by K. M. Scott
Heat rushed up into my cheeks as I blushed at the thought of seeing even more of Shane than I already had in front of me. Built just like Gage, he had muscles everywhere and a set of abs that could be used to wash clothes. But unlike his brother, Shane clearly knew how hot he was, and I saw in his dark blue eyes he was enjoying this moment.
Looking away, I smiled at his cockiness. I bet lots of local girls in Riverton had their eyes on Shane Varo. “I’m just really sorry. I didn’t think anyone else would be awake yet.”
As he brushed by me, he said with a grin, “No problem. Feel free to bust in on me anytime.”
I closed the door behind me and had to chuckle. The younger Varo brother was just as sexy as the older one, and I imagined Gage at that age just as cocky and just as hot, and for a moment my life didn’t feel like it was crashing down around me.
But seconds later, the reality that the very sexy man who waited for me in his teenage bedroom had marriage on his mind came rushing back and whatever amusement at the charm I imagined him having at Shane’s age was replaced with my horror of having to tell him no if he asked me to marry him anytime soon.
How was I going to avoid saying no to the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with?
Chapter Six
Gage
Jordan smiled sweetly at me as she set her bags down at the edge of the bed. “I’m going to wander about for a bit, you know, explore the cabin. Is that okay?”
“Of course, mi casa es su casa,” I said happily.
Things were a mess but for the briefest moment it was just the two of us in the cabin I’d made so many happy memories in. Flashes of me playing with my sisters and Shane while Dad worked on yet another project outside filled me with a sense of calm. I could even still distinctly see the spot on the brown rug in the dining room where Shane had spilled grape juice and thought hiding it for weeks while the stain set was the best plan.
It made me happy to see that the rug was still there, despite the deep purple mark that remained. Sometimes it was important to keep things like that, despite their flaws. My mother had seen red when she finally found it¸ and the chewing out Shane had gotten was legendary and still brought up when she was angry with him about something.
“Oh, speaking Spanish now are we?” she said flirtatiously, winking at me.
“If it makes you smile and maybe consider checking out the shower with me, sure am,” I said as I looked her over. It may have been a joke but if she was going to say yes, I was all on board.
She rolled her eyes playfully, but I could see there was the slightest sign that she wanted that as much as I did. “Maybe in a little while after I check out the place.”
“Okay. The Wi-Fi gets a little spotty up here, so I’m going downstairs to the living room. Check out the far bedroom, though. My mother uses it as a study sometimes and she’ll have my head if she finds out I didn’t show it off to you. She really loves the whole decorating thing.”
That was one of the hobbies my mother had that had never stuck with me. To me, if the room had a chair and a table, it was probably good enough. Ask my mother, however, and she’d start in on things called sconces, whatever they were.
“You don’t want to come show me yourself?” Jordan asked.
“Trust me. I’ve seen it. She manages to email me pictures every time she updates the house or the cabin, most likely trying to get me to come home. No, you go explore. I’ll be just downstairs if you need me.” I reassured her.
Truthfully, I couldn’t look at another one of my mother’s damned doilies. I loved the woman, but a man could only take so much. My father must have been a very patient man all these years. Either that or maybe true love meant being interested in things not because you truly enjoyed them but because they made the person you love happy.
“All right, don’t work too hard. Even you get to relax sometimes, you know,” Jordan said, giving me a small kiss on the lips.
Before she could walk away I pulled her back to me and left a long kiss of my own on her mouth. “If it’s relaxing we’re talking about, I’m going to want a partner for that,” I said, winking at her. My version of relaxing was very different from what I thought Jordan had in mind, but I had no doubt she wouldn’t mind a little tension relief herself.
She laughed the way I missed so much, that purely happy laugh that made even a man like me have butterflies in my stomach. It was the kind of laugh that if you heard it from around the corner you would feel compelled to go find the source because it sounded like pure joy.
Nodding her agreement, she walked off smiling. I headed down to the living room and flopped onto the black suede couch. This was new. There was no way my mother and father would have invested in suede shoes, never mind a suede couch, when we were kids. If it wasn’t Shane or me tripping over something and spilling our drinks, Denise was usually close behind to drop crumbs all over the place. Not to mention that phase she went through with nail polish and getting it everywhere.
As I opened the laptop and settled in, I was greeted by Denise’s homepage, Yahoo news. Like a blast from the past there I saw a trending topic, “Gregory Michaels To Head National Banking Consortium.”
It had been hard all these years avoiding that name. Gregory Michaels was a great man. It was no fault of his own that I had distanced myself from him, but after that day that had changed both of our lives, there was no way I could keep working for him. He was an everlasting reminder of what a failure I was.
In truth, the man held no ill will against me. He had thanked me for doing my job, even as his daughter lay before him in a casket. He’d repeated the sentiment later when I told him I was resigning, but no amount of forgiveness could make up for what I’d failed to do.
I stood up and tried to shake the memory of that day from my head. It had admittedly become easier over the years. Now instead of punching a wall or screaming, I was able to just put that thought in a box and push the box into a corner somewhere deep in the back of my mind.
