by Liz Isaacson
Cy stayed in the truck, working up the courage to go inside. He knew Patsy was busy. She’d told him last night that she’d been doing Bree’s job for the past month, as well as her own. Sophia’s mother had gotten injured. The Whittakers were doing a lodge addition.
He liked talking to Patsy and learning about her life, as well as life at Whiskey Mountain Lodge. But he wanted to see her. He wanted to hold her hand, and see what color her sweater was today. He’d learned she loved sweaters and wore them year-round. When he’d asked her how many she owned, she said there was no way to count.
He’d laughed then, sitting on the couch in his rented house. In that moment, he’d realized he couldn’t go another day without being in the same physical space as her. He’d barely slept last night, because he’d been stewing about how to see her without causing more stress for her.
When Ames had shown up at the gym, Cy had been there for twenty minutes already. “Oh, boy,” Ames had said, tossing his towel over the bar. “You’re already in a lather.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Cy had kept running, and Ames had just gotten on the treadmill next to him and started. When Cy finished, Ames glanced at him.
“Breakfast tomorrow,” he said. “Just you and me.”
Cy had nodded, and he’d never been more grateful for his twin. In fact, he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Ames. Thanks for not making me talk this morning. Tomorrow, though, get ready.
I’m always ready, Ames said, and he was a very good listener. Colton had told him he should go into counseling, because Ames had a way of listening and absorbing, thinking through problems, and offering support without ever passing judgment. It was why he made such a good cop and why he’d advanced up the ranks in Littleton so quickly.
At the same time, Cy knew Ames felt stymied in his job. He had no chance of becoming Chief there, at least not for another fifteen years at least. The city had just hired a new Chief four years ago, and Ames hadn’t been ready then. He hadn’t had the experience and the qualifications he had now.
His phone vibrated, and Cy looked at it. Ames had added, Now go inside the lodge.
A grin crossed Cy’s face. Of course his brother would know he was hesitating out in the parking lot.
Cy flipped the rubber band on his wrist and turned off his truck. The cold would permeate the cab quickly, and he wouldn’t be able to loiter in the truck.
He didn’t want to either, and he told himself he’d feel better the moment he saw Patsy. He knew he would, and that actually scared him a little bit.
He didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t want to attach himself to the wrong woman again. He had to be sure before he let himself truly fall for Patsy Foxhill. Because when Cy fell, he fell fast and hard, and if things didn’t work out, the aftermath of that was not pretty.
He’d been living in that aftermath for a year and a half now, and he was so ready to move on.
He wasn’t sure if he should knock on the front door or what. He didn’t see a doorbell, and he ended up standing there, staring at the fine craftsmanship on the covered porch of the lodge.
Before he could do anything, the door actually opened and a man pulled up short. “Oh, hey, Cy.”
“Hello, Beau,” he said, putting a smile on his face. “I was just trying to figure out what to do to get inside.”
Beau grinned at him and fell back a step to welcome him in. “You just come in, Cy. The door’s always open here.”
“Thanks.” Cy entered the lodge and looked around. This place did hold a particular brand of magic that Cy couldn’t identify, but he could definitely feel.
“I think Patsy is in the office,” Beau said, reaching to pull the door closed behind him. Cy watched it click into place, and then he faced the living room.
He had no idea where the office was, but he figured it wouldn’t be upstairs. He knew where the kitchen was, and he’d stood down the hall leading to the back yard when he’d asked Patsy out in front of everyone.
He went into the hall that led to the kitchen and looked both ways.
He turned back to the kitchen, wondering what sat down this way. He had a strong inclination this was where the basement steps were, and sure enough, right across from the dining room sat a doorway with stairs that led down. He turned and surveyed the dining room, which had a huge table with a lone coffee cup on it, leftover from breakfast.
Cy thought the lodge sure did seem quiet for how many people were supposed to be there. He continued down the hall, but the boots on the floor and hooks on the wall told him this door led outside.
