Counting Down the Days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

 

 

The spread of the land was crisp and sloping with blankets of thick snow. Soft powder, mostly. The snow falling over the landscape under the ski lifts shimmered like little pieces of glass in the frigid winter sunlight. Days like this when there was no clouds in the blue sky, things hardened into ice. Audry stared at it, savoring the moment.

She imagined the story of the Snow Queen with her mirror of vanity, flying high over the scenery until it shattered into a million pieces, falling to the earth. The eyes of so many must have been stabbed as the human world lately seemed so cold and heartless.  No one cared about the wildlife, Audry thought. Not half as much as they cared about riding that stupid ski lift.

Audry Chandra Bruchenhaus, at the end of working on her Master's thesis for the past two years, was ready to be done with this project. But in moments like this, she loved that she got to work out in nature, even in the frigid cold. She loved the scarves, the mittens and the breath puffing out around her head. Her knit hat covered her often frizzy brown hair, usually tamed in braids. She wore sunglasses to fight off the glare, and sometimes ski goggles when it was really bad.

As a young college graduate, finished with bachelor degrees in Zoology and Environmental Conservation much earlier than most people all because she had started college at an earlier age due to being homeschooled, Audry was proud of her hard work. She had been able to travel the length and breadth of the United States and some parts of Canada, inspecting various privately and publically owned wildlife reserves which were connected with recreational facilities such as campgrounds, hiking trails, and ski resorts. And though she reported in at the university campus at NYU frequently and helped TA for Professor Jackson in his courses, she loved being outdoors doing this work more.

Currently she was wrapping up her final location at one of the Deacon family owned wildlife reserves connected to a ski lodge. The land wasn't incredibly large, but it did have considerable vegetation and animal life as well as a decent amount of human traffic. She had visited it in the spring, summer, fall, and winter for the past two years along with other portions of land that family owned--taking pictures of animals on the land, setting up time lapse cameras, getting samples of plant life, animal tracks, and finding various nests and dens around the property. It was long, often backbreaking, footsore work which also required lots of data collection and film editing.

Thing was--to be honest about it--while working on her Master's thesis for the past two years, Audry had hoped to see more incriminating evidence that the combination of recreational land connected with wildlife reserves caused more damage than it really had. But she hadn't. At least not on Deacon land. The Deacon family had been genuine when they had said they worked hard to preserve nature and wildlife. Besides the ample no-hunting signs everywhere (especially on the borders of their territory), they employed responsible park rangers who took their jobs seriously. In fact, she had learned the Deacon family personally inspected their reserves, often popping in without notice beforehand. Not that they had ever done it when she was around, but the staff had stories.

Taking pictures of animal tracks in the snow as she went further along, Audry thought about everything she had gathered and researched. She didn’t stay in a reserve for more than two weeks at a time--just long enough to collect and inspect the data from her various outposts within the reserves. It was currently a few days after Christmas. She had had a great holiday celebration at home with her family--her father and her mother buoyant and happy to have her home from NYU, with also a chance to reconnect with her older brother, Doug, his wife Jean, and her niece and nephew--Skyler and Maris. It was heaven and wonderful. But she had to finish this project soon before she could present and defend her thesis to the school. So, she left just a couple days after the holiday and had arrived the day before, taking up her usual accommodations.

According to the agreement form Howard Richard Deacon III had signed (which she had drafted), she had permission to occupy any available room within staff housing at the lodge. If none were available, she would be set up in a usual rented room free of charge. Only a couple times were the staff rooms too full and she was able to get the lodging that people normally paid for. And they were nice. A decent bed. Plenty of space. But there was an open room among the staff when she arrived this time, and though it was not bad accommodations, Audry had hoped with the season being what it was that she could have gotten something a little less 'cozy'. Her current room had a twin bed, a decent-sized wardrobe closet with drawers, a small shower, and access to the community toilet. The room had a decent-sized window and warm blankets. It even had free internet. But Audry loved the mattress in the regular room with the queen-sized bed. Regardless of what she personally thought about the wealthy Deacons, patrons of the lodge bought comfort and quality.

