by Cora Seton
All eyes in the room were on him. There were no crew members left to document the occasion, but Avery was filming it for Renata’s use. His friends stood or sat spread around the room in the way they always did at these meetings. Boone was close to the front, leaning against the desk Clay had built for him months ago. Riley was perched on a chair close by him. Savannah and Jericho sat side by side on folding chairs, holding hands, Savannah’s prominently pregnant belly hard to miss.
Clay and Nora sat a little farther toward the back. They were a quiet couple but a physically demonstrative one. Clay often had his arm around Nora, almost as if he were still shielding her from the man who’d once tried to attack her—and was now dead. Nora didn’t need shielding, though. She was a strong woman in her own right. She rested a hand on her slightly rounded belly with a serene smile.
Harris and Samantha were front and center, as if ready to take on whatever was coming next. Close to them sat Kai and Addison. Samantha and Addison had become nearly inseparable.
Curtis and Hope were snuggled together like newlyweds near the back of the room. Of course, they were newlyweds, Anders supposed.
Greg sat near the window, still carving. Angus sat a little apart from everyone else. He’d been growing more and more morose as the year dwindled. Soon it would be his time to marry, and Anders figured he was still pining for Win Lisle, who’d left Base Camp to return home.
Walker and Avery were sitting right in the center of the room—close, but not too close. Chatting quietly. Their relationship status a mystery to Anders.
Then there was Eve.
The woman he wanted to spend his life with.
Together, these people were his family. He counted on them, and they counted on him. They’d shared so much since he’d arrived here in June. He wished he’d never lied to them. He should have trusted them to understand his circumstances.
Would his good news about Hansen Oil make up for the deception he’d practiced on them?
“Thank you all for the chance to explain,” he said to the room at large. “Boone’s right—you need to hear the story from the beginning if you want to understand what happened last night, but first let me say how much I appreciate that you helped Eve and me last night before you even knew what was happening. I couldn’t ask for better friends.”
He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “There’s something I need to tell you all. Something that might come as a bit of a shock.” Anders had decided earlier the only way to do this was rip the bandage off all at once. Get it over with and keep moving, even if that meant moving right out the door if the rest of them decided they didn’t want him to stay. “Eve came here for one purpose only: to expose Hansen Oil’s wrongdoing. She has proof that there’s been a breach in its tailing ponds and that toxic chemicals are leaching into the water supply of North Run. That’s why Hansen’s CEO, Steve Bollard, kidnapped her last night. Again, thanks to all of you for ensuring I didn’t lose the woman I love.”
He paused again. Decided to get it over with. “Here’s the kicker, though. I wasn’t always Anders Olsen. I changed my name—legally—when I was eighteen, before I joined the military. Everything else you know about me is true. I served for a little over a decade as a Navy SEAL. I love ranching. I love everything about living here, and I’m willing to dedicate my life to this community. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win this thing,” he added to Boone.
“I changed my name because I wanted to turn my back on the values that name stood for—values I didn’t share. I thought a lot about it, and when I made the change, I left all of that behind, despite my father’s attempts to draw me back into the fold. It’s important to me that you all know that who my father is doesn’t change who I am.”
The room was silent, and Anders’s shoulders lowered a fraction of an inch. Despite everything that had happened, he was terrified he was going to lose this place—lose these friends. He looked to Eve. Would she stick by him if everyone else decided to give him the boot?
“I think you’d better spit it out.” Angus’s voice was devoid of the accent he usually played up to the hilt.
Anders sighed. “Guess you’re right. Like I said, I wasn’t always Anders Olsen. I was born… Anders Hansen.”
Boone straightened. His features transformed. A low murmur swept around the room.
“Did you come here to spy on us?” Jericho asked slowly. “You talked to Johannes Hansen a long time last night.”
“That’s because he’s my father, and he’d had a pistol held to his head for trying to save Eve. He caught wind of Bollard’s plans to kidnap her. Followed him out here to do what he could. It wasn’t enough, though. If not for all of you, I’m afraid Eve, my father and I would all be dead now.”
He let that sink in. “You have to remember, I was eighteen when I changed my name. I didn’t do it to spy on anyone. I changed it to distance myself from Hansen Oil. I’ve been an environmentalist since I was a teenager, and when my father refused to change Hansen Oil’s practices, I decided I had to walk away from him.”
“What did he think about you joining Base Camp?” Clay asked.
“He hated it,” Anders said honestly. “He knew it was a matter of time before I was exposed—and he was exposed, too. He’s dreaded being the laughingstock of the cable news channels, and now he’s in a race against time to clean up his tailing pond fiasco before that gets reported on.”
“Your old man must be worth a fortune,” Jericho said. “You really walked away from all that?”
Anders nodded.
“So, Eve was trying to expose Hansen Oil?” Riley said. “I thought her boyfriend dumped her.”
Eve stood up. “Recently an image came across my desk at AltaVista Imaging showing one of Hansen Oil’s tailing ponds was leaking chemicals into a watershed that feeds the water supply of a nearby town. I came here because I wanted to expose Hansen Oil to the world, and I thought I could use the show to do that.”
