Autumn Bliss

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  Once he’d parked by the back entrance, Levi loped around to the passenger side as Mallory pushed open the door with her booted foot. With effort, he kept his gaze from lingering on the smooth lines of her shapely legs and took the large bakery boxes from her lap.

  “Thanks.” She gave him another one of those smiles. The kind that slammed his heart against his ribs in a way he hadn’t experienced in so long.

  He gripped the boxes to step back while she climbed down and hurried past him to unlock the door. It swung open before she could fit the key in the lock. Janelle Riley stood just inside with a wide, though confused, grin.

  “Good morning you two.”

  His shoulders tensed with his nod, and he avoided their boss’s speculative gaze as the eye-opening aroma of fresh brewed coffee wafted out into the fall air.

  Mallory grabbed the door, talking a mile a minute while he carried the boxes inside past both women.

  “Hey. I’m sorry I’m late. My car broke down, and my phone battery died, and Levi was nice enough to give me a ride when he found me on the side of the road, but he didn’t have a phone for me to call and let you know what was going on. So, again, I’m sorry, but I’ll—”

  “You’re not technically late,” Janelle said behind him. “Yes, I’m so used to you being here early that I missed the coffee, but all I had to do was start it myself. No big deal.”

  “Thanks.” Relief colored Mallory’s voice. “That means I should be able to get everything set up in time to open.”

  “I’ll help. Well, as long as Hazel cooperates, anyway.”

  Janelle’s little red-headed five month old sat in a baby carrier off to the side, smiling as she played with a chew toy. Levi set the pastry boxes down on the stainless steel work table in the middle of the small kitchen and turned around to find both women facing him.

  His pulse picked up at the sight of them blocking the exit. The kitchen and storage area was separate from the front of the store, and with only a small window near a sink on the outside wall of the room, the confined space began to close in on him. He shifted his gaze to the door as Mallory stepped forward.

  “Thank you again for saving my morning, Levi.”

  Without much space to get by, she reached out and squeezed his arm on her way past. The casual touch jolted through him. He couldn’t keep his muscles from tensing beneath her touch, but her hand slipped away as she kept moving.

  “Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or a cinnamon roll, or something else?”

  “No, thank you.” The gruffness in his voice had him easing toward the exit as the invisible vice around his chest tightened.

  “Maybe tomorrow?”

  He glanced back over his shoulder. The hopeful inflection in her voice matched the expression in the brown eyes watching him. Confusion swirled, mixing with rising anxiety. He had to get out. It felt like he was running and there was nothing he could to do to stop himself. Not if he wanted to hold it together.

  “Or whenever,” she added, her smile fading. “I’ll leave a note that whatever you’d like is my treat next time you come in.”

  Managing his habitual nod, he met Janelle’s concerned gaze for a split second before shoving outside. Thankfully, neither of them followed. He climbed in his truck, shifted into reverse with a slight spinning of the tires, and made it out of sight around the side of the building before he reached to roll down the window while slamming on the brakes.

  Fresh air flowed into the cab. He sucked it into his burning lungs as his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. It took a few minutes of concentrated breathing before he could pry his fingers off the wheel and rub his hands over his flushed face. Then he fisted them in his hair until his scalp stung, and he lowered his hands to his thighs, shoulders slumped.

  Shit.

  It’d been a while since he’d had a reaction like that. A year at least. Other than the enclosed space in the kitchen, there was no reason for his anxiety to have been triggered. The only thing he could think of was the mixed up reactions to Mallory Parker. Reactions that turned him upside down and had him unable to combat the turbulent emotions he usually kept buried deep enough to control.

  Another breath convinced him he was recovered enough to resume his trip to the veteran’s health clinic in Green Bay. One day a week volunteering in the physical rehab unit put his own issues into perspective. He might be a little messed up in the head, but at least he still had all his limbs.

  Back out on the road, he slowed down when he saw a squad car by Mallory’s vehicle. The hood was up, with a uniformed officer bent low to check out the engine.

  After a moment of hesitation, Levi braked to a halt. The dark-haired man had glanced back once, but seeing Levi had stopped, he looked both directions before crossing the road.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Mallory’s brother, I assume?”

  “How do you know Mal?” the officer asked without answering Levi’s question. But he didn’t need to. Though his sister’s features were much more delicate, the relation was undeniable in the straight nose, high cheekbones, and dark eyes.

  “I work at the lodge,” Levi advised.

  The man’s expression relaxed into a smile that further reminded him of Mallory.

  “You gave her the ride this morning.” He extended his hand. “Shane Parker.”

  “Levi Jenkins.”

  “Thanks for taking care of her. I appreciate her not having to walk at a time when this road is practically deserted. She caught me on my cell a few minutes ago on my way into work.”

  Levi nodded, pulling free of the handshake while shifting his gaze to the car. “You figure out what’s wrong?”

  “I’m not a mechanic, so I’ve got a tow truck on the way. She mentioned you thought it could be the starter or alternator? Maybe both?”