Gazing at the snow on her way back, Audry's breath puffed clouds in front of her. The moon was already rising in the blue sky. No clouds overhead to block it. It would be a waxing gibbous, and perfectly bright for night photographs. Audry wanted to get a few more wildlife pictures in before she had to leave. There was a den of foxes she had been watching, and she had found a warren of rabbits within a copse several yards behind the lodge.

Happy laughter echoed from the not too distant skiers. She had mixed feelings about them. Under her disdainful feelings toward their play when she had to work, she was a little jealous.

Honestly, she loved to ski. And part of her just wanted to ditch everything and join them. Her favorite cousin, Vincent Williams, would take her on these ski trips with him where his mother's family had a lodge. His family was well off--as most Bruchenhauses came from old money and married into old money. But unlike all their Bruchenhaus relatives, the Williams family wasn't snobby. That was why she liked them. Her father had left the old money and married a hippie--her mother--Clover Busche-Waite, which some people said was done just to spite his parents. But they all loved skiing.

Maybe she could take a short break and do a little skiing. She had skis after all.

But that thought was interrupted by the chime of her cell phone. Audry pulled it from deep inside her pocket, and looked at it.

Another text from Harlin, her boyfriend.

*How's it goin' Babe?*

Then another one.

*Miss you*

Audry winced, feeling split inside.

Her on-again, off-again, currently acting-like-a-jerk boyfriend--Harlin Nichols--was a problem. Her chest ached with each text he sent her because she really liked him. But lately she was just so mad it at him.

She texted back: Miss you too. But you don't need to text every half hour.

His response came a little slower.

*Sorry. I was just getting excited, bk u will b coming back soon. I want to take u out.*

Audry's heart thumped. Harlin's dates were amazing. He really knew how to treat a girl. He was so romantic.

About a year back they had first met at a green committee club. She had been volunteering, helping with the fundraiser. She was really good at fundraisers and always came up with great ideas to earn money for their club---so much that some of the club members called her their little entrepreneur, like an insult as some of them saw capitalism as pure evil. Of course Audry did not like that as they were mocking her. And they continued to mock her until Harlin quashed all that talk, saying she just knew how to drive a good cause.

Of course it was a good cause. They were raising funds to take them to an animal habitat that needed clean up. She believed in it. But the fact that he had defended her made all the difference to her. And they had been close since.

Thing was, Harlin also had these eyes. They were crystal blue. And his wavy shoulder length hair was kind of cute. He almost always wore this second-hand in-the-field-dusty fedora on his head and had this cool dream catcher tattoo on his shoulder. He claimed to be part Oneida Indian, but Audry didn't know if he was just pulling her leg as he really didn't look it. Yet he did have a more aquiline nose and a solid jaw. But his tan was full of freckles, and the tops of his hair bleached blonde in the sun. But on top of it all was his smile. It was out-of-this-world amazing. Great teeth and so wide, like Heath Ledger. In fact, he reminded her a lot of Heath Ledger, or how he would have been if he hadn't died after that Batman movie.

As she crossed the snow in her continued journey to collect data, her mind drifted into thought over him. When they had first started dating, Harlin was the consummate gentleman. He actually asked her if she minded if he opened doors for her on dates or if that bothered her. He consulted her opinion on movies they went to see, and they usually planned dates together. And better, on occasion he surprised her with these outstanding moments, like when he took her hiking to the conservatory and had a picnic there. He was also a great dancer and a wonderful kisser. She really had thought he was the one.

Had.

But after a while it turned sour. Audry was not moving as fast as he wanted their relationship to go, and he was ready to go all the way physically. Audry was not. She wanted marriage before going that route and he thought marriage was just a piece of paper.

But they never quite broken up. In fact, they had been seeing other people in between their brief separations because she still liked him—and he still liked her. She just wanted him to change.

She still remembered the argument that had started their breakup all and what had initiated it. These days it was like a painful scratch. It itched and hurt. They had been exchanging texts most of her research trips. Though she liked hearing his voice, it was also like being a fish still on the hook. And she hated that. She needed resolution either way.

When Audry finally reached the ski lodge, she heading around to the back door. She gazed up at the enormous building and smiled at it. It had this rustic log cabin look to it, but it was huge--almost like a castle, though not in its shape. The front had these giant glassy double-paned windows at which patrons could stand in total warmth with a cup of cocoa in hand and stare out at the falling snow. The view from the front porch was spectacular, especially at night when the slopes were lit.

