Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set

by Patricia Johns

  Her difficult, opinionated, filter-free grandmother. Despite all of her shortcomings and her stubbornness, Taryn couldn’t leave Granny here to face her last years alone. She had to find a solution...

  “Then there’s a vein of Mountain Springs inside of you, too,” Lisa said.

  There was... And the more time Taryn spent here, the more it seemed to seep into her. Except, Taryn didn’t want to dig deeper to find out what it all meant. What she needed was some financial security for her maternity leave, and some emotional calm. She didn’t need old pain or long-buried hopes coming back to the surface.

  “Could I use that line?” Taryn asked, “The vein of Mountain Springs inside of us?”

  “Sure,” Lisa said. “Feel free.”

  “Could I take a few pictures of you—maybe out by the lake?” Taryn asked.

  “I should probably get changed, then,” Lisa replied.

  “No, no, I’d love to have you in your work uniform,” Taryn said. “The color really suits you, and it connects to the resort in such a real way. If that would be okay. The thing is, you’re a real woman with your own family and responsibilities, yet you’re creating this beautiful artistic life for yourself, and I’d like to show both of those sides of you. You’re...” Taryn paused, then smiled hopefully. “Frankly, you’re inspiring.”

  “I suppose a few pictures would be okay,” Lisa said. “Then I have to pick my son up.”

  “I won’t take long,” Taryn promised. “Thank you.”

  Taryn’s feet hurt, and the baby stretched out, jabbing her just under the ribs. But this moment was too perfect to let pass. She was uncovering the heart and soul of this place, and it started with Angelina, and the divorce that had rocked her life, and moved out like ripples in the lake. How many dreams and accomplishments started out the same way?

  This resort deserved more than guests; it deserved to be seen for the cradle of rebirth that it was. Because this was a lodge that had been rebuilt by a woman with a vision, and in return it had become a place of hope and inspiration for many others.

  And there was something about looking out over that glacier-fed mountain lake, sunk into the shadows of the looming, jagged peaks that surrounded it... It whispered of untested depths and unfinished business.

  * * *

  NOAH SAT IN his office late that evening, the budget tweaks completed. He always made sure the work got done—that was part of why Angelina trusted him. He cared about making sure this place was run well, too.

  He’d seen Taryn out his office window several times that day—taking pictures of the lake, of Lisa Dear, of Angelina... She’d been busy, and so had he. But a couple of times he’d glimpsed her standing out there by the water staring out over it with her hands cradling her belly. He’d been transfixed looking at her—she was beautiful...and even thinking about her now was making it hard to focus.

  Noah pulled his mind back to the task at hand. He saved the various files on his computer, and then emailed the most recent versions to Angelina so that she’d have them in her inbox first thing in the morning. Then he opened Facebook. He’d looked at it a couple of times in the past few hours, and he told himself he’d check once more, and then be done with it until tomorrow.

  This evening, there was a message from Tom waiting for him, and his heart sped up as he opened it.

  It’s really nice to hear from you, Noah. I wanted to contact you over the years, but your mom was pretty adamant that you guys just needed to be allowed to live your lives. Besides, I wasn’t great stepdad material. Anyway, enough years pass, and it just gets harder to think of what to say, you know? But I’m glad to see you’ve come out on top. I always thought you would—you were smart, and you had this way of stopping to think that I admired.

  Anyway, I’m doing well. The dog rescue is a passion of mine. It doesn’t make me a fortune, but the work is really rewarding. If you’re ever wanting a dog of your own, we have all sorts of loving pooches up for adoption to the right home. No pressure—just putting it out there.

  Are you married yet? Do you have any kids? I’m remarried. My wife and I work together at the rescue. She also paints—she’s really creative. No kids for us—just the dogs.

  It’s really great to hear from you, Noah.

  Tom had included a picture in the message—Tom with his arm draped around the shoulders of a plump woman at his side. She was smiling into the camera and leaning toward him. She had a puppy in her arms that was chewing on her fingers. A plain wedding band was visible on both their hands.

  How long had they been married? he wondered. Was this something new, or had Tom found someone who would last with him? He’d worried about Tom as he’d grown up, wondering if he was alone or if he had anyone to care about him. So seeing him with a wife at his side was a sort of relief.

  Should he answer the message? He wasn’t sure what he’d say, either. He didn’t have a wife or kids to show off as proof of his happy life. He didn’t have a picture of a smiling fiancée anymore. Besides, the old guilt about bonding with Tom was simmering under the surface. It felt like betrayal to his mother...still.

  There was a tap on his office door, and he looked up. “Come in.”

  The door opened to reveal Chef Bertoni. He held two cardboard clamshells and he lifted them with a smile.

  “We have some leftover appetizers. Crab puffs, miniquiches and Brie-pomegranate cups,” Albert said. “You’re the last one here. I thought you might want them.”

  “Thanks, Albert.” And he was about to turn them down, when another thought occurred to him. “Sounds delicious. Have a good night.”

  “You, too,” Albert said. “Good night.”

