Love is Lovelier

by Donna Simonetta

  He’d really been counting on Heather’s forgiveness for his past douchebaggery, although he wasn’t sure he deserved it. She turned her head to look at him with a frown. “I think the first stop better be the supply room. Your suit looks seriously out of place on a golf cart. Let’s get you changed and into some Retreat gear. Do you have khakis or something more casual to wear back at your cabin?”

  “Of course I do—do you think I only own suits?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  “Nope. They’re not comfortable for sleeping. And don’t get me started on the beach, all that sand getting in the cuffs…” He winked at her. “How do we get to the supply room?”

  She gestured with the hand not gripping the frame of the cart. “Follow this path—there’s a cabin down here where we keep the hotel linens and Retreat gear.”

  He squinted in the bright sunlight, and took one hand off the wheel to pull a pair of sunglasses out of the interior jacket pocket. “I forgot how bright the world is outside of Portland.”

  Heather chuckled. “Welcome back to sunshine. The weather could be a little gloomy, but I really enjoyed living in Portland. Are you missing it?”

  “A little bit. I miss my house. The cabin is great, don’t get me wrong, and I really appreciate Jeff letting me stay there, but I’d like to get settled in my own place soon.”

  The ghost of a smile played around Heather’s lips, and he would not look at her lips anymore. He gripped the wheel, and focused his attention on the winding path ahead of them.

  “You always were a homebody,” she said.

  “I like to chill; there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  She turned her head to look at him and raised her eyebrows. “Take it down a notch, Defensive Man, I didn’t say there was.”

  “Sorry.” And he was, but he’d always felt a little dull compared to Heather’s lively personality, so her statement struck a nerve. “Is that where we’re headed?”

  Heather looked where he gestured, and nodded. “Yep. Pull up in front, and we’ll get you all fixed up with the full complement of Retreat clothing. Then we’ll head over to your cabin, and you can change your clothes.”

  ****

  Heather sat on the overstuffed red sofa in the tiny living room of Mick’s cabin, while he changed into more casual clothes before they continued their tour of the Retreat.

  The thought of him in the next room stripping out of his suit, left her feeling a little warm. She fanned her face with one hand, and shook her head in irritation. This was Mick Evans she was having hot and steamy thoughts about. She really needed to get a grip. He was the only man she’d ever really trusted with her heart, and he’d taken it and stomped on it. Just because he was still so handsome he was almost beautiful was no reason to start softening toward him.

  She squirmed in the seat. Every once in a while, she caught a glimpse of the young man she’d fallen in love with, and it made her wonder if he was still there, under all his sophisticated veneer.

  The bedroom door creaked open, and she turned her head to see Mick emerge in a navy Retreat polo, a pair of khakis riding low on his lean hips, and Topsiders on his feet. He held out his arms and spun around like a model on the end of the runway. “Better, Ms. Braden?”

  “Much better. You look like you belong here now, and not at some corporate office in Manhattan.”

  “That’s good, because here is where I want to be.”

  She wrinkled nose. “Really? I didn’t think you’d ever move this close to your home again.”

  He plopped down in one of the two chairs opposite her, and sighed. “I didn’t think I would either, but things change.”

  “What changed for you?” Heather flapped her hands. “You know what? It’s none of my business. Forget I asked.”

  “No, it’s okay. You’re the only person who really knows about my family crap; I don’t mind you asking.” He paused and took a deep breath, before continuing, “Things with my dad are still strained to the breaking point, and I’m not too popular with my brother Danny, either, but I keep in touch with my mom, sister, and my two youngest brothers.”

  “That’s good. Isn’t it?”

  He bobbed his head. “Yeah, it is. I was starting to miss them, and as Billy and Dave get older, I’m afraid my father is going to try to do the same thing to them he tried to do to me. I don’t think they want to work in the mine, but he’s really pressuring them to do it. I thought maybe I could help them more from here than from three-thousand miles away. Susan is getting married soon, my baby sister. I can’t believe it, and I want to be here for her, too. Once she starts having kids, I didn’t want to just be a picture on the fridge to them. I want to be a real uncle when the time comes.”

