Taking Chances: A Whiskey Ridge Romance

by Rachel Hanna

  “Never better,” he said with a smile. Wait. Was he flirting with her? Impossible.

  “I’m so sorry I fell on you,” she said, struggling to get herself upright again. She finally pushed back onto her knees and sat up.

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said. As he sat up, he made a grunting noise and seemed to be favoring his right shoulder.

  “Look,” she said, pointing as she turned around and glanced behind her. “There’s smoke coming out of my room. I wonder how much damage there will be?”

  “I don’t know, but we’d better get away from the house and let the firefighters do their work,” he said, hopping up to his feet and putting his hand down to pull her up.

  They moved away from the home, sitting under a huge oak tree in the front yard. All Piper could think was how grateful she was that Lucas and her mother weren’t living there yet.

  “I guess we can’t get to the guest houses right now,” she said as she struggled to stay warm. It was freezing cold outside, and she certainly hadn’t planned on being out there in her pajamas.

  “You must be freezing,” Cameron said as he put his arms around her in a tight hug. At first, she was stunned. Who was this guy? But then she was warm, at least where he was touching her, so she wasn’t going to complain.

  They sat under the tree for a long while as he rubbed her back with his hand in an effort to keep her warm. He had to be freezing himself since he was only wearing a pair of warm up pants and a white t-shirt. Well, it used to be white. Now it was marked up with smoke and grass stains.

  Even with firefighters working inside and outside of the house, it seemed completely quiet under that tree. A peaceful moment in the midst of so much chaos. And Piper had to wonder how that was possible given their tumultuous relationship over the past few days.

  “Are you getting warmer?” he asked as he rubbed vigorously up her arm.

  “Yes. Thank you. I know you must be freezing too,” she said. She made the mistake of looking up at him, and their noses were an inch apart. She could feel the warmth of his breath across her cheek and smell the lingering scent of coffee from their hours in the kitchen.

  Time stopped. He stared into her eyes, and she stared into his. It would’ve been awkward with any other person, but not with Cameron. It felt, for just a split second, like she was finally right where she was supposed to be.

  And then the firefighter interrupted the moment.

  “Excuse me,” he said, clearing his throat like he’d just interrupted something a lot more erotic than two people sitting under a tree.

  “Oh, hey. Sorry,” Cameron stammered as he let her go and the cold air invaded every pore of her body again. They both stood up.

  “What’s the damage?” Piper asked.

  “Not too bad. Looks like there was a short in the kitchen, most likely the oven. You’re going to need to get a good electrician out here. Mainly just a lot of smoke. We can recommend a good cleaning crew to get rid of the damage from that. But this house is going to need airing out for at least a day or so. You folks got somewhere to stay?”

  Cameron looked at Piper for a moment before answering. “Yeah. We can stay in one of the guest houses for the night.” She quickly nodded before Hector went back to talking to the firefighter.

  “Glad it wasn’t worse,” she said after a moment.

  “Me too. It would’ve killed me to see this house burn. I guess I never realized how many good memories I had here with my grandparents.”

  “This is your legacy, Cameron.”

  “It’s yours now too,” he said with a smile.

  * * *

  After being given permission by firefighters to quickly run into the house for a change of clothes, albeit smoky ones, Cameron and Piper headed for the extra guesthouse where her mother would be living in another few days.

  That’s when Piper noticed him favoring his shoulder again. She sent him right back outside to have the EMT’s check it. Sure enough, he’d popped it out of the socket, and she couldn’t bear to watch them pop it back in.

  She was exhausted - both mentally and physically. The thought of hosting the apple festival, getting her mother moved in and having her son join them was almost too much to think about.

  It was nearing 2AM, and Piper sighed as she plopped down onto the tan sofa in front of the wood stove. After getting help from the paramedics, Cameron was now fiddling with the wood stove, stoking the fire and sending jolts of heat into the small space.

  The guest house wasn’t much with just a sitting area, small kitchen and bed in the corner of the room. It would be plenty for her mother who would likely find it cozy and quaint and a far cry better than her single wide dilapidated mobile home.

  “Warm enough?” he asked, turning around.

  “Yeah. I think you singed my eyebrows,” she laughed. The room was dark except for the orange flickering flames. “How’s your shoulder?”

  “It’ll be okay. Sore, but I’m thankful it wasn’t worse.”

  “Sorry you had to catch me,” she said with a tired giggle.

  “Glad I could be of service. Tired?” he asked as he came to rest beside her.

  “Exhausted.” She struggled to keep her eyes open.

  “Me too. But I also feel restless. Probably won’t sleep much tonight. Why don’t you take the bed?”

  “Too tired to move…” she moaned as she closed her eyes and rested her head on the arm of the sofa.

  * * *

  This was bad. Really bad. Supremely bad.

  She was so adorable. And sweet. And tiny. And sexy. And…

  She was the total package.

  Danger sirens blared in Cameron’s head as he watched her sleep a foot away from him. The rise and fall of her chest and the completely peaceful look on her face made his heart ache.