Jordan was still upstairs so I crossed the room to the window, hoping looking out at the forest would bring me some peace. Any time I’d had a problem when I lived at home, I’d head up here to clear my mind. The place never failed to make me feel better.
Now as I looked out, the sun shone and the trees swayed gently in the wind as peaceful as any man could ask for, but it didn’t do the trick. No amount of fresh pine smell and breeze was going to banish the feeling I had stuck inside me. Maybe if I had the time to go have my existential crisis in the forest I’d be able to get past it, but there was no way merely looking out a window wistfully was going to fix it.
And as always happened, once the memory of that day came back, I focused on the girl herself.
Tiffany had been the most down-to-earth rich girl you could ever meet. She was more interested in the newest book on the shelves instead of clothes and makeup like the rest of them seemed to love so much. She was the opposite of vapid and longed to help others.
Seventeen and wise beyond her years, something about being raised around all that money hadn’t turned her into a Barbie doll but instead into an old soul. She used to speak to her father and me about wanting to give back to people who were less fortunate than her like that’s what all teenage girls thought of when the weekend rolled around.
I smiled even as my heart contracted at the memory. It had been a long time since I had allowed myself to think of Tiffany in any other way than gone forever. I remembered her running to see the new dog her father had brought home. When the dog crossed the yard it hid a mud puddle, and by the time she was done getting acquainted with the adorable German shepherd, she was soaking wet and filthy, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was that dog and how happy she was by her father’s present.
She had been brimming with promise, and everyone around her had known it but her. Too smart for her own good, she never got along with most of her peers and instead focused her attention on learning from the adults in her life.
It wasn’t surprising then when she started flirting with me. I was older and I’d seen the world she was so eager to explore. The boys her age didn’t challenge her mentally the way she craved. They were more interested in what was under her dress than what she had to say or what she thought.
She was out of their league. Even though she wanted them to like her, they couldn’t figure out what to make of a girl like her. She dated some boys, but it always ended with them wishing she was as easy to handle as she was on their eyes. Because of that, there was no settling for any of them, even if they did come from money or have good looks. They simply didn’t think like she did.
I don’t think for her liking me was a sexual attraction, though I had no idea how a teenage girl’s mind worked. My own attraction to her was an innocent one but one I scarcely allowed myself to think of, even when she was alive. I’d never do something to jeopardize my job, but more importantly, I would never do anything to jeopardize Gregory or Tiffany. She was young but almost eighteen. That wasn’t the reason nothing ever happened for us, though. The simple fact was I was in charge of protecting her and her father. I couldn’t let myself be distracted by anything else.
Her kindness was the one part of her I couldn’t help but love. I wanted to remember that especially.
Just a few months before she died, that kindness showed itself more than it ever had before. Gregory wanted to take his daughter out shopping for her birthday and had me accompany them. Truthfully, there was little danger that could have presented itself in the small shopping district Tiffany loved, but he wanted me to be there all the same.
I think he knew that I thought his daughter had a crush on me but trusted and understood that I would never act upon it. There was always that small thought of her being eighteen in a short time, but I always shoved that idea aside. It was my job to protect her father, and that meant protecting her too. Gregory trusted me and that trust would be shattered if he found out I was harboring any intentions towards his daughter.
As we walked down the city sidewalk, a dirty and disheveled homeless man lunged out and grabbed at Gregory’s leg. With a flash I had gotten on top of him and was ensuring he could do no damage to any of us. I wasn’t trying to hurt him, though. I wouldn’t have hurt him unless he made me and was only subduing him, but Tiffany had no idea that was what was going on. Most people, if you put hands on them, stop what they’re doing unless they’re really out for blood, and it was clear this man was not.
“Gage! Stop!” she screamed. I kept him down but looked over at her. Her face was wracked with worry and her fists were clenched at her sides.
“I won’t hurt him, Tiffany. I promise. I just needed to get him off of your father,” I explained, not wanting her to think I was some sort of animal. My voice was calm and I spoke not only to Tiffany but the homeless man.
He nodded against my chest and weakly said, “I…I was just asking for some change. I’m really sorry.”
I released him and helped him to his feet as Gregory pulled some bills from his pocket. Tiffany hurried to his side and began brushing him off. “I’m sorry if he hurt you, sir. He was only looking out for us,” she said sweetly, making the man smile.
Like everyone else she cared for, he fell in love with her kindness. Taking the money from her father’s hand, she pushed it into the homeless man’s palm and closed his fingers around it. “Buy yourself a hot meal. Everyone deserves to have their belly warm with food. Promise me you won’t spend it on anything bad, though. Promise?”
The man nodded excitedly. “I promise, miss. A good meal is all I’ll splurge on.”
“I have money of my own. Here. Take more,” Tiffany said as she opened her wallet and put every bill in it into his hands.
The three of us stared at her dumbstruck. Most people would turn their nose up at this man, but she gave him everything she could at the moment and surely would have given more if she had it with her.