  “What about the Pintos? You’ve worked for them for so long; it couldn’t have been easy to leave.”

  He shrugged. “After the Jurgenson family sold the team, it wasn’t the same.”

  “I heard about the sale—what happened?”

  “You knew Old Man Jurgenson retired, right?” At her nod, he continued, “His son took over, but he was no spring chicken when he started, and he retired at the end of last season. And his son has a successful business of his own and zero interest in football, so he decided to sell the team.”

  “And you don’t like the new owners?”

  “They’re okay, but it’s not the same. Remember how there was always a real family feel to the organization?”

  “Oh yeah, everyone was so great to me when I moved to Portland to take care of Sam. It was like having a huge, built-in extended family.”

  “It’s not like that anymore. Now there’s a much more corporate vibe.”

  “I would’ve thought you’d like a formal work environment.”

  He frowned. “Because I’m such a stuffy, corporate drone? Never mind. Don’t answer that, I don’t think my ego could take it. No, I didn’t like it, so when your brother and Cisco offered me the opportunity here, I jumped at it. The chance to work with friends, and be close to family—I couldn’t do anything else.”

  Heather could definitely feel herself weakening where Mick was concerned, and didn’t like it at all. How could she keep her hate on when he was acting like a nice guy? Time to get moving and away from this kind of intimate conversation. “We better get back to our tour of the Retreat. My new boss is kind of a hard ass, and I don’t want to get into trouble with him for goofing off.”

  “I hear he’s not too bad.” One side of Mick’s mouth quirked up as he stood and held the door open for her.

  Heather wasn’t sure about that. In her opinion, he was really bad for her peace of mind, especially when he was being all down-to-earth and charming.

  ****

  After Heather’s tour of the Retreat a couple of days ago, Mick felt like he made some progress in making things better with her, but between school and her job, he’d barely seen her since then. He’d always thought of himself as a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, but next to Heather, he felt like a real slacker.

  The phone on his desk trilled, and he tapped the button for speaker phone, so he could keep working on his laptop while he talked.

  “Mick Evans.”

  “Mick? Since when is that your name?”

  An amused, upper-crust drawl sounded through the phone.

  Damn. Everyone here had been calling him Mick, and he’d said it automatically. He glanced at the Caller ID and winced. Philip Exeter—double damn.

  “Pip, good to hear your voice, old man. Thanks for returning my call.”

  “When I heard you were at the Retreat at Rivers Bend, I couldn’t resist.”

  Mick frowned and his fingers paused in their keyboard tapping. “Why is that?”

  “The whole town is buzzing about your new employer at the moment. Bitsy was especially interested in the possibility of visiting.”

  Bitsy was Pip’s wife, and possibly the biggest gossip in New York society, but as far as Mick knew, she considered a trip to the Hamptons to be a
safari, so the idea of her venturing to Virginia boggled the mind.

  “Isn’t this a little off the beaten track for Bitsy’s taste?”

  Pip chuckled. “Yes, but it holds a certain appeal for her.”

  Mick loved Rivers Bend, with it’s rustic Southern beauty, but he couldn’t imagine what would appeal to Bitsy Exeter here, unless she’d been hit on the head and forgotten who she was.

  “The Retreat is for corporate team-building events. It’s not an Inn. Is Bitsy working with you at the Exeter Investments now?”

  Pip’s chuckle turned into full-on laughter. “Bits—working? Oh Michael, you are such an amusing man. I’d bring my group down, and Bitsy will tag along in hopes of visiting with Elizabeth Mallory’s granddaughter.”

  “Does she have a place here in Virginia?”

  “Do you mean you haven’t met her yet? I understand she’s very cozy with your friend Braden.”

  “Do you mean Maggie?”

  “What is it with that town and the ridiculous nicknames? You haven’t even been there a week and you’re ‘Mick,’ and Magda is ‘Maggie’?”

