CHAPTER NINE
The coffee shop wasn’t yet crowded, and all the best pastries had just been put out in the cases as they arrived. They found a table as they waited for their to-go orders of mostly lattes. Even as they sat down, the door constantly opened and closed, letting in the early morning customers. Their table faced the bank of windows, allowing them to see the sun come up when it was rising.
Raine always took the seat facing the door. This time Vienna found herself sitting just to the right of her, so she could watch as well. After the attack on her from Charles, and then the two security guards coming into her room, she felt shaky inside. She hadn’t admitted to anyone, or even herself, that she was more shaken than she’d realized. Daniel’s warning and his grim story about Liam’s murder had only added to her feeling of vulnerability.
Raine leaned toward her. “Are you feeling okay, Vienna? If you prefer to just bike first and boulder in the evening, we can switch things up.”
“I’m doing fine.” When Raine’s blue-gray eyes remained on her, Vienna decided it was better to talk about the unexpected way she felt. “Actually, I had no idea I was so shaken up by those men coming into my room the way they did. I tell myself they thought I was some kind of secret agent or something, but it doesn’t help.” She gave Raine a wan smile and pressed a hand to her queasy stomach. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a life of intrigue.”
Vienna felt inexplicably sad. She was adventurous. She never thought she would be that woman who would fall apart because she had hidden in a closet while two men searched her suite with the intentions of killing her. She held out one hand where Raine could see it while the other women at the table laughed and talked all around her. Her hand shook.
“I can’t be like this. What happens if I’m climbing a cliff to help some poor kid who went over the edge and is counting on me and I start shaking like this? I can’t have someone like Zale in my life. What was I even thinking?” She rubbed her forehead as if she could erase him from her mind.
“Vienna, slow down for a minute and think this through. A few months ago, a close friend of ours turned out to be a serial killer. He targeted Stella and you both. You grieved for him, but you never acted afraid. You refused to allow yourself to consider that you were afraid even for a moment. Fear is a normal reaction. It’s even necessary for self-preservation. If you hadn’t been afraid in your suite and acted on that fear by hiding in the closet, you most likely would have been killed. Fear isn’t cowardice.”
“Do you think men like Sam and Zale are afraid?”
Raine nodded. “I know they are. Maybe not of the same things we are, but they’re afraid. Someone like Zale can be as cold as ice when he goes out on an assignment and yet be terrified if his family or someone he loves is threatened. That’s usually the reason they remain alone. Can you imagine what Sam would do if someone took Stella from him? Suffice it to say, it wouldn’t be pretty. That’s their fear. Fear is normal, Vienna.”
“How come you’re so smart? I’m supposed to be, but right at the moment, I feel lost and very off balance,” Vienna admitted.
The coffee shop did a brisk before-sunrise business. The early customers were mostly locals on their way to work, or tourists on their way to hike the trails or boulder like they were going to do. The little set of bells on the door continually rang to announce a group, a couple or an individual coming into the shop to head to the counter to get their coffee and pastry to take with them.
“You were cooped up in the hotel for too long. You’re not used to it. I get that way when I’m away from Knightly or the Sierras too long. We’re used to wide-open spaces. We’ve lived that way a long time now. That’s how we reset. It’s how we balance ourselves. Being in crowds and staying indoors too long can mess with our heads.”
Vienna was grateful Raine felt the same way. “It’s nice to know I’m not alone. I wanted out of there two days after I got there. The suite was beautiful. The food was delicious.” She leaned closer to Raine, her gaze fixed on Zahra. “I knew if Zahra saw that suite, she’d never let us leave. The hell with the Airbnb. We’d be staying right there at the Northern Lights.”
“What are you whispering about?” Zahra demanded, narrowing her dark, velvety eyes. “I know you’re talking about me, Vienna, and not in a good way.”
“It’s impossible not to talk about you any way but good, Zahra,” Vienna objected. “I was telling Raine if you had seen the suite at the Northern Lights where I stayed, we would never have left. First class all the way. Food was delicious. Anything you wanted, they brought to you anytime, day or night. The spa came to your room too.” She dangled that shamelessly in front of her friend, even though she hadn’t taken advantage of it.
Stella pressed her lips together. Harlow put her hand over her mouth. Shabina bit down on her fingers. Raine inspected the tabletop.
Zahra sighed and slumped back in her chair. “I know darn well you never once availed yourself of those spa services, Vienna. They were wasted on you. I don’t know why I can’t attract a millionaire. I need to get out more. That’s my problem. I really should put a little more effort into finding these hotel owners and flirting a bit with them so they ask me out.”
There was instant laughter. Zahra did her best to scowl. “What?”
Stella regarded her best friend with a slightly surprised expression. “Zahra, you flirt with every male from the age of five to ninety-five. You can’t help it. That’s just who you are. And you’ve been asked out by several millionaires. Several. One was a hotel owner. If we set foot in a hotel, you get special treatment. If we hire a personal trainer, we’re worked like dogs. You get special treatment. Do you not even notice these things?”
Zahra’s dark brows drew together. “No. Everyone is just nice to me. Not women, they aren’t very nice. And Miguel Valdez’s new people at the climbing gym aren’t nice either. One of them is a man.”
“You won’t scan your badge or wear it,” Stella said.
“They know who I am. I go there all the time. I never had to do that before,” she pointed out with a lift of her stubborn chin.
“The millionaires you turned down?” Stella persisted.
Zahra frowned at her. “I’m not going to date someone for their money. That would be awful. They were nice men. I wouldn’t do that to them. They deserve someone really attracted to them.”
Laughter spilled around the table. “You’re such a fraud, Zahra,” Vienna said. “You say you want a millionaire, but in reality you could not care less about money. That’s the truth. You’ve had so many chances. You don’t even date. Of course, there’s Bruce . . .” She trailed off to give her friend time to tell them where she was with the local man she’d had hopes for.
Zahra shook her head and waved her hand. “I’m done. I gave him every chance to make a move and he didn’t. I don’t throw myself at men. I’m officially moving on.”
Vienna felt bad for her. Zahra really didn’t date, and she’d crushed on Bruce for a long time. She’d done everything she could to show the man, and he seemed to reciprocate her feelings, but he never asked her out. He danced with her when they were at the Grill, the local bar where they went to dance and hang out together. Bruce even seemed to warn other men off her, but he never pursued Zahra further.
“More power to you,” Stella said staunchly. “Bruce had his chance. You deserve better. If he doesn’t go after you, he isn’t the right man for you.”
“I’m perfectly fine on my own,” Zahra said. “I’ve got good friends. Even if they are crazy and want to get up at the crack of dawn to go climbing around on rocks.”
“And then go bike riding,” Vienna reminded, just to watch Zahra’s famous dramatic reaction.
Zahra didn’t disappoint. She slid down in her chair with a groan.