Lavender & Mistletoe (Blue Hollow Falls)

by Donna Kauffman

  She squirmed a little as his body warmed up to the ideas already playing through his mind. “I thought we were resting our sore parts,” she said.

  “Close your eyes,” he whispered next to her ear. “Relax.”

  She shifted her head around to give him a look that said she didn’t buy whatever he thought he was selling, but he just winked, and nudged her back in place. He kept his hands to himself until he felt her fully relax against him.

  Then he cupped warm water in his hands and poured it over her torso as the water continued to rise, making her sigh. He let her head tip to the side, and worked the water into her thick, dark hair until it was wet and slicked back against her head. Her body was languid when he slid her back in place, resting against his chest. The water was deep enough now that it had climbed halfway up her belly, just past her navel.

  He palmed the bar of glycerin soap from the recessed tray, lathered his hands, and slowly rubbed them down her forearms, which floated in the water beside her. She was utterly relaxed now, almost purring as he stroked soap along the sides of her hips, as far as he could reach. Then he slid his palms over her belly…and worked his way up with one hand, and lower with the other.

  She moaned as he touched her, rubbing silky lather over her small, flat breasts, rubbing the tiny nubs of her nipples to life with those fingertips, while his other teased an entirely different nub.

  She was writhing now, but quietly, her moans turning to gasps as he slowly, gently, brought her to a deep, keening orgasm. He almost came himself when he felt her soft, warm body contract and push against his as she let wave after wave of pleasure roll through her. Pleasure he’d given her. It felt…exultant.

  He picked up a small, soft washcloth, dunked it, then began rinsing the soap from her skin, using the texture of the woven cloth to bring her back to the edge again.

  This time she rolled over in his arms, her eyes alive with a light he’d yet to see in them. She did look like the wild, wicked vamp now, her hair slicked back, her eyes dark, her smile a very primal promise. She straddled him and took him easily inside of her. He knew she was protected—they’d had that conversation—but he’d used condoms anyway, feeling it was the respectful thing to do. He couldn’t do that here, and he stilled for one moment, but she held his gaze very directly, and simply began to move on him.

  Feeling her like that, with the warm water moving over him and no barrier between them as she rode him…he wanted to let his head loll back and possibly let his eyes roll right back into his head along with it, but he couldn’t look away from her. He took her hands then, and wove his fingers through hers, allowing her to use their joined hands as leverage to push against him, while he pumped his hips up to meet her. Now her head fell back and he felt her gathering again as he himself raced closer to the point of no return.

  “Avery,” he whispered at the last possible moment. She lifted her head and opened her eyes. The moment their gazes met, he came, taking her right with him.

  For once, they didn’t speak afterward, no laughing, no teasing. They just lay there, floating in each other’s arms, letting the steamy water lap at their skin.

  He shifted up just a little, so she could curl up in his lap, her head against his chest as the steamy water ebbed and flowed around them.

  He didn’t know what life had in store for him, or where his next adventure would be. As he’d told her, he let life and opportunity guide him forward.

  She lifted her head and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck, then wove the fingers of one hand through his and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. He felt her body relax, then grow heavy as her breathing slowed and she dozed.

  He’d never much cared where opportunity would take him next. But in that moment, for the first time in his life, he knew with utter certainty that from now on, whatever path beckoned to him, it would have to lead somewhere that she wanted to go, too.

  Chapter 10

  “Has he asked you?” Chey wanted to know.

  They were in Chey’s cottage, with the woodstove chugging away, keeping the place toasty warm. Even so, they were curled up under fleece throws, Avery on the big, oversized leather couch, Chey in the big leather easy chair, each spooning ice cream directly from the containers. It was the day before Christmas Eve and a gentle snow was falling outside as it had been for two straight days now. A fresh, pristine blanket of sparkling diamonds carpeted the fields, and the boughs of the pines were once again heavy with white. Sitting inside and watching through the window as night began to fall, Avery felt like she was observing a pretty little snow globe world.

  Ben had left early two mornings ago, before Vivi had risen, though Avery knew now that Chey had seem him leave as she’d tended to her dawn-of-the-day barn chores. The plan had been for Avery to see Ben that night for dinner. His place this time. Or, Doc’s place, she supposed. Only the weather and fate, or so it felt, had produced a string of emergency calls that had kept him tied up almost nonstop from the moment he’d left.

  Giving her all the time in the world to think about what they’d done. What she wanted to do again. And again. And where that could all possibly lead, big picture–wise. For the first time in her life, the very last thing she wanted to do was analyze the situation. She’d done her best not to, burying herself in a whirl of essential oil manufacturing and packaging up the product they’d already made. At her current pace, they’d be ready for their big spring re-opening before New Year’s Day. And none of that had kept her from spinning out every possibility anyway.

  Chey had finally cornered her when Avery had come to the barn after Vivi all but shoved her out the door, ordering her to get some fresh air and stop moping around like a sick cat. She was not moping. Nor was she sick.

  She was scared. Terrified, actually.