Round about the main lodge were smaller cabins which were be rented out to groups, some of which were like luxury houses, and others which merely had communal bunks and huge floor space for large skiing groups. The smallest cabins were up higher and often rented in the summer to scouting groups like the BSA and Campfire Girls. Audry had been around when a church group held a girl's camp there that last summer--mostly keeping an eye on whether they littered or were setting fires outside the designated fire pits. But generally they cleaned up after themselves, and their campfire songs echoed like cheerful wild animal cries, making her reminisce when she used to go camping as a kid.

Going up to the back door, Audry hopped onto the stoop and kicked the snow off her boots. Her eyes raked over the back of the lodge before she went in. Covered wood piles were stacked to one side. But on the other side was this weird chicken wired area which had never made sense to her. It was empty, with the semblance of a small chicken coop. But they did not keep their own chicken. It was always empty. Audry had peeked into it once during the summer to make sure. And once she had asked about it, but the head cook--Mrs. Grace Gruber--said occasionally they had chickens. Just not that day. It didn't make sense to occasionally have chickens. You either had chickens or you didn't. At least that was what Audry thought until one of the other staff explained that the Deacons liked fresh meat, especially chicken meat.

Ugh. Audry turned her back on the chicken yard. She thought it barbaric that the staff at the lodge was occasionally forced to kill meat for their employers. If they had asked her, she would have refused.

Opening the heavy door and stepping inside, Audry smiled at those who were bustling about the kitchen. Mrs. Gruber, a kind yet dumpy lady in her early fifties, was busy working on the cafeteria's marvelous fare of well roasted and sauced dishes as well as brewing up a large pot of cocoa which they always had on hand for the patrons using the lodge. Mrs. Gruber had the cutest chubby cheeks, which when she smiled dimpled as her eyes shined. Her hair was almost always pulled back into a bun and put under some kind of old-fashioned kerchief. Audry had no idea how long it was, but she suspected that the woman maintained it to around her waist and treasured it. Mrs. Gruber also talked like she was a character in a Jane Austen novel, calling people dear and love and miss, which to those who did not know her made them believe she was incredibly sweet and soft. But Grace Gruber was actually the brains behind the lodge. The front manager took his orders from her.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Mrs. Gruber said when she saw Audry as she set out a cup of cocoa for Audry on the work table in the middle of the room. Audry was tempted to call it the scullery, since it was spacious with a cold stony floor, several large ovens and a huge collection of cupboards with an old fashioned pantry.

Shrugging, Audry took off her coat, shaking it out over the door mat then hanging it on the hook next to the doorway. "Same old. Same old. Nothing bad. Nothing uber exciting."

Smiling at her, Mrs. Gruber folded up the tea towel she was holding and tucked it into her apron. Her eyes pierced Audry in ways that even her own mother's gaze never did. It was like that woman could see into the souls of others, but in a good way that didn't intimidate. You wanted her to see into your soul and have her hug you, soothing every pain away.

"Did that no-good boyfriend of yours call you again?"

Audry shook her head, used to this from her. "No."

The woman eyed her with chastening amusement.

"He texted," Audry said.

Nodding, Mrs. Gruber walked over to her sauce and stirred it. "Ok. Have at it. What did he say this time?"

Shrugging again, Audry replied, "Same old. Same old. He missed me. You know.... That kind of thing."

"He still wants to get into your pants?" Mrs. Gruber said, raising his eyebrows.

"Obviously," Audry muttered. "But for some stupid reason I can't seem to convince him that marriage is important to me."

Nodding, Mrs. Gruber sighed. Then she bluntly stated--for the thousandth time--"You should dump him."

Moaning, Audry nodded, but then she shook her head.

"Look," Mrs. Gruber chastened with a wooden spoon in one fist, "He is what is known by Austen fans as a blackguard. That's a man who just wants sex for fun. You want commitment. He wants to just play around. So it's simple. Dump him. Find a better guy."

