Hope Falls: The Perfect Lie (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Melanie Shawn. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Hope Falls remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Melanie Shawn, or their affiliates or licensors.

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  The Perfect Lie

  By Mallory Crowe

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Title Page

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  The Cocky Thief

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  Chapter One

  Stephanie pulled her car into the small lot and put it in park. She stayed put for a few minutes and just looked out at the majestic spread of pines in front of her. This was good. She needed this.

  She stepped out of the car and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. Damn, she wished she could bottle this up. Back home in Chicago, there didn’t seem to be fresh air anywhere. Even the parks were always in sight of skyscrapers and the highways packed with millions of cars pumping their exhaust into the air.

  It would be a lie if she said she didn’t enjoy the city. That manic energy and frantic pace was what she fed on most days. But lately it had all felt more suffocating than energizing.

  After taking a few deep breaths, Steph reached above her to stretch out her arms and then bent forward to give her stiff quads some movement. Maybe she could look into finding a yoga studio nearby or something. In this day and age, yoga studios were as popular as Starbucks, right?

  She tried to remember what the sign had said as she’d driven toward the scenic spot. Hope Falls. Pretty name for a pretty place. During her drive across the country, she had seen hundreds of idyllic towns. As soon as she stopped, she’d always felt the pressing need to keep moving. Every time one of the locals would look her way, she felt as if she were about to be found out. As if they’d know she didn’t belong. She wasn’t one of them. Imposter.

  Steph shook her head and rubbed her neck. No, all these thoughts were just in her head. No one thought she was out of place but her.

  The bright summer sun shone down on her and she was happy to feel the rays but had to wonder where her sun block was. Her fair complexion didn’t do well with the sun unless she was completely coated in SPF 50. Ugh. She was such a mess she couldn’t even go out in the sun. Great.

  She had no idea where her sun block was. She’d been driving for about two weeks now, zigzagging around the states, and all her careful packing had turned into a jumbled mess in her backseat. But she did have a loose, airy long-sleeved top that she could throw on that would keep her arms and shoulders safe from the sun. That should be enough to let her walk around the nearby trails and enjoy Hope Falls for the hour or so she was going to be here.

  She pulled off the bright-orange blouse she’d worn on the drive and threw it in the backseat, leaving her in her black yoga pants that almost felt like pajamas and a white tank top. She was just about to open the trunk to her black Subaru to find the cover-up she was looking for when she heard the crunching gravel that signaled someone else was pulling into her secluded parking lot.

  So much for a nice private walk. Hopefully, they’d be city-minded like her and not want to talk. She rolled her eyes at her train of thought. No wonder she would never fit in in a perfect town like Hope Falls. With that close-minded attitude, she wouldn’t make friends anywhere. She forced herself to look to the faded red of the old pickup truck and wave at whoever was driving up. The sun glinted off the windshield, keeping her from seeing who was inside, so fingers crossed it wasn’t a creeper.

  Satisfied at her successful social interaction, she was more than ready to go back to ignoring whoever it was. But as soon as the car pulled into the spot one over from her and the door opened, she forgot what she was about to do. Hell, she forgot what planet she was on as she saw the man step out.

  Man? That had to be an understatement. This was a god. An Adonis. Someone completely out of the league of everyone on this mere mortal plane. He was tall, probably at least six foot three, and his muscles pushed at the thin fabric of the gray t-shirt that had probably been worn and washed thousands of times from the looks of it. And those muscles were lean and defined in a way that didn’t come from the meatheads who spent every waking hour at the gym. This guy got strong by working with his hands and outside. And he probably didn’t need to be coated in SPF 50 to survive, either.

  And then the Adonis spoke. “Gwen?”