He opened the door anyway, only to be met with the garage.
“Cy?”
He turned around, his heart leaping in a strange way. It settled instantly when he saw Sophia, not Patsy. “Hey,” he said, moving toward her. “Beau said Patsy was in her office, but well, I don’t know where her office is.” He chuckled, mostly to stop himself from reaching for that rubber band.
“It’s this way,” Sophia said, spinning away from him and striding back down the hall. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to upset her; Beau had let him into the lodge.
He followed her past the dining room and kitchen, past the hall that led outside, and past another guest bathroom. Finally, she indicated a room on the right-hand side of the hall, and Cy heard Patsy say, “Sophia? Is everything okay?” before he reached the doorway.
His eyes met hers, and everything in the world stopped. Cy didn’t know what to make of it. He’d just been faced with Sophia, and nothing like this had happened. Nothing even close.
What does that mean? he thought. Lord, if you could tell me what that means, I’d appreciate it.
The Lord did not tell him anything, but Sophia said, “Excuse me,” and squeezed past him to go back the way she’d come.
He stepped into the office, wanting to close the door and whisper how he felt about Patsy. Did she feel the same thing? Had she ever felt it before?
“Hey,” he said. “Sorry, I’m sure I’m really early, but I didn’t have anything else to do today.”
“It’s okay.” Patsy looked down at the things on her desk—papers, a checkbook, a couple of folders. She glanced at her computer, and then her eyes traveled back to his. “Let’s go down to Laney’s.”
“Right now?” He took in the office, as everything in this lodge was made of the very best. Her desk took up the spot in front of the window, and it would easily fit two more computer screens. Big ones, too.
To the right of that was a built-in bookcase, but it wasn’t filled with volumes. Instead, all of the shelves held pictures, and Cy gestured to it. “I can just look at those while you finish what you need to finish.”
“I’m never going to finish what I need to finish,” she said. “The work here never ends.”
“I bet,” Cy said, walking over to the bookcase anyway. “Some of these people I recognize.” He saw Graham Whittaker and his wife and two kids. Eli and his family. Andrew and his, and Beau and his. Then all four of them together, with all of their children.
“These look recent.”
“This fall,” she said, joining him. She pointed to the biggest one. “That’s all of us.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said as he found Patsy in the picture. It wasn’t hard, because she seemed to have an angelic glow about her he couldn’t look away from.
“We really can go,” she said. “I just have to put a quitting time on my day. There’s always more to do.”
“I understand.” Cy didn’t make a move to leave the office, though. “That’s how things are at the shop when we’re running. Sometimes I felt chained to the place.”
“Yes,” she said. “Chained.”
Cy reached out, and he didn’t have to go far to find Patsy’s hand. It was surprisingly easy to slip his fingers between hers and hold on, and wow, he thought he could die right then and float away on clouds of joy.
A thrill shot from the top of his head to his fingertips, which seemed to be crackling with energy.
He looked at her, and she took a moment to continue studying the pictures before she turned her head toward him too. “Tell me you feel it,” he said, his voice quiet. “Or maybe I don’t want to know I’m the only one who feels like I come alive when I’m with you.”
He was used to saying exactly what he thought, and he’d never had to hide how he felt from anyone before. But surprise lifted Patsy’s eyebrows.
She squeezed his hand, and Cy thought that was probably some sort of code for I feel it too.
She had to. God wouldn’t be cruel enough to play a joke on him like this.
He nodded toward the pictures again, breaking eye contact with her. “Who are the rest of the people?”
“You know Celia and Zach,” she said. “Those are her daughters, and his kids.” She indicated a grouping of several pictures on another shelf. “Some of these are recurring guests. People who book their next trip for the next year when they leave. This is the Everett family. Jack and Fran—the Everett sisters. They all met their spouses right here at Whiskey Mountain Lodge and live in Coral Canyon now.”
