Animal Prints: Sweet Small Town Contemporary Romance (Michigan Moonlight Book 1)

by May Williams

  They strolled past a few blocks of Victorian style homes with colorful trim and deep front porches. Hanging baskets all along the streets and in the boulevards overflowed with petunias in red, white, and purple. The flowers’ heavy scent hung in the humid air.

  One of the downtown streets was open to pedestrians only and people could walk the stalls of the weekly farmer’s market. The bright colors and sweet smells of the peaches, cherries, and blueberries crowded the booths alongside red and gold tomatoes and a few ears of early sweet corn. With his fingers laced through hers, Ian and Colette wandered through the market until they reached Hemingway’s Haunt. Gracie waved them to one of the outside tables.

  “Hi, Collie, Ian,” Gracie greeted them, her dark curls held under control by a wide red headband. “You trying another pastie today? Lexy concocted a steak, mushroom, onion and provolone one this morning. It’s been selling like hotcakes. If you want one, you better order quick.”

  “Perfect. With a lemonade.”

  “Same for me, Gracie,” Colette added, then grabbed Gracie’s wrist before she could walk away. “Are you coming to my fundraiser?”

  “I think so.” Gracie’s cheeks turned a deep rosy color. “Adrien called me a few nights ago and….”

  “Did he manage to actually ask you to be his date?” Colette asked.

  She nodded. “I’ll be helping Lexy with the food during the day, then I’ll run home to change.”

  “Just change at the farm. Lexy will be dressing there, too. The three of us can help each other get ready. Lexy has to put my hair up and advise me on makeup. I’m lousy at that by myself. Come join us.”

  “I don’t want to put any pressure on Adrien….”

  “You’re my and Lexy’s friend. Getting dressed at the farm has nothing to do with Adrien.”

  “Okay, I’ll think about it. I better get your order in.” Gracie wove through the outdoor tables and disappeared into the café.

  “What’s the story on Adrien and Gracie?” He’d seen the waitress several times at the café and liked her, and she was obviously good friends with Colette and Lexy.

  “A series of missed opportunities and misunderstandings. I’ll tell you all about it sometime.” Colette waved to someone passing on the street.

  “They don’t match physically. Your brother is tall and about the leanest man I’ve ever seen and Gracie is short and curvy.” Ian looked over as the waitress came outside with an order for another table.

  “Concerned about the aesthetics or Gracie’s curves?”

  “It’s hard to miss the curves.” Ian grinned at Colette until a kick hit him squarely in the shin under the table. “Hey! Stop that or I’ll come over to your side of the table and show you how much I like your curves right here on the street.”

  “No, not here.” She cast a nervous glance around, then at the grin on his face. Hurriedly, she said, “Tell me what happened today. It’s got to be something good.”

  “Guess?”

  She huffed out a sigh. “I hate guessing games, but I’ll play along. You finished the website for the resort in Boyne and you’re really pleased with it.”

  “I did and I am, but that’s not it.”

  “You finished my website?”

  “Mostly, and I am happy with that, but still not it,” Ian answered. Gracie put two glasses of lemonade on the table. “Try again.”

  “Something with your book?”

  “Getting warmer.”

  “The Veteran’s Administration has agreed to fund it?”

  “On the right track.”

  “There’s more?” Her eyebrow cocked up.

  “I heard from my agent. He has a publisher who he calls “very interested” in the project, and he has a commitment from the VA for partial funding.”

  “That’s exactly what you were hoping for!” She leaned forward and clutched his arm. “When did you find out?”

  “I got a call from my agent right after you left for work this morning followed by one from my liaison with the VA. It’s a done deal. The book’s going to get published, and it’s going to get the distribution I want it to have.”

  “I can’t believe you’re sitting there this calmly.”

  “That’s why I rode the bike. It took the edge off. Romeo, Prospero, and I did a little happy dance together at the house. They officially think I’m nuts.”

