Page 19 of An Unexpected Everything
“I realize that technically we’re your bosses, but this is a tricky situation where I don’t want to have to tell my sister what to do,” Aston said as diplomatically as he could.
“He says that because it gets tricky when he’s my boss as well.”
“James is your boss,” Aston corrected.
“How about you go to Cage Lake?” Flynn blurted.
I froze and stared at him. “How is me going to a small mountain town going to help anything? I’m fine.”
“Isabella,” Blakely whispered, and I knew that I wasn’t fine. I was still shaking.
“You can still work remotely, take some time off, and frankly, there’s a few paperwork things that we need to do for the businesses, and I am running a little behind.”
I glared at Flynn, not sure he was telling the truth or not.
He held up both hands. “I’m not lying. We have that huge acquisition coming up, and I don’t like putting things on Hudson’s shoulders. Hell, he doesn’t like doing it at all and will refrain. But we are landlords, and there is paperwork and other things to approve. So why don’t you go out to Cage Lake.”
“And you’ll be able to get fresh air like before but have it be a little more long term,” Blakely added, studying my face. “I want my best friend to be healthy. And you had a scare tonight.”
“I’m already talking to my therapist,” I stated, not caring if my brothers knew. I truly didn’t want my panic attacks to be their burden.
“And they told you what last time?” Blakely asked as my brothers listened in.
“That I should rest,” I mumbled.
Blakely cleared her throat. “That’s settled then. You can breathe, work because I know you can’t stop, and get to know Cage Lake.”
Flynn stepped in. “It’s a small town, where everybody knows everybody. It’s hard to do anything without people knowing what you’re doing. Especially if you’re living there and not just at the resort. Hudson will be around, and frankly, it’ll be good for everyone.”
“So you’re just trying to get me out of the city?” I asked, feeling so confused.
If I went to Cage Lake, Weston would be there. The man I was trying to avoid. And yet the man I was still texting. I swallowed hard, then remembered the hand over my mouth, and how it felt like that hand over my throat. Even though it was two different people.
“Okay. But not for too long. Because you need help with paperwork,” I qualified.
I looked at my family, at Blakely, and realized that maybe I did need a break. Because I could feel that touch. Hear his voice.
But it wasn’t William’s voice.
It was someone else’s.
Chapter Six
ISABELLA
I hadn’t meantto visit this town so quickly after fleeing the first time. I still had a bruise on my arm, a few cuts and scrapes from my fall, and here I was, back in the mountains, Cage Lake in front of me.
It really was a beautiful town and a beautiful lake. But it didn’t feel like home. I was used to seeing the mountains in the distance, always knowing where west was because of the city’s placement. Now, however, I was surrounded by mountains. I had no idea where north was, no idea about the inner workings of a small town that was not my own. And again, I had a feeling no matter where I was, I was going to be off kilter. Because now I didn’t know if the new bruise on my arm was from running into the wall when I had gotten ready that morning, from the fall, or from the attack. Maybe the others were right, and I did need this time just to breathe.
“So, are you unpacked?”
I jumped at the sound of that deep voice and turned to see my brother Hudson standing there, hands in his jean pockets.
I studied him, the brother I probably knew the least. Of course, I couldn’t really say that I knew the core seven Cages as well as I should. It had only been a few months after all. And wehad up to three years of those dinner dates, getting to know one another. And I only knew Aston as well as I did because he was with Blakely.
Hudson lived in Cage Lake full-time. He had been in the army, though I didn’t know his rank, or what he had done there, and when he got out, he had moved here. He’d apparently gone through the G.I. Bill to get his bachelor’s degree while on active duty. And then had taken a few business classes so he could help out the family. At least that’s what Flynn had mentioned. Then he dropped it all to paint. I had seen some of his paintings at Aston’s place, and online through his website, and I couldn’t quite believe that somebody with that kind of talent for art shared half of my genetics.
I wanted to ask him when he had decided to paint, to change his career more than once. I wanted to know if he had taken art classes or had spent time learning how to do these things when he was younger. But for some reason the way that he glared at me even though I knew it was just his resting face, I knew he wasn’t going to be open to answers. And frankly, I had always been so on the go, even during my one and only visit before recently, that I hadn’t been able to ask. I had been so busy protecting the siblings I had grown up with, I hadn’t taken time to figure out the others. But I was getting better. At least I hoped.
