All Rhodes Lead Here Read online

  I hadn’t really had any expectations of what kind of job I could get, but after spending the last two hours ducking into one shop after another to explore, I was glad I didn’t have my heart set on anything. The only places with signs had been a fly fishing store—I hadn’t been fishing in years, so I didn’t even bother asking—a music store that had been playing a song I knew too well and I’d turned around and walked back out instantly, and a shoe store. Both employees that had been working at the time had been in the back arguing so loud I heard every word, and I hadn’t bothered asking for an application there either.

  And now, on the opposite end of town from where I was going to be staying, I’d ended up here.

  From memory, I knew The Outdoor Experience was an “outdoor outfitter”—aka store—that sold and rented everything you might need for outdoor activities—fishing, camping, archery, and more. It depended on the season.

  I didn’t know anything about… any of those things. Not anymore. I knew there were different types of fishing, fly-fishing, bottom fishing… other kinds… of fishing, but that was it. I knew about bows and… crossbows. I knew what a tent was, and many, many years ago, I’d been a pro at setting one up. But that was the extent of my knowledge of the outdoors. I’d lived in a city with people who weren’t outdoorsy for too long, apparently.

  But none of that mattered because I was here for another reason. Not for a job or to buy anything. And honestly, I was just a little nervous.

  I hadn’t reached out to Clara in almost a year, not since everything had gone to shit, and even then I had only messaged her to tell her happy birthday. She didn’t know I’d split up with Kaden.

  Well, she probably knew now since apparently he was dating someone else and taking pictures with them.

  Yeah, he was getting that shit pie eventually.

  Deciding I’d thought enough about him for the week, I shoved Kaden out of my head and went in.

  I’d looked up pictures of the store when I’d still been in Utah and had been bored one night. Back when I’d been younger and would go home with Clara after school, sometimes her dad would bring us back to work with him and we’d play in the store if there weren’t customers or would hide in the back and do homework. From the looks of it though, the store had gotten renovated sometime recently. The flooring was tile, and on top of that, now everything was new and modern. It looked great.

  And very, very busy right then.

  Moseying through the store, I zeroed in on the woman behind the counter. The same one I’d spotted through the window. She was helping another family out. Beside her, a teenage girl was helping a couple. I had no clue who she was, but the woman, I did recognize. We hadn’t seen each other in person in twenty years, but we’d kept up enough over time that we were friends on Facebook and I recognized her.

  I smiled and figured I might as well wait. There was no rush getting back to the garage apartment. Sidestepping through racks of clothes, I wandered toward the back of the store where a big FISHING sign hung… and where there were a lot fewer people.

  Tiny, clear bags with all kinds of feathers and beads hung from waist-height rows of hooks. Huh. I picked up one bag with what looked like some kind of fur in it.

  That’s when I heard, “Can I help you with something?”

  I didn’t recognize Clara’s voice, but I’d creeped through the windows enough to know the person speaking was either her or the teenage girl. And the person talking wasn’t a teenager.

  So I was smiling already as I turned around and came face-to-face with a person I recognized from the Facebook and Picturegram posts she’d made over the years.

  But I knew she didn’t recognize me when her mouth formed a pleasant, helpful smile of a person who owned a business. Clara had grown a few inches, and her curvy figure had hit voluptuous territory. She had inherited her Ute father’s rich brown skin and high cheekbones, and I could already tell she was as cute and sweet as she used to be.

  “Clara,” I said, grinning so wide my cheeks hurt.

  Her eyebrows went up just a little, and her voice was steady, “Hi. Do you…?” Her eyelids came down quickly, and I was pretty sure her head bobbed a little before her dark brown eyes moved over my face and slowly she said, “Do I know you?”

  “You used to. We were best friends in elementary school and middle school.”

  My old friend’s eyebrows knit together for a moment, these thin, dark arches, before suddenly her face fell, her mouth hung open, and she gasped, “Oh! You stopped dyeing your hair!”

  A small reminder of the life I’d left behind. One where Mrs. Jones talked me into coloring it blonde “because you look so good that way.” But I let it go in one ear and out the other as I nodded. “It’s back to my natural color.” I’d hacked off the blonde that hadn’t finished growing out a couple months ago; it was why my hair was shorter than it had been in forever.

  “I haven’t heard from you in a year, you jerk!” she hissed, poking me in the shoulder. “Aurora!”

  And in the next blink of an eye, her arms were around me and my arms were around her and we were hugging.

  “What happened? What are you doing here?” she gasped, pulling back after a moment. We were about the same height, and I caught a little glimpse of the small gap between her two front teeth. “I tried texting you a few months ago, but the message bounced back!”

  Another reminder. But it was fine. “It’s kind of a long story, but I’m here. Visiting. Maybe staying.”

  Her dark eyes moved over my shoulder, and she seemed to be thinking about what I hadn’t said. Only because she’d looked behind me for the person who should have been here with me… if he wasn’t an asshole. “Are you by yourself?” she asked.