“Wow,” Cy said. “Guests at the lodge?”
“The lodge has only been available for guests for about four years now. That’s when I started up here. All of the Whittaker brothers lived here at one point. When Lily Everett came, she fell in love with Beau.” She pointed to their family picture.
“And her sisters came, and they each fell in love with a cowboy here too. They all live here now.”
Her words rang in Cy’s ears. It seemed like what had happened with the Everetts was slowly happening to his family too. Four of them had homes in Coral Canyon now. Only Ames and their parents still lived full-time in Ivory Peaks.
“This lodge has a real family atmosphere,” he said, finally landing on what made Whiskey Mountain Lodge so special. “Everyone who comes here feels like they belong.”
“That’s the goal,” Patsy said. Behind them, on the desk, her phone chimed, but she ignored it.
“I bet you work hard to make that happen,” he said.
“I try.”
“Hmm.” Cy tore his eyes away from the big group picture that had everyone in it. He saw Bree and Elise next to Patsy, and they all looked so happy. Like they really did belong.
He wanted to build that at Rev for Vets too, and he knew he needed someone like Patsy to make it happen. He opened his mouth to ask her to come work for him again when the question froze in his mouth.
It wasn’t the right thing to do, and Cy turned toward her to see if she’d noticed that he’d literally gone mute.
She looked at him too, and the only thing he could think of in that moment was kissing her. He shifted so he faced her more fully and leaned toward her. Her eyes drifted closed, and Cy took that as a big-time yes for him to do what he wanted to do.
“Patsy?”
She jumped away from him so fast Cy wasn’t even sure she’d been beside him at all. He turned as she said, “Rose, what can I do for you?”
“Sorry to interrupt.” Rose looked past her to Cy and flashed an apologetic smile. “But there’s a delivery guy here, and he says he needs to talk to you.”
“Thanks,” Patsy said, reaching for one of the folders on her desk. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Rose left, and Patsy took her time finding a pen on her desktop. Then she turned and looked at Cy and asked, “Can we pick that up later?”
“Definitely,” he said.
“Okay.” She gave him a smile, and those bright, bright blue eyes fanned flames in his direction. “Because you’re definitely not the only one who feels this…thing between us.”
With that, she left him standing in the office, a smile spreading across his face and through his whole soul.
Chapter Ten
Patsy sat through the brief meeting with Eli and Beau, her mind down the hall in her office. She clasped her own hands together and nodded, as if she’d been listening to the brothers. She hadn’t been. A buzzing had started in her head about the time Cy had walked through the door of her office, and it had only intensified as she stood beside him, when he held her hand, and as he’d leaned toward her.
She’d actually closed her eyes as if she would kiss him. She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. Oh, yes, she wanted to kiss him.
She disliked these little impromptu meetings anyway. The brothers never seemed to have a schedule for their day, but Patsy sure did. She frowned as she listened to Eli talk about putting in new flooring when they did the dining room remodel. “I think we have the budget for that, based on this sheet Carole gave us.” He laid a single sheet of paper on the table, but Patsy didn’t even look at it.
“It’s probably a good idea,” Beau said. “Things can start to look a little ragged with so many people in and out.”
“Right, so flooring on the entire main floor, and leading upstairs to the second level.” Eli pointed to a number on the sheet that made Patsy’s head swim. It took a moment for her to even realize if she was looking at tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands.
Neither of the brothers blinked. “All right.” Beau picked up the paper and slid it to Patsy. “What else?”
“That’s it,” Eli said.
“Good,” Beau said. “Because we’ve got our Everett family dinner in a few minutes.” He stood up just as Lily, his wife, came into the dining room. “I’m coming,” he said. “Sorry, we’re done here.”
Patsy stood too, catching the disgruntled look on Eli’s face as his brother walked away. She knew the Whittakers mixed in a lot of business over the holidays, because otherwise, it was hard to get them all together in the same room at the same time. Only Andrew worked full time anymore, and Beau and his family were set to leave for the South in a couple of days, to do a whole tour of where Lily had grown up and visit her extended family.
