Until You
A Malsum Pass Novel
By
Kimberly Forrest
“Until You”
Selected, Compiled & Edited by: Kimberly Forrest 2017
Copyright © February 2017 by Kimberly Forrest
This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by R.L. Ortiz
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Other works by Kimberly Forrest
Paranormal:
Malsum Pass (Malsum Pass Series book 1)
Until You (Malsum Pass Series book 2)
Historical:
Forget Me Not
“Until You” is dedicated to my lifelong best friend Susan Morel. It may have taken longer than you would have liked to find your happily ever after, but you certainly did it right!! No one deserves it more. Love you, girl!
Chapter One
Susan Fuller tapped her fingernails against the armrest of her seat as she looked out her window. She should have taken an aisle seat since she hated to fly, but she had been one of the first to board, and sitting on the aisle would have forced another traveler to climb over her, or had her standing and blocking traffic while someone settled in the window seat. She had asked the elderly woman who finally sat next to her if she had wanted to look out the window, but the woman had just smiled and said, “Well, aren’t you a dear? But the aisle is just fine for me,” and then in a whisper while delivering a pat on Susan’s hand, “weak bladder you know. It’s best if I can get to the restroom quickly.”
Susan was thankfully on her last flight of the day. She had flown from Mariposa, California to O’Hare in Chicago where she had had to run what seemed like a good mile in her high heeled boots to reach her gate in time to board her next flight to JFK in New York. Now she was on this tiny business class jet on her way to Burlington Airport in Vermont. She swallowed a groan as she remembered that once she landed she would still have to get a rental and drive a good hour and a half to reach her final destination in Malsum Pass.
She felt the plane vibrate beneath her and gripped the armrest trying not to imagine the plane blowing up in a fiery ball of doom and destruction. She channeled her inner Meg Ryan and began to softly sing “I hate Paris in the springtime…” wishing she had her own Kevin Kline to distract her. Once she was reasonably calm again, she pried her fingers loose, leaned her head back and sighed. She was going to be seeing Sebastian Black again by the end of the day and just the thought had her stomach clenching in anticipation – or maybe fear – she wasn’t quite sure which.
She had been eight years old when she first met him and decided she would marry him. He had been tall and lanky at sixteen with silky black hair that tended to curl into ringlets if he let it get too long, and eyes so dark brown they looked black. He had smiled at her and it was like everything around him was suddenly brighter; trumpets blasted, unicorns danced and rainbows shot across the sky. She knew logically that it was a silly childhood fancy, but the heart was not logical. She had fallen head over heels in love at first sight.
Unfortunately for her, Sebastian Black had fallen head over heels for Susan’s sixteen year old sister, Mary Beth. His feelings for Susan were probably much closer to annoyance and bordering on homicidal by the time he had left California. She had constantly tagged along whenever he was with Mary Beth, spied on them, tattled on them to her parents whenever they did anything naughty. Yup, she had been a complete brat. Not many redeeming qualities to recommend her back then. And then when he was twenty-three and Susan was a mere starry eyed fifteen, Sebastian had asked Mary Beth to marry him and her sister had accepted. All hope of him realizing that Susan was the woman for him and dumping Mary Beth seemed to be crumbling and Susan’s heart had broken completely in two. Was it any wonder that she had sent him photographic evidence of her sister having sex with his older brother? Susan winced at the memory. If she had known he would be so distraught he would leave California forever she may not have done it, she may have simply confronted her sister about it and made some threats. Instead, she had delivered her proof straight to Sebastian who had gone into a rage and took off, while Mary Beth had eventually married Christian Black.
The pilot’s voice broke into her thoughts as it came over the speaker to announce that they would be landing and Susan took a deep breath. She’d be glad to have her feet back on the ground.
Just over an hour later Susan had collected her suitcase, finished the paperwork for the rental car and with keys in hand was ready to start the last leg of her journey until the sliding glass doors opened and an icy wind blasted her straight in the face. Satan’s blue balls it was freaking cold! She had assumed it would be colder than what she was used to but this was like Arctic chill! Obviously her short leather jacket which was just fine for late November in Mariposa wasn’t going to cut it for Vermont. With teeth chattering and tears starting to form in her eyes from the wind, she hustled to the rental and quickly stowed her luggage in the trunk. She needed to get this baby started and get the heat cranked.
Luckily she spotted a strip mall not far from the airport and she hurried in. Another hour later and she had a thick winter coat with a faux fur trimmed hood in pink, a pink knit hat with matching scarf and gloves and a pair of pink fleece lined suede boots. She smiled to herself; knowing pink was a great color on her with her dark brown hair and pansy blue eyes. Now she would look pretty when Sebastian saw her and still be warm. While she was there, she also picked up two adorable cable knit sweaters, one with a roll neck and one with a turtleneck. When she got to the cashier she flinched slightly when she heard the total. She sighed as she put her card in the reader and entered her pin; apparently looking good while not freezing to death was more expensive than she had anticipated. Luckily she had a substantial nest egg saved, but spending money on clothes that she’d probably never wear after this trip was rather painful.
