CHAPTER ONE
LUCY HAD HEARD all about the stereotypes before, of course. In her hometown of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, the stereotypes attributed to people from California were especially harsh. Despite the thriving tourism industry, many of the people from Glenwood Springs were still mountain folk who were used to somewhat hard conditions (if only for the climate), and they often disparaged Californians for being shallow sissies and snobs obsessed with trends.
She had never given much thought to any of that, mostly because she didn’t want to ruin California for herself and because, to be quite frank, she often felt like a bit of a sissy too. And, she had decided some time back, there was nothing wrong with that. So what if she wouldn’t last two days in the great outdoors? She could last hours at the gym, and that was all that mattered to her. Some people found communion with their bodies in the mountains. Lucy found it in gyms and yoga studios, sweating her ass off.
But when she arrived at the opening night reception at the resort, she was disappointed as she looked around the room at the crowd of people milling around awkwardly networking. It became fast apparent to her that there would be little or no communion happening here.
She had spent years trying to defend Los Angelinos from the unforgiving opinions that were so popular in her hometown, but now she was beginning to wonder if perhaps the people in Glenwood Springs had been onto something all along. After she listened to just about all 60 second elevator pitches she could stand and had enough business cards shoved into her hands, she decided to call it a night. She hoped the rest of the conference would be better.
The next morning, she got up early. The agenda was interesting enough with an eclectic mix of presenters. There were lectures from health and wellness experts, classes from a few illustrious fitness figures (and some obscure ones too), and product sampling from leading (and not-so leading) companies in the health and wellness industry. Lucy’s shrewd eye could spot the fakes from a mile away and when she saw them, her blood boiled as it always did whenever she encountered someone who didn’t know what they were talking about.
She attended a lecture from a lady who claimed to have found the perfect “gut healing” diet, only to find out that it was all a bunch of nonsense based on absolutely no scientific research. The woman believed spirulina was the answer to everything and could cure all. She espoused a diet that was nothing more than a random list of leafy green vegetables and herbal teas—beneficial, of course, but hardly the solution and hardly a balanced nutritional diet.
There was another woman (one Anna Campbell) who went on to sing the praises of the miraculous anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric—which as far as Lucy was concerned, was among the only things she’d gotten right.
Lucy picked up pretty quickly on the fact that this convention was more about competition and fake “namaste” attitudes than about truly helping people be the healthiest versions of themselves. There were a few good eggs here and there, Lucy was sure of that. And while she had yet to attend all of the seminars, it seemed as if the hacks definitely outnumbered the good ones.
Most of the people around her in the auditorium were busy taking copious notes, nodding in agreement with whichever presenter was talking at the time. But there were always those who were smugly superior, who smirked cruelly at the commentator’s remarks. It seemed like the people were either completely engrossed in the topic at hand or they thought they had already found a way that was so much better than what was being said.
Ever since Lucy arrived at the resort, she felt like she’d been barraged with the exact type of people the folks from her hometown loved to make fun of—snobs who spent way too much money on cleansing juices and who thought daily meditation would solve all their problems and put them on a pedestal from which they could judge others for their mundane and pedestrian ways.
“Really?” she’d overheard one young man with a scruffy beard say to another earlier that morning on her way to breakfast. “You can’t find the time to squeeze meditation into your routine? Ten minutes is all you need in the beginning. I do it every day.”
The other man looked at the guy with the beard and replied without missing a beat, “I have three kids, an overworked and underappreciated wife, two dogs and a geriatric cat. I don’t have ten minutes.”
Lucy smirked and moved on. The father-of-three was the most genuine person she had encountered all morning. Everyone else seemed to have walked right out of a wellness website.
She took a sip of the coconut water they handed out at the beginning of the first session and focused her attention back to what was being said. Anna Campbell was now emphatically praising the virtues of kale, the wonder green. Lucy bit back a groan. If she had to hear about kale one more time, she was going to scream. Then again, ten minutes later she found herself thinking that a whole lecture on kale would have been preferable to the number of exotic ingredients the woman was listing now, presenting them as “the best” allies against inflammation.