  It was a little tough to take the insult to ‘Mick’ and ‘Maggie,’ from a grown man called Pip, whose wife goes by Bitsy, but Mick was hoping to do business with him, so he ground his molars and said, “Her last name isn’t Mallory, so I didn’t make the connection.”

  “You miss all the good news when you choose to live in the hinterlands. She ran away to your little town, and threw over Pierce Allen for Jefferson Braden.”

  “I don’t know anything about it, sorry.” Okay, that was a big, fat lie. Mick wasn’t at all sorry. He liked Maggie, and no way was he going to gossip about her with this snob, but Pip knew everyone, and could steer a lot of business the Retreat’s way if his investment firm came here and had a positive experience.

  “They were engaged, although no date had been set yet. Allen’s a good man. We were at New Haven together.”

  Mick knew enough about Pip’s world to know the phrase meant Allen and Pip had attended Yale together, not just gone on a day trip to Connecticut. He rolled his eyes at Pip’s snobbery. “Maggie’s a lovely person, so I’m sure she had her reasons. Anyway, Pip, back to your idea of coming here for a corporate retreat—I’m happy to send you some materials on the Retreat at Rivers Bend. I think we’d be the perfect spot for…”

  “I can’t imagine what reasons she could have for leaving an Allen, old man. It’s a top-notch family. I mean, who is this Braden? I heard his people are farmers! Can you imagine such a thing?”

  Mick’s hands clenched into fists over his keyboard, and he was glad Pip and he weren’t on a video call, so he only had to control his voice, and not his expression. He was fairly sure if there had been livestock at the Retreat, the anger on his face would have them running for the hills in fear right about now. No business was worth this fucker coming into Jeff’s home to insult his woman and his family!

  “Jeff Braden is the best man I know, and his family has been nothing but warm and welcoming to me. I don’t know anything about your friend, Allen, but Maggie couldn’t ask for anyone better than Jeff.”

  “I’m sure he is fine, but a farmer? He better watch out. She might try to climb up the social ladder in your new town and run off with the plumber.”

  “You know, Pip, I’ve re-thought things, and I don’t think the Retreat would be a good match for Exeter Investments after all.”

  “What! Why ever would you say such a thing? Bitsy will be so disappointed.”

  “Old Bitsy is going to have to survive without coming here to savage a perfectly lovely young woman, whose only sin is choosing a good man from outside your social circle.”

  “Now, now, old man, no need to be rude.”

  “That’s rich! You’re telling me not to be rude, when you were about to install your pit viper of a wife into my friend’s home, merely in order to ferret out gossip about his girlfriend? I may just be a simple former football player like Jeff, but even I know rude behavior when I see it.”

  “Oh come now, you’re nothing like him. You went to Stanford, and I hear he could only go to college based on his ability to play a game, and actually went to Alabama! I mean, really, there’s no comparison. I don’t believe I’ve ever even flown over Alabama.”

  “You know for such a sophisticated man, you have a very narrow world view, old man.”

  Even Pip was going to have a hard time pretending not to hear the disdain in his tone.

  “Perhaps you’re right. Rivers Bend may not be the right place for our corporate retreat,” Pip’s voice was stiff.

  Mick hoped he hadn’t burned too many bridges by alienating Pip, but he couldn’t stand by and listen to him insult Jeff and Maggie. Oh well, he’d just have to try extra hard to have some of his other contacts come through with new business. “No. It most definitely is not. You can tell Bitsy, and anyone else who asks, Jefferson Braden and Magda Horvath are two of the finest people on this Earth, and are blissfully happy together. If anyone legitimately wants to come to the Retreat, because it’s the best place for a corporate team-building experience, they’ll be more than welcome here, but if they only want to come here for gossip and to hurt decent people, then their money is no good in Rivers Bend. Good bye, Pip.”

  “Good bye, old man.” Pip sounded a little bewildered as Mick pressed the button to disconnect their call.

  Mick dropped his head against the back of his desk chair and screwed his eyes shut. What a painful telephone call! He really was counting on this partnership thing working out, but if he couldn’t bring in new business it wasn’t going to happen. Maybe he shouldn’t have insulted a prospective client, even if the man was a world-class jerk.

