The Player (3 page)

C
ELL PHONE SHOULDERED
to her ear, Audrey Kincaid stood at the cashier’s stand of her local grocery store, absently pulled a tampon out of her purse and tried to write a check with it.

The thin, pimply-faced teenager behind the register sniggered. “Er…That’s not going to work, ma’am.”

Mortified, Audrey closed her eyes and, blushing furiously, awkwardly shoved her hand back into her bag in search of a pen. Ordinarily she thought it was incredibly rude of people to use their cell phones while in the checkout and, had she been talking to anyone but her grandfather, she would have cut the call short, or merely asked the person to call back.

But one didn’t do that with her grandfather.

The Colonel
didn’t abide interruptions.

He was accustomed to being listened to and the
idea that she—or any one else for that matter—might not be interested in what he had to say was unthinkable. A military man through and through, he was a surly, autocratic, occasionally ill-tempered pain in the ass who thought that an untucked shirttail was an abomination and rap music a crime against nature. His vehicles were American made, his lawn an immaculate work of art where the grass didn’t dare offend him by growing out of sync, and his home office an inner sanctum of dark wood, Old Spice and the scent of cherry cigar smoke.

Though he was the unquestioned leader of their family, most of the members of their clan could only tolerate him in small doses, her mother included. But for whatever reason, he and Audrey had always shared a special bond. For all of his grit and grump, from the time she’d been just a little girl she’d loved listening to his stories. While the other grandchildren had gravitated to their grandmother’s sewing room and kitchen, Audrey had preferred playing chess in the Colonel’s office and coaxing orchids and other finicky flowers in his greenhouse.

Was now a bad time to talk? Definitely. She was standing in the checkout, feeling the murderous eye of a harried mother behind her, trying to write
a damned check with a tampon, for pity’s sake…but she had no intention of letting him know that. She had neither the nerve nor the disrespect to pull it off.

“I need a favor, Audie,” her grandfather said, using the nickname he’d given her shortly after she was born.

Audrey handed the cashier a check, accepted her receipt and one-handedly wheeled her cart-with-the-cockeyed-wheel toward the door. No small feat, she thought, suppressing an irritated grunt. Trying to sound as though she wasn’t the least bit inconvenienced, she said, “Sure, Gramps. What can I do for you?”

“I’m sending a guy to you who’s in need of special attention.”

Her grandfather referring someone to Unwind—her camp for the stressed-out from all walks of life, whether it was high-powered executives who’d logged in too many hours and consumed too many antidepressants, or strung-out mothers who’d doled out too many juice boxes and covered car-pool one time too many—wasn’t the least bit unusual. She’d had many a weary soldier through her camp, many an overwhelmed officer’s wife ensconced in one of her little lakeside cottages.

But this was the first time he’d ever asked her to give anyone
special
attention. Clearly, this was no ordinary person. Whoever this guy was, given her grandfather’s line of work, he’d most likely been through hell. Her heart inexplicably squeezed for both the unknown man and his unknown pain.

Empathy, dammit. Her biggest weakness.

Four years into a high-powered job on Wall Street as a commodities broker, Audrey had had the ultimate wake-up call—at the ripe old age of twenty-six, she’d had a heart attack. A small one, but still a heart attack nonetheless. She’d been healthy—a regular at the gym—with no prior history of any cardiovascular problems.

In the weeks preceeding it, however, she’d had multiple stress-related panic attacks, had started filling her regular thirty-two-ounce java cup with straight-up espresso and her snack of choice had been chocolate-covered coffee beans. Hell, she’d been wound so tight it had been a miracle that she hadn’t snapped completely.

To make matters worse, she’d been in a bad relationship which had ended with a restraining order. Unfortunately, Audrey had a knack for attracting damaged men who needed a lot of atten
tion—emotional vampires, she’d come to call them, because they tended to suck the life right out of her.

But no more.

She’d promised herself after Jerry that she’d never get involved with another damaged, life-sucker again. A wry smile curled her lips.

And her present boyfriend was anything but that.

