Rivers Rescue (River's End #9) Read online

  “It’s okay. I know what you’re saying. Mechanical tone?”

  “Yes. Not a lot of fluctuation, inflection or natural cadence. But I do understand you clearly. There is a slight tinge to your words that indicates you’re different. But I sincerely doubt I’d have guessed you were deaf. I’d just assume you had a cold or something.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have guessed I was deaf. Shell-shocked, emotionally disturbed, or brain-damaged? Weren’t those your first suspicions about what was wrong with me?”

  She blushed and it spread clear down to her chest. Water undulated around him. The sun had finally set, and twilight would soon be the only illumination. “It is. But clearly, I was wrong. There is nothing wrong with you.”

  He shrugged and turned to dip deeper into the water. She touched his shoulder. He sucked in a breath as his stomach fluttered from the soft feel of her hands. He glanced at her mouth. She remembered this time, and she waited until he was staring at her before she said, “Your voice? Isn’t anything to worry about. You know what you sound like?”

  “What?”

  “More formal and educated than anyone else around here.” She smiled. “So be proud of it.”

  Yeah, right, proud. No. Never. He nearly suffocated from his embarrassment of even talking to her. But as long as he remained aware that there was never any chance she’d consider him dateable, he could handle their innocuous interactions. He could fill the role of the cute, easily trained puppy, remember?

  They then swam for awhile exchanging only small, minor interactions. Finally, it started to grow dark. She started talking and he touched her lips with his finger as he shook his head. “I can’t… I can’t see. I can’t make out what you’re saying.”

  She glanced up, nodding. Surprisingly, she took his hand in hers and squeezed. Then she leaned closer to him until her mouth was mere inches from his face. He blinked in surprise as his heart lurched with wonder. Crap. What was she doing? Then her mouth began moving distinctly. “Let’s go. It was nice, right?”

  He nodded. “Nice. Yeah, it was.”

  Strangely, it really was nice. She smiled and put more space between them as she turned and started up the beach. He followed her. She used a towel to pat dry her arms, legs and torso before rubbing her hair vigorously with it. His jeans were much heavier now, but at least the heat had finally subsided and his sweat was all washed off. He nearly fell over when she handed him her towel. He rubbed his torso and hair while trying to ignore the faint scent of her on the towel. Some kind of lotion left its aroma on the terry cloth. He sniffed the soft, girlie scent discreetly as he rubbed it over his hair. It was sexy and smelled citrus-like. He could have inhaled it much deeper but he feared that might have seemed too odd.

  “Thanks.” He handed the towel back to her and she took it. Then she lifted his hand again and squeezed it. Her version of you’re welcome? No doubt. Finn was glad it was dark now so she could not see his embarrassment. Imagine. The woman couldn’t even say you’re welcome to him in a normal way.

  Brianna headed up the trail and he followed behind her. Despite the silence in his head, his thoughts were so wild, fast and crazy that they felt loud. Then she abruptly stopped and he blinked in surprise when he nearly ran into her. Duh. There was a giant yard light overhead and he could see her lips. The talkative Brianna couldn’t wait to chat some more.

  “It was fun. I usually go there every night. Cami comes sometimes… but only until she leaves…”

  “Your friend who is moving to Germany with her fiancé, who is Jack’s son?”

  She literally beamed her approval up at him. “You really listened to me.”

  “I tried to.”

  “My brother claims I talk too much and annoy the crap out of him. He always gives me shit… See? There I go again.”

  “Well, since I can’t hear you, it’s pretty hard to annoy me.”

  “Right. All you have to do is turn away.”

  “I guess my condition does have its perks,” he replied. She was surprised at the quickness of his response. He didn’t usually engage in any kind of banter with anyone. Scanning his memories, okay, he couldn’t ever remember doing such a thing.

  She smiled. “You almost sound like him… I mean, when he was nicer.”

  “He’s not nice now?” Finn surprised himself by asking, and odder still, he actually stared at her in eager anticipation of her answer. His curiosity piqued. Why? Because she had big boobs? Maybe. Yeah, probably. But it was more than that… She seemed to treat him more like a normal person than most. Her blatant attempts to figure out how to “treat” a deaf person made her funny and real. Even when she put her foot into her mouth, she made it seem like the most ordinary, normal interaction he’d ever engaged in.

  She shrugged, bowing her head down. He reached out quickly and gently tapped her chin. She jerked before lifting her face. “Right. Face up. I’ll get it, eventually, I swear. I was lowering it just to pout. Anyway, my brother was why I was crying on the beach the other night. He’s been kicked out by my dad. Drugs and stuff. I’m really scared what will happen to him.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Twenty-one. He’s been a shit for a while now.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t do drugs, do you?”

  Surprised at her personal question, he instantly shook his head. “No. Why?”

  “I decided, no more drugs. Not in the people I choose to hang around. Cami used to flirt with it at times, in fact, she often did drugs with Jacob, and she used to make me so mad. No more.”

  “I have enough trouble as it is. How the fuck could I be high and manage to read what you say?”

  She smiled. “You swear a lot more than I expected.”

  “Because I’m deaf I should be better behaved?”

