Whisper's Edge (6 page)

“Um…” Tristan tightened the knot on the towel and stood there uncertainly. “Remember, I’m decent now.” He searched for something more to say but came up blank. Although his serious nature suited him well as a lawyer, his mother was forever urging him to lighten up. Tristan admired that, in spite of her unhappy childhood and her narrow-minded father, his mother remained one of the most positive people that he knew. She made damned sure that he never felt unloved or unwanted. He had been terrified when he almost lost her to breast cancer. He only wished he had been old enough to take care of her during her illness instead of her having
to return to Whisper’s Edge and her coldhearted father for help.

Tristan shoved his fingers through his hair and pushed the memory of that horrible summer from his head. Instead, he focused his attention on the cute little redhead who refused to turn and face him. “Savannah? Would you please turn around?” He noticed that her shoulders tensed at the sound of his request, and he had the urge to walk over there and place reassuring hands on her arms. “Look,” he began, but before he could finish his sentence she whirled around.

“Please don’t fire me.”

“Fire you?”

She nodded.

“Why on earth would I fire you?”

“Well for the…the pool incident for starters.” She took a deep breath. “And for, you know, yanking your towel off and causing you to be naked in front of my very own eyes.”

“So you looked?” When her eyes widened and she turned a pretty shade of bright pink, Tristan realized that his attempt at teasing had failed once more.

“No! Well, I mean yes, but I wasn’t trying to! I closed my eyes right away,” she insisted and then nervously licked her lips.

“Savannah…” he tried but she was on a roll and gaining momentum.

“For the record I most
certainly
did
not
yank the towel off for the purpose of viewing your naked body. I was merely attempting to stand upright.”

“Okay!” Tristan put his palms up in surrender. “I really do believe you. Seriously.”

She blinked at him. “So can I have my job back?”

“I di—”

“I know it must seem like I am the queen of incompetence but I actually work hard and there are lots of people who would miss me.” She paused briefly to consider her statement. “I think. Well, I would miss everyone, for sure.”

“Are you finished?”

“I believe so.” She fell silent and looked at him with soulful eyes.

“Savannah, for the last time…I was only teasing.”

“Teasing? Are you kidding me?”

“Yes. I mean, no, I’m not kidding you…not
now
at least. I was before.” Wow, for a lawyer he was sure sucking at this explanation.

“Wait.” She tilted her head forward and gave him an incredulous look. “Pardon me for saying so but you should not tease a person about firing them.”

“Who said
anything
about firing you?”

“Oh…” She nibbled on the inside of her lip. “So I just gave that big, long speech for nothing?”

“Pretty much.” Tristan took a step closer. “What gave you the impression that I was going to give you the boot?”

Savannah gave him a slight shrug. “I just, I don’t know, get feelings that I can’t always explain,” she admitted in a serious tone that made Tristan want to peel away the cheerful layers and get to the heart of Savannah Perry. She shrugged once more but then grinned slightly. “Go figure…”

“I understand more than you might think,” Tristan told her, but when she raised her eyebrows as if wanting him to elaborate, he clammed up.

After a moment of silence Savannah looked a bit confused but then said, “Your clothes should be dry in a few minutes.” He could feel her putting distance between them and Tristan was fine with pulling back. He was already getting too close, and he needed to keep his mind clear. Buying Whisper’s Edge was an investment that he could simply turn over for a nice profit without risk or develop into an amazing riverfront hot spot. Either option could make him wealthy enough to ensure his mother never had to work another day in her life. And, of course, there was the added attraction of showing his grandfather what he was made of. Tristan wasn’t yet sure which way to go but he did know one
thing…getting emotionally involved never boded well. He’d learned that valuable lesson the hard way.

“I feel the need for a glass of sweet tea. How about you?”

“Yes, tea sounds great.” He wasn’t really all that thirsty, but it gave Savannah something to do and filled in the sudden silence.

“Feel free to have a seat.” She gestured toward the sofa and then turned on her heel.

