Page 54 of Philly
“No news on her?” Philly asked.
In the reflection of the window, she saw Joseph shake his head. “My dad thinks Rian is well rid of her, but I always liked Laura. Doesn’t matter what we thought, though, since Rian was the one married to her and loved her. Still does.”
“He’s working too hard?” Philly prodded.
Again, Joseph nodded. “He’s always worked more than he should. He misses out on so much because he’s spending his time behind a desk. I don’t mean he should ignore work, but what’s the use of making money if you don’t use it? Life is about balance. Well, not always, but we have the privilege of being able to balance our lives. I don’t understand why Rian chooses not to.”
“I assume business is going well though? If he’s dedicating so much time to it?”
Joseph shrugged. “It has some swings, but overall, people need clothes and all the other things we make, so, yeah, it’s going well. Rian’s started managing the retail/civilian side while Dad’s taken on more of the government work. That’s been growing over the years. He’s working to close a deal with the Canadian government next month to supply their military and police. If it goes through, it will be our single biggest government agreement yet.”
“For what? Like uniforms and stuff?” Philly asked, as if he had no clue.
“Yeah, and stuff for bases like towels, sheets, things like that.”
“Wow, I hadn’t realized the company had moved into that space. The last time I talked to Rian, he was on his way home from a meeting with the heads of the big European fashion houses. But I guess the law enforcement market is a stable one. Always there.”
Joseph nodded.
Gabriel turned the conversation away from business by asking what other ways Joseph balances his life, which lasted until they pulled into the trailhead. In the scramble of unloading the seven people who’d elected to hike that day, along with the two guides, Callie pulled out her phone. She wanted to ask Leoand Sabina to check into the Canadian deal, but one look at the device told her she’d have to wait. Cell service didn’t make it this far into the canyon.
Despite the trip being about business, about digging out information from Joseph, the beauty of the hike wasn’t lost on her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d escaped to the wilderness just to hike. She ran almost every day. She’d hiked to crime scenes, because even white-collar agents got out every now and again. And she’d participated in a fundraising mini-trek for a colleague who’d died in a car accident, leaving her husband and three kids behind.
But she hadn’t hiked just to hike since she and Gabriel were kids. Together, they’d spent hours traipsing through the woods and gentle hills surrounding their small town outside of Philadelphia. Her parents wouldn’t have allowed it if she’d asked, so most of their adventures began from her grandparents’ farm. The north part of their property abutted a state park, which then linked to several other parks.
As happy as those memories were, their childhood hikes seemed like a stroll through a wooded wonderland compared to the wilderness they now traversed. Red dirt trails lined with fragrant desert sage guided them into a canyon, up and down several steep ravines, and along a wide ridge until they emerged at the top of a sandstone monolith. More barren and sparse than Pennsylvania, but also more breathtaking.
“It’s stunning,” she said, gazing down to the mountain-ringed valley below.
“You’ve never been here?” Joseph asked, coming up alongside her and handing her a power bar a guide distributed.
“Thanks,” she replied, taking the bar with a shake of her head. “I’ve been to New Mexico, but not this part of the country.”
“This is one my favorite spots,” he continued. She glanced around to see Gabriel in conversation with an older couple.
“You’ve been before, then?”
He nodded. “This is my fifth time in this area. Third at this resort.”
“It’s too bad your family doesn’t come to share it with you.”
He lifted his shoulder. “Like I told Gabe, Rian is a workhorse. Always has been, but it got worse after his wife disappeared. And my dad, well, he’s not a bad sort, but, well, he’s not someone you’d want to spend a lot of time with, so it’s a good thing he doesn’t like traveling with me.”
She offered him a wry smile. “In other words, he’d ruin it for you?”
He responded with a chagrined one of his own. “Does that make me a terrible son?”
She laughed. “No, I love my sister, but she’s more about high fashion than high altitudes. I’d never bring her on a trip like this.”
“But you’d travel with her?”
She bobbed her head. “I would and I have. But we go to spas or Caribbean beaches, that sort of thing.”
“I wouldn’t travel with my dad. Rian, yes. My dad, no. And that gives you more insight into our relationship than you wanted,” he added with a rueful chuckle.
“I take it you don’t get along?” When he hesitated, she added, “No need to make excuses if that’s the case. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want, but if you do, you’re talking to someone who can empathize. I haven’t spoken to my parents since I left home at eighteen. Not even at either of my grandparents’ funerals.”
He looked over at her. Joseph was a handsome man—not her type, but handsome in that generic, well-taken-care-of way. His dark hair was tousled by the wind, and his eyes held a mix of curiosity and optimism. A combination that didn’t make a lot of sense to her, but the golden retriever reference came to mindagain. Joseph Nolan looked like a man who actively hoped to see the good in people. A wonderful—if somewhat exhausting—trait. A trait she was starting to feel oddly protective of. There should be more people in the world like Joseph. People who genuinely believed in the good in other people.
