Smitten Book Club (17 page)

“Apparently Casey told Molly why I was borrowing the tandem hang glider today.”

“I never told Casey what I was up to.”

Wyatt shrugged. “Neither did I, but I think it’s great that your friends are here. For once, Casey’s eavesdropping seemed to serve a purpose.”

“But who would have told her?”

“I’d never underestimate Casey’s ability to gain information. I think she may actually work for the KGB.”

Abby looked again toward her best friends, shocked that they weren’t running to talk her out of the action. After all, they simply thought she needed a new outfit. She felt slightly miffed that no one was running up to tell her not to do it.

“Don’t we have to get going?” Her voice started to get shaky.

“We can let the next people go ahead of us if you’re not ready.”

“Really?”

“It’s your day, Abby. I was planning on fishing today.” He chuckled.

Abby couldn’t help herself; she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. She felt so natural in his
arms that rather than pull away, she rested her ear against his chest and heard the steady beat of his heart, so soothing against the blustery wind. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Still holding her tight, Wyatt whispered, “You are so welcome.” He spoke into his headset. “Take the next team up first. We’ll go in five.” The low vibration of his vocal cords under her ear connected him to her in a way she’d never experienced before. She’d purposely worn her hair down, and his hand smoothed the back of her neck. She shivered at his soft touch. The shelter he provided against the wind, against her fears, made her believe that she could trust him.

His eyes spoke to her, and her fears melted away like clouds giving way to the sunshine. She’d judged Wyatt harshly, based on a series of opinions she’d formed about “men like him,” but Wyatt himself had been steadfast. His adrenaline-seeking hobbies didn’t mean he wasn’t at work when he said he’d be, nor did he miss church. For now, she had every reason to trust him. She supposed the fact that he held her life in his hands was reason enough.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded and pulled out of his embrace, wary.

“Step inside the harness.” He handed her a nylon casing that she slipped into like a loose body suit. It went just below her hips.

“Is this long enough?”

“It’s a training harness. Your legs will be mostly free for when we land. All these ropes on the back will be attached to a caribiner, and you’ll hang horizontally in the air. You’re not actually hanging on the pole. How’s your helmet fit?”

She nodded. In the distance her friends all waved at her
with their arms high in the air, offering encouragement. She swallowed hard, said a quick prayer, and readied herself for the biggest adventure of her life.

After Wyatt strapped her into the hang glider, he began to strap himself in, and she felt his presence hovering just above her. “Now, before we reach our cruising altitude, there may be a little turbulence. Just expect that, and I’ll get you through it as soon as possible.”

She turned behind her and smiled. “I know you will.”

“You see that plane?” one of the men said beside them. “That’s your tug. We’re going to wheel you out now.”

Another man came to her left, and the woman attached something to the plane in front of them. As the man to her left cranked his arm to the side, they began to gain speed. In no time at all they were airborne.

The blustery wind roared in her ears, and her entire body bounced, but Abby had no fear. All she could see was the beauty before her. Lush green valley beneath her, the snaking river alongside them, striking mountains to their left. She felt peaceful and yet so alive. Every molecule in her body seemed to hum. Their bodies worked together in perfect harmony. Soaring above her beloved Vermont felt so natural. As the glider dipped and turned, she was filled with joyous adrenaline. She was flying. And she never wanted it to end. She was free of life’s encumbrances and worries; only God’s majesty stretched out before her. The swaying green grass danced beneath her, a lone puffy cloud waltzed past them, and she felt only pity for the poor souls in cars on the highway below.

Wyatt’s chin rested on her shoulder, and she smiled in her contentment. She’d remember this moment forever.
Wrapped securely in the nylon sleeve with Wyatt protecting her so that all she had to do was float toward the horizon on her dreamlike journey. She didn’t want the magic to end.

Too soon, it was over. She’d become so awestruck that as they lowered their elevation, she never even had time to fear their landing. The ground rose up gently to meet them, and at the first touch they synchronized their steps perfectly as if set down by angels’ wings.

She yanked her helmet off and let the wind rush through her hair. Every cell in her body felt fully alive. Wyatt unclipped her, and she climbed out of her harness. Before he could remove his own, she pummeled him with a bear hug. “Wyatt, I did it!”