  And by that, she meant, Is Kaden with you? She was one of the few people who knew about him. “No, we’re not together anymore.” I smiled, thinking about that shit pie for a second.

  Clara blinked, and it took her a second to nod, but she did, her own smile taking over her face. “Well, I hope you’ll tell me the long story eventually. What are you doing here?”

  “I was in town; I just got here last night. I was walking around looking for a job, and I figured I might as well drop by and see you.” While we hadn’t been active-active in each other’s lives for a long time, we had managed to keep in touch. We’d texted each other Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday for two decades.

  And since I’d split up with Kaden… I’d kind of fallen off the face of the planet. I hadn’t felt like talking about anything more than I already had.

  “You’re really planning on staying?”

  “Yeah. That’s my plan at least.”

  Clara looked pretty damn surprised.

  I knew how it seemed. No wonder she looked surprised.

  But I’d have to explain that I hadn’t really had a choice, even if I saw that it had been the best thing that could have happened.

  She blinked again and then smiled a little more brightly before gesturing toward the counter where the younger girl was, looking at us with a curious expression on her face. Her ponytail was lopsided, and she seemed just as tired as Clara. I knew she didn’t have kids, so maybe she was just an employee. They might have been going full speed all day. Based on the time, I’d bet all those rentals would be coming back pretty soon too. “Step into my office,” Clara suggested. “Let’s have a chat. I need to keep an eye out in case anyone else has any questions, and I want to hear about stuff.”

  I cracked a smile at her office and nodded, going to stand across from where the teenager was leaning and watched as Clara went around the counter to face the store. “Aurora, this is my niece, Jackie. Jackie, this is Aurora. We were best friends a long time ago.”

  The teenage girl’s eyes went a little wide, and I wondered why, but she waved.

  “Hi.” I waved back.

  “Where are you staying? You said you got here last night?” Clara asked.

  “I’m staying closer to
Chimney Rock.” That was a national monument on the opposite end of town. “And, yeah, I drove in last night. I came into town to buy groceries and check out some of the shops. I figured I might as well come say hi while I was at it.”

  All I knew about Clara was that about a year ago her dad had gotten really ill, and she’d moved back to Pagosa from… Arizona? She had been married, and about eight years ago, her husband had died tragically in a drunk driving accident. I’d sent her flowers for the funeral when she’d posted about it.

  “I’m glad you did,” she said, still smiling wide. “I still can’t believe you’re here. Or that you’re even prettier in person than in your pictures. I’d kind of hoped it was an app with a really great filter, but it’s not.” Clara shook her head.

  “I didn’t do anything to deserve it. Anyway, how are you? How’s your dad?”

  It was only because I’d gotten so in tune with people’s suffering that I caught a hint of her wince. “I’m good. Really busy here. And Dad is… Dad’s doing okay. I’ve taken over running this place full-time.” Her face was tight. “He doesn’t come in here that much anymore. But I’d bet he’d love to see you if you’re planning on staying a while.”

  “I am, and I’d love to see him too.”

  Clara’s gaze strayed to her niece before returning to me, eyes narrowed. She looked at me a little too closely. “What kind of job are you looking for?”

  “What kind of job are you hiring for?” I asked her, joking. What the hell did I know about outdoor activities? Nothing. Not anymore. Just walking through the fishing section had been eye-opening.

  Mom would be so disappointed with me. She used to take me fishing all the time. Sometimes it had been the two of us, and sometimes her friends came too from what I remembered.

  Yet that was all a blank wall for me now.

  I wasn’t exaggerating. I didn’t recognize half of the stuff inside the store. More than that probably.

  The last twenty years without my mom had turned me into a city girl. I hadn’t been camping once since leaving here. I’d gone fishing a handful of times with my uncle on his boat, but that had easily been fifteen years ago since the last trip. I wasn’t even sure I could name ten different kinds of fish if I had to.

  The surprising part was, Clara looked… well, she looked surprisingly interested. “Don’t mess with me right now, Aurora… or do you go by Ora now?”

  “Either one.” I blinked. “And I was kind of joking. I don’t know anything about any of this.” I gestured behind me. “If I did though, sign me up.”

  Her gaze hadn’t stopped being narrowed since I’d joked around. If anything, her chin had tipped up a bit. “You don’t know anything?”

  “It took me a second to remember the flies and fishing lures back there weren’t called ‘fishing thingies.’” I grinned. “That’s bad.”

  “My last guy that quit on me used to tell people they could catch salmon in the San Juan,” she said drily.

  “You… can’t?”

  Clara smiled, her little gap flashing at me, and I had to grin back at her. “No, you can’t. But he also showed up late every day he came in… and never actually called in when he wasn’t planning on keeping his shift…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m jumping all over you. I’ve just been looking for help, and I feel like I’ve hired everyone looking for a job in town.”

  Oh.

  Well.

  I closed my mouth and processed what she was saying. What this could mean. Working for someone who I had a relationship with. We all knew how that had gone last time.

  Great until it hadn’t, but that was life.

