Lauren Read online

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  Choice Index

  You are on an interactive adventure with nine possible endings. Instead of a traditional table of contents that takes you to the start of a chapter, this index puts you at the end of a chapter, where the choice point is. Dare to rewind history and follow a different decision. Get ready to ride!

  Lauren’s Arrival

  Luke’s Offer

  In the Water with Luke

  Jeb’s Lessons

  After the Song

  Walt’s Question

  In the Water with Walt

  Jumping

  At the Waterfall

  Tom’s Shirt

  Ending Checklist

  About the Author

  Lauren breathed in Montana’s incredible air. Fresh. Spruce and hay, earth and granite. The far-off shrieks and hoots of people having fun mingled with the cry of a hawk. The airport van disappeared out the resort’s timber-and-antler gate. Her heart kicked with mixed emotions at finally being here.

  “Welcome to Cloud Canyon!” A matronly woman bustled out onto the lodge porch, which was strewn with massive furniture and striped wool blankets. “I’m Betsy, the Activity Director, and you must be Lauren?”

  “Yes, Lauren Smythe. What a beautiful place.” She didn’t have to fake sincerity. The structure was both modern and natural, Lincoln Log meets SoHo design company.The older woman laughed, delighted. “Wait till the end of the week. No one ever wants to leave. I have the best job in the world.” She snapped out her hand and almost crushed Lauren’s with a firm pumping grip. “What brings you our way?”

  A memory flashed through Lauren’s head. She remembered a much younger, happier version of herself walking through Central Park. Tommy’s tall frame on one side, Sorrel’s strong shoulders on the other. Her arms linked through both of theirs and all of them laughing in the cold winter sun.

  “I’ve heard wonderful things about your resort from friends. Since I just finished a conference in Denver, I decided to take a week for myself.”

  “Look at you, Miss Independent! Well, we’re friendly folk. You’re sure to find company.”

  Betsy looked her up and down with the kind of keen, assessing eye which would fit right in on Madison Avenue, although her gaze was much jollier. “You’re sure to find guides all around the property. We’re having a hoedown tonight.”

  Lauren raised her brows. “Wow, a hoedown. What will happen to me if I don’t have a cowgirl hat?”

  She was here to enjoy the scenery and ride, not to get roped into forced fun.

  This resort was world-class. Packed with luxuries, it was gorgeous enough to lure her all the way from Denver. Just because it was also the resort her ex–best friend’s family had once run didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it. Sorrel had first been her roommate at NYU, then her heart-sister. The friendship ended when Sorrel had seduced her fiancé. But Sorrel’s family had sold the resort a few years back. Lauren had made sure of that before giving in to curiosity now.

  Another memory came. It was the rusty-knife-twisting-deep-into-her-bowels image of Sorrel and Tommy locked in a carnal kiss. She banished it with the hard-earned practice of eight bitter years. Lauren was over it. Over them. Life should be about remembering the good and moving on. Remembering Sorrel’s excited conversations about how she was going to improve this resort, not to mention her rapturous depiction of the idyllic place, had made it seem so interesting. So she was here to enjoy herself, and to put the final nail in the coffin of the worst emotional pain she’d known.

  Betsy took each of Lauren’s medium-sized wheeled suitcases under her arms as if they were baby cows and bounced down the flagstone stairs. “We’ll loan you a hat,” she said. “Everyone needs one.”

  “Oh, please, let me take at least one of those. The handle pops up and it rolls.”

  “I’ve got them. Wheels don’t do so good on the dirt roads the ranch has. I’m gonna show you to your cabin and you can clean up and rest if you like.”

  Lauren trotted after Betsy with her computer case and giant Coach purse. “So what kinds of activities do you direct?” Maybe some of them wouldn’t be as painful sounding as a hoedown.

  Betsy nodded her head toward the stables, painted red and white. “Most people expect a lot of horseback riding. Everyone who stays gets their own horse assigned to them. Do you ride?”