“Miss, you…you don’t need to—” he began, but Tiffany cut him off.
“I want you to have it. I want you to promise me you’ll buy good things with it though, okay?” she said smiling at the stranger.
The man tried to speak but was too choked up, instead nodding vigorously as he shook each of our hands. When he shook Tiffany’s, the tears began rolling down his face.
“God bless you all,” he choked out before running off.
I had never seen Gregory look so proud in the entire time I’d known him. No amount of business accolades or thanks for his work in the community would ever match the feeling he must have had in that moment.
“Tiffany, that was very kind of you,” he said, pulling her into his arms in an embrace.
“Well, you always tell me adults would be a better if we all just made a little more of an effort, and I’ll be an adult soon enough, so I better start acting the part, right?” she said, wiggling out of the hug her father held her in.
“Besides, I had to make him feel better after Gage beat him up,” she said with a chuckle.
“Hey now, I didn’t hurt him. Besides, you’d be happy for my reflexes if he wasn’t just a guy asking for change.”
“Oh yeah, reflexes like a cat right?” she teased, making fun of how I’d described my abilities once when I first met her.
“Be nice, Tiffany,” Gregory chided. “If you embarrass him anymore, I fear he may stay that red color forever.”
I reverted to my natural stony silence and Tiffany beamed up at me. “Thanks for always being there, Gage, even if sometimes it’s just homeless guys.”
She headed off toward a shop, and Gregory rolled his eyes. “She’s a handful sometimes, but she means well. She’s just young.”
I sensed that was the father speaking to me more than the man who paid me to guard him, but I respected that. She was his only child, his pride and joy, and as any good father would, he wanted me to know my bounds. I was, after all, his employee and older than her, so if he treated me with a certain gruffness, he had every right.
In all honesty, he did the opposite. There was always a place set for me at dinner should I choose to stay, and there was always a genuine feeling of caring from both him and Tiffany. When I had a day off and returned to the house, they would ask what I had done in my off time, and when I needed someone to talk to, Gregory never turned me away.
It was three months before she was going to turn eighteen when she caught me quietly standing alone in the garden on the estate. It was something I did whenever I could to escape city life. The days could get hectic and sometimes even doing the same thing over and over got to be taxing. Being from Wyoming made me want to find that escape outside. The natural inhale and exhale of the earth was far more calming to me than spending an hour on a shrink’s couch.
Gregory had decided to spend some time in his home gym and had assured me he was not only safe but it would be painfully boring unless I planned to work out too, so I could take a few hours off. So I had done as he suggested and headed outside to clear my thoughts. The house was locked and the gym was on the top floor, so Gregory was safe and most likely enjoying some alone time just like I wanted to.
As I sat there feeling the sun warm my face, from behind me I heard Tiffany ask, “Are you all right Gage? You’re so quiet.”
I turned around and saw her peeking her head out from behind a tree. Standing from the concrete bench, I said, “Just taking a few minutes to myself. I think I’ll be heading back inside.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” she said, walking towards me and sitting down on the grass.
“I’m always quiet. You know me. It’s kind of my thing,” I joked.
“Why is that?” she pressed as she looked up at me, her brown hair falling in waves around her face.
“There’s great power in silence. Just ask anyone who has ever argued with me.”
I wasn’t dodging her. It was the truth. I had always chosen to stay silent rather than speak in most situations. You learn more about a person and
what’s going on around you if you watch rather than talk. I was also keenly aware of how often people seemed to insert their feet into their own mouths and wasn’t interested in being that type of man.
“Do you think people who like to talk are weak?” she asked, fiddling with a weed next to her foot. I knew she was referring to herself. She may have been vastly different from people her age in many ways, but the talking part was right on par.
“No. I think those people possess a different kind of power. I’ve just never understood it.”
Once again, I was being honest. I had always quietly marveled at those who could speak about anything. I was even more impressed with the people who could do so and still sound intelligent when they did.
She stared at me with a hopeful look in her eyes. “I see. Well I’m glad to know there’s nothing bothering you then,” she said with a smile.
Her face lit up from that smile and the memory was almost too painful to bear, but my mind pressed on. If I was going to remember her at all, it had to be like this.
“Did you need something Tiffany?” I asked after a lull in the conversation.
She looked nervous, fiddling with that weed in her hand. “I had hoped we could talk. As you know, in three months I’ll be eighteen, a legal adult.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going. I had seen that look in a girl’s eye before. It was sweeter and more innocent than I’d encountered before that, and it broke my heart to know what I would have to do next.
“I know. It’ll be a big day for you.”
She nodded awkwardly and bit her lip. “Well, you see, I wanted to talk to you…once I’m, eighteen I was wondering if, well, we could…date,” she stammered out.
I froze. There I was a man taught to keep cool in any situation, and this girl was able to render me unsure of how to answer. She looked into my eyes and I could see she already knew my answer, but as she turned in embarrassment and moved to run away, I stopped her.