Moaning more, Audry explained, "I know he sounds bad when you put it like that, but we have so much in common. And if you set aside that he has a sex drive like a tornado, he's--"

"A man who does not respect you," Mrs. Gruber said.

"He has never forced me," Audry retorted, straightening up. "Despite everything else, Harlin has respected my boundaries."

Shaking her head, Mrs. Gruber came next to her. "No—though you are right, technically—but he is trying to shame you into doing something you know you will regret. You are dating to find someone to marry. You told me so yourself. So I will say it again. Ditch the guy and look for a true gentleman. Look for someone who is seeking the same end goal as you, because that Harlin of yours looks to me like a troublemaker."

Chuckling painfully to herself, Audry nodded. Admittedly, that was her curse. She was attracted to the troublemakers.

First there was Bill--or William as his mother called him. Bill was a friend from French club. Though homeschooled, Audry was part of several community clubs growing up. French club was one of her favorites, along with soccer and her camping-hiking group. She dated Bill when she was fifteen. Bill had an overprotective mother, and he secretly smoked just to get back at her... if that made any sense. Audry liked Bill's devil-may-care attitude, or so she told herself. But really, her mother said that Audry was just attracted to dangerous things, which worried her. Bill eventually ran away from home, ended up joining Antifa rallies for a while, then later came back when it got too intense. Bill was now studying accounting and he wore a tie.

Around the time Bill had run off, Audry was with Robert Owens. Robert liked to play with knives and was into knife throwing for a while. That is, until he cut a chunk out of his skin and had to get eleven stitches. Her father had once physically dragged Audry away from Robert and threatened to scalp him if he came near his daughter ever again.

Then there was Tony, and then Brian, then Davis, and lastly Gawain whose parents were utter hippies and had moved them to Colorado so they could grow pot. Since that time, Audry had gone off to college and casually dated a number of ordinary unimpressive boys--up until she met Harlin. Honestly, Harlin had knocked every other boy out of her head, which was why it was so difficult to separate from him now.

"I find gentlemen boring," Audry finally said.

Raising her eyebrows, Mrs. Gruber then shook her head. "You’d better lose that attitude, young lady. For your own good. And for your own safety."

"Some girls are just attracted to dangerous men," one of the other cooking staff said.

Audry looked to him. Occasionally they interjected in her conversations with Mrs. Gruber, usually with remarks about her veganism, her activism, and her 'weird obsession with animal poop'. It wasn't an obsession, she had tried to explain when she had been examining the samples she had gathered and labeled for her project. It was a scientific study on what the animals ate, as evident in their fecal matter. But non-scientific people did not understand the value of things they called 'poop', or shedding, or animal tracks, or the nature of their living habitats. They were too busy gossiping over vapid shallow things like popular trends, music stars, and TV shows.

"A fatal attraction," one of the gals chimed in, smirking at her.

Audry rolled her eyes and looked back to Mrs. Gruber. "Anyway... I should be able to finish up my work in two days. So this will be it for me."

"Well, it was a pleasure to have you around," Mrs. Gruber said, though the others did not chime in. They didn't like any of the graduate students that stayed in the spare rooms and invaded their workspace. They clearly thought she was a 'silly college girl'. Some of them even called her a special snowflake, which Audry found extremely annoying. Mrs. Gruber was the only one who was sympathetic.

"I hope you got what you needed for your project," Mrs. Gruber added.

"I got enough." Audry nodded, smiling for her benefit. With a look to the others she added, "And soon I will be out from underfoot."

One of them leaned to the other, "At least she wasn’t as bad at that guy from the bee project."

The other nodded.

Truthfully, a lot of grad students came and went from the lodge year round. But Audry found it unsettling that these folk looked at her the same way she looked at her second cousins who were part of the one percent. It wasn't fair at all. She worked her butt off to get where she was.  

Around then the back door to the kitchen opened again. Audry didn't look at first, figuring it was one of the rangers who occasionally came in to thaw and get some cocoa. But when she heard several breaths draw in, she turned.

Closing the door to keep out the cold was none other than Howard Richard Deacon the Third himself. He looked a little taller than the last time Audry had seen him, which was two years ago when he had signed her permission form. Wrapped up in scarfs and a knit hat, she still recognized his phenomenal gray eyes which were as piercing as ever. He also had an almost animal like way of moving, which for some reason reminded her of a wolf avoiding being seen. His reddish brown hair poked out like fur.