At any rate, she’d had to seriously rethink her life path and the first thing that her family—and her grandfather, in particular—had insisted she do was give up the job. Initially Audrey had protested. What the
hell
was she supposed to do? But one teary-eyed look from the Colonel, when she would have sworn the man had had his tear ducts surgically removed, had been all it took to make her seek an alternate, less stressful career.

After her own heart attack, Audrey had learned that there were many more like her—young Type-A professionals who were burning the candle at both ends and essentially stressing their healthy bodies beyond their limits. When a well-meaning friend suggested that she make a list of things that relaxed her, then take it with her to a soothing vacation spot, a lightbulb went off for Audrey and Unwind was born.

She took a risk, cashed in her 401-K, and bought a somewhat run-down thirty-two-acre summer sleep-away camp up on Lake Bliss in Winnisauga, Maine. A year later Unwind was a fully renovated quaint, but comfortable getaway with custom luxuries for each of its visitors.

Two years after that, it was operating fully in the black.

In order to personalize each experience, campers were required to fill out a lengthy questionnaire which detailed the reason for their visit as well as personal preferences for their ultimate relaxing stay. She had a fabulous kitchen crew on staff as well as a fully-equipped spa. The library sported hundreds of books and movies for campers who craved brain candy and mindless entertainment.

For those who liked to work out their frustrations in a more physical manner, there were the stables, a state-of-the-art gym, various hiking trails and a multitude of water sports compliments of the lake. Between the amenities which were automatically provided and the accommodations she made as a result of the campers’ requests, Unwind provided a calm, soothing atmosphere of escape and relaxation. In short, it was the baby of her own rebirth and she loved it.

Audrey opened the back gate of her SUV and began loading her grocery bags into the cargo area.

“I’ve already spoken to Tewanda,” her grandfather said, “and took the liberty of filling out all the necessary paperwork.”

In the process of awkwardly moving a twenty-pound bag of dog food—which would last all of one week the way that Moses, her English Mastiff, ate—Audrey frowned. “
You
filled out the paperwork?”

He hesitated. “Flanagan will be there on my orders and I’m not altogether sure he would have been completely truthful regarding the nature of his visit.”

That made sense, she supposed. Despite her best efforts to draw people out, they were often purposely vague about the reason for their visit. Still, part of the Unwind experience was customization. How was she supposed to customize this visit if the participant hadn’t filled out the form? Tewanda knew this, Audrey thought. Surely her crackerjack assistant hadn’t simply let that slide. Even for her grandfather. Oh, hell. Who was she kidding?
She
wouldn’t have called him on it. How could she expect Tewanda to?

Thoroughly intrigued now, Audrey closed the back gate and climbed into the driver’s seat. “And what exactly is the reason for his visit?”

“He lost a good friend eight months ago,” the Colonel said somberly. “Let’s just say that he’s having a hard time getting through it.”

Audrey’s heart squeezed. “That’s certainly understandable.”

Her grandfather cleared his throat. “Right. Well, it would probably be better if you didn’t mention it to him. He just needs some TLC and no one can give him that quite the way that you can, Audie. You have a rare gift for making people feel better.”

Gift or curse? Audrey wondered, more often feeling like it was the latter. She’d always been a very empathetic person, to the point that she often absorbed so much of another person’s pain that she made herself physically ill. Even as a little girl she’d managed to attract the downtrodden, the kids everyone picked on. In her teens, things had pretty much stayed the same—the rebels, the outcasts, the shy and withdrawn. Basically anyone with a problem.

But with maturity came a different set of issues, bigger obstacles, and she found herself staying emotionally wrung out. She’d given so much to
other people—usually, and to her detriment, to a significant other—that she hadn’t had anything left for herself. Unwind had been the perfect solution because it had afforded her the opportunity to capitalize on her strengths, but enabled her to share the load, so to speak.

“What was his name again?” she asked. She wanted to make sure to look for the paperwork when she got back to camp.

“Major Jamie Flanagan. He was a Ranger in a special forces unit of mine. A damn fine one,” her grandfather added with obvious pride.

“
Was
a Ranger?”

“Er…He and a couple of other friends left the military a few months ago.”

