by SJ McCoy
Lily smiled. “You’re certainly getting off to a good start for a romantic drink.”
“And I think champagne should help,” said Kallen. “I’ll be right back.”
Lily raised an eyebrow at Nate. “Champagne?”
He shrugged. “Why not? It seems like a good day to celebrate.”
“Yep, I’d say this place is a success.”
Nate reached across and took hold of her hand. “It is, but I’m more interested in celebrating the fact that I’m back here with you.”
Her smile faded a little. “Even if it is only for the weekend.”
Kallen returned and popped the champagne, handing them each a glass.
“Here’s to us,” said Nate as he lifted his glass.
Lily nodded as she tapped hers against it.
He wanted her to be happy and to be sure of him and sure of their future. Though he understood why she wasn’t. She was right. He’d only have a couple of days with her, and then he’d be back to Seattle for the week.
“Hey, you two!” Kenzie waved at them as she came across the square with Chase at her side. “Good job, Nate. This place is awesome.”
“Thanks,” he gave a modest shrug. “I do my best.”
Lily laughed. “Would you get a load of him? You’d think he’d built it with his own bare hands the way he carries on.”
“I feel as though I did. You have no idea of the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve put into this place.”
“They were well worth it,” said Chase. “It’s great. It’s like you’ve brought a little piece of the outside world here to the lake, but not brought all the hassles that come with the outside world.”
Nate grinned. “Thank you! That’s exactly what we were aiming for. We wanted all of the upsides of being able to shop and dine, but none of the downsides.”
“It is wonderful,” said Kenzie. “I just hope it’s going to be big enough to cope with all the interest you’ve stirred up. I’d hate for it to be this crowded all the time.”
“Yeah. I’ve been wondering about that. I want it busy enough to feel bustling, but not so crowded it’s uncomfortable. Today’s an exception; we’ll just have to see how it goes when things settle down.”
“There they are.” Kenzie pointed across the square to the other café. April and Eddie were standing outside looking around. “Sorry guys. We’re supposed to be meeting them. We’ll catch up with you later.”
“See ya.” Nate watched them walk away.
“Are they going to play up here sometimes?” asked Lily.
“I don’t know yet, I did ask them if they wanted to play tonight, but they said they’d rather come as visitors. I don’t know if a band is going to work yet anyway. We’re going to see how it goes. It’d be cool to have a bit of a night-time scene, but we don’t know yet if there’ll be enough people to make it viable. The new lodge is going to open, and of course, there’ll be the people who live here, but it’ll take time to figure out what size our market is going to be.”
“I think you’ll have as big a market as you create,” said Lily. “Between the visitors and the residents and even people from the surrounding towns, I think it’s going to be a case of if you build it they will come.”
Nate smiled. “We already built it. Now it’s just going to be a case of seeing how we grow it.”
“But who’s going to do the growing? Isn’t that part of what you normally do when a new development opens?”
“Yeah, we haven’t figured that out yet.”
“I wish you could stay here and figure it.” Lily looked up at him wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
“You did. And I’m glad.”
“I didn’t mean to. I don’t mean to nag you or whine.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know. You wish I was going to be here more; that’s all. I get it. I wish I was, too.” He shrugged. “We’ll figure it all out, Lil. All that really matters is that we’re together.”
She nodded.
“Just not as much as we’d like to be.”
“Do you think they’re together?” Lily had spotted Ben and the blonde chick walking across the square.
“It’s starting to look that way.” Nate couldn’t figure it out. It seemed Ben was with her whenever they saw him. That didn’t make it seem as though she was just interviewing for a job.
“Hey, Ben!” called Lily.
Nate held his breath. Was she going to come right out and ask him? He wouldn’t put it past her.
Ben turned at the sound of his name and smiled. He looked as though he would have kept on walking, but Lily waved him over. “Come here, would you?”
“Hi, guys.” Ben smiled when he reached them. “Congratulations, Nate. I’d say it’s a big success.”
“Thanks. It seems to be going well.”
“It’s amazing!” said the blonde woman.
Lily gave her an appraising look.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce you.” Ben looked as though he was only sorry that he had to make the introductions. “Angel, this is Nate and Lily.”
Angel shook hands with them both. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Lily gave her another appraising look as she shook hands. “You too. What brings you up here?” She wasn’t going to let Ben get away with giving them nothing more than the girl’s name.
She looked up at Ben before answering. “I, err, I might be coming up here to work.”
“Up here to the lake, or up here to the plaza?” asked Lily.
“We haven’t worked that out yet,” said Ben. “If you’ll excuse us, we were just on our way to …” he mumbled something else as he took Angel’s arm and led her away.
“What do you make of that?” asked Lily once they were out of earshot.
“I don’t know what to make of it, Lil. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. One way or another.”
“I guess so.”
~ ~ ~
The crowds had thinned out a little while they sat outside the café, but now it was getting dark, and the square was filling up. Lily had stayed at the table; it was a prime spot for people watching, and she was happy to sit while Nate came and went making sure everything was as it should be. Gabe and Renée had stopped by earlier to sit with her a while. They were full of their wedding plans, and while Lily was happy for them, it had made her wonder about her own life and where it was going. Gabe had told her she should buy a house out here, and she was mulling the idea over. It was a cool place.