Mrs. Gruber rushed up to him, arms out and grabbing him in a hug. "Oh! Howie! What a surprise!"

"Mrs. Gruber," he said with an almost pained sound, "I thought I told you to call me Rick now."

"Oh, tosh!" She waved it away, pretending to be a British lady from the eighteen hundreds again. "You were fourteen when you said that. I thought you were just messing with me. Besides, you're early. I thought you were not coming for a couple more days."

Rick Deacon shook his head, chuckling in a familiar way while setting an overnight bag to the side of the door. It looked heavy with clothes. "Change of plans, I'm afraid. I was followed to where I was going, and had to sneak here early instead. I hope you don't mind."

For some reason Mrs. Gruber's eyes turned sad as she gazed sympathetically on him. Her voice betrayed loyal concern, even adoration. "Of course you are welcome anytime, Howie. I can have the family suite set up with fresh sheets instantly."

"Oh, no. That won't be necessary," he protested with hanging shoulders, as if the very idea was too much for him. "And Mrs. Gruber, I wasn't joking back then. It's Rick now. And I don't want to take up the family suite. Is there an extra staff room available? I just need a bed for two nights."

Unwrapping his scarves from off his neck and shoulders then taking his hat off his head while standing on her tip toes, Mrs. Gruber gently replied like a mother who had greatly missed him, "You will always be Howie to me. And as for the room, it is taken by that young lady over there."

Rick looked. His eyes rested on Audry. For a second his cheeks colored, but then it was more likely he was overheating in his heavy winter coat as his body thawed in the room.

Mrs. Gruber helped liberate him from his coat, hooking all that up on the wall next to Audry's coat and the others. "You signed her permission form to use the room for her grad school project, remember?"

"Oh." He continued to stare for another minute then shook it off with whatever thought was going on in his head, going back to what he was originally thinking. With all his wraps off, Audry noticed that he was hairier than the last time she had seen him. But then considering he had worn a classy, expensive suit at the convention two years previous, was clean-shaven and all that to represent his father's company at age eighteen, anything would look hairier. He was currently in winter coats, thick sweaters and the like, with mussed up hair and facial scruff. He also had sideburns. It was a rather manly look. Flummoxed, he stared into space and said, "I guess I could sleep in the kitchen."

Laughing, kissing Rick on the cheek, Mrs. Gruber then patted him on the head as he continued to liberate the rest of his winter things from off him. "Very cute. But I don’t think your father would approve. You will take the family suite."

He immediately groaned, following her as she walked back to her cocoa. She grabbed oven mitts to take it of the burner so she could transition it to the samovar.

"But I really need to remain unnoticed," he protested, towering over her even as hunched his shoulders in a beg. "What if I was followed?"

That part of him hadn't changed. He was still paranoid. Audry smirked inside. The first time she had met Rick Deacon was on top of the Eiffel Tower, and there too he was dodging people.

"She could always give up her room," said one of the staff, thumbing towards Audry.

Immediately Rick turned to Audry, hands up. "No, no, no. You are fine."

"Of course she is fine," Mrs. Gruber said, putting a lid on the cocoa samovar to keep in the heat, handing it to a staff member to put on the cart take out to the front of the lodge. They moved it immediately. "And you don't have to worry. Don't you recall the family suite has a backdoor?"

Rick stared at her, those gray eyes wide. "It does?"

Her stare went dry on him, so comfortably familiar with the wealthy young man enough to chasten him. "Come one. You know your father. He has a backdoor to any room he spends a lot of time in."

And he slowly nodded. "Then how come he never told me about it?"

"He didn't want you using it," she said, going back to the stove to start another batch of cocoa. She got a new pot, putting the old one in their industrial sized sink alongside ladles and other things to be washed. "…Until now, I'm sure."

Hanging his shoulders, Rick moaned, looking so…. normal. "Holy cow that man is a guy for secrets."

Mrs. Gruber chuckled, nodding fondly. "Let me show it to you."