Patsy took the sheet down the hall to her office and found Cy still standing in front of the bookcase. She put the paper on top of the blue folder with all of the other information about this lodge remodel, determined not to think about it until tomorrow. There wasn’t anything she could do today.
“Should we go down to the ranch?” she asked, and Cy turned.
“Sure.” He gave her a gorgeous smile, and Patsy wanted to tuck it away in her pocket to experience later.
“Do you still like your hair?” she asked, eyeing his cowboy hat.
“Sure,” he said, sweeping the hat off his head. “And I got some styling products, and I think it looks pretty good.” He paused in front of her, only a couple of feet away.
She reached up and stood on her tiptoes to brush her hand along his hair, pushing it to the side. “Good,” she said. “I’m glad you like it.”
He cleared his throat and settled the hat back on his head. “So we’re going down to a ranch?”
“It’s just a mile down the road,” Patsy said. “Laney said she found some pictures.”
“Let’s go see them.” Cy tucked his hands in his coat pockets, thankfully, because while Patsy sure did like holding his hand and she really did want to kiss him, she didn’t want to do it as a display for anyone.
She turned and left the office in favor of the hallway that went out to the back yard. She took her coat from the hook, and Cy was right there to help her put it on. “Thanks,” she said, smoothing down her short hair. Since she’d cut her hair a while ago, she’d stopped the old habit of reaching to pull her hair out from underneath her collar, but it seemed she couldn’t just put on a coat anymore. She always had to touch her hair.
“You can drive, right?” she asked.
“Sure thing.” He led the way back through the lodge to the front door and out to his truck. He held her door for her, and when Patsy sat in the passenger seat, she was reminded of him coming down to her father’s orchard because he’d felt like he should.
She glanced at him as he got behind the wheel. “How do you know what you should or shouldn’t do?” she asked.
Cy loo
ked at her, surprise in his eyes, as he pressed the button to start the truck. “What do you mean?”
“The other day, when you came down to the orchard, you said you did because you felt like you should.”
“Oh, well, that’s just a feeling I get,” he said. “I’ve learned not to ignore those in my life.”
“Do you think it’s God telling you what to do?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “Sometimes it’s a really strong feeling, and sometimes it’s more like a thought I can’t let go of.” He looked at her, a new kind of vulnerability on his face. “Don’t you get those feelings?”
“Every now and then,” Patsy hedged. “They don’t sound as strong as yours.”
“Everyone is different,” he said, his voice light and casual. “Left here, I’m assuming?”
“Yes,” Patsy said. “It’s the only other house out here. Can’t miss it.”
Cy took them down the plowed road to the ranch, and he pulled in the driveway beside Graham’s big, boxy, luxury SUV. They got out of the truck and went up to the front door. Patsy knocked and threw a nervous smile at Cy.
“What are these pictures of?” he asked.
“Supposedly the orchard,” Patsy said. “I don’t know what they are. Laney just thought I might like them.”
The door opened, and Laney backed up with a smile. “Hello, Patsy.” She glanced at Cy. “Cy Hammond, what a pleasure. C’mon in.” She kept her gaze locked on Patsy’s as she entered, but Patsy ignored her.
She knew Laney, but they weren’t best friends. If Sophia asked about Cy, Patsy would tell her. She trusted Sophia explicitly, and she knew her best friend wouldn’t be all over town gossiping about her. Laney wouldn’t either, but Patsy still wasn’t going to say anything.
“When I was in ninth grade,” Laney said, coming up behind them as they moved through the hallway and into the kitchen and living room in the back. “We did this science unit on the life cycle of plants. Our teacher took us to the orchard, and we got to see trees in various stages of growth, and we learned what it takes for an apple tree to actually produce apples.”