  Colette raised her lemonade to clink against his glass. “Which means you’re one of them! Congratulations, Ian. I can’t wait to see it when it’s done. What’s the time frame?”

  “Tight, in a word. The VA wants the companion website to launch for Veteran’s Day this fall, which gives me just over three months. I have a lot of material that’s edited and ready to go, but I have more interviews to do and the entire framework of the site will have to be built. Fortunately, there’ll be an official web designer doing most of that, but my portion is still huge.”

  “And the book?”

  “January first deadline.”

  “Wow! I guess you’ll be going on the road.”

  “I told my agent I needed to be here for two more weeks. The kids are coming on Friday and I want to be here for the fundraiser.” Gracie put their meals on the table. “The interviews I have left should take about a month if I can schedule them close together. Then, the real work begins.”

  “Where will you do that?” Colette kept her head down while she picked at the crust of her pastie. Her voice wavered slightly.

  Ah, there it is. The first crack in her façade. She’s already thinking I’m leaving and not coming back. Not when he was this close to getting what he wanted. His book was a done deal, his relationship with Colette close if he could play it right. “Wherever there’s a fast internet connection and plenty of room. I was thinking of renting office space here in town for the fall. Do you know of any that might be available?”

  “Here?” Her blue eyes focused on his, a little hopeful.

  “Yeah, here. Do we have to go through this again?”

  “But things have changed.”

  “How so? What’s changed?”

  “Well…” she trailed off.

  “Yes?”

  “Your book…”

  “You think I’m going to leave you for a book?” he said, more loudly than he meant to, shocked that she would even think that. “Nothing between us has changed except I’m going to be busy as hell for the next several months.” He waited for her to say something, but she looked away toward the crowded street.

  He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until she spoke again. “There’s a loft over Lexy’s place, on the third floor.” She pointed above them. “Lex has her office on the second, but the top floor is empty. I’ll take you up there after lunch if you want to see it.”

  “Yeah, it sounds perfect. Almost as perfect as this lunch.” Ian put another big mouthful of pastie in his mouth. “Too bad your sister is already taken. A woman who can cook like this…”

  “Should I warn Nate that you’re going to make a move on his woman?”

  “No, I’m partial to blue-eyed blondes.”

  “With little to no curves.”

  “You’ve got curves where it matters.” He tilted his head.

  “I’d hate to have to fight my sister and Gracie for you.”

  “Would you do that?”

  “You bet.” She sliced through her pastie. “And I’d win.”

  Colette checked in with Lexy in the kitchen before taking Ian up to the loft. Not surprisingly, Lexy was up to her elbows in flour and happily calling orders to her small army of assistants. Colette grabbed the key from Lexy’s office on the second floor and led Ian upstairs.

  The space was one large room with the kitchen sitting along the south wall. Only an island separated it from the rest of the loft. Above the kitchen sink a large picture window looked south over the city, but the other three walls had floor to ceiling windows, flooding the loft with light and providing a spectacular view of the harbor and water bey
ond.

  While Colette leaned against a wall, Ian stood in the center of the room, taking a slow turn to see every corner. He moved to the brick wall to walk the circumference of the room and stopped to look out each window. Then, he did what she had watched him do so often. He used his hands to frame up the interior. Colette supposed he was imagining how the space would photograph and how it could best be used.

  “It’s perfect. It’s perfect to work in and for a photography studio. I wish you had told me this was up here before today. I haven’t seen anything else that could compare in town.”

  “Have you been looking?” she said, surprised at his statement.

  He nodded. “I talked to a realtor who showed me a few spaces, all too dark and cluttered, but this is exactly what I want. Does Lexy own the building?”

  “Lexy and Nate. His father had a hardware store on the first floor when we were kids.”

  “You think they’ll rent me this floor?”

  “They’ll probably be glad to have a tenant. Gracie lived here for a while until she got back on her feet.”

  “I don’t plan to live here, just work.”