“Thanks.” Tristan sat down on plump floral cushions and rested one elbow on the armrest. But as Savannah made her way over to the small kitchen he couldn’t stop himself from watching her progress with male appreciation.
Keep your distance
, slid through his brain. With an inner groan he pulled his gaze away from her cute butt and looked down at the array of magazines on the coffee table. Most of them were about arts and crafts, but several travel magazines caught his attention. He picked one up and was paging through it when she returned with the tea.

“So you like to travel?” he asked as he took the glass from her. He noticed it held a cheerful sprig of mint and a thin slice of lemon. She seemed to like small touches that made something ordinary a little bit special. Nice, he thought, and then checked himself. It was just tea…

“I don’t know.” She sat down on a wingback chair to the left of the sofa.

“You don’t know?” Tristan put the magazine down and gave her a quizzical look.

“I haven’t had much of a chance to go anywhere.” She flicked a glance at the coffee table and sighed. “But a girl can dream.” She gave him a slow Southern smile that went straight to his gut. “Don’t ya think?”

“Oh…sure.” Duh, she lived in a small mobile home in a retirement community. He guessed that traveling wasn’t part of her budget. He sucked at small talk!

“I’ve never been anywhere really exotic or foreign.” She grinned, clearly not offended. “But I do have a passport that
I’m just itching to use. Kate talked me into getting one. That way I can go to the places on my bucket list.”

“Wait. Bucket list? You mean the things to do before you die?”

“Yeah. You know, like the stuff that Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman did in that movie where they find out they’re going to kick the bucket.” She frowned. “But I don’t want to skydive. I’m afraid of heights.”

“Savannah, how old are you?”

Her face fell a little. “Knocking on the door of thirty,” she admitted in a low tone. “And having a bit of trouble with it.”

She looked even younger. “I think you have plenty of time left.”

“Well…” She put her glass down on a coaster and held her hands far apart. “I have a long list of places to go on my bucket list, so it will take a while, especially at the pace I’m able to save up.”

Tristan felt a flash of guilt.

She sighed. “I might not make it to every one of them, well, or most of them, but I sure do have fun window shopping in the magazines.”

He looked at the coffee table. “You do a lot of window shopping.”

Savannah shrugged. “Keeps me out of trouble.”

“Yeah, you look like a troublemaker.”

She laughed. “I guess part of the interest in seeing the world came from listening to the stories of people who live here.” She shook her head. “They might look like Grandma and Grandpa, but boy, oh boy, have I heard some grand adventures from the residents. I want to have some of my own to tell someday.”

“What’s your number one destination?” he found himself asking.

“Oh that’s easy. I won’t get to use my passport but I’d love to go to Hawaii!” She leaned over and pointed to a glossy cover. “All of the islands would be cool but Maui in
particular. It’s called the Magic Isle. They say there are too many waterfalls to count on the road to Hana. That’s on the rain forest side of the island.” She leaned back in her chair. “Have you been there?”

“To Maui, yes, but not to Hana,” he admitted. He had been with his girlfriend at the time and although he’d wanted to explore the island all she had wanted to do was lounge poolside, something they could’ve done anywhere. Dating her had ended after the trip. Unbidden, the thought ran through his mind that traveling with someone like Savannah would be a blast.

“I bet you’ve been to a lot of amazing places.” She looked at him with interest.

“Not as often as I would have liked,” he admitted, and realized that it was true. “Law school was demanding and my work schedule after that was brutal.” He took a long swig of the cold tea. “There are a lot of lawyers out there. If you want to succeed you have to put in the time.”

“So you made a lot of money but didn’t get to enjoy it.”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s too bad,” she said with such sincerity that Tristan had to smile. She was such an upbeat, caring person. No wonder the residents loved her. “You need to stop and smell the roses.”

“You’re right. My mother says the same thing to me.”

“Smart woman! So you must be close.”

“We are.” Tristan nodded slowly.

“That’s nice.” The wistful look in her eyes made him want to ask about her mother but he refrained.

“So what’s on your bucket list, Tristan?” She put a hand to her chest. “I mean, Mr. McMillan.”

“Call me Tristan.”

She shook her head. “You’re my boss.”

“Please.” He rolled his eyes. “You call Kate by her first name, don’t you?”