  Chey had drafted Avery to help her finish up the chores; then as the latest snowstorm had started to pick up steam, the two of them had retreated into the cottage for a late afternoon ice cream indulgence, and a little girl talk.

  Avery fished a marshmallow out of her rocky road ice cream. “Asked me to what? Run away with him when he leaves? We just met.”

  Chey merely eyed her over the spoon she’d just stuck in her mouth.

  “What?” Avery repeated. She hadn’t actually told Chey anything about what had happened with Ben the night they’d all decorated the tree. She didn’t have to. Chey had taken one look at her and known exactly how the tree-trimming evening had ended. Except Chey couldn’t possibly know any such thing. Not really.

  Chey knew they’d had sex, yes. She didn’t know about the stories and traditions Avery and Ben had shared while trimming the tree, or all that had happened from that point to the steamy bath they’d taken as the sun rose in the sky. She didn’t know about the breakfast cooked together in Avery’s tiny galley kitchen, or that Ben had inspected pretty much every last piece of equipment in her lab, asking endless, sincerely curious questions about the processes they used to create their various products. She didn’t know he’d kissed Avery senseless and taken off for home and a day of appointments, with the promise that they’d see each other again that night. Nor did she know that had led to two days and nights of Ben making house, barn, farm, and even a roadside call, in one case, but also making sure they shared long, laughter- and story-filled phone calls when he’d finally crawled into bed at night.

  Chey didn’t know that the night they’d shared had been…so many things. Only one part of it having to do with sex.

  To her credit, Chey hadn’t asked for any of the details either, letting Avery decide what to share. Avery was kind of surprised to discover that she wanted to keep them all to herself. During the time they’d become close, the fearsome foursome had shared some of their harshest, rawest, most challenging life stories. So, it should stand to reason that Avery would want to tell Chey, Vivi, all of them, every last detail of what felt like such a h
uge triumph and turning point in her life. After what they’d each been through, it seemed fitting to share the high points, and she knew they’d be happy for her.

  Only, for now, it was something she wanted to keep close, to cherish. That first night belonged to her, and to Ben.

  She remembered the first time they’d seen Hannah after she’d been with Will, and she understood perfectly now why Hannah had been excited for them to know she was happy, but otherwise kept the rest to herself.

  Studying her, Chey finished her spoonful, then said, “Sometimes, you can meet someone, and things unfold in a slow, leisurely way, as you get to know each other and figure out what’s what, decide if those what’s whats are compatible.” She dug out another load of cookie dough. “While I understand that’s being smart and cautious, allowing good judgment to play a role, honestly, I think half the time it gives us way too much time to second guess and talk ourselves out of it.” She polished off that bite, talking as she swallowed. “When what we should do is just follow our gut and jump.”

  Avery raised her hand, deciding she could share that much. “Oh, I think you can safely say I not only jumped, I took a running start toward the edge of the cliff and flung myself off without so much as a glance at where I was going to land.”

  Chey looked happily surprised, then wiggled her eyebrows. “That good, huh?”

  Avery let her head loll back onto the cushions and closed her eyes, lifting her spoon to the heavens, as if in salute. “You have no idea.”

  Chey hooted. “Okay, so it’s possible that I maybe both hate you and love you at the same time right now,” Chey said dryly, mouth full again. “Mostly love.”

  Avery straightened, then wiggled her eyebrows right back at Chey. “I’ll take the hate,” she said, then gave Chey a devilish smile before diving back in to her rocky road. “Earned it.”

  “Oh, okay, so that’s how it’s going to be, is it?” Chey rejoined. “Rub the single girl’s nose in your glorious return to the sexual realm.”

  “You asked,” Avery said sweetly.

  Chey sketched a little bow with her spoon. “Point taken. So, what I meant by has he asked you—I didn’t mean has he asked you to run off with him. What I meant was, are you exclusive, did you make plans? Are you a thing?”

  “A thing?”

  Chey rolled her eyes. “Did he give you his class ring? Are you going steady?”

  Avery laughed at that. “If you’re worried that I jumped in bed with him and now I’m scared I’ll never hear from him again…I’ve heard from him, okay?” Avery missed seeing him, more than seemed smart, but there it was, and she wasn’t going to waste energy worrying about it. If she worried about anything, she worried that she was missing out on time with him, time that was quite possibly a precious commodity, not to be squandered.

  Their phone conversations the past few days might have felt like a poor second place to actually being together, but they’d all happened when the two of them were in bed—their own, separate beds, unfortunately—and that had created a sort of private little cocoon. When the world was quiet, and his deep voice rumbled in her ears, secrets could be shared, tales could be told, and a relationship could truly begin to unfold. Without the distraction of their bodies rubbing up against each other and leading to things that required no conversation, they’d gotten to know much more about each other. It was still hard to believe they’d only known each other such a short time, but they were truly becoming intimate, not just leaping without looking.