  Noah accepted the clamshells and then pulled out his cell phone. He wouldn’t be so bold as to go upstairs to Taryn’s suite. Maybe she was sleeping already...but he could call, right?

  He selected her number and dialed. It rang twice, and Taryn picked up, sounding alert.

  “Noah?” Taryn said.

  He liked the way she said his name.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” he said. “I got tonight’s leftover appetizers—and they smell amazing. I was wondering if you might want some.”

  “I’m ready for a break, so absolutely,” she replied. “At this point of the pregnancy, I’m always hungry.”

  “Still working?” he asked.

  “Yes... I’ve got some great ideas, and some great shots, and I wanted to start putting it together while it was fresh,” she said. “What about you? You’re still working?”

  “Just finishing up,” he replied. “So...are you coming down, or should I come up?”

  “Why don’t you come up?” she said. “My feet are sore. I had a big day.”

  “Deal,” he said. “See you in a minute.”

  When he knocked on Taryn’s door, it opened almost immediately. She was wearing a pink sundress that swung around her calves, and her feet were bare. Her hair was twisted up into a bun, and her face was now makeup free. She looked fresher than he felt right now. A smile broke over her face, and she angled her head, inviting him in.

  “This is good timing,” she said. “I was going to order room service when I realized the kitchen was closing and I was too late.”

  Taryn’s laptop was set up at the desk, and he could see some photos she was working from—one of Lisa, and one of Angelina, both of them standing on the pebbly beach at the edge of the lake.

  “I’m working on a new angle,” Taryn said. “Have a seat.”

  She gestured to the little table by the window with the lake view, and he headed over there and put down the food. He opened the two containers, and the aroma burst out to meet them.

  “You sure I’m not intruding?” he asked.

  “You brought food,” she said. “You’re forgiven.”

  Noah chuckled and sat down. He watched her run a hand down her bell
y for just a moment, outlining her round form. She sank into a chair opposite him and reached for a miniquiche.

  “Mmm...” She chewed slowly, then swallowed. “These are great.”

  “Albert’s the best,” Noah said. “So you’ve got a new angle?”

  “I’m going to include employees, as well as guests,” Taryn said.

  “Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “People like to know that the place where they spend their money treats its people well,” she said. “And you have some interesting people here.”

  “Lisa, the writer,” he said.

  Taryn reached for a Brie-and-pomegranate cup. “Angelina is an absolute force of nature, too,” she said. “And you’re rather interesting—”

  “Me?” He chuckled. “I don’t know about that. I’m a workaholic.”

  “You used to come here with your stepdad, you said,” she replied.

  “Yeah, I did,” he answered. “He took us hiking, and said he’d use up our energy so we’d sleep and he’d get time alone with our mother.” He used air quotes around the last words.

  “And you had no idea what that meant,” she said with a low laugh.

  “Not a clue,” he replied, and he laughed, too. “I really liked Tom, though. He was the stepdad who’d let us jump in the mud or make a mess. He didn’t care. So he’d take us out in the trails and we’d climb all over the place. He’d let us climb trees if we could get up them ourselves, and if we got stuck up there, he’d tell us that if we got up, we’d better figure out a way down.”

  “Which you did,” she said.

  “Once I fell out of the tree and broke my arm,” Noah replied. “My mother was furious. She was the cautious one, and because Tom wasn’t our real dad, she was the one who laid down the law.”

  “Sounds like you had fun all the same,” she said.

  “Yeah, I loved it up here. It was fun, and the air just felt fresher, you know?” Noah paused for a moment. “Maybe it’s part of a Colorado upbringing, but the outdoors gets into your blood.”

  She nodded. “So when you came to work here as general manager...”

  “It was like coming home in a way,” he admitted. “Except that Angelina had improved everything. But yeah, I had a personal connection to the place.”

  “Would you be willing to be quoted saying that?” she asked.

  “Saying what part?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “That you used to come here with your stepdad, and that taking the job as general manager was like coming home.”

  “It’ll fall a little flat if I take a job in Seattle, won’t it?” he asked.

  Taryn took a bite of the Brie cup and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “If you leave, that doesn’t negate what you experienced here. You’re allowed to grow and move on. No one expects you to retire at Mountain Springs Resort.”

  “I suppose so,” he said. “And if it helps Angelina, sure.”

  “Thanks.” Taryn held his gaze.

  “You have your own memories here, too,” he said.

  “Not at the resort,” she said. “My grandmother lived in town. We came to the lake once or twice, but she was afraid of us drowning. Apparently, we weren’t terribly obedient.”

  Noah chuckled. “You were wild, were you?”

  “Well, when you get three or four cousins together...” She licked some cheese off her finger, and they fell silent for a moment. Taryn looked toward the lake through the open balcony door, and he noted the way her eyes shone in this low light. She was silent for a few beats, and he noticed the way her pulse fluttered at the base of her neck... That was one thing he’d noticed that night together—the tender beat of her pulse.

  “Can I ask you something?” he said quietly.

  “Sure.” She turned back, and her warm gaze met his easily.