“In other words… no ex-boyfriend?” Kai asked.
“No. I’m sorry for the subterfuge,” Eve said. “I needed a reason to wind up here on the show.”
“How did you know Anders was a Hansen?” Nora asked.
“I didn’t. Not until a couple of days ago,” Eve said. “I watch the show every week. I saw he needed a bride. I thought maybe I could stick around here long enough to get my images on the show and expose Hansen Oil to national scrutiny. I needed to make it hard for Clem and Renata to cut me out of the footage.”
“So you got involved in everything.” Savannah nodded. “You pretended to like Anders.”
“Oh, I like Anders,” Eve protested. “I like all of you. I came here with a mission, but I never realized what being here—being a part of this—would mean to me. I know I haven’t been here long, but Base Camp already feels like home. It kills me to think my actions could endanger anything about this place and what you’re trying to do here. I just… I didn’t know what else to do. Hansen Oil had to be stopped.” She met Anders’s gaze.
Anders’s heart warmed.
“What happens now?” Clay asked.
“That’s up to all of you,” Anders said. “This is my home, and I would love to stay, but I won’t endanger Base Camp or any of you. I’m going to step outside. I think the rest of you need to talk things over and take a vote. Decide if you want me to stick around after the television show is over. I’ll make sure I do my part so that we win, but I’ll get the hell out the minute the show ends if that’s what you all want.”
He strode to the door and exited through it without giving anyone a chance to answer.
There. It was done. Now he’d let the others decide his fate.
Eve sat back in her chair. Would the other members of Base Camp kick Anders out for what he’d done?
He’d lied to them.
He hadn’t told them about his father’s change of heart, either. Getting Hansen Oil to turn green was huge.
Should she say something?
&n
bsp; Before she could, Avery turned to face the others. “I say he stays no matter what. Anders is a good guy, he supports our cause and he was only trying to distance himself from his father.”
“He put us all in jeopardy,” Boone pointed out. “I think he’s right; we should vote.”
“Then I vote he stays,” Clay said. “I can’t think of a stronger message to send to our audience than someone sticking to their principles like he is.”
“I vote he stays, too,” Nora said. “Your past can follow you no matter how you try to shake it, and it shouldn’t be allowed to swallow you whole.”
“I vote he stays,” Riley piped up. “Anders has been here since day one helping with this place. He’s never done anything to make me feel he wasn’t on our side.”
“I agree,” Samantha said. “I haven’t been here since day one, but he always made me feel like one of you.”
“I vote he stays,” Harris said. “I know who he is and who he isn’t.”
“I vote he stays,” Angus said. “We need him.”
“Me, too,” Savannah said. “Anyone who can walk away from billions is really on our side.”
“Yep,” Jericho said and seemed to be content to leave it at that.
As one by one the others voted to keep Anders on, Eve felt something in her chest loosen, just a little. Anders had been right; these people stood by each other. It reminded her of the type of camaraderie she’d experienced in her early years working for NGOs.
These were far more than coworkers. More than friends, even.
These people had bonded in a way most people would never experience. Was this what it once had felt like to be human? Thousands of years ago when little bands of people worked together for their very survival—depending on each other and loving each other in equal measure?
Eve wanted that.
Badly.
She’d never felt so simultaneously blessed to be in a place—and so irrevocably outside of it. The inhabitants of Base Camp were voting to keep Anders.
What would they do with her?
“It’s unanimous so far,” Boone said quietly. “And I vote Anders stays, too. Which leaves one vote uncounted. Eve? What do you say?”
Eve blinked. “Me? But—”
“You’re going to stay, right?”
“At Base Camp? I want to—but—I lied to you—I endangered you just as much as Anders did, if not more—” Her throat was thick, and she struggled to form the words. She wanted so badly to be one of them.
“You were willing to do what you had to in order to save an entire town full of people Hansen Oil’s tailing ponds were threatening. I think that’s reasoning we can all understand.” He waved a hand to indicate those assembled in the room. “And just so you know, marrying Anders isn’t a requirement,” he added said gently. “It’s your choice whether to join us or not. We’d love to have you here.”
All around the room, people were nodding their heads.
Her choice? She could simply say—yes? Eve found she couldn’t speak. Her eyes filled, and she swallowed.
Avery crossed the room to crouch by her. “Please stay,” she said. “Boone can find you a backup husband if you don’t want Anders. If you want a husband, that is.”
Eve laughed, which almost sent her tears spilling. Almost.
She struggled to control them.
“Please?” Avery asked.
“Yes,” Eve said. She nodded vigorously. “Yes, I want to stay.”
“What about Anders?”
“Yes, I want him, too. I mean—” She broke off in confusion.
“I think we know what you mean,” Angus said in his thickest accent yet.
Jericho crossed to the door, flung it open, grabbed Anders’s arm and yanked him inside the bunkhouse. “We voted to keep you,” he said, shoving him to the center of the room. “It was unanimous, so you won’t have to watch your back.”