  “I think sometimes, when two people meet, and fall into sync with one another, time becomes a very relative thing,” Avery told Chey, and maybe herself at the same time. She dropped her spoon into the now empty ice cream container and put it on the coffee table before curling up on the couch on her side, resting her head on one of the soft, handwoven pillows she knew Chey had purchased at the mill. Avery studied the fire as she spoke, letting the heat warm her face, and a pleasant lassitude seep into her limbs. “I don’t know what we are, or what label to use, but I am very sure we’re a thing.” She yawned as the sugar buzz started to crash, making her feel sleepy. “In hindsight, I think we have been since we first laid eyes on each other.”

  Chey didn’t say anything to that, and neither of them spoke for a few minutes, just listened to the wind outside and the crackling fire inside the wood burning stove.

  “When you thought he was my perfect match, you were concerned that I shouldn’t make a play for him,” Chey said quietly, breaking the comfortable silence. “Seeing as he’s not a permanent resident of the Falls,” she added, her tone contemplative rather than challenging. “Have you two talked about that?”

  “Not directly, no. I know Doc is due back in early February, and while a month is not a long time, I guess there’s this false sense that we still have all the time in the world. This weather delay hasn’t helped. We’re still just starting out. It’s too soon for that talk.”

  Chey nodded thoughtfully, then put her empty cup on the coffee table and curled up on her side in the big chair. “He doesn’t have to leave when Doc comes back, does he? I mean, he didn’t sound like he had anything specific lined up when we were all talking over dinner the other night.”

  Avery shook her head. “He doesn’t—that much I know. He’s mentioned something he wants to show me, out at his barn, a couple of times. I’ve asked him to just tell me, but he says it’s something I need to see. I’m sure I’ll find out what it is when things calm down and I can get out there. He’s excited about it, whatever it is.”

  “Something that could keep him here?” Chey said.

  Avery yawned again and shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess…I can’t imagine what that would be. Blue Hollow Falls doesn’t need two vets, so when Doc gets back, my guess is Ben will see where else he’s needed in the world. He’s part of the same global initiative that Doc belongs to. They work toward growing awareness of new methods of animal care and rehabilitation with a network of veterinarians and rehabilitation experts. They share discoveries being made in countries all over the world.”

  “Veterinarians Without Borders,” Chey said, amused. “I like it.”

  Avery nodded, smiling. “Something like that, yes.” She wasn’t exactly ready to think about that part of Ben’s life quite yet. She wasn’t tied to some nine-to-five career herself, and Vivi had all but given her blessing for Avery to pursue whatever avenue she wanted with Ben before they had so much as kissed. The thing was, Avery loved her family here, enjoyed the challenges of getting the farm up and running. This coming year would be only their second full season, and she didn’t want to miss it. Or miss her friends, truth be told.

  “Would you go with him?” Chey asked quietly, as if reading Avery’s thoughts. “Or join him at some point, somewhere. If he asked?”

  Avery shifted so she could look at Chey, who was curled up under her fleece throw, her head propped on the wide, padded arm of the chair. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I mean, I would be open to considering it, I guess. It would depend on where he was going, what he was going to do. And where I’d fit into all that.” She folded her arms on top of her pillow and rested her chin on them. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I haven’t grown up to be what my parents hoped I’d be.”

  “Avery—” Chey started, lifting her head.

  Avery lifted her hand. “I’m at peace with that. I know my life is my own to forge, my goals my own to make. I mean that. I love my life here, love you all, and I’m excited about our plans for the farm, for all of it. I have no desire to leave, none. It’s so much more than I ever dreamed. That said, I guess…if I’m being honest, when I think about the big picture of my life, the grand scheme of things, I don’t know if the actual work here will be enough for me, in and of itself, once we’re established.”

  “What else would you rather be doing?”

  Avery sat up then, tucked h
er feet under her and hugged the pillow to her chest. “I love doing this. I may always love doing this. I guess what I’m trying to say is, we all have this farm, this new business we’re building together, making our home here, but the rest of you have more beyond that. You each have your true calling in addition to this joint venture. Hannah has her painting, and now her life with Will and Jacob. Vivi has the tea room, something she’s always wanted to do. She’s already become a fixture in this town, one of the Falls denizens, in every way, and she told me she plans to make this her forever home. You have your horses, the rescues you work with, the classes you teach in addition to farming. I’m—” She lifted her hands, letting the pillow drop. “I’m not sure what I have. Or even what I want.” She settled back into the couch, wanting to finish the thought, knowing she needed to hear it herself, too. “It’s not something I worry about or feel left out about. I just mean I haven’t yet found whatever my personal thing is supposed to be.”

  “Just the man you’d like to share it with, once you figure it all out,” Chey said, a rare soft smile on her pretty face.

  Avery looked at her and realized the truth of that statement. It filled her with a kind of peace she hadn’t felt before. She nodded and sent that sweet, gentle smile back to her dear friend. “Yeah, I think maybe I have figured out that much.”

  “Well then, I’d say you’re off to a pretty damn good start.”

  Chapter 11

  “Back here,” Ben called out as Avery came into the barn, making the sleigh bells hanging from the big sliding door jingle. “Through the door on the opposite side of the stalls.”

  “I think your snowmen need new gear,” she called back. “Maybe a whole makeover.” She came through the doorway into the barn exam room he’d taken over to use for his pet project. “They look like victims of an avalanche.”