But Rick hesitated. Audry could see his paranoia creep in. "What if someone sees a light on in that room? You know I'm being watched. People will know I am here."

Nodding once more, taking him by the hand, Mrs. Gruber said to him like one trying to assure a frightened child, "I understand completely, Howie. Believe me. And I can assure you that all you need to do is pull the blinds down. They're blackout blinds, incredibly heavy and completely secure. No light will escape. Trust me. Your father uses it all the time."

Nodding, led up like a little scared boy into the back stairs, Rick followed her in. As they went in and up, Audry overheard him say, "Can I ask you also to get some live chickens? I know it is a lot but--"

"I will take care of it, Howie," she said. "Just take a breath and calm down. You are safe here."

"But can you please make sure the staff locks their bedroom doors at night, just in case?"

"I trust you. It’s ok."

"But I don’t trust myself..."

By then Audry could no longer hear his voice.

Audry shook her head. He was still weird. He had a funny way of talking. And such a strange, almost feral nervousness. Even back in Paris he was like that. Looking back to the other staff, Audry noticed them whispering about him also. None of them had ever met him, apparently.

"What was that all about?"

"Did you hear the thing about us locking our doors?"

"Maybe he is OCD."

"Neurotic."

"And what was that about the live chickens?"

"I heard a rumor he had a meltdown two years back, or got put into rehab. His dad had people watching him and everything to make sure he didn’t run away and stuff."

Mrs. Gruber came back down, shooting them all chastening looks before picking up Rick Deacon's overnight bag to carry upstairs like the perfect Victorian servant. Gads, the guy was spoiled. She said, "Enough with the gossip. You’ll get your chance to talk to him in ample time. It isn't like he's not approachable or anything--but I warn you, he's got good ears. So whatever you say about him behind his back, you'd better be able to say it to his face."

She then marched back to the upstairs.

Audry chuckled, ducking down toward her cocoa. Things had definitely gotten interesting. And she wondered how good his ears really were.

Waxing Gibbous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

 

 

Rick Deacon came down again long after Mrs. Gruber had returned to finish making dinner. He was in a different sweater, a green one with white snowflakes stitched in it--probably a Christmas gift as it didn't quite seem his style. His hair was a little better combed, his chin shaved, but he still looked hairier than when Audry last saw him. His eyebrows seemed thicker and his sideburns made her think of Hugh Jackman for some reason.

"Mrs. Gruber, you really didn't need to change those sheets. The ones on the bed were perfectly fine." He stepped into the kitchen and passed Audry, giving Mrs. Gruber another hug and a peck on her cheek. "It was like you had put the other set on the day before."

"It is common practice to make sure the sheets are always fresh for if ever your family arrives," she said, yet she was visibly pleased, happy he noticed.

He was practically beaming when he sat in the chair opposite Audry, crossing his feet and resting them on the near step-stool. The staff quickly brought him some hot cocoa, smiling and nodding at him like little sycophantic minions. Maybe they were hoping for letters of recommendation or something, after all, a number of them were also students putting themselves through school.

"Thanks," he said, taking up the mug, though his eyes did not show any form of recognition of their faces, not even hers. As he cradled the warm mug in his hands, all the muscles in his neck and body seemed to relax. He was no longer twitching like he was searching for assassins. A secure at-home-ness was about him as he sat there, almost snuggling into the seat. As his eyes absorbed the room, taking in the walls, ceiling, cookware, staff, and everything on the walls, they finally rested on Audry who had been silently watching him. A look of memory came in his eye and he said to her, "So, what's this project you are doing at the lodge? What are you researching?"

Apparently his memory only extended to recent events. He definitely did not seem to recognize her at all.

"You don't remember me?" Audry asked.

Rick honestly shook his head, his stare blank. "Remind me."

But this annoyed her. As friendly as he was with Mrs. Gruber, he clearly was still a pompous billionaire who considered those not in his tax bracket below him. It annoyed her so much that Audry replied, "I don’t think so. We have interacted twice before today. And if you can’t remember a person's name, then that is an indication of your own vanity."

"What?" Rick leaned back. His gray eyes blinked in shock. Perhaps he was not used to be talked to that way.

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 25.04.2018
ISBN: 978-3-7554-7900-0

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