“You did!”

“I loved it! I love—” She stopped herself from saying what she wanted to say, what too much excitement probably led her to feel.

Wyatt smiled coolly, removed his own helmet, and stepped close to wrap her up into his arms. She lifted her mouth toward him and waited, but at the sound of her friends wailing their excitement, he moved away. She didn’t want to lose the moment.

“You were going to kiss me.”

He peered over her shoulder. “Your friends . . .” He pointed.

Abby turned and lowered her brow. Her friends turned around as if they understood her meaning perfectly. “They’ll wait.”

He raised his gaze to her friends and back to her, and then Wyatt planted his lips on hers.

His kiss was firm. His arms enveloped her waist and brought her closer to him. It was as if a thousand bees buzzed within her, and she surmised heaven must be like Wyatt’s kiss. She pulled away and he pursued her, his thick, rough fingers clasping her jaw. “Kiss me, Abby. I’ve longed for you.”

His words broke the spell. Wyatt’s words were not something that could be easily controlled. They were not safe. She felt perilously close to losing herself to desire. Imagine if they’d been alone.

“I have to go.” With every ounce of strength, she left the cozy warmth of his arms and the fire of his kisses, and extricated herself from his grasp. She ran toward her friends.

As she got closer, she saw that a fourth woman had joined them—Casey. Abby felt betrayed. It was in the woman’s nature to wiggle her way into every situation and ruin what joy could be found.

“Casey,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

Casey stared past her toward Wyatt. Her spindly arms were crossed and her gray eyes narrowed. She wore tight jeans, cuffed at the calves, that left very little to the imagination. Her silky pink shirt rippled in the wind and passed Abby like a rogue breeze.

The green tinge of jealousy rose within Abby.

“You took her hang gliding?” Casey shook her head. “You lied to me. I helped you so that you could tell her about the letter. Did you lie to her too? Did you say that her father gave you the letter?”

Wyatt said nothing, and Abby’s stomach sank like a stone in Smitten Lake. She searched Wyatt’s expression for some
form of denial and the reassurance he’d given her in the air, but he offered none. The warm air turned brisk.

“Is that what he told you?” Casey turned toward her. “That your father left him that letter?”

Wyatt’s expression fell, and there was no mistaking the truth.

“The letter didn’t come from my father?” Abby asked.

“Yes, it did. Let me explain.” Wyatt clenched his jaw. “Casey, I told you about the letter in confidence!”

“I trusted you.” Abby’s voice sounded hoarse. “It was my father’s handwriting,” she said, as much to convince herself as Casey.

Heather, Molly, and Lia surrounded her. Heather glared at Casey. “Do you realize that everywhere you go you start something? You’re supposed to be Abby’s friend!”

“I work with Abby. She’s made it perfectly clear that our relationship is strictly professional.”

“So what are you doing here?” Heather probed. “This doesn’t look like the library.”

Casey flipped her long, dark hair and raised her chin. “I’m only trying to protect Abby from the likes of Wyatt.”

“That’s sweet of you, but Abby can handle herself,” Heather said.

“Wyatt,” Molly said. “Maybe it’s better that you go.”

“Where did that letter come from?” Abby implored.

“It’s your father’s letter, I promise you,” Wyatt said.

“That isn’t what she asked,” Casey said. “Take it from me, Abby. Wyatt says what Wyatt needs to say to get close to women. He did it to me, and he’ll do it to you. It’s what rakes do. It’s in their nature.”

“You have to tell her to listen to me,” Wyatt said to Abby’s friends. “I need the chance to explain. Tell her. Abby, please.”

Steps took her closer to the car, but Abby had no recollection of putting one foot in front of the other. Somehow the car just got closer.

“How could he lie to me?” She’d never flown so high nor crashed so low in the span of a few minutes. “This is what happens when girls like me take chances.”