  Lauren bit her lip. “Ah, no. I did ride on the beach in Portugal once and I rode a camel in Cairo.”

  Betsy looked her up and down, her gaze skimming without admiration over the cute D&G pantsuit in shimmering chocolate. “Do you want to learn?”

  Lauren nodded. “Oh, yes. I can’t wait to learn more. I’ll definitely be riding.” She liked to pet the police horse she saw outside her midtown subway entrance when she had time.

  “Maybe they’ll give you Gabby, or Goose. Ghost would work, but I think they’ve given her to a child guest.” She pointed with her elbow. “There’s the show corral. We have daily lessons in roping and wrangler exhibitions are staged there. One will start in just a bit.”

  There were several people hanging on the tall, metal pipe fence. A half-dozen men worked at shining the complex straps around the horses’ heads. One wore a black hat and black-fringed chaps that showcased his spectacular jean-clad ass.

  Studying the man as she would any fine piece of art, Lauren asked, “Are all your horses named with the letter G?”

  Betsy shot her a wide grin, her blue eyes twinkling. “Only the gentlest or stupidest horses have G-names, for our greenhorn guests.”

  Lauren groaned good-naturedly.

  The work of art looked up and met her gaze. Even across a half-dozen yards, his black eyes shone like polished onyx in the shadow of his hat brim. Her groan trailed off in breathless appreciation. He smirked, wide and crooked, and nodded at her. All of a sudden the balmy warm midday sun seemed tropical and a flush of perspiration slicked down her spine.

  Betsy tromped on past, and Lauren reluctantly followed.

  “There’s the main barn,” Betsy said.

  The tan wooden structure was two stories, hugely wide, with an actual hayloft in the peak bristling with hay.

  “That’s where the dance is tonight, featuring three live bands. Starts at eight.” Betsy whistled and a golden retriever came tearing out of a paddock. “Bo,” she scolded, “you’re not to be in with the yearlings. Get on. Git. Go find Sorrel.”

  The dog leaped happily around Betsy, made a half-hearted foray toward Lauren’s crotch—deftly blocked by a swing of her eggplant snakeskin laptop case—then bounded up the rise toward the barn.

  Betsy encouraged him. “Good boy! Go get her!” She chuckled. “Goldens are awesome and there never was a man to refuse our Sorrel.”

  Since both her lungs and heart had stopped dead, Lauren stopped walking. “Sorrel Wainwright? She still works here?”

  “Oh yes. She’s our manager. Her parents sold and retired to Florida, but Sorrel is still with us.” Betsy beamed. “Do you know her?”

  The coffin in her soul shuddered, threatening to spring open. Tommy, so tall and strong and wonderfully romantic. Sorrel, so tall and slender and wonderfully artistic. Both of them, topless and passionate in her room. And a
fter that, the rest of her senior year at NYU was a blur. She’d walked away from them that day and never gone back. She avoided all her known haunts, found a sublet, bought new clothes, new textbooks. After she’d managed to graduate, she started to rebuild her life into something less zombie-like.

  “I knew her when we were younger.” With the confidence garnered from years of success, she pounded the lid of that rickety pine box down firmly. The lively melody of a fiddle jigged in the air, accompanied by happy barks. Lauren pursed her lips. “Live band tonight, you said?”

  “Three! We do put on a good shindig. I bet that’s Chuck warming up right now.”

  Ever since Lauren started voice lessons a few years back, she’d become a devotee of live music. Small instrumental groups often gave her a chance to practice by letting her sing a set with them on the fly. The fiddle had actually pulled Lauren’s feet toward the big barn before she realized she was following its lure.

  “Would you like me to pass on a message? I bet she’d love to see you.”

  Lauren wasn’t so sure. With a sigh, she returned to following Betsy. “No. It was a long time ago. I’m sure she’s busy.”

