Taking the Leap (River Rain 3)

Chapter 6

The Resort

Rix

“We can never tell anyone about this…ever.”

Rix burst out laughing.

He and Alex were standing side by side in her room at the exclusive desert resort that Jamie had also booked for them.

Earlier, when they’d told Frank and Hale what their home base was for the two nights they’d be spending in the mountains for the CTB portion of their trip, this before they headed down to LA to talk to some CTB grads on Thursday, Frank’s eyes had bugged out, Wheeler had looked shocked, and Rix had explained, “This trip is on Jamie.”

To which Wheeler had relaxed and replied, “Ah.”

And now they were standing in a room with wide-plank wood floors on top of which were thick rugs. There was a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that had an unobstructed view of pristine desert, minimalist, modern-but-rustic décor, a king-sized bed, an entire sectional sofa seating area off to the side, and a balcony that spanned the considerable length of the room.

“I take it you didn’t become accustomed to five-star lodging that included pool, fitness center, spa and a Michelin star restaurant when Duncan was footing the bill,” he commented.

Alex meandered in and dumped her bag on the couch, eyes to the view. “Duncan didn’t make us stay anywhere gross, but…no. Our budget didn’t extend to something like this. Because if it’s program money, it shouldn’t.”

He stuck his head into the bathroom and said, “We need to make a deal. I won’t Instagram a picture of myself in the soaking tub if you won’t.”

He was still in the doorway of the bathroom, leaning in and checking it out, when she shoved in front of him, her shoulder brushing his chest, the fresh mint smell of her hair going up his nostrils, as she asked, “There’s a soaking tub?”

Of course her hair smelled like mint.

“Yeah,” he grunted.

“I don’t have a tub at my place. I’m so climbing into that,” she told the bathroom.

Christ Jesus.

He got away from her, adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder, and said, “Right, I’m gonna hit my room to dump my bag, then go back down and get my chair. We’ll give it maybe half an hour to chill in our own space then meet in one of our rooms. Or would you prefer to meet down at the bar?”

She was now fully in the bathroom, calling out, “We’ll walk down together. Thirty minutes is good. Text when you’re ready.”

“Gotcha,” he muttered, got the hell out of there, did what he told her he was gonna do, heading down to the lobby where they’d left his chair with the concierge.

Though, once he got there, he was told that of course a bellman had already brought it up and it was safe in his room.

This pissed him off, because he didn’t like anyone touching his chair, which was why he’d left it with them and told them he’d come back and get it.

Also, it sucked ten minutes of the thirty he’d given to Alex to have some settling-in time, and he was thinking he needed that to do what he did the minute he hit his room (which was right next to Alex’s and the exact replica of hers).

He called Judge.

“Hey,” his bud greeted. “How’d it go today?”

“The kids were out on some work detail when we arrived, so we got a pretty thorough tour of the facility. Not sure what the place was like before Wheeler got rich enough to buy his own country, and Frank shared he’d been generous in fortifying their budget so they could upgrade a few things, but right now, it’s fuckin’ impressive.”

“No doubt,” Judge murmured.

“Kids came back, and I gotta admit, I wasn’t prepared for what hard cases they were. We’re talking dead eyes and blank stares.”

“Fucking hell. That bad?”

“Worse.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Rix agreed. “Alex, though. Totally unfazed, Judge.”

And she had been.

He’d been on Kids and Trails hikes with her, but back then, he’d only absently noted her presence. Though, it didn’t escape him she was good with the kids. Not overly animated and fake, but she took them seriously, she gave them time, her full attention, quiet encouragement, and they responded to it.

This was different.

She did not act like all the kids at CTB were either there because a court told them they had to be to gain a different perspective in an attempt to get their heads out of their asses and learn to get their shit together, or their parents sent them for that same purpose. Thus, she didn’t act like they were “other.” In other words, she had to crawl up their asses to get them to respond to her, or behave warily, because she didn’t know what to make of them.

She stood beside him when they did the short spiel they’d prepared, and when she delivered her part, she was matter-of-fact and all over handing out eye contact. Then, when it was time to break off and sit with individual kids that Frank had identified for them to talk to, kids who had been there the longest and seemed to be responding to the program, kids who might give them some insights, Rix noted her interviews went on longer than his.