“Hey, do you mind if we join you?” Emma and Missy were smiling at her from the other side of the little fence that separated the café terrace from the sidewalk.
“Not at all. Come on around; I’d love it.”
Emma plonked herself down next to Lily with a sigh. “Isn’t it all lovely?”
“It is. It’s great. They’ve done a wonderful job.”
“They have. I’m just sorry that they’ve got the place open before the baby comes.”
Lily raised an eyebrow at her, not understanding.
Missy laughed. “You know what Jack’s like. He’s clucking around her like a mother hen. Up till now, he’s had this place to distract him; now he’ll only have Em and the baby to focus on.”
“Oh,” Lily laughed. “Maybe you should send him to Seattle with Nate.”
Emma shook her head. “I’ve tried. It’d do him good, but there’s no way he’d go right now. He’d be scared I’d go into labor the minute he left town.”
“Yeah. He can’t go that far away now,” said Missy. She gave Lily a sympathetic look. “It’s a shame Nate has to.”
Lily shrugged. “It’s his job.”
“But still,” Emma sighed. “I wish they could find a way for him to stay here with you.”
“Me, too. But we’ll do okay.”
Nate appeared out of the crowd and made his way over to them. “Hi, ladies. Are you looking after my Lily for me?”
Lily made a face. She didn’t need look
ing after, though it was sweet of him.
“We are,” said Missy. “Though it’d be nice if you stick around and do it yourself.”
“I’ll be back in a little while. I’m just going to get the guys set up to do their bit on stage and then it’ll be time for the band and the music, and we’ll all be able to relax and enjoy.”
He came around to Lily and bent down to kiss her cheek. “I came to ask if you’ll save a dance for me?”
She nodded. She felt a little self-conscious in front of the others, but she liked that he wasn’t afraid to show her affection in public. “You know I will.”
“Good.” He grinned at Emma. “How about you?”
She laughed. “Sorry, Nate, but it’s going to take me all my time to waddle my fat self back to the truck. If I can even stay awake that long.”
Nate laughed. “I bet Jack’ll get you up there.”
Emma gave him a doubtful look. “He’d need a crane!”
“Okay, well I’ll catch up with you in a little while. Have fun.”
Missy smiled as she watched him leave. “You’re good for him, Lily.”
“Thanks. He’s good for me, too.” As she said it, she realized it was true. He was good for her. He made her happy. She’d thought she’d built a good life for herself here, but she liked it even better now that Nate was in it. Even if he wasn’t going to be in it as much as they’d both like.
Jack, Dan, and Pete made their way across the terrace and came to join them next.
“We got the speaker system sorted,” said Dan with a smile.
Jack laughed. “You mean you got it sorted. We’d be screwed without you, little bro.”
Dan smiled.
“My hero saved the day yet again?” asked Missy.
Jack nodded. “He did. Have you seen Nate? We’re about ready to get up on stage and do our little opening speech and then it’s party time.”
“He just went looking for you,” said Lily.
“We’d best go join him, then,” said Pete. “Are you enjoying yourself, Lily?”
She nodded, wondering why he was singling her out. “I am, thanks.”
He smiled that weird smile of his, as though he knew something she didn’t.
“Good. See you later.”
“Is it me, or can Pete be weird sometimes?” she asked the girls when they’d gone.
Missy laughed. “It’s not you. Pete is weird most of the time, but we love him.”
Dan smiled. “It’s not so much that he’s weird. It’s just that he tends to see further ahead than the rest of us do; it’s like he’s happy with his own little secrets that we’re not aware of yet.”
“That’s it,” said Lily. “I always feel like he knows something about me that I don’t.”
“He usually does,” said Emma. “But when he’s smiling, it’s something good.”
Lily nodded, hoping Pete might know something good that was about to happen to her, though she had no idea what it could be.
~ ~ ~
Once the guys had done their bit up on the stage, Nate introduced the band and his job, for the most part, was done for the evening. He made his way down the steps at the back of the stage to find Pete there waiting for him.
“We did a great job.”
Nate nodded. “We did. This place is off to a better start than I’d dared hope for.”
“Yep, and it’s only going to go from strength to strength.”
“You reckon?”
“I do. If anything, I think we might have underestimated just how much potential there is here.”
“How so?”
Pete shrugged. “I don’t want to say anything yet, but I’m going to be studying the numbers for the next couple of weeks.”
Nate nodded. That was typical Pete. He wasn’t about to relax and rest on his laurels. Even this evening when they were supposed to be partying and celebrating, his mind had already moved on to the next stage. Normally he’d be looking at selling the place on as a going concern. But Four Mile Creek was different. Pete and Jack were both invested in the place and had partnered with Ben to manage the ongoing operation. None of them wanted an outsider coming in to buy it. Who knew what they might do with it? And whatever they did would only be competition for Ben and his resort.