  “Where are you going to live?” Please let it be with me, she thought, I don’t want to wake up alone ever again.

  He stopped his inspection, returning to her. Placing his hands against the brick wall on either side of her head, he leaned in close until their faces almost touched. “Wherever you are.”

  “You know where I’ll be.” She slid her hands up his arms, massaging the muscles in his biceps. No declarations of love had been made on either side, but for now there was a tacit understanding of some sort of commitment and a whole lot of heat.

  “We can carpool to work. It’s more efficient that way.” When he kissed her, she was pressed between the hard surface of the brick wall behind her and his firm body in front. And there was no other place she wanted to be.

  “Hey, thought I’d come up to see how you like the…” Lexy stopped at the top of the stairs. “I see you’re getting along just fine. I’ll go back down.” She turned on the steps.

  “Stay, Lexy. It’s okay,” Colette said. “Ian wants to talk to you about renting the loft.”

  “Nate would be delighted to have the space taken. He’s always on me about advertising it, but I don’t like the thought of just anyone up here. Do you want to live here?” Lexy looked back and forth between the two.

  “No, I want to use it as a studio.”

  “Great. When do you want it?”

  “Now. I have to move my stuff out of the villa at Boyne in the next two weeks.”

  “Electricity and water are included in the rent. With the ovens constantly running on the lower floors, you’ll never need heat. I have to ask Nate about the rent.”

  The sound of Colette’s cell phone filtered from her purse. She dug it out and sneered at the caller ID. “It’s Northfield. Should I take it?”

  “Brickner’s already called me twice today. I haven’t answered yet.”

  “Might as well tell him no again.” Colette flipped the phone open. “Hello, Mr. Brickner.”

  “Dr. Peterson,” he said with a slight note of derision that instantly irritated her. “I wanted to give you another opportunity to consider my offer.”

  “I thought I had made my position clear. We aren’t selling,” she declared, hoping to end this conversation quickly.

  “Just consider this for a moment…” He continued to speak as she listened, rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of today’s appeal.

  “Perhaps your employer would like to reveal his name or interest in our property.” She cut him off. “I might be more understanding then. So far I know that he’s an older man trying to build up a nice inheritance for his sons. Then why would he be willing to spend more on a property than it’s worth? I’m afraid that just doesn’t make any sense, Mr. Brickner. You’ll have to try a new tactic or do the sensible thing and accept our refusal.” She clicked the phone shut despite his attempts to continue speaking.

  “The new song and dance is that he’s trying to create an inheritance for his kids?” Lexy asked.

  “Sounds like a plea for sympathy to me. How do you even know the man has sons or gives a damn about them?” Ian’s tone struck her as bitter, which made sense given the recent fight with his father. His forehead was creased and mouth pursed, in anger, at the guy who was bothering her.

  “Adrien’s doing some research to find out who actually owns Northfield. I’ll bet he finds something soon. He’s good at digging for information,” Lexy commented.

  “I don’t know if that will help, but it might.” Colette shoved her phone back in her purse and shifted to a happier topic. “The heck with Northfield. Where are you and Nate going this weekend?”

  “Just to the cottage on Grand Island. We haven’t been there alone since Jamie was a baby. I can’t thank you two enough for taking the kids. We’re going to leave on Friday morning. Is that okay with you?”

  “Fine with me.” She looked at Ian, who had a wide-eyed, fearful expression. She tugged on his sleeve. “Ian? You okay?”

  “Sure,” he snapped out of it. “My brother will be dropping off his kids on Friday morning as well. The more the merrier, I guess,” Ian said.

  Lexy let out a loud burst of laughter. “Hope you still say that by Sunday evening.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The knot in Ian’s gut was as tight as a fist by Friday morning. Not only would he and Colette be in charge of five kids, but Adrien Peterson, a man who was a researcher for a living, was digging around for information about Northfield. Adrien would find out the truth and Ian would be sunk in record time.

