Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
Rangers Lodge Saga - Recharging
In the clearing, Adam tossed the Frisbee to Logan
and stepped aside as his phone signaled an incoming call through his
Bluetooth earpiece. “Hey, Dad. Schedules for the afternoon shift? On the
bulletin board behind my desk. Crap, two called in sick, eh? I should be
back by then to cover.”
“Now, son, we agreed you’d spend time with your friends today,” Jake
reminded him. Working summers had been a given for the Ranger family
forever but Jake and Kathleen had ensured their son kept a good balance
of leisure in there, too. Adam had grown up with boys his own age, had
run endless games of tag, built forts and treehouses, chased the local
girls. But after Kathleen had passed, after the mess with Sarah, Jake
knew his son had become ruthlessly single-minded. He would do anything
for the family business.
“We agreed,” Adam said impatiently, “that I would be flexible during
this reunion. No reason I can’t oversee the afternoon shift.”
Jake sighed. “The thorn in your craw since breakfast doesn’t have to be
a thorn at all, you know.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Adam clipped but his narrowed eyes went to
the willows as he swung away from the noise of the Frisbee game. “Look,
I’ll pitch in this afternoon, no problem. I gotta go.” He disconnected
the call, brooding. All that morning had been was entertaining a guest,
he told himself. But then why was he so goddamned unsettled by the whole
thing?
“Yo, Adam!” Adam turned as Ollie called to him. “You mind taking the
stroller to Kristen? Tell her she’s allowed to put Bel down,” he joked.
He’d better get his head straight, Adam thought as he nodded and headed
to the trees with the stroller. Just keep his mind on work, just focus.
Kristen was singing as he approached, Disney theme songs of all things.
Yeah, that voice would do well at the singoff. If he could continue to
think like that, it would be fine. She smiled at him, and what a smile
it was, putting a finger to her lips as she swayed gently with Bella in
her arms. He thought of leaving the stroller where she could see it and
taking off. He needed a few minutes alone. Instead, he sat on a bench
beneath one of the trees and pulled the singoff audition schedule up on
his phone to add Kristen’s name.
“Thanks for the stroller.” Kristen kept her voice soft as she eased
Bella down and tucked a blanket around the sleeping child. “I was going
to come put her on the blanket but if I do that too quickly she just
wakes up and I have to start all over again.”
“A hardship, I’m sure.” Adam looked up as she eased a hip onto the edge
of the bench. He showed her the phone screen. “I’ve added your name to
the audition list tomorrow. The committee likes to hear two songs in
different genres. Let me know if you want a room to practice.”
“As I said this morning, I’m not a performer,” Kristen hedged.
“I’ll just recommend you based on what I’ve heard,” he shrugged. “I
don’t know anyone who can shift that flawlessly from country to kids’
songs.” He thought back to the dance. “Then again, you’re the same girl
that danced to Pitbull and the BeeGees in the same night.”
Oh yeah, his eyes had been on her, only her, at Saturday’s dance.
Kristen felt the same flutter in her stomach as she had then and hid it
behind irritation. “Now you sound like Adrian. He thinks that’s some
sort of magic ability.”
“And you make that sound like an insult. Putting you on a pedestal’s his
job, isn’t it?”
Kristen snorted. “I suppose.” But what use were all her so-called magic
abilities if Adrian was never around to see her use them? Screw that, if
he didn’t even care to be around when she used them? Kristen held up her
hands. “Okay, you win.” Glancing from his phone to the Frisbee game
still in full swing through the trees, she propped her chin in her hand
and regarded him. “I see you managed a whole hour away from work. Unless
you’re counting the Frisbee game as work because we’re guests.”
He made a face. “So what? I’m officially on duty,” he reminded her,
belatedly realizinghow churlish he sounded. “Nice change of subject,” he
conceded grudgingly.
“I’m good like that,” she said, regaining her composure. “So take a
walk. Take that time you didn’t get this morning.” She recognized it in
his eyes, the sam need she felt herself at times, the need to retreat
and regroup. It was the reason she’d wandered away from the others. It
had worked like a charm until he came along.
“I told you. This morning was my choice.”
“All right,” Kristen stood up and released the brake on the stroller
with her foot. “None of my business, I guess.” She flipped him a smile.
“Part of the reason I came back here was to recharge. Now I can return
to the chaos with a clearer head.”
It irked Adam that she had a point. It irked him that she saw right
through him. It frustrated the hell out of him that he couldn’t seem to
control the effect she was having on him. And, all right, if he got past
all that, he guessed he liked the fact that she called him out on it. So
he’d take that bloody walk and return to the chaos with a clearer head.