“Come on, let’s go find the ladies. I think you should take the rest of the night off and pay some attention to that little Lily of yours.”
Nate grinned. “Thanks, boss. I don’t need telling twice on that one.”
When they made it back to the café, quite a crowd was sitting around the table that he and Lily had shared earlier. She wasn’t with them, though. Missy and Dan were there and Smoke and Laura. Kenzie and Chase were leaning on the partition chatting with them, but no Lily. Holly caught his eye and smiled. She pointed to the area in front of the stage which people were already using as a dance floor. Nate frowned when he saw her. She was dancing with a tall, very good-looking guy. Nate’s heart hammered in his chest. Whoever that dude was, he needed to get his hands off her right this minute. He looked kind of familiar, but Nate couldn’t place him. He started toward the dance floor, but Pete caught his arm.
“Calm down before you get there, okay? That’s Roberto she’s dancing with. Holly’s friend. I know how you feel, he caught me off guard once too, but you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Nate smiled. He felt stupid. He knew Roberto. He’d been out on Pete’s stag night—or at least Holly’s bachelorette party. “Thanks.” He made his way to the edge of the dance floor and watched Lily and Roberto dance. She was so beautiful and seeing her with Roberto who was so tall and well-built just made Nate realize how small and delicate she was, and love her even more. She was feisty and capable, and sometimes he didn’t see past that to all the beauty and femininity. Which was really dumb of him. Beauty without depth had always been what caught his eye until Lily. He mustn’t let her depth make him overlook her beauty.
When the song came to a finish, Roberto let go of Lily and bowed to her with a flourish. He’d already spotted Nate and brought Lily over to him.
“Greetings, Nate, you beautiful creature.”
Nate laughed. He liked Roberto, even though he’d been unsure of him at first.
“Thank you for allowing me the honor of a dance with the beautiful Queen Lily.”
Lily laughed, looking embarrassed. “Thank you. You’re quite the mover.”
Roberto waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, you’d better believe it, but that’s a story for another day. I’ll let you two get wrapped back up in each other now, but can I ask one thing before I go?”
“Anything,” said Nate.
Roberto smiled. “I want you both to promise me that I’ll be invited to your wedding.”
Nate froze and stared at him.
Lily laughed. “Who said anything about a wedding?”
“I did, darling. And believe me, Uncle Berto is always right.”
Nate continued to stare at him.
Roberto raised an eyebrow. “Promise?”
Nate nodded. “Promise.”
Roberto kissed Lily’s cheek and then Nate’s, then he flounced away and disappeared into the crowd.
Lily gave Nate a wary look. “He’s something else, isn’t he?”
“He sure is.” And he’d sure set the cogs to whirring in Nate’s head. He took hold of her hand. “I don’t dance anywhere near as well as Roberto does, but would you do me the honor?”
She smiled and stepped into his arms. “I’d love to.”
He held her close and swayed to the sound of the music. To Nate, dancing with a woman usually had more to do with writhing bodies and grinding hips, but this—simply shuffling from one foot to the other as she leaned her head on his chest—was without a doubt the best dance of his life so far. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and looked up at the stars twinkling in the dark sky above. He finally got it; this was what it was supposed to be like. The warm night air touched his skin, the crowd around them fade
d away, and in that moment, he just knew. He held his future in his arms.
She looked up into his eyes and smiled.
“I love you, Lily. I thought I had a good life before I met you, but I didn’t even know what a good life was. Now I do, and I don’t ever intend to let you go.”
“Then don’t,” was all she said.
Chapter Eighteen
When Lily opened her eyes on Monday morning, she screwed them shut again. Sunday had passed all too quickly. They’d had a nice relaxing day, just hanging out at Nate’s place. They’d both been exhausted after the big day and evening at the plaza. Lily had enjoyed hanging out with everyone, but she was glad that Nate hadn’t wanted to see them on Sunday. It seemed he wanted to be alone with her, just as much as she wanted to be alone with him.
They’d gone for a walk on the old road out by the river late in the morning, and then they’d come back, and Nate had made them some lunch. He surprised her by what a good cook he was, but he laughed and told her his mom had taught him well. In the evening, they’d curled up on the sofa to watch a movie and Lily had fallen asleep with her head on his lap. She sighed. She remembered him carrying her up here to bed, and she remembered sliding her hand inside his pants. But he’d told her to rest, and that was all she remembered until she’d opened her eyes right now. She opened them again and peered at the clock, hopeful they’d have time for what she’d been too tired for last night. No such luck. The alarm would go off in two minutes, and they’d both have to get up. Nate was heading back to Seattle, and she had to get dressed and get back to the barn. She had a full day of lessons ahead and a trail ride booked for this evening. She rested her head on Nate’s chest and waited for the alarm to sound.
When it did, Nate reached out for it automatically and hit the snooze button. He gave her a sleepy smile. “G’morning, beautiful.”
“Hi, gorgeous.”
“Do we really have to get up?”
“I’ll stay here if you will.”
He sighed. “I wish I could, but I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.”
