Castles & Complications
From the back cover...
Things go haywire for Addison Odell when she travels to Germany, Switzerland and Austria on her trip with Club Europa. Surrounded by castles, she gets caught up with the romance of the countryside, but that gets complicated when more than one guy believes he is the one seducing her heart.
Not only is her love life and the fast paced journey keeping her head spinning, but her past seeps into the present to haunt her thanks to a jealous woman determined to keep her from Peter. She may be a college graduate, but this trip is an advanced class on life that she hadn’t been prepared to take.
Trapped with a group of other twenty-somethings on this European adventure sounded like a good idea when she was back home scrimping and saving for it, but she now realizes that close quarters and a tight schedule can test everyone’s nerves no matter how gorgeous the surroundings. Will she be able to salvage the new relationships she’s forming without breaking anyone’s heart—including her own?
An excerpt...
“We’re actually alone,” I say as if it’s a bigger deal than it probably is.
“For now.” He snags my hand and pulls me toward the door. “This is far from our first date, Addison.”
“Stolen moments,” I say thinking of our journey up the London Eye, the rooftop picnic in Paris, and the beautiful dinner on the boat along the river in Amsterdam. My entire body shivers with expectation.
“Good moments.” He pulls me in for a kiss and I lean into him as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Did Harmony say that I had za-za-zoom? What is that?”
I blush knowing he overheard that conversation on the bus yesterday. If he heard it, then so did others. Not that there are any secrets on this trip, not anymore.
“Trust me, it’s a good thing.” I wink at him and he laughs.
“I am disappointed that only Harmony is on my team, though.”
“What are we doing today?”
“First, we are going to Lake Lucerne for paddle-boating. Then we are taking the gondola to the top of the mountain. From there, we are going into the city for dinner at a very special place with an excellent chef.”
I stop short at the odd-looking yellow Land Rover waiting for us outside the hotel. It is partially rusted out over all the tires and has duct tape on the roof. “Let me guess, another friend is lending you a car?”
“I have a lot of friends.” He shrugs and opens the door for me.
I slide in and realize I cannot stop smiling. He makes me wild with wanting. I laugh as he peels out of the hotel and starts driving down the mountain. We’re staying high in the Alps at a funny little hotel where I swear, I heard bats last whistling from the rafters last night. The mountains remind me of a school child’s painting, very sharp triangular shapes that jut up from the landscape in wild formations that inspire awe and a healthy dose of fear. The road is curvy as we make our way to the massive lake that shimmers like a blue diamond beneath us.
He yodels—which at first startles me and then amuses me. We both start yodeling and being silly as we make our way toward our destination. By the time we park the car, we are both laughing so hard I don’t know if we have the strength to do much boating. I step outside and inhale the crisp air, suddenly grateful that I brought my long cardigan with me. I wrap myself into its folds before tucking the backpack securely under the backseat. I meet up with him at the end of the dock where he is conversing easily with the man running the boat rentals.
“I can’t believe you were yodeling,” I say when I finally stand by his side.
“We are taught to do so at a very young age.”
“Really?”
“No, why would you believe that?” He laughs and loops his arm over my shoulders. “My dear Dakota, I have so much to teach you.”
I bite the inside of my lip, once again thinking of that promise he made me on the Paris rooftop. I tilt my head up and meet his gaze---from the look of desire crossing his face, I’m confident that we’re on the same wavelength. He lowers his head and caresses my lips ever so lightly with his while keeping his gaze locked on mine.
The boat rental man clears his throat to get our attention. We step back from one another and I walk onto the paddleboat first. It rocks beneath my feet and I’m a bit worried about falling into the freezing water. I adjust my seatbelt on and center my feet on the foot paddles while Peter joins me.
Together, we steer the boat out toward the center of the lake. All around us are towering Swiss Alps and ice-blue water as calm as glass. I marvel at the reflection of the mountains on the massive lake. Everywhere I look—up or down, all around—it’s just mountains and blue sky. Once we are in the middle, we both stop peddling without saying a word to one another. We’re both transfixed by the view and the serenity of the moment. Only a handful of other paddleboats are on the lake, but with its size, it feels as if we are all alone.
“This is amazing,” I say on a sigh. “Absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.”
“Me too. It’s like no other place in the world.”
I glance at him. He is staring at me. Gently, he frames my face and urges me close. We kiss slowly. I close my eyes and savor the sensation of his soft lips against mine.
“We need to be careful not to tip the boat over,” he says with a smile. “We would freeze to death within minutes.”
“You have a way of ruining the mood, Peter.” I tuck the cardigan tighter around me and look up at the snow-capped peaks. “I think I love Switzerland.”
“If you love Switzerland, you will also love Austria. I promise you.”
“You love your home country, don’t you?”
“Very much so.” He nods, averting his gaze to the water around us.