Tears filled Lia’s eyes. “Abby, that’s not all you’re here for. God doesn’t see you as some kind of sacrifice. You have to know that. I’m sure Wyatt has a good excuse. You just need to be ready to hear it.”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? He just wanted to help me find my inner strength. A little adventure. It was one bad date. That’s all. Just a bad date. Everyone has them.” She tried to reason with herself, but her feelings went deeper—they stuck into the cavern of her heart. Wyatt, in a short time but with close proximity, had embedded himself there like the gold in Molly’s ore.

“I wanted to try something new and adventurous. I guess I got what I wanted. I learned that maybe I’m not ready to trust an adventure as big as love.” Abby pressed her palm to her heart, shocked at the physical sting that stirred within her.

Prudence and virtue will certainly secure the right sort of husband material, but one must make sure that passion is present.

P
EARL
C
HAMBERS
,
The Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship

CHAPTER NINE

A
bby awoke groggily. She had cried herself to sleep, and her head pounded. Maybe she didn’t have an ounce of Anne Elliot’s sense of adventure in her. Perhaps she was only
Sense and Sensibility
’s Marianne, full of romantic idealism without the practicality she needed.

Wyatt Tanner had trusted Casey, and that was immediate cause for concern . . . for sensibility.

She squinted against the light as Lia lifted the shades. “Are you awake, Abby?”

She felt her red, puffy eyes and sniffed the fresh scent of coffee.

“What time is it? Is my mother up?” She bolted upright.

“She’s having coffee with Casey now.”

“Casey? What’s she doing here?” Abby popped up and began to dress. “What does she want from me, Lia?”

“I think she wants to
be
you, Abby. You’re very confortable
in your own skin, and I think that is something very foreign to Casey. She’s always trying to make others like her.”

“Maybe if she stopped gossiping . . .” Abby felt guilty at once for her nasty response. “I’m sorry, but I feel like whenever Casey is involved in something, trouble is sure to follow.”

“In this case, you’d be right.”

“What do you mean?”

“After you left yesterday, I asked Casey how she knew about the letter from your father.”

“If it even
was
from my father.”

“It was.”

Abby leaned toward Lia, anxious to hear that Wyatt may have been telling the truth. “How do you know that?”

“I told you, I confronted Casey.”

“You confronted someone? That doesn’t sound like you, Lia.”

Lia combed her fingers through her hair. “Mess with one of my friends, and you get what you get.”

The two of them laughed.

“You’re a regular Dirty Harry.”

“What Casey said just didn’t sound like Wyatt, Abby. He’s a good guy. And think about what happened. Casey creates trouble wherever she goes, so I simply had to confront her. Turns out Casey’s father was in your dad’s men’s group too. Along with Wyatt.”

A mixture of elation and dread pulsed through Abby’s body. “So was the letter really from my father? Wyatt didn’t lie?” Abby wanted more than anything to hear that Wyatt had been telling the truth. She slipped on a pair of yoga pants
underneath her robe. “I was afraid I just believed him because I wanted to be around him.”

“No one would blame you. It’s obvious he’s sweet on you, and he’s not hard on the eyes. But why don’t you get dressed and come talk to Casey? It’s time she answered for her actions.”

Abby nodded and smiled, still stunned to hear the unlikely threat from her friend. Lia was usually all sunshine and light, and her devotion meant a lot.

While Abby dressed, Lia buzzed about her room, picking up the things Abby had thrown off in her fit of emotion the day before. Her heart swelled with how much she loved her friends, how much she could depend on them . . . no matter what Casey had to say to her.

When Abby came down the stairway, Casey rose and set her coffee cup on a coaster. She swallowed visibly. “Abby.”

“Good morning, Casey. What brings you out so early?”

“Early? Abby, it’s nine thirty. I’ve already been to early service. I guess you’re going to the later service.”

“Right! Church.” She looked down at her yoga pants and fuzzy slippers. “I guess I am.”

“From what Lia tells me, I owe you an apology.” Casey rolled her eyes and smirked as if she didn’t plan to give any kind of apology at all.

“If you’re sweet on Wyatt Turner, I had no idea. I only wanted to do as my father wished of me,” Abby said.

“
I
gave Wyatt that letter.”

“What?” Abby searched her mind to try and make sense out of it. “Did you write it?”

“It was a misunderstanding.”