Audrey paused. She didn’t understand. If he’d left the military, then how could her grandfather
order
him into Unwind? “But—”

Accurately following her line of thinking, the Colonel chuckled. “What?” he joked. “You think a soldier who leaves the military automatically leaves my command, Audie?” She could almost see him shaking his head. “Surely you know me better than that?”

One would think so, Audrey thought. Her grandfather…you had to love him.

“Anyway, enough about Flanagan. He’ll be arriving Monday and I’ve made sure that I’ve listed activities which should—” he cleared his throat of a distinctly wicked chuckle “—
appeal
to him. All I ask is that you keep a close eye on him. Spend as much time with him as possible. I’ll call for regular updates on his progress.”

This conversation was getting weirder and weirder by the second. One minute her grandfather sounded genuinely concerned, the next he sounded downright…gleeful. She’d better take a look at that questionnaire, Audrey thought with a curious sense of foreboding. Something definitely wasn’t right.

“So tell me what’s happening with you?” he asked briskly, effectively ending that line of conversation. “Still seeing David?”

“It’s Derrick,” Audrey replied, repressing a smile. Her grandfather knew this perfectly well. He just couldn’t stand the guy. “And yes, I am.”

“More’s the pity,” her grandfather said glibly, never one to mince words. And unfortunately he had many where Derrick was concerned.

Audrey exhaled a long-suffering sigh.
“Gramps,”
she chided.

“You could do so much better, you know. You’re a smart, pretty girl. Why you’d want to
shackle yourself to that self-absorbed blowhard for the rest of your life is a mystery to me.”

A frown wrinkled her brow. She hadn’t told her family that Derrick had proposed. “Who said I was getting married?”

“No one,” he said. Almost too easily, Audrey thought, wondering if she was being a tad paranoid. “I just assumed that since you’re still together, marriage has to be on the horizon. What’s the point of a prolonged relationship if you aren’t moving toward a more permanent arrangement? If there’s no goal, there’s no point, right?”

For someone who didn’t like Derrick, her grandfather had an alarmingly similar thought process. Derrick had used the same argument just last week when he’d issued his ultimatum—marry him or break up.

Quite frankly, she didn’t want to do either.

For reasons she knew better than to explore, marrying him right now was out of the question…But she didn’t want to break up either. Sure Derrick had his faults. He spent too much time on his hair, he laughed too hard at his own jokes and, the biggest turnoff of all, he screamed like a girl when he came. This high-pitched, rupture-your-
eardrums screech would be right at home in a bad B-movie. Honestly, it was awful.

In addition, he was
a bit
self-absorbed, but that only meant that he wasn’t dependent upon her to fill him up, right? After a succession of life-suckers, that had certainly been a welcome change, one that she’d desperately needed.

While she could admit that his confidence might get on other people’s nerves, most of the time it didn’t bother her at all. Really. She told herself that it was refreshing, that confidence was an admirable trait and Derrick…She grinned in spite of herself. Well, Derrick had that particular characteristic in spades.

Which is why her grandfather hated him.

Her lips curled with wry humor. Evidently her grandfather didn’t think Derrick had the necessary qualities to back up the confidence. But it didn’t matter what her grandfather thought. It only mattered what Audrey thought, and most of the time Derrick’s somewhat exaggerated ego didn’t bother her at all. There was something to be said for a guy who wasn’t dependent on her opinion. Compared to her other relationships, Derrick was a walk in the park. He was easy.

Was she in love with him? Probably not. Her
heart didn’t skip a beat when he touched her hand—or any other part of her, for that matter—and, though he traveled frequently with his job, she couldn’t exactly say that she’d ever truly missed him.

But there was a consistency and predictability to their relationship which she found quite comfortable, for lack of a better explanation. And she had no desire to change the status quo. Hopefully by the end of next week she’d be able to come up with a convincing argument for her cause. That was the plan, at any rate, as far as she had one.

“Well, you know what I think of him,” her grandfather said. “He’s a—”

Audrey chuckled softly. “Yes, Gramps, I certainly don’t have to wonder about that.” Ever. In fact, she could confidently say that not many people
ever
had to wonder what the Colonel thought. It was part of his charm.