The Rusty Nail parking lot, she was surprised to see the rental car from cabin twelve. Although she shouldn’t be. As the largest restaurant in town, it made sense he’d come here for dinner.
More shocking was that when she entered and found her group, Brody sat next to Nick at their table. How had that happened?
“Hey, yo,” Tess greeted as Alex approached. “Saved you a seat and already ordered your skinny margarita.”
“Where ya been?” Juliet asked.
“I found an injured duck by the lake and had to take care of it.”
“You mean as in…” Tess drew her finger across her throat and made a choking sound.
“No!” Alex said. “Why would you even say that?”
“The wilderness is a harsh place,” Juliet said. “Especially if it’s hurt, it’s only a matter of time before a fox or a raccoon gets it.”
“She’s not wrong,” Nick said. “I wouldn’t get too attached.”
“Daisy is a tough cookie.”
“Oh, dear,” Tess said. “She named it.”