  “Well, I’m just glad you don’t do drugs. So I am choosing to hang around you.”

  “That’s because there are ‘like twelve people’ around here. That was what you said, right?”

  “Yes. You even got the “like” in there.”

  “You say that and that you’re sorry a lot. I can probably make those out now every time.”

  She smiled. “Well, then, until next time.”

  “Next time.”

  She spun and promptly left, turning back once to wave. Stupidly, Finn smiled as he waved back at her cheerful goodbye. Even the way she waved at him seemed vigorous, chatty, and friendly. He wondered if there was anyone Brianna Starr ever met who remained a stranger to her. To his astonishment, she almost had him convinced he could actually connect with her.

  Chapter Five

  IT WAS WEIRD TO interact with Finn. It made Brianna self-conscious in a way she never felt with anybody else. She always had to work just to talk to him; and it wasn’t because she didn’t know what to talk about with him, but how she said it. Literally, the delivery of her words was what she had to master. What to talk about was never a problem. Naturally outgoing and chatty, Brianna had no trouble finding things to talk about with just about anybody. But with Finn, there were rules she had to follow that felt totally unnatural to her.

  For one, she had to be sure to keep her face turned to his. That was hard. She never realized how often she turned her head away from whomever she was talking to. She frequently took a brief break if only to reduce the intensity of the conversation. But with Finn, she had to retain direct contact, letting his eyes watch her mouth at all times and that nearly exhausted her. She had to clearly enunciate and when she became aware of her mumbling or talking too fast, she had to avoid going too far the other way or pronouncing words unnaturally.

  Perhaps because it was different when she interacted with Finn, she felt slightly more compelled to do it than she did with anyone else she’d recently met.

  Maybe she was just bored because she missed people and hanging out and parties and spontaneous get-togethers at college. She missed it more than she expected. Her life was supposed to go forward now without major obstacl
es or regret.

  The ironic part was: her life was set up to already be a success. No one knew how well she was doing. Her sales were exploding, and sometimes doubled from one month to the next. When it failed to double, it substantially increased. She could easily support herself with it. For now, however, she just banked it. After contacting a financial advisor, she decided it was time to set up some kind of investments to offset her taxes and also to start her retirement savings. She didn’t want to blow the current windfall, which she knew could turn on a dime. She intended to make damn sure that she didn’t squander any of the money, realizing it could dry up at any time.

  She lived on a remote ranch with very few people around. The nearest town boasted only one fast food restaurant, which was considered cosmopolitan, so she could honestly admit she was bored much of the time.

  She had to stay there for now but at least Cami was still around to hang out with. But only until she committed to her imminent, horrible, great-big-assed-stupid move across the world.

  Brianna didn’t want to go to her dad’s where she’d have to quietly observe the sad, pathetic reality of no one knowing where her brother was. She texted him a dozen or more times but got no response. To say that she fretted was like saying she had long hair. Duh.

  And now she had Finn Alexander to add to the River’s End mix. Finn and his cryptic remarks. Finn and his mysterious personality. Ignoring the innovation in dealing and communicating with a deaf man, there was something about Finn that Brianna found unfathomably unreadable.

  She got up early the next morning and worked for four hours on line, dividing her time between the sales, public comments, orders and some new posts to advertise her latest products. She hurried through the kitchen at eleven o’clock, rushing to meet Cami and Jack for her first formal meeting about the camp. She grabbed a piece of bread and a banana on her way out.

  “Aren’t you going to put something on that?” her mom called after her.

  She grinned. “No time.”

  “Gross, Brianna. Why don’t you give yourself a few moments to eat instead of spending so much time online? The precious hours of your life you seem to waste…”

  She kissed her mom’s cheek as she raced past. “Not a waste, Mom. Working.”

  “Sure. Taking the summer off… Eventually, you’re going to have to find something constructive to occupy your time. You need a job. A proper way to make a living.”

  She nodded and waved her fingers. She’d soon have some paperwork from her financial advisor that she could show to her mom. Maybe then, she could convince her parents that she already did something lucrative, even if it were something they couldn’t understand.

  Neither did she, quite honestly. But for now, she intended to keep it quiet and just enjoy her summer. As of now, there was no pressure, and if it all crashed and burned, it wouldn’t really matter.

  She raced across the street and knocked on the door to Jack’s house. He answered and Cami was already sitting at the table when Brianna came in. Cami was talking with Erin quietly.

  “Hey.”

  They all looked up and grinned when they saw her. Brianna munched on her sad piece of bread. It was a bit dry and she wished she had brought something to wash it down. “So-o-o Rydells and future Rydell, how the heck do we do this?”

  Jack chuckled at her as he shut the door behind her. “Well, Brianna, you certainly will add some spice and character to the camp.”

  “Uh-huh.” She flopped onto a chair, splitting her banana open before starting to eat it. “So you all got a website? Dedicated social media pages devoted to this thing? Do you post daily? Do you post at all? I think we should start there. Link it to any and all local area kids’ stuff. Then we get the word out everywhere. Schools. Camps. After school programs. All the local child protection shelters and anyone to do with foster care…”

  Glancing up, Brianna saw they were all bug-eyed and staring at her. “What?”

