daughter’s disappearance, he had thought of that day a thousand times. But in the past several years, he had learned to block the memories. They were simply too painful, too destructive.
Now, because of Autumn Sommers, the memory had returned. Ben ignored the burning behind his eyes, leaned back in his chair and fought not to give in to his grief.
Seven
Autumn didn’t hear from Ben on Tuesday. He didn’t call on Wednesday. By Thursday night, she was resigned—if he didn’t get in touch with her by Friday afternoon, she was going to brave his secretary’s wrath, go up to his office and force her way in to see him.
Autumn sighed as she pushed through the door leading into the climbing gym. At least for the past few days she hadn’t been dreaming. Well, except for Monday, the last time she had seen Ben.
Four of her students were already there. As she set her notes on the table, the other two walked in. She was ready to begin the day’s lesson when a tall male figure strode through the door dressed in khaki shorts and a dark green T-shirt with the picture of a kayak plunging through white water and COULONGE GORGE printed on the front.
Autumn tried not to admire Ben McKenzie’s wide shoulders and powerful biceps and the long bands of muscle in his suntanned legs. He was wearing a pair of Reeboks but carried rubber-soled climbing shoes in one hand.
Autumn spoke to him as he walked toward her. “Mr. McKenzie. I’ve been hoping to hear from you. Unfortunately, we’re about to start our lesson. Perhaps after—”
“I signed up for your class at the front desk. I’ve bought the book you recommended and studied the first few chapters…the parts of the class I’ve missed. I’ll be joining your sessions from now on.”
Her mind was spinning. He hadn’t called all week and now he was here? “Could I speak to you for a moment outside?”
“Of course.”
He set his shoes on the floor and followed her.
As soon as the door was closed, Autumn spun to face him. “All right, McKenzie, what’s going on? I’ve been waiting to hear from you all week but you never called. Now you join my class? I’d like to know why.”
Ben shrugged those wide shoulders. “I’m in the sporting goods business. I like hiking, canoeing, kayaking, just about everything. We sell some of the finest climbing gear money can buy but I’ve never tried the sport. I figured this was a good opportunity.”
She clamped her hands on her hips. “Fine. Now, what’s the real reason you’re here?”
Ben’s gaze locked with hers. “You really want to know? I’ll tell you. You came to me with some cock-and-bull story about Molly. I don’t know you from Adam but just because you say so, I’m supposed to believe she’s alive after all these years and you think that together we can find her. If I’m crazy enough to believe you, it will turn my life upside down. There’s a chance my family will hear about it. And if they do, they’ll suffer. You say you need my help? Here’s the deal. I’m not committing to anything until I know who the hell you are.”
She opened her mouth but Ben cut her off.
“I’m not talking about the standard things—that you’re a twenty-seven-year-old schoolteacher or that your father is a retired fireman who lives in Burlington. I mean who you are in here.” He set a fist over his heart. “I need to believe you’re telling me the truth—not just what you believe is the truth. You want something from me, Autumn? Well, I want something from you.”
“How did you know about my father? Did you have me investigated like some kind of criminal?”
“You didn’t think I would?”
Of course he would. With his money and connections, it wouldn’t be that hard to do. “So exactly what is it you want?”
“I want time to get to know you, find out if you’re for real. Once I’m satisfied, you’ll have my complete cooperation.”
“What about Molly? Every day lost is a day we could be looking for her.”
“Molly’s been gone six years. Odds are she’s dead, just like the police believe. I have to think of Katie and Joanne. If this all starts again, questions will be asked, word will get back to them sooner or later. Neither of them or anyone else in my family deserves to suffer through all that again.”
It was a very good argument. His family had to come first and he had no real reason to believe her. He had to be certain he could trust her. If the situation were reversed, she would feel exactly the same.
“All right, we’ll do it your way. If that means you’ll be learning to climb, then I guess that’s what you’ll do.” She gave him a challenging smile. “You might even discover you like it. It’s an extremely exciting sport.”
Ben just nodded. “Then I guess we had better get started. You’re students are waiting.”
Autumn studied him a moment more. Not for the first time, it occurred to her what a handsome man Ben McKenzie was. Solid jaw, nicely formed lips, straight nose and dark brown eyes that seemed to take in more than you meant for them to see. He was tall and bronzed and extremely fit. She didn’t like the little curl of heat that slid into her stomach when he looked at her the way he was now.
Autumn steeled herself. She had seen the kind of women Ben McKenzie dated. Delores Delgato was on the cover of this month’s Vogue magazine. Autumn wasn’t anywhere close to their league, and that was just fine with her. She was a failure where men were concerned. She wasn’t about to be taken in by a guy like Ben.
Ben watched Autumn at work. As soon as they had entered the climbing gym, her entire concentration fixed on the students who had come to her to learn.
“Before we begin, we have a new student. This is Ben McKenzie. You might recognize the name, since he’s in the sporting goods business and the owner of this building.”
Several people nodded.
Ben followed her gaze toward the women in the group. “Ben, meet Courtney Roland and Winnie Caruthers.” A tall rangy blonde and an attractive brunette with muscular arms and legs. “This is Ian Camden and Bruce Lansky.” Ian blond, early twenties; Bruce dark-haired and at least fifteen years older. “And these two guys are Matt Gould and NedWheaton.” Matt was tall with shaggy brown hair. Ned was a lanky, good-looking black man with a shaved head and small silver earrings.
“Good to meet you,” Ben said to the group.
“All right, let’s get to work,” said Autumn.
He could see she took her job seriously as she led her students over to one of the tables and began to go through the gear spread out on the top.
“We’ve been talking about equipment in general. As you can see, I use mostly Black Diamond. It happens to be my personal favorite, but there are other companies that make good products as well.” She flicked a glance his way. “Maybe Ben can give us his opinion.”
“We don’t sell anything in our stores that isn’t top of the line and our staff is knowledgeable and helpful. I know we sell Black Diamond, so it must be good. Since I’m new to the