  I was sure I could find something elsewhere, but I was also pretty sure Clara and I could get along. I’d followed her enough over the years to see her happy, upbeat posts online, which could have been a ruse and part of her highlight reel, but I doubted it. Even when her husband had passed away, she had been gracious in her grief. And we’d always joked around just fine online.

  What did I have to lose? Other than making an idiot out of myself since I didn’t know anything?

  “No, don’t apologize,” I told her pretty cautiously. “I just… I don’t know anything about camping or fishing, but… if you’re willing… I can try. I’m a fast learner, and I know how to ask questions,” I threw out, watching her facial features go from open to straight-up calculating. “I’m punctual. I work hard, and I almost never get sick. It takes a lot for me to be in a bad mood.”

  She lifted a hand and tapped her index finger against her chin, her pleasant face thoughtful, but it was her slightly widened eyes that gave away her continued interest.

  But I still wanted her to understand the extent of what she’d be dealing with by hiring me so that there weren’t any surprises or anyone ended up disappointed.

  “I haven’t worked retail in a really long time, but I did used to have to deal with people a lot at my, uh”—I did quotations with my fingers—“last job.”

  Her mouth puckered, eyes sliding toward the teenage girl—Jackie—before flicking back to me and ending up with a tight nod.

  She wasn’t going to bring up Kaden in front of her, I guess, and honestly, that was totally fine with me. The fewer people that knew, the better. The Joneses had bet on me keeping my word about not talking about our relationship, and they’d been right.

  But I only didn’t want to talk about him because I didn’t want to be Kaden Jones’s ex-girlfriend for the rest of my life, especially not if I didn’t have to. Damn, I hoped his mom got hot flashes tonight.

  “I just want you to be aware of my absolute lack of knowledge.”

  Clara’s mouth twitched. “The second to last employee I hired lasted two days. My last one was here for a week before she ghosted me. The last ten before that were the same story. I have two part-timers that are friends with my dad who show up once or twice a month.” Clara’s chin went high, and I swear she winced. “If you can show up when you’re scheduled and do something, I’ll teach you as much as you’re willing to learn.”

  Yeah, that was hope blooming in my chest. Working with an old friend? Doing something that my mom would have killed at? Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “I love learning,” I told her honestly.

  I’d spent so much of my life seeing hopeful, cautiously optimistic faces, that I recognized her expression for what it was: that.

  She must really be desperate if she was willing to hire me, old friendship or not.

  “So…” Her hands wrapped around the counter. “Do you want to work here then? Doing odds and ends?”

  “As long you don’t think it will be awkward.” I paused and tried to smile at her brightly. “I’m a good listener; I know business is business. But if you get tired of me, will you tell me? If I’m not doing a good job? And real talk, I have a room booked for a month, and if things are going okay, I’ll stay for longer, but I don’t know yet for sure.”

  Clara glanced at the teenage girl who was too busy staring at me intently before nodding. “I’ll take it as long as you show up and, if you don’t feel like coming in, you’ll at least give me notice?”

  “I promise.”

  “I have to warn you though, I can’t pay you much hourly.” She gave me an amount that wasn’t much over minimum wage, but it was something.

  And with someone I liked and had known me before, it was fucking fate slapping me in the face.

  And when fate pushed things into your life, you should listen. I had my ears ready. My future wide open. I had no clue what I wanted to do anymore, but this was something. This was a step. And the only way you could move was by taking that first step, and sometimes it didn’t matter which direction you took it as long as you did.

  “I can teach you how to use the register, and we can figure out what other things you can do. Rentals. I don’t know. But it isn’t going to be a whole lot of money; I want you to know that. You sure that’s okay?”

  “I’ve never wanted to be a millionaire,”
I told her carefully, feeling something that felt an awful lot like relief crawl over my skin.

  “Want to start tomorrow?”

  Some more of that blooming hope flowered in my chest. “Tomorrow works for me.” I had exactly nothing going on.

  I held my hand out between us. She slipped hers forward too, and we shook on it, roughly.

  Then slowly, we both smiled and she dipped her chin down and asked, with her mouth twitching again, her dark eyes bright, “Now that that’s over, tell me everything. What have you been doing?” Her face fell, and I knew what had come into her mind again—the same thing that loomed over just about every relationship I had with people who were aware of what had happened—my mom.

  I didn’t feel like talking about my mom or Kaden, so I changed the subject. “What have you been doing?”

  Luckily, she took the bait and told me all about what she’d been up to.

  * * *

  I was feeling pretty damn good as I drove back to the garage apartment that evening. I’d spent two hours hanging out with Clara and Jackie. The fifteen-year-old had been quiet but extremely watchful, soaking up everything Clara shared about her life with these wide eyes that made me like her already.

  Those hours together were the highlight of the last two months of my life—probably even longer than that. It was nice to be around someone who knew me. To have a conversation in person with someone who wasn’t a total stranger. I’d been to so many cool national parks, major tourist destinations, and so many other places that I’d only seen in magazines and in travel blogs, that I couldn’t regret how I’d spent my time before getting to Pagosa. It had been what I’d needed, and I was fully aware my free time had been a luxury.