Read Project Detour (Castle View Book 3) for Free Online Page B

the station to talk radio. No use getting all mushy about the guy. He was just her patient, and probably her last one. If she took the management job with Martin, she’d be too busy dealing with the administration to actually work with clients. Which was one of the downfalls of accepting the job. The pay, on the other hand, was one of the advantages. Even if she just worked long enough to build her nest egg, she might be able to reopen her own place in five to ten years. Probably ten.
    Her mind went back to Brad. His mother had said he was napping. Maybe she’d worked him too long this morning during his therapy. Or maybe he wasn’t napping, just trying to get his mother out of the room so he could spend the unaccounted for hours on his computer running his universe. She’d lay money on the last scenario. Brad Castle didn’t give up so quickly and she knew he’d been sneaking additional time and tasks into his day. If she didn’t crack down, soon, he’d be running the entire show from his medical bed.
    The minivan turned on a blinker to move into the turnout lane and Destiny sped by the vehicle filled with kids and harried parents. She needed to get back to the Castle View compound and take that laptop out of his room. That would slow him down.
    She kept her foot on the gas as much as she dared on the curvy mountain road. Until she had to slow for another logging truck. This just wasn’t her day.
    ***
    Destiny missed dinner too. Brad looked at the clock, wondering where she could be so late. Then he pushed the thought out of his mind. She wasn’t his companion, just his employee. If mom wasn’t worried, there must be a good reason Destiny still wasn’t here.
    He just wished he knew where the girl was at. He finished the meatloaf Maggie had sent up. One of his least favorite dinners from his sister’s restaurant, but he ordered it off and on. She must have a record of what he’d ordered in order to rotate his meals. Of course, no one ever just asked him what he wanted. Not Mom, Maggie, or even Destiny took his feelings into account when they made their plans.
    He tried to scoot himself upward on the bed, putting weight on his forearms. He moved his useless body an inch. This was stupid. How’d he even get here? He focused on the night of the accident. He’d been in Spokane talking to a new distributor, and he’d left the city close to nine that night. He remembered turning off from the connector that ran east toward Idaho, then getting on Highway 95. The traffic was light but he still had to keep his speed down due to the curves. He could barely see in front of him, there had been so much fog. Then, he strained for the memory.
    Nope, then he woke up in the hospital broken and bandaged. Had he gone off the road? Had he hit a deer? Hit the metal guard posts keeping cars on the road and not in the river? His mom told him they didn’t know what caused the accident, but there were no other cars around. He tapped his fingers on the bedrail, trying to force the memory.
    “Are you feeling all right?” His mother’s voice cut through his fogginess.
    Brad nodded. “It’s just been a long day.” The Spokane wine festival email had gotten lost somehow or the attachment hadn’t gone through so he’d had to resend and hope they wouldn’t reject the proposal due to missing the deadline. He’d been sure that Tina has said she was sending the proposal, but she said he’d wanted to do it himself. And he’d forgotten. Or Destiny had come in and distracted him. That was probably more reasonable. Man, that girl could be distracting.
    “You’re done with dinner?” His mom nodded to the tray. “You didn’t eat much.”
    “I’m just tired.” He put his napkin on the tray. “Can you get rid of that? The smell is making me nauseous.”
    “What can I get you instead? Milk and brownies?” His mother smiled at him and for a second, Brad was in first grade again, telling her all about the mean kids on the