Lucy took a deep breath as the familiar sense of annoyance and frustration crept up inside of her. She hated the fact that most wellness websites and magazines seemed to rely on hard-to-find ingredients for their recipes. She was more interested in learning how an ordinary person on a low-to-average budget could take care of their bodies, but admittedly, few experts seemed to be inclined to give out that information.
She was out of her chair like a shot as soon as the lecture was over. As people moved to the front of the room to ask Campbell some post-lecture questions, Lucy made a beeline for the exit. She’d had more than enough. She checked the program. Another lecture she was fairly interested in was about to start, but she was just too annoyed to make herself sit through it. Besides, what if this one also revealed itself to be nothing but a bunch of trite information and newly developed nonsense? She didn’t think she could handle the disappointment so soon after having witnessed Anna Campbell’s tirade.
Lucy decided that was she really needed was to move. A group workout session was starting in ten minutes in the resort’s garden. Everyone, Lucy included, was already wearing workout clothes, in case they decided to participate in some kind of impromptu exercise session. She hurried outside and inhaled deeply. The sunshine and the open air immediately began to help clear her head and work wonders for her mood.
She found the group already warming up for the session. The brochure advertised this workout as an “innovative combination of yoga, Pilates, and cardio”. Lucy was a fan of all three and she fervently hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed. The instructor was a middle-aged woman who was more toned than most of the twenty-year olds Lucy knew. Her name was Alice, she said. She didn’t offer any last name, which Lucy liked—it made her feel like she was working out with a friend. She supposed that was the intention.
Alice, with her trim figure and sparkling energy, wasted no time. As soon as everyone was in place, she kicked things off. For the next forty minutes, Lucy moved more than she had in months, which was saying something considering that she owned a dog and exercised at the gym five days a week.
For the next forty minutes, she felt like she could conquer the world. It was the toughest and most fun workout she’d ever had. It worked everything, every muscle in her body. It worked her mind too. This was the kind of workout that forced you to concentrate on nothing else but what you were doing. It was the kind of workout that was based in the flow of movements, which in turn promoted quietness of brain. Lucy was extremely grateful for the respite from the thoughts that had been churning around inside her head ever since she had left her hometown for Los Angeles.
She gave her best to the workout, and the workout gave her its best in return. By the end, she was a sweaty mess, but she couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this good. She felt powerful, capable and calm. She rushed to congratulate Alice and exchange cards with her (her last name was Baker), just in case.
Lucy walked away dripping sweat and confidence. She had made the first worthwhile connection in the industry, and she couldn’t be prouder of herself. She couldn’t wait to tell Michael all about it. All in all, she thought, it had been a very productive first morning. She felt ready to tackle the afternoon and anything else life could decide to throw at her just then—she felt that powerful. That was exactly what Lucy loved about fitness. If done right, exercise could make you feel invincible.
* * *
Lucy walked back into the main building (an impressive, peace-inducing construction made of all wood and with large windows) and made her way to the elevators. She was badly in need of a shower, and of some food to replenish the energy she had burned during the intense workout in the garden. She felt great, but the calmness bestowed upon Lucy from Alice’s workout didn’t last long.
There was a small lounge in the large hallway. It was a cozy corner, with Indian-style poufs, brightly hued cushions and couches over which multicolored quilts were thrown. It was supposed to promote peace of mind and relaxation, and yet the woman sitting on one of the couches talking to Anna Campbell, looked anything but relaxed. She seemed tense as she patiently listened to what the nutrition “expert” was telling her.
“I was hoping you could give me some more ordinary alternatives,” the woman said when she could finally get a word in. “You see, I’m from a small town and I wouldn’t know where to begin to find some of the ingredients you mention.”
“If you’re in SoCal, you can always drive to Ojai or Los Angeles,” Anna said, with the loftiness of someone who was fortunate enough to be blissfully ignorant of what it’s like to be an ordinary middle class member of society.
The woman bit her lip nervously. “It’s an hour drive to Ojai from where I am. L.A. is even further away. I was hoping to be able to prepare some healthier meals for myself and my family, possibly with everyday ingredients. You know the kind like you’d find at the supermarket?”
Anna shrugged dismissively at the woman. She gestured with her hands to indicate that there was nothing to be done. She fluttered her eyelashes at the woman. “I’m sorry, but if you want to be healthy, it’s a decision you have to make. It’s a matter of setting your priorities and putting in the effort to change your lifestyle.”