  Watching her up on that roof was gut wrenching, but when she fell, he’d nearly had a heart attack. All he could think was that he’d rather die than have her hit the hard ground, so he’d thrown his arms up ready to break them both off if needed.

  But when they’d come to rest on the ground, her on top of him, his brain had been temporarily interrupted by a series of impure thoughts that would’ve certainly gotten him kicked out of any small Southern Baptist church.

  This wasn’t at all what he’d planned the day he met her in Mr. Dylan’s office. All he saw was some poor girl from south Georgia who was out for his grandmother’s fortune. After just a few days, he was certain that Piper wasn’t doing this for the money at all.

  She moaned a little, pulling her knees into her chest, so Cameron reached behind him on the sofa and retrieved a blanket. As he started to cover her, she suddenly shifted positions and flipped to her other side, her head landing on his shoulder and then sliding down onto his chest.

  Cameron froze in place.

  Thankfully, the sofa had a recliner function, so he pushed back a bit so Piper didn’t have to crane her neck. She snuggled in further, obviously unaware that she was making such close contact with him. At least that’s what he assumed.

  She wasn’t interested in him… that way. She was focused on the business and the apple festival and her son. She was just being nice because she was that kind of person. She wasn’t trying to flirt with him. Right?

  Slowly, Cameron covered her with his right hand and then allowed it to come to rest on her back, feeling the comforting motion of her breathing. The soreness of his shoulder seemed to disappear.

  Her cheek was pressed against his chest, and he was worried that the pounding, jackhammer motion of his heartbeat was going to wake her up any minute now. But it didn’t, and before he could realize it, she reached her right arm around his midsection and pulled him tighter.

  Cameron was sure he’d never felt more content and happy in his life, and for a split second he thought of his grandmother and realized that this situation was no accident. And that thought made him smile.

  * * *

  Daylight peeked through the window s
hades. Piper could barely open her eyes. They were irritated from the smoke, and the bright sunlight was like acid against them. It seemed that sandpaper against her cornea would’ve felt better.

  It was hard to remember where she was for a moment. But then it came rushing back to her. Smoke. Firefighters. Sitting under the tree with Cameron.

  Cameron.

  Where was she? She struggled to open her eyes again, straining to see in the darkened room. The guest house. The wood stove. The sleeping man she was currently snuggled up with.

  Wait. What?

  And then it dawned on her. She was hugging Cameron, her face pressed against his chest. She slowly looked up and saw the contentment on his face as he slept. It was nice. Normally he looked so tense, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders at all times.

  Right now, he looked handsome. Unassuming. Cute.

  She debated with herself on whether to sit up and possibly disturb him or continue snuggling with him. After all, it had been a very long time since she’d been in the arms of any man. And she’d never felt as safe and serene as she did right now.

  “Good morning,” she heard him say, his voice gruffer than normal. Startled, she looked up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “It’s okay. I think I woke you up…”

  Piper sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, stretching her tight shoulder and neck muscles. Then she felt Cameron’s hands, which were surprisingly strong, rubbing the tension from her shoulders.

  “You don’t have to…”

  “I know I don’t,” he whispered in her ear from behind. He couldn’t see her, but she smiled and blushed. Feeling his breath against her ear as he whispered sent an amazing rush of feelings from her toes up to her head.

  “Sorry I apparently fell asleep on you,” she said with a laugh.

  “Do you hear me complaining?”

  Summoning her courage, she turned around to face him. “Okay, what are we doing here, Cameron?”

  He stopped rubbing her shoulders and cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that this whole situation… here… is a little…”

  “Close?” he said softly.

  “Yeah.”

  “Does that bother you?” he asked, staring into her eyes in a way that made her fidget in her seat a bit.

  “I don’t know… I just…”

  “Relax, Piper,” he finally said. “We just both had a long night. You fell asleep and when I went to cover you up, you shifted this direction. I wasn’t going to wake you up.”

  There was something about his expression as he said it. He looked hurt or irritated or something she couldn’t name. And then he stood up and started checking the wood stove.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t saying that you did anything wrong…”

  “Good. Because I didn’t. Don’t worry. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. I’m not that kind of guy no matter what people in this town say.”

  There it was again. What had he done as a teenager to make people think he was a bad guy?

  Piper stood and started folding the blanket. “I know you’re not.”

  “And how do you know that?” he asked.

  “Because you did everything you could to protect me last night. You caught me with a hurt shoulder and fell to the ground yourself. You kept me warm under that tree. And you slept in this ungodly uncomfortable position to let me get a good night’s sleep. You’re a good guy, Cameron. You’re certainly the best guy I’ve ever known personally,” she said, reaching out and touching his arm.

  He looked stunned at her words. “Thank you. But I think you’re overestimating who I am.”

  “Look, I don’t know what you’re struggling with, but you can talk to me any time. I’m no Dr. Phil, but I’m pretty good with advice,” she said with a smile.

  “You’re a lot better looking,” he responded with that crooked smile that showed one dimple. She wanted to run her tongue over it.