  “How come you left before I woke up?”

  Her cheeks pinked and she dropped her gaze.

  “I’m sorry if that’s over the line to even bring up,” he said. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything, but I’ve been thinking about it. I was thinking about it before I even saw you again. You didn’t let me say goodbye.”

  Taryn shrugged faintly. “I’d never done that before—hook up with a stranger like that—and I was embarrassed.”

  “Oh...”

  “I mean, did you ever do that before?” she asked hesitantly.

  “No, never,” he replied. “But if you’d stayed, I would have gotten your number. I would have wanted to see you again.”

  She shook her head. “Your fiancée had just broken up with you. I wasn’t going to be anything more than a rebound.”

  “What makes you so sure?” he asked.

  “Because my divorce was just finalized. You weren’t going to be anything more than a rebound for me, either.”

  He felt the sting in those words, but she was only being honest.

  “That’s fair,” he said.

  “I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” she said quietly. “I’m still not. I need to focus on my son—” She swallowed and dropped her gaze. “Our son.”

  He froze, her words sinking down into him. Our son...

  “For the record?” he said after a beat of silence. “I would have called you. I’m not the kind of guy to just hook up and move on.”

  “See, that’s the thing,” she said, and she adjusted her position. “You’re a noble guy. And that is a problem.”

  “How?” he laughed.

  “I married a noble guy,” she said. “He proposed because I was pregnant. It’s possible to ruin your life over doing the right thing, you know.”

  “And you think I’d do that?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Maybe. You would have married a woman who you knew was incompatible with you, just to keep from breaking her heart.”

  Noah sucked in a breath. Did she have a point? “I loved Nevaeh.”

  “Over a decade, that can change,” she said softly. “I loved Glen, too. He was a good man in the beginning, and he deserved good things. He deserved a wife who was grateful for him, whether or not there was a baby in the picture. But we got married for the wrong reasons, and even ten years of marriage wasn’t going to erase that.”

  “So you blame Glen’s nobility?” he asked.

  “No... I blame my own naivete, which made me think that a chivalrous man was the answer. I wasn’t the right woman for him. And no matter how sweet and well-intentioned he was, he wasn’t right for me, either.”

  Noah picked up a crab puff and popped it into his mouth. “So you’re done with nice guys, then?”

  She laughed softly, her eyes suddenly sparkling. “No, I’m not done with nice guys, but like you, I’ve become incredibly difficult to nail down.”

  “I’m in good company,” he said.

  “You are.”

  Noah reached behind him and grabbed a complimentary bottle of water off the counter and he passed it over to her. Then he took one for himself.

  “Here’s to being hard to catch,” he said, and he cracked the bottle open and took a sip.

  Taryn smiled and did the same. “I didn’t want to like you.”

  “No?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “I think you’d be easier to brush aside if you were some shallow guy who didn’t want anything to do with this baby,” she said. “You’d be easier to explain.” Her expression saddened. “It’s easier to be the woman done wrong than the woman who made a choice. Especially when your child might be angry about it.”

  “Hey—” he licked his lips “—Taryn, I honestly think it’s possible to be two decent human beings who aren’t romantically linked.”

  “Do you?” she asked uncertainly.

  “I really do. It’s called being friends.”

  “Friends don’t make babies togeth
er,” she said.

  “Strangers might,” he replied. “And strangers become friends all the time. I’m serious. We can do this.”

  “You really want to be in the picture?” she asked.

  His heartbeat stuttered in his chest. If anyone had asked him if he wanted this a year ago, he’d have laughed at them. But now...now, he couldn’t imagine letting her raise his son without him in the picture in some way...

  “Yeah, I want to be part of raising him.”

  She met his gaze seriously, and it seemed like she was considering something.

  “If you end up being a jerk, I’ll cut you out completely,” she said, her voice low. “I’m telling you that straight. If you play games with either of us—”

  “I’m not playing games,” he said. “And it’s a deal.”

  They regarded each other soberly for a moment, and he wondered what she was worrying about when she looked at him. Was it comparing him to her ex-husband, or could she sense his potential to disappoint her?

  “You have my cell number,” Noah said. “And if you need anything, day or night, you text me. This wasn’t planned for either of us, but I really do think we can be decent to each other.”

  “It’s good we’re platonic,” she said. “When hearts get involved, it gets messy. We have a little boy who’s going to need better than that.”

  “Better than parents who love each other,” he said with a rueful smile.

  “Exactly.” She smiled faintly in return. “It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

  Except it wasn’t. He understood what she meant. When hearts got entangled, people got hurt, got disappointed. His mom had gone through that with Tom, and Noah didn’t want to be the guy who let his son’s mother down.

  He put the lid back on his bottle of water.

  “I should get going,” Noah said. “It’s late.”

  “Crab puffs for the road?” she asked, nudging a container toward him.

  “Just one.” He plucked one out. “The rest are yours.”

  “Thanks.” She adjusted her position and rubbed a spot on the side of her stomach. Was the baby moving in there? He was starting to wonder things like that, he realized.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said instead.