  The sound of applause from his doorway made his eyes fly open. Heather stood at the entrance to his office and clapped her hands together.

  “Thank you for defending my brother and Maggie from that snooty windbag! I can’t believe he would book a whole meeting here just to try to get some dirt on Maggie! No wonder she couldn’t wait to leave that world behind. And for the record, Pierce Allen is an insane drug addict who tried to kidnap Maggie, so he may be an Allen, and we Bradens may just be simple horse farmers, but she definitely traded up when she fell in love with my brother.”

  Mick’s eyebrows reached for the ceiling. “Allen tried to kidnap her?”

  “Long story, but yeah, he’s a flipping sociopath, so thank you for not bringing his friends into Jeff’s home.”

  “I don’t know if Jeff will thank me for losing my temper and turning away business.”

  “You were defending his girlfriend and our family. I don’t know what hoity-toity New York society thinks of it, but here in Rivers Bend it’s the way things are done. Jeff will understand. I’m proud of you.”

  Heather’s approval was extremely gratifying, but the flush of pleasure her words brought on was squelched by his fear he’d behaved like a hot-head just like his old man, and Heather deserved a lot more.

  Chapter 5

  Heather knew she should be working on her paper instead of sitting on a porch swing and enjoying the peaceful sounds of the spring evening at her brother’s house. She cast a guilty glance at her laptop on the wicker table by the rocking chairs, but she took another sip of her tea and pushed off with her foot to swing a little more. There’d be plenty of time to work on her paper later; right now, she needed to decompress.

  After the week she’d had, maybe she should be doing something to blow off steam on Saturday night, like going out dancing with her friends, but she promised Jeff she would sit with Sam so he could take Magda out for a nice dinner. She had a lot of schoolwork to do, so normally she wouldn’t mind. Plus she got to hang out with her niece, which was always a bonus in her book. However, tonight she wouldn’t have minded putting a little distance between herself and the Retreat.

  Any hopes of going her own way at work and not having to interact too much with Mick had been squashed by her brother’s constant i
nterference. She’d tried to keep busy and dodge Mick as much as possible, and things had gone according to her plan until Wednesday when she’d overheard—okay, eavesdropped on—Mick’s phone call with the jerk from New York. It stood her opinion of him on its head. She’d softened toward him, ever so slightly, and her buttinsky brother picked up on it, and in his attempt to keep everyone at the Retreat one big happy family, he’d thrust Mick and her together at every opportunity.

  She gritted her teeth and swung a little faster. Why did she have to use the word ‘thrust’ and Mick in the same sentence? Now all she could think about was Mick thrusting.

  Into her.

  Above her.

  Beneath her.

  Gah! Think of something else, anything else. Okay, she would count to twenty in Latin.

  Unum. Duo. Tres.

  The silence of the night was broken by a voice. Mick’s voice. It sounded deep, velvety, and surprised. Man, she so couldn’t catch a break. What was the world coming to when a woman couldn’t count to twenty in Latin in peace on a Saturday night?

  “Heather? Is that you?”

  Illuminated as she was by the porch light, Heather thought it was pretty obvious who was here. The night beyond the warm glow of the porch was pitch black and she couldn’t see Mick, so she responded in the direction from which his voice had come. “Yes, Mick, it’s me. If you’re here to see Jeff, he’s out on a date with Maggie, so there’s no need to stick around.”

  “Sorry to disappoint the hopeful tone in your voice, but I’m not here to see Jeff. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He stepped into the circle of light around the porch as he spoke, and now he climbed up the steps to the porch.

  God, the man was beautiful! Why did he have to be so handsome—with his sharp, high cheekbones, perfectly formed lips, and eyes as intoxicating as the bourbon their color resembled? It would make the fight against her attraction to him so much easier if he was a troll. She sighed. Hell, who was she kidding, certainly not herself. She’d always felt this pull to Mick, and his good looks were just a part of the reason.