  “Thank you,” she said shyly.

  “Okay, you want to know why the old biddies in this town don’t like me?” he said. She was shocked that he was bringing it up.

  “If you want to tell me…”

  “Sit,” he said, pointing at the sofa. She sat down as he finished stoking what was left of the fire. He joined her on the sofa and turned to face her.

  “I was a young punk. My grandmother had a hard time keeping me in line. I was devastated by the loss of my parents and the whole life I’d known before they died. I was a mess, and no one could talk to me or get me in line. I ran rampant in this town, toilet papering yards and pulling fire alarms. And I did a little stealing too.”

  “You were a kid, though.”

  “Then there was this girl.”

  “Oh,” Piper said softly as she looked down at her hands.

  “I was seventeen. She was sixteen.”

  “You don’t have to go on…”

  “She got pregnant.”

  The silence was deafening. Piper had no idea what to say.

  “So you have a child?” she finally asked.

  “No. I never did. Everyone here assumed I knocked her up, but we never even slept together. But it was easier for her to tell everyone that, and I felt bad for her. Her father was the town preacher, and she couldn’t tell him she was actually sleeping with a twenty year old guy from the next town over. Her father would’ve killed her… and the guy. So I took the heat. I left as soon as I graduated and never looked back.”

  Her heart ached for him. He’d been misjudged his whole life, and she had judged him just like everyone else. The irony was that Cameron had done the exact opposite of Johnny. When Johnny had learned he was having a son, he bolted. Cameron not only stayed, but he took the heat for a child that wasn’t even his.

  Piper slid closer to him on the sofa, their faces just a few inches apart.

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Cameron. You’re a good man. Take it from a woman who really was abandoned by the father of her child.”

  His eyes looked like they started to well with tears, but he quickly looked down and took a breath before meeting her gaze again.

  “Eventually, she decided to give the baby up for adoption,” he said. “But they never changed their minds about me, as you can tell. To this town, I’m the problem child who knocked a girl up and made her give the baby away.”

  “And she never set the record straight?”

  “No. I can’t blame her, though. I guess it was just easier.”

  “Not for you,” Piper said, feeling a surge of anger for the girl and the people of Whiskey Ridge who judged him so wrongly. “Did you love her?”

  He looked at her, his face less tense now. “I thought I did at the time. But looking back… no. I’m not even sure I know what that feels like.”

  They stared at each for what seemed like an eternity until a loud knock at the door startled them both. “Miss Piper? You in here?”

  Hector. What crappy timing he had.

  Chapter 8

  “So, I’ve been up all night calling repair companies. I found one that will be here in an hour to start working on the kitchen and stairwell. Should take a few hours to get the house livable again.”

  “In the meantime, we have a ton of work to do!” Piper said, anxiety starting to get to her.

  “No worries, Miss Piper. I called in reinforcements,” Hector said, pointing toward his small guest house to a group of people standing on the little porch.

  “Who are they?” Cameron asked.

  “Three of my cousins, my niece and her boyfriend. They offered to help us.”

  Piper grinned. “Oh, Hector, I could kiss you right now! What would we ever do without you?” she said, hugging his neck. Hector turned all shades of red as Piper waved at the group from across the yard.

  “Since you can’t use the house, I picked breakfast up for you,” Hector said, handing Piper a brown bag. He cut his eyes at Cameron. “There may be extra for h
im too.”

  Piper struggled not to laugh as Hector headed back toward his family to get started. She opened the door to the guest house and pulled Cameron inside.

  “Jeez, I guess I’m never going to win him back over,” Cameron said.

  Piper put the bag down on the kitchen counter and pulled out two covered plates, piping hot with grits and biscuits covered in gravy.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t count him out yet. He’ll get over it soon enough.”

  “Oh yeah? How do you figure?” Cameron asked as he pulled up a bar stool and sat down.

  “I’m going to make it my mission to make everyone in this town, including Hector, to like you again.”

  Cameron stopped eating, his face serious. “No.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t need you defending me, Piper. I’m a grown man.”

  She was shocked by his defensiveness, and a little hurt if she was honest with herself. “I wasn’t trying to upset you…”

  He breathed out. “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I’m still tired.”

  They ate in silence for a few moments before Piper spoke. “My son will be here in a few days.”

  He smiled. “Excited?”

  “I miss him so bad that it hurts. We talk on the phone every night, and sometimes we video chat. He showed me how he was helping grandma box up her stuff last night. I just can’t believe this is real.”

  “My grandmother must have really loved you,” he said, taking a bite of his biscuit.

  “I really loved her, that much is sure.”

  “You’re already doing her proud, Piper.”

  This guy was the most confusing person she’d ever met. “You think so?”

  “Of course. She obviously wanted to change your life, and your son’s, for a reason. She saw something in you. My grandmother was hard to impress, so if she was willing to give you half of everything she worked her whole life for, you must have been a huge part of her heart. I want to say thank you.”

  “Thank you? For what?” she asked confused.