“Are you homesick for Vienna?”
“Very much so.” He smiles, his profile to me. “Are you homesick for South Dakota?”
“No, not right now anyway.” I feel strange saying it, but it’s true. I feel only a twinge of anxiety at the admission.
He nods and we resume peddling the boat around the lake. He reaches his hand out to me. I lace my fingers with his. We continue to cruise around the lake in a compatible silence, our hands connected, our thoughts quiet, our vision consumed by beauty.
The gondola leading to the top of the mountain is within walking distance from the dock, so we simply stroll there, his arm over my shoulder and my arm casually draped over his waist. There are few tourists here and I know he must have realized the right time to come.
“Where is the group?”
“They are in the city of Lucerne, then they will come here later to do the boats and the gondola—we are doing the opposite of them.” He winks down at me and I laugh at his plan. “Later, they will have a party at the hotel. The bar is having a band, they will have fun.”
The hotel is far from anything, so I understand why that is the perfect plan.
“And what will we be doing?”
“We will be doing the opposite of that as well.”
“No party?”
“Private party.”
We step onto the gondola and settle onto the bench. I gasp as it lurches abruptly into the sky. I keep my gaze locked on Lake Lucerne, wishing I had taken more pictures. I was too caught up in the moment, hadn’t even thought of ruining it with a cellphone.
“How far have you gotten on your project?” he asks, his fingers idly playing with my hair.
I twist my head and look him in the eye. “I’m not afraid of writing it anymore.”
Surprise lights his eyes and he quirks an eyebrow, a gesture I have learned means he wants to know more.
“Something horrible happened to me five years ago…” I hesitate, not wanting to ruin our day, but then continue when I see the patience in his eyes. “Some guys I had grown up with took advantage of me when I was passed out drunk at the senior party. They spread rumors about me, trashed me to a lot of people, and for the longest time I refused to discuss it. I didn’t do anything about it—no justice, no vindication. I had a lot of mixed emotions about my part in that, regarding not seeking to punish them—shame, guilt, anger…so much anger.”
“And now?”
“It’s been five years.” I shrug but don’t look away. “This trip has brought up a lot of repressed feelings about the ordeal, to be honest. I’ve been very angry, I admit that. And thanks to distance or my lack of distraction, I don’t know what exactly, but I’m dealing with emotions that I have pushed away for a long time. I’m learning to be free here.”
Confusion shadows his eyes, but he doesn’t press me for clarification. He listens.
“A few good friends of mine that I’ve met on this trip have encouraged me to use my voice for the greater good. Who knew this trip would be full of so many wise people?”
“Wise people? On the Club Europa tour? Are we on the same trip?” The corners of his lips twitch and he squints at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Does this revelation have something to do with your emotional moment in Heidelberg that led to you being involved with animal skins and a skull in the forest?”
“A little bit.”
“I do not want to know any more about that.” He slices his hand through the air as if he needs to draw a line somewhere. “There are certain things about a woman that need to be a mystery, and what she does with animal skins in the forest is one of them.”
I laugh and lean against his chest. “Thank you, Peter.”
“For what?”
“For always knowing the right thing to say at the right time.”
“The altitude must be affecting your brain.” He pulls me onto his lap and kisses me with a passion that definitely leaves me light-headed. His hands run up and down my arms before he slides his fingers through my hair. “You are no longer afraid to write about this experience of yours?”
“I’m no longer afraid.” I look into his eyes, knowing I am referring to more than this project we agreed on weeks ago.
“You inspire me to be better,” he whispers. “I am still working on it.”
“What is it you are writing about? I told you mine…”
“I had a fiancée once…she left me for my younger brother on the morning of our wedding. It sort of destroyed me.” Smile long gone, he sighs and averts his gaze out the window toward the summit. “I do not talk about it to anyone, not even my sister, but I am trying to write about what it was like to be betrayed like that and what it was like to spiral into despair. For a long time, I did not leave my home. I became a hermit, only leaving when I needed food or when my parents would insist. It was an ugly time of my life, a time that I am ashamed of on many levels.”
I trace my finger across his brow before leaning my forehead against his. “You are far from destroyed. You are amazing.”
He grins and pushes me off his lap so we can stand. Immediately, he grabs my hand and holds me close to his side. He leans down to whisper, “Maybe there is one wise person on the trip, Addison, but only one.”
I laugh softly, somewhat amazed that we can talk so easily about hard things.
We step out of the gondola. The wind whips harshly against our faces. My cardigan flaps wildly behind me like a cape around our legs as we walk toward the overlook. The air is thin. I look out over the Alps, see the giant lake looking like only a dime far below us, and lift my arms out to my sides. I close my eyes and smile toward the sky. I’m on top of the world and I’m silently daring the universe with a question, can it get any better than this?
I am certain I will be blown away by the answer.
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