When she got back to her car she went through the bags, pulled the tags off the coat, hat, and gloves, and put them on before getting in and cranking up the heat and then zipping off her high heel boots to replace them with the warm, cozy ones she just bought. She set up her GPS on her phone to guide her, found a relatively good radio station that she hoped would stay with her through the trip and pulled the rental out into traffic. Roughly forty-five minutes later, she was wishing she’d opted for the four-wheel drive SUV as the snow started falling hard and fast. She felt like she was in the Millenniu
m Falcon and they had just jumped to lightspeed as the snow seemed to come straight at her. Meanwhile, her windshield wipers were starting to freeze up and leave huge streaks despite the defrost blowing at full. Susan slowed to practically a crawl as she passed not one but three vehicles off the road. Her stomach started to tighten and her mouth went dry. She’d never driven in snow before much less what promised to be a blizzard and had no idea what to expect.
She sighed with relief as she saw the bright LED strobes of a plow truck ahead dropping sand. “My hero,” she breathed and promised to stay right behind the big orange vehicle for as long as possible.
The mountain road had her crawling safely over the top, but the downward slope had her practically sobbing hysterically as her vehicle continued to pick up speed and every time she’d hit the brakes to slow she’d feel it slide. When she saw the sign for the sharp turn ahead she knew instinctively that she wasn’t going to make it. She sent up a quick prayer, gripped the steering wheel hard, and hit the brakes. She felt the vehicle swerve; the ass end coming around and tried to steer out of it but the car wouldn’t respond and continued making its three hundred sixty degree pirouette in the middle of the road before it came to a bouncing stop at an awkward angle.
Susan sighed loudly when the car ended up safely in a ditch rather than a mangled heap of twisted metal, the airbag hadn’t even deployed. She also saw that the big orange truck with its flashing lights had had no problem making the turn and was in fact coming back to pull over alongside her. She could kiss the man – only to discover it was a woman.
“Are you injured?” The middle-aged woman with a weathered face and kind hazel eyes asked her when Susan rolled down the window.
“I’m fine, thank you, and thank you so much for stopping. I’m afraid I’ve gone and gotten myself good and stuck.”
The woman nodded. “I already called it in. Malsum Pass is sending out a tow truck,” she motioned with her head to a road that was barely visible with the snow cover but had a wooden sign on the side marking the turnoff. “They should be along shortly. Are you okay if I get back to my run?”
Susan smiled and nodded. “I’ll be fine. Thank you again, so much!”
The woman nodded, gave the door of Susan’s rental two smacks with her gloved hands and headed back to her truck.
It didn’t take long at all before the big black flatbed arrived with Mike’s Towing and Recovery, Malsum Pass, VT printed in colorful lettering on the doors. She had to get out of the warm car, but luckily it didn’t take overly long for the driver, who she assumed was Mike, to pull her car up onto the back of his truck and motion for her to get in the front seat.
The driver who looked her age or maybe just a year or two older with a big shaggy black beard pulled himself in and shivered. “Brr, it’s colder than a witch’s tit out there!” he said and then looked at her with wide eyes. “Er, sorry about that” he cleared his throat, “It sure is cold out there.” He amended sheepishly.
Susan laughed. “I preferred the first one better.” She said to put the man at ease.
“So where can I tow this for you? Do you have a garage in mind?” He asked as he made some notes on his clipboard.
“Actually, I was headed to Malsum Pass when this happened.”
He looked surprised. “Really?” And then he sniffed and grimaced. “I think my nose is frozen,” he laughed.
Susan chuckled but wasn’t fooled a bit. “I’m Susan Fuller, are you Mike?” She asked.
He smiled. “I am; Mike Myers at your service.”
Susan blinked. “Seriously?” She asked, trying not to laugh and possibly insult the man with the fictional serial killer name.
He didn’t seem insulted at all as he laughed and nodded, “Seriously.” He pulled out onto the road with his lights flashing and took the road that led into Malsum Pass.
“So, were your parents’ really big fans of the franchise?”
He shook his head. “Nope, they were just oblivious.” He chuckled again and then said “I’ll tow this to my shop and have a look at it. Were you planning on staying at The Cedars?” He asked.
“Actually, I’m not sure yet where I’m staying. I’m here to see an old friend, Sebastian Black.”
Mike seemed startled by her words and made an almost choking sound in the back of his throat. It was his turn to ask “Seriously?” and then “On purpose?”
Susan raised an eyebrow at that, and frowned not sure what would bring that on. “Yes, he and I go way back.”