  Her mind tripped over the fact that she might actually see Sorrel this week. As in face-to-face. Perhaps she’d even be forced to chitchat about life. What have you been up to? she imagined Sorrel saying, with pleasant distance. Oh, this and that, traveling on business, you know. I just happened to be passing through. Lauren winced.

  “Mmmm.” Betsy inhaled and smacked her lips. Her thick, graying braid swung as she lifted her face toward a huge campfire ring of hay bales and gleaming-smooth logs. “I smell ribs. They’re on early.”

  “I understand you have a five-star restaurant.”

  “We sure do. Plus a family campfire cookout at five. The restaurant has two seatings, at six and eight. It’s in the main lodge overlooking our creek.” She pronounced the last word “crick.”

  Lauren was used to meeting friends for dinner at nine. Country time, she reminded herself. “I suppose you get up early here?”

  “Oh, that’s up to you, of course. First trail ride out leaves at seven, although the fishermen who head down to the big bend leave at five. Tomorrow there will be rock climbing and harmonica lessons in the morning, with kites and a hike to the Skelly Plateau in the afternoon. It’s supposed to be hot tomorrow, same as today, but you’ll need a sweater for the dance tonight, at least until you kick the figures hard.”

  Huh. Those activities didn’t sound so corny after all. Maybe it was the smell of the ribs already working on her brain. She imagined herself as a Beverly Hillbilly blowing a harmonica while someone else set the rhythm with a low-tooting clay jug. Too bad her pixie-cut prevented pigtails.

  They’d left the outbuilding bustle behind and were headed up into a sparse section of old pines. The cabins scattered among them were all very similar, but each had a different ranch artifact tacked to the front door and the furniture on the tiny private porches varied.

  She liked the cabin with the stirrup, but the whip gave her a shiver. “So is the hoedown like a square dance?”

  Betsy nodded. “A lil’ bit. And line dancing, and honky-tonk.”

  Well, that was as clear as mud. Lauren didn’t think her belly dancing lessons were going to come in handy.

  “Here you go. Wagon Wheel has a terrific view of the cattle pasture. In the morning, mist hangs over the grass and it’s just magical.” Betsy thunked her suitcases down on the porch with the spirit of an airport handler.

  She dug a key out of her pocket and opened the modern lock. Inside was one large room with a double bed and seating area, no TV. The decor was simple. Lauren was relieved there were no dead animals on the wall. The rustic furniture looked at home with the bare log cabin walls and the moss-colored linens were clearly top quality.

  She put her hand in her wallet and had no sooner touched some bills when Betsy’s voice lowered into a glower. “Don’t you even think of tipping me.”

  Lauren looked up, surprised at the true heat in the older woman’s voice.

  “We’re all-inclusive. Gratuity is included. Not even the bartender gets tips, okay?”

  Lauren smiled. “Okay.”

  Betsy nodded to Lauren. “See ya in a bit. Wander if you like. Should I reserve a table for you?”

  Lauren thought of the snacks in her bag. “No, thanks. I’m guessing there will be some food at the dance?”

  “Absolutely. Barbeque chicken, sweet corn, home fries—”

  Lauren laughed and held up her hands. “I’ll wait.”

  “Welcome to Cloud Canyon, and I hope you have a wonderful visit,” Betsy said. She walked into an open landscape that stretched all the way up to the mountains.

  Lauren leaned against the porch post, wrapping her arms around it while fighting the urge to call “Good-night, John-boy!” to the woman striding away. Betsy was lovely, so Lauren needed to put her instinctive city-bred mockery behind her.

  So. Sorrel was still here. Lively, gorgeous Sorrel had once been Lauren’s playful moon, a partner to the full-blown heat of Tommy’s sun. Those years had been a tempestuous time, full of passion and growth. The memories reminded her a little of this place, with its soft, flower-dotted valleys of high sweet grass—paired with yawning jagged mountains like teeth devouring the land. Yes, remembering the two best friends she’d ever had was like that—a mix of unease and surprisingly peaceful moments, with steep shadows in between.