  He’d almost told her over wine and pizza on the day of their fight, but he wanted more time with her. It was selfish but true. He should confess it all to Colette right now, but whenever he opened his mouth to speak, he found an excuse. First, it was the children’s weekend at the farm. After that, it would be the fundraiser. He certainly would be able to find another excuse after next weekend, but he was going to have to suck it up and tell her. Next Sunday, no matter what, he was going to lay it all on the line for Colette and plead for his life and her love.

  Colette walked to Lexy’s to pick up Melissa, Jamie, and Connor while he watched anxiously for his brother’s car. Two and a half days with five kids and the love of his life. What could go wrong? The silver Audi turned into the drive at the same time Colette appeared in the cherry orchard with her charges. Even burdened with backpacks, Colette raced the children, making it to Ian’s side when Tom shut off the car and climbed out.

  “Good to see you, little brother,” Tom said. They did the man hug that started as a handshake and ended with a slap on the back.

  “You’re never going to let me live down those five minutes. Sarah, you’re as beautiful as ever,” Ian said to his sister-in-law when the slim, well-maintained redhead got out of the car. The backdoors flew open and the seven-year-old twins leaped at Ian, nearly knocking him down. After giving his niece and nephew hugs, Ian reached for Colette’s hand and pulled her forward. “I’d like you to meet Colette Peterson. Colette, my brother Tom, his wife Sarah, and Ella and Nick.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Colette shook hands with the adults before introducing the children to each other. “Melissa, show Ella and Nick to their rooms. Hope you’re all ready for some fun on the farm.” The kids ran off to the house and Colette turned her attention back to the adults. “Ian said you were identical. I guess I should have been prepared to see double.”

  “Eerie, isn’t it? You’d think as they got older they’d look less alike. They look more,” Sarah explained while her eyes skimmed over the barns and house. “This is quite the place. Does it belong to you?”

  “I inherited it from my grandparents. Would you like a quick tour?”

  “I love old houses. We have to make the noon ferry to the island, but could I just peek?”

  “Of course, come with me.” Colette led Sarah on t
he brick path from the driveway to the front door.

  When the women were out of earshot, Tom turned to Ian with a raised eyebrow and smirk. “So that’s Colette and you appear to be living here with her. Interesting.”

  He winced at his brother’s lawyerly tone. “I still have a place in Boyne for now, but I spend most of my time here. I’ll go on the road to finish my interviews, then I’ll see if I’m staying or not.”

  “You mean if she’s kicking your ass out or not when she finds out who our father is.”

  “Yeah, something like that. You told Sarah not to comment about the picture with Dad in it, right?”

  “She won’t say anything to blow your cover, but you better tell Colette the truth soon.” Tom enunciated the last word to drive his point home.

  “I know.” The truth was, he’d spent a lot of time lately figuring out how to phrase his confession. He was a lot better with pictures than words, but no picture was going to convey this. “What the hell was I thinking, Tom? I should’ve known not to make a deal with Dad. He’s been screwing everything up for us for years.”

  “You were thinking that he might love us or at least accept us for who we are. It’s not like we’re a couple of bums. Maybe that’s what pisses him off. We don’t need him. He thought you needed him or at least his money, but your book deal eliminates that. Congratulations by the way.”

  “Thanks, I just hope I don’t lose Colette over this situation with Dad. I don’t know what I’d do then. What if he comes here or contacts her? I’m screwed.”

  “Without Dad, you wouldn’t have met her in the first place, so be thankful there. But didn’t I advise you to be honest with her weeks ago?”

  “Yeah. I just couldn’t look at her face and tell her I’d intentionally deceived her.”

  “Well, you don’t have to spin it that way,” Tom commented.

  “What?” Ian blustered, genuinely surprised.

  “You’ll have to tell her something.” Tom thought for a minute. “Just tell her you came to do a job and decided she was more important. Women like that stuff. Juries too.”