Mike cleared his throat and suddenly looked nervous. “How about I drop you off at the diner and you can have Lucy see if she can reach him on the radio. There aren’t any roads leading out to Black Bas-ah, Mr. Black’s place.”
Susan narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Mike was afraid of Sebastian. What utter nonsense. She may not be one of Sebastian’s favorite people and she wouldn’t even blame him if he was still angry with her after ten years, but the man she knew was sweet and kind to everyone, quick to smile and quicker to laugh. Yes, he could be a bear, but he was a complete teddy bear. Mike’s fear made no sense.
It was a sentiment she would repeat when Mike ushered her into the diner and announced “This here is Susan Fuller and she’s a friend of Sebastian Black. Think you can raise him on the radio, Lucy?”
People were staring at her, most with mouths open and obvious looks of shock on their faces. There were quite a few sniffs, followed by a few sneezes and a waitress with dark hair pulled up in a bun motioned for Susan to take a seat at the counter.
The waitress whose nametag proclaimed her to be the aforementioned Lucy looked Susan up and down and sniffed before wrinkling her nose slightly and smiled. “That’s some pretty perfume you’re wearing, honey. Can I get you some coffee before I try the radio?”
Susan stripped off her gloves and smiled. “Yes, please. Sebastian doesn’t have a phone?”
Lucy grabbed a mug and put it in on the counter before grabbing the coffee pot. She shook her head. “He doesn’t like to be bothered though he does keep a radio for emergencies. Usually if someone needs to talk to him they just hike out to his place; he’s usually there in the early mornings or after sundown.” She shrugged, “Any time in between is unlikely. He’s an avid outdoorsman.”
The waitress gave Susan one more inquisitive look and then headed toward the back of the diner – possibly where the radio was kept.
Susan felt someone approach on her left side before the man sat down. She turned to smile at him. He was young, like Mike the tow truck driver he was probably her age, with longish red hair, a shaggy red beard and smiling brown eyes. He was quite handsome, with a nice smile despite the facial hair it almost disappeared behind. He held out his hand and introduced himself as Jacob Pierce.
“How long have you known Sebastian?” He asked with a smile instead of the shock and awe she’d seen thus far. It made her feel a bit better.
“I’ve known Seb since I was eight.” She said with a smile. She watched his nose twitch and figured her perfume was throwing his senses out of whack and stopped herself from apologizing. “Are you and he friends?”
He grinned and Susan thought the man was absolutely adorable. “I don’t know if anyone here could say they’re really friends with Black. Coop – ah, Riley Cooper, my new brother-in-law is probably closest with him. Black doesn’t really let people in.”
Susan stirred her coffee and frowned. How odd.
Lucy returned and was shaking her head. “Sorry, honey, but Black’s not answering.”
“I can take you out there, if you don’t mind a bit of a hike.” Jacob offered. “I can’t guarantee we’ll find him, but we can leave him a note if you want.”
Susan smiled and nodded. “Thank you! I’d like that.”
Chapter Two
Jacob helped her retrieve her bags from Mike’s garage and brought them over to the local bed and breakfast called The Cedars and then drove her to the other side of
town and up another dirt road before pulling off at a narrow snow covered path lined with trees. “He lives just over a mile out from here,” Jacob said, “but unless you take an ATV, you have to hike it.”
“That’s fine,” she said with a smile, “I don’t mind a walk. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Now hold on,” Jacob said opening his door to exit the truck and run around the front to open her door. “I’m sure not going to just leave you out here. I’ll walk you right to his cabin.” He held out his hand and said, “If I may, my lady,” with a bow.
Susan chuckled with pleasure as she took his arm to climb down. “Thank you, kind sir.”
He put a hand over hers on his arm to keep it there as if they were taking a stroll through a summer garden rather than a hike through winter woods. “So where are you from, anyway?” He asked.
She was semi-vague when she answered “California.”
He whistled long and low. “How long doth my lady plan to visit our fair hamlet?” He asked in the worst impression of a British accent she’d ever heard.
Susan laughed again at his antics. Jacob was definitely amusing and it was helping to keep the nervous butterflies that were swarming in her belly at bay. “Well, I’m thinking it may be for a few weeks at least, though that may depend on Seb. I’m afraid he may not want to see me.”
“I can’t imagine any man not wanting to see you.” He said with a grin and a wink and Susan found herself blushing and changed the subject to get him talking about himself rather than flattering her.
He told her how he worked construction, mostly residential and did odd jobs during the winter months like maintenance and interior painting, electrical, and plumbing.
She was just about to comment on his being a jack of all trades when she heard the gurgle of a stream and he asked, “Hey, have you ever gone fishing?”
She nodded. “I love to fish, but I can’t say as I’ve ever gone fishing in the snow.” She shivered as he helped her across the ice crusted edges of the stream. “I would think I’d freeze solid.”
Until You: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 1