“Yes, well, okay…
Tristan
,” she agreed a bit shyly.

“There you go.” Tristan was used to bold, assertive
women, but he found Savannah’s quiet confidence and softer nature to be a breath of fresh air. And she actually seemed interested in what he was saying. Nice…he could get used to conversations like this.

“So what about your bucket list? And I don’t mean business stuff. I mean fun…adventure…” She tilted her head and waited.

“I don’t have one.”

“You need one,” she said firmly. “And they don’t have to be big things like Maui. It can be something simple like a book you always wanted to read. Or seeing someone amazing in concert. Stuff like that.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” he said, dodging the question.

“Yeah, I have. And I actually check things off.” She smiled at him. “But then it makes me feel as if the end is near so I add more things.”

Tristan chuckled at her reasoning but it made a weird kind of sense.

“Don’t you believe me?”

“Oh, I believe you,” he replied, but then fell silent. Savannah was getting into personal territory and he was enjoying their simple conversation way too much. He glanced down at his watch and winced.

She grabbed the arms of her chair. “Oh my goodness! Your meeting!”

“Yeah, I’ve got to go.”

“I’m so sorry. Me and my nonstop chatter.” She pushed up from the chair and hurried over to the dryer. “The bell telling you that the clothes are dry doesn’t work anymore,” she explained over her shoulder. After opening the small door she reached up and started pulling his clothes out. “Yes, dry. I had them on low so as not to shrink anything.” She shook out his shirt and then held it up for him to see. “No wrinkles! I think you’re good to go.” She folded the clothes into a neat pile and hurried over to him. “I even put a dryer sheet in there so you’ll smell nice.”

“Thanks,” he said briskly, but when their fingers brushed he felt a warm tingle of awareness. He took a quick step away.

“You can change in the bathroom.” She pointed to the hallway. “I hope you’re not late.”

He was but shook his head. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it.”

“Good!” Savannah smiled. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from something important.”

“Then put your mind at ease,” Tristan said before he headed down the short hallway. The rest of her home appeared as neat and tidy as the living area. A small office was to the right with a bathroom on the left. Out of curiosity Tristan paused at her bedroom door and peeked in. He was expecting something dainty and cute but the furnishings were made of smooth, sleek wood with very little clutter except for lots of pillows on the bed. It was almost as if she wanted to clear her head before going to sleep at night. The walls were painted a soft cream that set off the dark wood of the vintage-looking bed. The mound of colorful throw pillows hinted at the playful personality that Tristan already glimpsed in the short time he’d known Savannah.

Not wanting to get caught snooping, he ducked into the bathroom and changed into his dry clothes. After folding the orange towel he finger-combed his hair and headed back out to the living room.

As soon as he entered, Savannah stood up. “I hope the clothes are dry enough?”

“I’m good to go,” Tristan assured her, even though he felt hesitant to leave her company. “And smelling fresh.”

“After the rain.”

“Excuse me?”

“The scent of the dryer sheets. I’ve always liked that clean, earthy smell,” she said. “Here I am going on about nothing when you’re in a hurry.”

Tristan suddenly didn’t want to be in hurry.

She shook her head. “Well, thanks, you know, for coming to my rescue.”

“I didn’t really save you, remember?”

“That’s not the point,” she said and then grinned. “Kinda like it’s the thought that counts, you know?”

“I’ll take being a hero by default.”

Savannah’s grin faded and she looked up at him with serious eyes. “Hey, you’ve saved Whisper’s Edge. A lot of people are going to sleep easier tonight.”

“Savannah—”

She raised a hand of protest. “Nope, don’t play it down. I know this is just a glorified trailer park to some but to the residents it’s home. It’s my home too, for that matter,” she added with a soft smile and a catch in her voice. “But I don’t want to keep you.” She cleared her throat. “You’d better get to that meeting of yours.”

“Yes, I should go.” Tristan nodded and managed a smile but once he was outside he immediately felt an odd wave of sadness mixed with guilt.
Stupid
, he said to himself. Developing this land would be another boon to the local economy. Jobs would be created and add enticement for more investors to come into the community. Sure, some residents would be displaced, but there had to be a price for progress. Right?