  So, Steph said the only word she could think of at the moment. “Yep.”

  ~~~~~

  Josh Dooley looked the new hire up and down. He bet she wouldn’t last the week, but at least he’d have a nice view for the time being. Amanda Barnes told him that Gwen was going to be driving a black sedan and would meet him that morning, but he’d figured she’d head up to the main resort. He was stopping by to get some of the morning chores done and when he saw the black Subaru, he figured he’d give her an early welcome and make sure she hadn’t gotten lost or anything.

  From the way she looked at him as if he were a space alien, he wasn’t going to rule out the lost theory. “I’m your official buddy for the week. You’re going to shadow me for a while and once we get a feel for what part of the property will suit you best, you’ll get a more permanent position. Permanent temporary position,” he clarified. “You’re just here for the summer season, right?”

  Her eyes widened a bit and he tried to figure out what was confusing about the question.

  She tentatively nodded. “Yeah, temporary,” she half mumbled.

  Maybe she was just a bit slow. Amanda hadn’t told him much about the new hire, but he knew Justin and Amanda, the two owners of Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures, were more than willing to take a chance on some questionable people, him being a prime example. Sometimes it bit them in the ass, but for the most part they were such great bosses that the employees would bend over backward to make sure Mountain Ridge ran like a well-oiled machine. So if he had to babysit the newest project for a week until she got on her feet, he’d grin and bear it. If Amanda thought this girl was worth taking a chance on, so did he.

  If it wasn’t Justin and Amanda in charge of hiring and interviewing, he’d suspect Gwen was hired for the way her ass looked in those tight pants. Even though not one part of him wanted her to change into anything else, he knew it wasn’t the most practical for a long day outside. She’d probably have to invest in some sturdy cargo pants that would allow her to carry the standard walkie, keys, and other miscellaneous items that even the temporary help needed to carry. But he wasn’t about to have a dress code talk with her right away. He’d have to ease her into everything.

  “Since you’re here, want to follow me? I can give you a quick intro as I get some things checked off the to-do list.” He started for the trail before he realized he hadn’t even introduced himself. “Sorry. Josh Dooley.” He held out his hand and for
a moment she just stared at it as though debating whether she should touch him. Great, was she a germaphobe too? This was a dirty job and if she was going through a gallon of hand sanitizer a day, she’d never get anything—

  She shook his hand in a firm handshake and it was like a shock. Not a painful electric kind, but more like a warmth that shot up his arm and reverberated through the rest of him. He thought he was imagining it but then he realized she was looking up at him with deep blue eyes the same color as Lake Tahoe. For a second he just stood there, her eyes pulling him into some strange trance…

  She snapped out of it before he did, something he wasn’t proud of, and took a few steps back. “Lead the way, Josh.”

  He started for the well-worn trail off the parking lot and took a few deep breaths as he remembered his place. He owed Justin and Amanda a lot. He wasn’t about to mess that up by making a move on a new employee on her first day. Though she had felt it, too, right? It wasn’t as if this was one-sided… Unless that was wishful thinking. She was probably nervous and in over her head. No, he needed to stay the hell away and just remember his place as her boss.

  To keep himself focused, he started to give her the breakdown of what was going to be expected of her. “Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures is on a few hundred acres, so it’s a giant property. We do everything from horseback riding, hiking, zip-lining, kayaking, river rafting and in the winter, there’s a new ski slope that opened a few seasons ago and is run by a couple who both have Olympic gold medals. This is the summer tourist season, so we’re pretty swamped. Amanda said you didn’t have a lot of experience, so don’t freak out. We’re not going to put you in charge of zip-lining anytime soon. There’s a lot of busywork tasks that need to get done eventually.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the roll of plastic bags. “Like this.” He handed the bags to her.

  Gwen took the bags from him and rolled them around in her hand. “What are these?”

  “Poop bags.” They stopped at a little post that had a trash bin and a wooden post with a bag dispenser for any hikers who decided to bring their dogs with them.

  Gwen frowned at the post before she turned in a circle and gestured to the wilderness around them. “You have to pick up after your dogs out here? Like, do the bears have to pick up their stuff too?”

  He wasn’t sure whether he was more amused by her surprise or the fact that she called shit “stuff” in front of him. He’d have to tell her that, around him at least, cursing was okay. “Hey, if it’s in the middle of the woods, I couldn’t care less. But if one of our guests has to step in poodle poo, I don’t want to deal with the fallout.”

  Gwen let out a snort. “It fell out of the poodle.” She smiled and covered her mouth with a palm. “I’m sorry. I’m not funny.”

  Josh couldn’t help but smile at her. He wasn’t sure whether it was the bad joke or how damn cute she looked when she was embarrassed. “I think you’re funny.” He gave her a little wink before he realized he was treading on fragile territory here. “Let’s get back to the main lodge.”

  “So, Josh,” she said as they started back. “Tell me about yourself. How long have you worked here?”

  “A few years. When Amanda’s father passed away and she took ownership, she took the already successful Mountain Ridge and expanded. After opening up the ski slope, they needed extra hands and added me on.”

  “An outdoor adventure place owned by a woman? That’s kind of cool, right?”

  Josh didn’t always like talking about Amanda and Justin. Sometimes his gratefulness to the couple got the better of him and he was so used to being guarded that he didn’t know how to really say what he was thinking. Hell, he wasn’t used to feeling grateful to anyone. So instead he just kept on giving the facts he knew. “Amanda’s father left it to her when he passed away. Well, mostly to her and part to a former employee, Justin. They’re married now.” He glanced over to Gwen to see what she thought about the little love story.