“Unanimous?” Anders broke into a grin, and Eve’s insides melted all over again. Anders was going to stay, and so was she—
“Now propose to your girlfriend so we can get on with it!”
Eve thought Anders would say they’d already discussed marriage, but Anders just grinned. “Good idea!” He crossed the room to stand before her, fished around in his pocket, drew out a little velvet box and dropped to one knee.
Avery whooped. Eve couldn’t find her breath. She wasn’t sure she could stand on her feet. She hadn’t even realized she’d risen from her chair, but here she was, looking down at Anders, who was looking up at her. She’d already told him yes—no, she’d told his father yes, Eve realized. This was a real proposal, and it was getting hard to keep her tears in check.
“I don’t know what kind of environmentalist would marry the son of an oilman, but—”
“Me. I’m that kind of environmentalist,” Eve said, then bit her lip as the room erupted in laughter. She wondered when Anders would tell the others about his agreement with his father.
“I swear to you I will work every day to make your home the most wonderful place on earth,” Anders went on. “I will work to build this community and to make this whole world a better place. I will love you all my life, and—”
“Yes,” Eve said.
“He hasn’t asked—” Avery said.
“EveWrightwouldyoumarryme?” Anders blurted out.
“Yes!”
Anders surged up, wrapped his arms around her, swung her off her feet in a circle, plunked her down again and kissed her.
“Are you sure?” he asked when they came up for air amid applause and congratulations.
“I’m sure,” she said.
He opened the little box, showed her its contents and slid the ring on her finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, her heart so full she thought it would burst.
“I love you,” Anders murmured into her hair, drawing her close again, as if he never wanted to let her go.
“I love you, too.”
“I’m going to need your help to be the man I want to be. My dad’s going to fight us tooth and nail all the way as we change from Hansen Oil to Hansen Energy,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
“You’re willing to take on the challenge?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Then you really are the woman for me.”
Chapter Fourteen
‡
Life hadn’t been this good in a long time. There were plenty of problems still to solve, Anders knew, but the most important one had been solved.
Eve had said yes.
Now he needed to get out of this crowd and spend some time alone with her.
“Go ahead,” Boone told Anders as if reading his mind. “Go spend some time with your fiancée. We’ll cover your chores and deflect Clem as long as we can when he gets back.”
“Owe you one,” Anders said.
“What was that about?” Eve asked when he took her hand and led her to the door.
“That was about you and me getting to be alone for once.” When they made it outside, he added, “You don’t mind keeping the news about Hansen Energy a secret until New Year’s, do you? Kind of afraid to say it out loud until we see if the old man comes through.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
They floundered through the snow to Anders’s tiny house, which was nearing completion.
“Kitchen or loft?” Anders asked when they got inside, wishing his loft contained a bed rather than the hard floor. A day or two ago, he’d snagged a sleeping bag from the bunkhouse and left it here just in case, but that wasn’t going to help much.
“Kitchen, then loft. Hurry.”
“You got it.” Once more Anders set her up on the kitchen counter. Once more her dress hitched up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Once more he kissed her and fumbled at his pants.
This time he got them open. He kicked off his boots, still kissing Eve, then danced around until he’d gotten his jeans off, too.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Eve said, breaking away from him for a moment to speak the words.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Anders lifted her a couple of inches, dragged her gown up and over her head—and promptly got it stuck there. “What the hell?”
“You have to undo the back.” Eve wriggled around until she could poke her head out of her skirts again and showed him what to do.
“This is way too complicated.”
“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” she echoed. After he’d finally lifted her gown over her head, she presented him with the ties of her stays.
“Can’t I just cut that thing off you?”
“Don’t you dare!”
He got to work on the ties and, after a struggle, managed to get the old-fashioned corset off.
“There’s more,” he said.
She still wore her shift, and Eve laughed as he gathered folds of it into his hands and yanked it up and over her head, too.
“Finally,” he said when presented with her bare torso. Unlike her Regency predecessors, Eve wore modern-day stockings under her gown. Anders glanced at them pointedly. “I’ll deal with those in a minute. But first…” He slid both hands up her waist to her breasts, cupped them and groaned.
Eve groaned, too, as he palmed them, rubbing her sensitive nipples with his thumbs and lifting first one breast, then the other to take into his mouth and play with.
She’d waited for this for so long. Daydreamed about it for hours at night when she couldn’t sleep in the bunkhouse. Finally, she was here with him.
Alone.
Anders had decided to take his time, and Eve gripped the counter, steadying herself against the pressure of his hands and tongue. Her skin heated under his touch, her desire for him sparking into a blaze inside her. When she couldn’t take it any longer, she said, “Anders… please.”
He lifted her again, tugged at the waistband of her stockings and inched them down, his fingers exploring her as he went. He cupped her bottom, playfully stroking the core of her, then tugging down even more, until she could get them the rest of the way off with her feet and kick them away.