  “We… we do have a website.” Cami finally said.

  “A website. That’s it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “This thing is for teens, right? As in teenagers. Phone talkers. Social media users?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Teens don’t go looking for websites. Only old people do. That means, you gotta get their attention and make them so interested that they beg to come. The more you have on the waiting list, the more demand you create. And the sooner you’ll have all the local philanthropists and other do-gooders excited about your program and eager to pay you their hard earned money… We also need to attract advertisers and other sponsors to realize that donating to your nonprofit camp makes them look good. It can’t be small or rinky-dink. It’s gotta be big to get them to invest. It has to benefit them, meaning, it has to be big enough that their customers know who and what they are. Donating always creates good will. That’s the only reason lots of them will be donating too.”

  “Um… welcome aboard, Brianna,” Erin finally said after another moment of bewildered silence.

  Brianna glanced around. Her mouth still full of banana until she finally swallowed. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I think we forgot what you majored in at college. Along with your keen interest in how you spend your spare time. You’re kind of the ideal person for this.”

  Brianna leaned forward, typing a list on her phone. “Uh-huh… Cami is really lame and unusual for someone her age. She hardly posts anything, anywhere to anybody.”

  Cami turned her laptop towards Brianna. “That’s the website.”

  Brianna took the laptop and clicked on it. And then clicked again. Quiet. Cami squinted. “Speak, Bri. Quiet automatically indicates you don’t like it.”

  She shrugged. “It’s… informational. I’ll give you that.”

  “But not what it should be?”

  Brianna leaned forward. “A camp should look… well, fun. This is for disenfranchised and at-risk youth. You’re offering to change their lives by letting them experience something totally new and wonderful and amazing. Inclusive for all and a heaven on earth for them. Where are the pictures of the kids all smiling while they ride the horses? Or swimming in the gorgeous pool? Groups of them smiling and laughing around a campfire and toasting marshmallows? Show me that, not the schedules, times and dates. Show me and make me ooze with desire before I even ask when or what time. Where is all the color? Vibrancy? Intrigue? You’re not posting a weekly City Council update. It’s an adventure. You have to sell that adventure.”

  “Huh. Um, Brianna? Do you know anything about web design?”

  Rolling her eyes, Brianna typed and clicked before she flipped the laptop back towards them. All three were huddled around it. “Enough.”

  They stared at it and then back up at her. “How the hell did I not know you had a website? And damn, it’s pretty awesome.”

  “Of course it is. I sell stuff. No one buys boring. They buy adventure and unique experiences. They have to think the product they invest in will enhance their lives. They don’t buy out of boredom or necessity online. Nothing like this can be sold like that. Only the people who buy generic brands would buy what your website is selling… and that’s a whole different demographic.”

  “Are you… successful?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why have you never mentioned it?”

  She shrugged. “It’s just something I started to help get me through college.”

  “Sure.” Cami said with a weird glance at her. Brianna grinned. Cami didn’t know why she was lying and underestimating it, but she still went along with it.

  “Can you help us?”

  She grinned. “Of course, I can. Glad to do whatever you need.”

  They talked for another hour, getting detailed accounts and names of donors and the different groups and foster families that had already signed up for the next year.

  “Judging by the amount of kids on this list, you guys could easily run two different camp sessions.”

/>   “We weren’t planning to do that.”

  “Right. But you could.”

  “We could.” Jack said, his lips twisting up. “Go big or go home, huh, Brianna?”

  She nodded. “You get me, Jack.”

  “I think I underestimated you.”

  She smirked. “But seriously, Jack. What about two sessions of the camp?”

  Jack leaned back. “Wow. Yeah. That would be something to consider.”

  “And not for profit, right?”

  “We can afford it and it’s a good feeling to give back finally. You know?”

  “I think hosting two of these camp sessions could bring in some serious donor money.”

  “You are remarkable, Brianna, being sentimental and cold-blooded at the same time.”

  She lifted her shoulders. “Gifted, huh?”

  “Oddly enough. Yes. And I doubt any of us ever knew that.”

  “I knew it. That’s why I picked her,” Cami said, grinning at her warmly. She met Cami’s smile and nodded. Yes, her very best friend knew her. Deep. For real. “In fact, I think we needed her input even if I decided to stay here.”

  Erin nodded. “Agreed.”

  Brianna waved her hand to convey whatever. “So I’ll start on the website and get some social media buzzing. We gotta make this thing go viral. Might as well start now.”

  They all stared at her as if she said, “Let’s see if we can jump over the moon.”

  She grinned. “It’s really not that hard.”

  The meeting broke up shortly after that. Brianna borrowed her mom’s expensive camera and started walking around the ranch, going up to the resort and pastures, the barns and the huge arena. She took dozens of pictures. She photographed individual horses and breathtaking views, including all of the visitors riding, training, and working on the ranch. She had no idea which ones she’d use but all of it was great fodder for advertising. She tried to convey the flavor and beauty of the place and imagined she could feature the photos in several different types of posts. The possibilities started to percolate in her brain.