Lucy bristled. She’d heard enough. The way she saw it, a mother who took the time off from her probably overwhelming schedule to attend a wellness conference in order to find healthier options for her family was already making a huge effort and didn’t deserve to be talked down to like this. For a split second, Lucy considered biting her tongue and going her own way, but when she saw the disappointment and the hint of shame flooding the woman’s features, she simply couldn’t hold back. She strode over, a sweaty red-faced blonde-haired fury, and planted herself on a pouf in front of the two women.
“Excuse me,” she said, in as calm a tone as she could muster. “I couldn’t help but overhear. But there are lots of alternatives you can use that you can find anywhere. Take spinach for example, it’s rich in iron and other minerals. You can add a few leaves to a smoothie every day and get many of the same benefits.”
The woman’s hazel eyes lit up with renewed hope. “Really?”
“Really. Of course, you’ll have to pair it with other nutritional choices as part of a balanced diet. Herbs alone cannot fix everything,” Lucy said, with a pointed sideways glance at Anna Campbell. “But it’s a great way to pack in some extra nutrients.”
“Well, that sounds easy enough.” the woman said, smiling now from ear to ear. “I can do that. Do you have any other tips?”
“You should talk to Alice Baker,” Lucy said. “She’s out back in the garden. She’s a workout coach but she knows about food too. She has a Bachelor’s degree in pediatric nutrition.” Lucy had learned quite a bit in her brief chat with Alice, and her admiration for the woman had increased tenfold.
The woman beamed at Lucy and stood up quickly. “I’ll go talk to her right now. Thank you so much!”
Lucy flashed her a smile and watched her go. It felt good helping the woman. However, she had the strange feeling that she was being watched. When Lucy turned around, Anna Campbell’s brown eyes were practically shooting daggers at her.
“What would you do that for?” Anna demanded.
Lucy shrugged. She didn’t want to get into a fight with this woman, but she was starting to have the feeling that it would be inevitable. “I just thought she might appreciate Alice’s input, that’s all.”
“How dare you undermine me in front of a potential client,” Anna said.
‘Ah,’ Lucy thought bitterly, ‘so that’s what it’s really all about. Money. As usual.’ She took a deep calming breath and tried to keep her temper in check. “Look, I didn’t mean to make you look bad or anything, but you weren’t giving her the information she wanted.”
Anna bristled. “Spirulina is—”
“Just an algae.” Lucy cut the other woman off sharply. Her patience had run out. “It’s not a magical elixir. Spirulina and kale and turmeric aren’t enough to live on. You need to give people a full diet plan.”
“I give them—”
“You give them a bunch of juices and a laundry list of herbs and tonics that most people can’t even pronounce, let alone find,” Lucy said. “I was at your lecture. Juicing is great and so are supplements. But if you make it sound like it’s going to be enough to sustain a person on its own, you’re giving them false hope, not to mention some very misleading information. Besides, people like that woman don’t have time to hunt down rare ingredients and make fresh juice every day, and most people don’t have the means to either. Can you imagine how much a daily regimen of your recommended supplements and regular juicing for a family of four would cost?”
“I know how much it costs.” Anna Campbell narrowed her eyes at Lucy. “Healthy living is a lifestyle choice.”
“Come on. Who are we kidding?” Lucy rolled her eyes. “We need to give these people something real, something they can work with and incorporate into their real lives.”
Anna’s thin frame was taut with tension. “And exactly what is it that you give them? I’d love to know.”
Lucy blinked. She realized just then that she had said “we”. “I give them reliable information and sources,” she said after a moment, thoughtfully choosing her words. “I’m a health and wellness journalist.”
“Ha!” Anna made a cruel little sound. “Vultures, the lot of you. You know nothing.”
Lucy arched an eyebrow at her opponent. “Seems to me like you don’t know that much yourself.”
“How dare you? I’ll have you know, there is a ton of research backing my supplements. And kale has a lot more iron than spinach.”
Lucy stared at Anna with disbelief. She couldn’t believe she had reduced herself to arguing about the merits of leafy green vegetables with this obtuse piece of work of a human being, but she just couldn’t find it in herself to walk away. Anna was hitting all of her pet peeves and pushing all of her buttons.