  The wilderness looming over her, there for the taking, seemed a metaphor for her willingness to face the old pain. Considering the spread of the ranch from this angle, Lauren grew restless. She was ready to move on. Sorrel was a marginal presence. One she was now braced for, but might not ever have to meet. The pain was in the past.

  Lauren kicked off her heeled sandals and ran her French-manicured fingers through her chic cap of black hair. The painted porch was warm and slick under her feet. The breeze was balmy and the short walk from the main lodge had raised a slight sweat. A swim would be nice. She knew there was a pool and a hot tub on the property as well as—

  Ah. There was the river. Betsy had called it a creek but it was wide. As she watched, a lone man rode his horse across. The black, sun-dazzled water came to the horse’s belly. Lauren’s spine melted with a strong desire to plunge in and drift among the pretty aspens lining the shores.

  The man moved like he was part of his animal. A centaur. He was brawny, with a brown cowboy hat that hid his face in shadow. The horse paused at the bank. It lowered its head and the man slid off its back, kicking his foot forward over its neck and jumping down to the rocky shore. Mmmm. He was just lovely, with great thighs and significant shoulders. Watching him bend to one knee and wet his kerchief to mop the back of his neck sent shivers all over her body.

  From the opposite direction, a cheer went up with wild whistling. Back at the corral, a cluster of people lined the tall fence, and in the center, a black cowboy hat bobbed wildly up and down, apparently on a bucking bronco. Lauren grinned. She’d always wanted to meet the idiots who thought that was fun.

  What she needed, Lauren decided, was to turn off her brain and just enjoy this place without gloomy metaphors. She would resist navel-gazing at the bad memories. The day was still young, and she felt the bright warm sunshine start to burn away her stress. The sound of cattle lowing came to her and she inhaled to hold the moment, gaining energy.

  The river sparkled. The man leaning against his horse was a postcard-perfect silhouette of rugged individualism. The mountains rising beyond him did not intimidate him. He was confident in his own strength. Lips tingling, Lauren knew he was what she wanted to be, all of it, the whole package—power, self-possession, simplicity, and peace. She could head down to the river herself and create her own noble silhouette.

  But the crowd was probably the safer bet. With Mr. Black-Eyed-Black-Hat ever so will
ing to display his butt, surely some social distraction was what she needed, not more introspection.

  Was she going for the call of the wild or the distraction? Breathing deeply of the addictive air, she let her gaze sweep the options.

  Quiet river or rowdy corral? Where should she head next?

  This is an interactive book. Click on the underlined text you prefer to control Lauren’s actions. The link jumps you to a unique chapter that will lead to one of nine endings.

  DO NOT READ IN SEQUENCE.

  “Ohhhh!” An escalating wail leaked out of her throat with the impending anticipation.

  Walt stayed quiet and still, Wheezy pattered longer, smoother, tenser, and then there was a hard jolt as Wheezy pushed off.

  They soared through the air.

  Wheezy’s mane fluttered with their arcing flight.

  So pretty! Lauren thought, delighted.

  They landed with a harder jolt. Walt’s arm was like a thick seat belt, and even though she pitched forward and to the side, he held his balance and hauled her back to the center. His belt buckle dug into her lower spine.

  Wheezy continued the smooth rocking for a few more beats, then slowed down to a walk again. Lauren leaned forward and patted his thick neck, laughing.

  “That was amazing.” She looked down the incline as they left the open mountain face and headed into forest again. “Dangerous, but amazing.”

  “It felt more dangerous to you because you don’t have stirrups. They change everything.”

  Her heart still thumped hard. “I almost stopped you.”

  “That would have been more dangerous.”

  She shook her head, still giddy. “Wheezy is awesome!”

  “I guess,” Walt said with faint amusement.

  She noticed that the arm he’d sent around her waist for the jump stayed put, his fingers spread and gripping her belly with a soft flex that spoke of promise.