  “Married? Did he leave it to them because he wanted them to get together? Or did they get together because he left it to them?”

  “Little of both maybe.” When he saw the two of the owners interacting, it was hard to imagine them not being a couple. He had a feeling that even without Mountain Ridge pulling them together, they would’ve found each other eventually. It was damned inspiring, which was exactly what a guy like him needed.

  “And what is your official job here?” she asked, putting the focus back on him.

  “I started doing out what you’re doing. Odd jobs and anything that needed to get done. I still do that, but on a higher level. I organize the temporary help and make sure all the stations are manned. I work with the tourists and make sure anyone who needs help gets it.”

  “So…everything. You do everything.”

  “More interesting than just one thing day in and day out.”

  “Amen,” she muttered.

  He wondered where she had come from that gave her the dislike for the mundane. Though a lot of the temporary help would spend a few days running around every end of Mountain Ridge and would leave after a week missing the comfort of an office job. Even if he could get a respectable office to hire him, he’d go stir-crazy sitting in a cubicle for eight plus hours a day. He’d been lucky that the only place that would take a chance on him happened to be a little slice of paradise.

  “Where did you work before here?” He had to keep reminding himself that asking personal information from a coworker wasn’t stepping over bounds. It was just getting to know a coworker. So why did it feel like more than that?

  “I’m from the city. This is a nice change of pace.”

  Change of pace. Was she just testing out the wilderness before running back to the populated areas? Or was she going to be like him and stick around for as long as she was welcome? Maybe after a few weeks, he could take a chance and ask her out. Amanda and Justin didn’t have any policy against employees dating, for obvious reasons. He’d never debated crossing those lines before, but he’d never been this drawn to one of the employees before. It was just as possible that after he worked with her for a while he wouldn’t be able to stand her, but something told him he wasn’t going to get tired of Gwen anytime soon.

  They just reached the parking lot again when Gwen ran her hands over the front of her pants. She hadn’t gotten them dirty, so he wondered whether she was feeling nervous around him, too. He smiled at the thought.

  “So what’s next on the agenda? After starting with poop bags, I’m positively intrigued at where you go from here.”

  He let out a little laugh. There were about a hundred things on his list, but he decided to say the thing that would probably impress her the most. “We can head out to the stable. You like horses?”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, I love horses. I haven’t been riding in ages.”

  “Sometime this week, I’m sure we can work something out. We just got a new horse in and he’s been a handful. All the girls love him.”

  “It’s always the pain in the ass ones, isn’t it?”

  “Got that right,” he said as his walkie chimed. He held up his hand as he pulled it off his belt. “Josh here.”

  “Hey, Josh,” said Justin over the radio. “You going to be back anytime soon? The new hire has been waiting for about twenty minutes.”

  “What? I’m already with…” He trailed off as he saw the woman in front of him take a nervous gulp. “I’ll be right there.”

  The liar in front of him took a step back and held up her hands. “I can explain.”

  Chapter Two

  Okay, so maybe she couldn’t explain. What was she supposed to say? I’m sorry I lied about who I was, but you were so smoking hot that I literally forgot how to speak for a moment? Damn, damn, damn. “I’m sorry. I had a brain fart and—”

  “Your brain fart has my boss calling and asking where the hell I am, so thanks for that, lady.”

  He started to turn away from her and the blood rush
ed to Steph’s face as embarrassment washed over her.

  “Hold on, Josh, let me make it up to you!” He was at the door to his truck and she followed him, trying desperately to get him to listen to her apology. “I’m sorry. I know it was stupid but—”

  “But what?” he bit out, turning to face her and she had to slam on the brakes to keep from slamming into him. “But I am a nobody, so it didn’t matter what you said? But you were bored, so it was okay? Please, tell me what ‘but’ you came up with to make this okay.”

  Her mouth went dry as she realized how right he was. There really was no “but” that she could give. “If you get into any serious trouble, please let me know. I wasn’t thinking and—”

  “You see, if I were going to tell you if I got in trouble, that would imply that I was ever going to talk to you again. And I can’t afford to talk to people who don’t think. In my life, not thinking isn’t an option. So get back in your car and don’t think until you’re far away from Hope Falls. Got it?”

  She took a step back and averted her gaze to the gravel lot. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something so reckless. In her family, she was always the reasonable one. The cautious one. And in one split second, she’d gone and outright lied to this guy, who was just trying to do his job. A job he loved from the sounds of it and she might have gotten him in trouble.

  Instead of trying to apologize again, she weakly nodded as he pulled his door shut and slammed the truck into reverse. The gravel kicked up as he ripped out of the lot and she was literally left in the dust.

  For a few minutes, she just stood there, feeling a mixture of guilt and self-pity. What was she supposed to do now? Keep on her soul-searching road trip? Go back home? Hope Falls obviously didn’t hold any hope for her. If anything, it was just a stark reminder that she didn’t really belong anywhere. She didn’t belong with good people like Josh. She didn’t belong with the craziness that surrounded her parents. She finally managed to move back to her car and behind the wheel. She left the parking lot a bit more carefully than Josh had and made her way back to the main highway. She could go left and head toward Lake Tahoe or right to Hope Falls.