“Kale vs. spinach, which is better? Who really gives a shit? Both are good. The truth is that there is no such thing as a magic pill that can make you healthy and that’s basically what you’re selling with your supplements.”
She expected a scathing remark. Anna had gone pale with anger and looked like she was just about to let her have it. Instead, her adversary suddenly grew quiet. Anna’s eyes widened as something behind Lucy caught her attention.
Lucy looked over her shoulder to see what could have taken Anna’s focus off of her and there he was. Lucy’s stomach dropped. He stood just a few feet away and was watching them bicker. Lucy was speechless. Her mouth suddenly went dry from the sheer beauty of the man. She knew Elijah Redford was handsome. She had watched enough of his videos to know he was a good looking guy. But she never dreamed that he would be even better looking in person. She was speechless and couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was tall with broad shoulders and a slim waist. Every muscle in his body was lithe and well-defined. Even something as plain as the simple black track pants and white V-neck T-shirt he was wearing enhanced his muscular form. He had high cheekbones and a strong jaw. His short brown hair was cropped in a sleek, modern cut that sent the short locks in all directions. He resembled a Greek God, Lucy thought.
His deep blue eyes stared intently at the two women and his head was tilted curiously to one side. There was a small smirk on his lips that brought out a hint of dimples in his cheeks.
When he saw them looking at him, he walked over to join the conversation. “She’s not wrong about the supplements.” he said to Anna Campbell while nodding in Lucy’s direction. He was standing awfully close to Lucy now. He smelled like wind and cologne. “Supplements are mostly bullshit. They’ll do squat by themselves and don’t even get me started on kale.”
“Academic research shows supplements…” Anna stammered.
“Yes,” Elijah said. “And exactly which studies are you referring to?”
Lucy watched as Anna’s face turned even whiter. Realizing she was beaten and there was nothing else to do or say, Anna Campbell set her jaw, squared her shoulders and walked away.
Lucy watched as the woman stormed off. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit sorry for Anna Campbell. When she turned back around, she was startled to find Elijah Redford staring at her. When their eyes met, she couldn’t help but stare back. It was as if she had fallen into a deep pool of blue and was drowning in his eyes.
Of course, she had imagined what it would be like to meet him many times over. There were a bunch of different scenarios that played out in her head, but in none of those fantasies was she ever dripping with sweat after a rigorous workout and she most definitely wasn’t arguing over supplements let alone the merits of kale vs. spinach with a complete stranger.
“You seem to have a lot of passion in what you believe,” he said.
His voice jolted Lucy out of her trance and she blurted, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was staring,” and immediately regretted it.
A smirk spread across his face. “God forbid people buy the wrong vegetables let alone eat real food.”
“I…” Lucy opened her mouth and shut it again. It wasn’t often that she was at a loss for words. It took her a moment to remember why she was there. She drew herself up to her full height (which admittedly wasn’t all that considerable at five feet and four inches tall) and tried to look as professional and put together as she possibly could while her hair was plastered to her face. She was pretty sure she smelled like a sumo wrestler. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
“Mr. Redford,” she said, “my name is Lucy Smith. I’m a freelance journalist and I would love to interview you for a profile.”
She couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with him again. It felt too dangerous. All the while Elijah was watching her with an amused look on his face—almost as if he was enjoying the spectacle.
She awkwardly rummaged around in her gym bag until she found a business card and handed it to him. To her surprise, he accepted it. Didn’t he have minions to take care of his dirty work for him and deal with the plebes? Fielding interview requests from random journalists… didn’t that qualify as dirty work?? And wasn’t she a plebe?
That was before he abruptly said “Thank you” and absentmindedly tucked the card into his wallet. “I’ll hold on to it.”
Lucy’s heart sank. She was pretty sure that inside people’s wallets was where all business cards go to be forgotten and die. She had the distinct impression that her big break had come and gone, and she missed it. “Okay,” she mumbled while looking down at her feet. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
She turned and hurried off as fast as she could, almost as fast as Anna Campbell did, without even waiting for Elijah Redford to respond. Lucy didn’t dare look back. Instead, she cursed herself all the way up to her room.