The Return Of David Mckay

She smiled, this time without the stiletto in it. “This trip is important to your grandmother,” she said softly. “Don’t spoil it for her. I’m going to have a couple of mules to keep in line. I don’t need a jackass, as well.”

CHAPTER TWO

TWO WEEKS WITH DAVID McKay back in her life.

Two whole weeks.

Oh Lord, how was she going to handle that?

All the way up the mountain road to Lightning River Lodge that question circled in Addy’s brain. Unfortunately no answer ever circled with it.

Ten years had passed since she’d last seen David. Ten years since they’d argued past the point of all good sense. And now he was back. Back in Broken Yoke, a place he supposedly hated, surrounded by the trappings of a life he’d been eager to ditch. Soon to be spending day after day in the company of a woman he’d once accused of trying to stifle his creativity and tie him down.

Two weeks was going to seem like an eternity.

The interior of the van was quiet for so long that Geneva cleared her throat and looked over at her sympathetically. “I’m so sorry about the way this has turned out, Addy. I know having David along will make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it will be fine,” she said quickly and wished she meant it. “We’re both adults. It was a shock at first, seeing him again, but we’ll manage.”

“I can’t believe he’s coming with us, but you know how he is when he gets an idea in his head. So…unstoppable.”

“Oh, yes. I remember.”

She did, too. She’d known him since the seventh grade, when he’d come to live with his grandparents. But it was the summer after high school had ended that she remembered most.

He’d told her that he’d been hired to do grunt work for the film crew that had come to Broken Yoke. Trailblazer had been a low-budget Western shooting in the nearby Arapahoe National Forest. From the time David’s father had given him his first camera as a child, he’d wanted to be a filmmaker. This had been his big chance to see what it was like from the inside.

She should have known right then that things were going to change for them.

From the corner of her eye Addy saw Geneva shake her head. “I had no idea he was coming home. He seldom does, you know.”

“When was the last time?”

“When he helped me settle Herbert’s estate two years ago. Since then I’ve been out to see him in California, of course, but I don’t like it much. All that endless sunshine and plastic-looking people everywhere. It’s just not right.”

“I guess he likes it.”

“I suppose,” Geneva said in a clearly mystified voice. After a while she added, “I never dreamed he’d show up on my doorstep. I wish I could have warned you somehow. But it happened so fast.” She reached across the seat and placed her hand on Addy’s. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this, dear?”

Addy wished Geneva would stop asking her that. Especially since she didn’t know the answer. All she could say was, “As long as he earns his keep on this trip. No free rides.”

“I’m sure he will. And you’re right. It will be fine. You two got along so well in the old days, before he decided to go back to Hollywood with those wretched film people. It would be nice if you could be friends again.”

Addy stole a glance off the road to look at Geneva. Had there been some wishful thinking going on in that head of hers? Surely not. But just to be safe, Addy thought she’d better nip that in the bud. “Not likely. We’re two very different people now. Did you see that suit he was wearing? I’ll bet he doesn’t know what it’s like to walk among us common folk anymore.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what the next two weeks bring,” Geneva said with a bright smile.

Addy took the last familiar turn toward home, and in no time they were in front of Lightning River Lodge. The sky at dusk, all shadows and light blended to perfection, gave the resort’s wood-and-glass architecture a powerful, glowing presence among the tall pines. Beyond the lodge, Lightning Lake sparkled with late sunlight as though it were dressed in salmon-colored sequins. In the distance, the mountains sat like silent sentinels. It was a sight Addy never tired of.

Geneva McKay sighed. “Oh, it’s so peaceful up here. I can’t wait to spend a little time with your family before we leave tomorrow.”

The lodge—sixteen rooms and two suites—had been built years ago by Addy’s mother and father, Rose and Sam D’Angelo. They’d raised three sons and one daughter in the private quarters behind the downstairs lobby, and Addy had never known any other home.

“You haven’t been up here since Mom’s birthday party, have you?”

“No. And I’ll be interested to see where my painting ended up.”

A while back, Addy’s father had commissioned Geneva to paint a portrait of her mom. A talented artist in her younger years, Geneva now had her work in a place of honor over the family’s living room fireplace.

“There was a lengthy conversation about where it should go, but Pop won. They’ll be so glad to see you. And, frankly, your being there will take a little of the heat off me. Things have been a little…testy…between me and Pop lately.”

Geneva gave her a knowing look and reached over to pat her hand. “I heard.”

“Who told?”

“Your mother. She said she’s really all right with whatever you decide, but she’d like to wring your father’s neck.”

Addy couldn’t help but laugh. She felt exactly the same way.

A couple of weeks ago, Addy had come to a life-changing decision, and once she’d told the family, it had been like being in the middle of a presidential debate. The D’Angelos loved a good, loud discussion, and no one ever kept their opinions to themselves.

But you’d think a topic as sensitive as artificial insemination would have left them speechless for at least a day or two.

It hadn’t. While most of the family had seemed stunned but openly supportive when Addy announced that she was interested in finding out more about the procedure, Pop had been furious. What was wrong with having a baby the old-fashioned way? Through love and marriage?

Addy had patiently explained to him that the man of her dreams didn’t seem to know where she lived and that she wasn’t getting any younger. Then the fireworks had started. Truthfully this trip out to the Devil’s Smile would be a nice break from all the recent tension in the household.

Stopping under the front portico, Addy signaled to George, the front desk clerk and bellman, that she needed help with luggage. As he collected Geneva’s bags, Addy said, “I’ve put you in one of the ground-floor rooms so you won’t have to battle the stairs. Pop still refuses to put in an elevator.”

Sam D’Angelo had suffered a stroke a couple of years ago, and though he was reliant on metal crutches occasionally, he refused to make many concessions for his health. Even Nick had given up trying to convince him.

“The parking lot is so full,” Geneva said, glancing around.

“We’re pretty busy this week. Mom and Pop might put you to work if you’re not careful.”

“So what do you do every day, dear?”

“Anything that needs doing,” she replied.

That was true. After college, she had fallen into her parents’ expectation of joining the family business. Pop was still the head of the household and oversaw the bottom line. Mom ran the kitchen like a field marshal. Aunt Renata took care of the dining room, and Aunt Sofia kept the rooms shipshape. Her oldest brother, Nick, once a Navy pilot, ran helicopter tours from the resort in his two R44 Ravens. And though brothers Matt and Rafe lived down the mountain in Broken Yoke, they were often here with their wives, helping out when circumstances called for it.

As for Addy, professionally she was still finding her niche. She had her pilot’s license so she could help out Nick when tours backed up, but she couldn’t honestly say she loved it. Cooking bored her. As for the bookkeeping she’d been relegated to lately by her father…well, as Nick diplomatically claimed, she had no flair for numbers.

She loved kids and she was good with her nieces and nephew. Maybe that’s why it had seemed so sensible to stop waiting on Mr. Right and just do something about it….

She got Geneva settled in her room, then hurried off to help her mother in the kitchen. There were three special occasions planned in the dining room tonight—the wedding anniversary of a couple who’d met at the lodge twenty-five years ago and two birthday celebrations. They required extensive preparation and every available hand.

When she entered the kitchen, the first person she saw was her sister-in-law Dani, who’d married Addy’s brother Rafe two months ago. Evidently the night was going to be busy enough that reinforcements had been called in.