  “Maybe,” he said with a shrug.

  “Either way, she’ll have it back in a few days.”

  Levi nodded again, suddenly itching to move on because he really shouldn’t care one way or the other. And why the hell did I even stop just now?

  A truck with flashing yellow lights appeared in the distance, headed their way.

  “Well, again, thanks, man.” Shane tapped the side of his truck door as Levi started to ease off on the brakes. “Have a good day.”

  He lifted his hand in acknowledgment as he drove away. The man’s friendly parting words made the answer to his silent question a moment earlier click in his head as he glanced into the rearview mirror. He’d stopped to score points with Mallory’s brother.

  In which case, he was more messed up in the head than he’d thought.

  Chapter 3

  Mallory’s attention jerked up as movement registered in the corner of her eye and voices reached her ears. One glance was all it took to see Janelle’s long red hair, and Judy Walsh’s steel-gray head beside her. The elder woman carried her great granddaughter in her arms.

  It’d been two days since Levi had given her a ride to work. Two days of getting her hopes up with each new customer who entered the shop, only to have to smile through her disappointment when it wasn’t his tall figure striding toward her.

  She should be happy about that. She didn’t need or want the distraction of a man in her life right now. Nothing that would keep her here longer than she absolutely had to stay.

  The thing was, he’d rushed off so quickly the other day, she’d wondered if something was wrong. She didn’t think she’d done anything—and she certainly hadn’t said anything, even though her tongue was sore from biting it to keep quiet during the ride. Janelle had frowned after his departure, but she’d done nothing more than shrug in answer to Mallory’s fishing comment about his reserved manner.

  When he’d been noticeably absent around the property since then, she found thoughts of him popping into her head more often during the day, and couldn’t help worrying if something was wrong. She’d caught a glimpse of him across the lake earlier this morning, Daisy prancing at his side, Duke a
safe distance ahead and to the side. So, physically he appeared to be fine, but she still wondered about his absence.

  Had been for most of the past three hours, she realized.

  Smiling at her boss and Judy, she silently acknowledged she needed to get over this infatuation for the lodge’s maintenance man. If the lure of free gourmet coffee and Josie Sullivan’s amazing pastries couldn’t bring him around, he clearly had no interest in speaking with her again.

  Which was for the best, really.

  Maybe tomorrow, on her day off, she’d call Josie and her sister Tessa to go out in Green Bay. Maybe Nikki, too. A girls night out was just what she needed to put things back in perspective.

  “Looks great in here, Mallory,” Judy said as she turned around to survey the new holiday gift displays that’d been set up earlier in the week. Catching little Hazel’s arm before her hand knocked a glass ornament from the shelf, she gave her granddaughter a smile. “No offense, Janey.”

  “None taken, Grandma. I’m just as impressed with what she’s done in the couple weeks she’s been here.”

  The redhead grinned at Mallory, awakening a twinge of guilt for wanting to leave the first chance she got.

  “We were doing well before, but you’ve more than doubled business this past week.”

  “I’ve got more suggestions if you’d like to hear them,” Mallory offered.

  “Definitely. In fact, this is perfect, because after seeing all this, I thought you might be the perfect person to brainstorm with about some possible fundraiser ideas. Let me get Grandma a cappuccino for while she’s babysitting Hazel, and then we can talk.”

  Excitement simmered as Mallory also bagged up a lemon poppy seed muffin while Janelle made the drinks.

  “Santa Butch here, too?” she asked Judy while handing over the bag.

  “Yes. He’s going to help Janey with the animals and already went out to the barns. It’s a little busier with Mark gone to Milwaukee the past two days.”

  “It sure is,” Janelle agreed as she brought the to-go cup over for her grandmother. “You and Grandpa are Godsends.”

  “Oh, dear, we get our payment. Don’t we Hazel?” Judy blew a raspberry on the infant’s neck and unrestrained giggles filled the air. “Yes we do.”

  She finished teasing the baby and reached for her drink. Pausing, she eyed the goodwill jar Mallory had set on the counter her first week on the job. “Do you mind if I take one of these?”

  “That’s what they’re there for,” Mallory said. “Give or take.”

  “Great.” She pulled a folded slip of paper attached to a piece of chocolate from the jar and put it in the pocket of her sweater. “See you later. Have a good day, Mallory.”

  “You, too,” she said as the woman left with the baby to return to the residence wing of the lodge.

  A few more customers wandered in, and once they were served, Mallory and Janelle each poured a cup of coffee and sat at one of the tables.

  “Funny you should mention fundraising ideas,” she said to her boss as she flipped pages on the legal pad she’d kept handy since about three days into the job. “I was actually thinking along those lines myself.”

  “Great. Show me what you got.”

  She found the page she wanted and plopped the pad of paper onto the table. “Okay, so you do the Santa pictures at the mall, as well as the carriage rides in downtown Green Bay, but I was thinking that there are plenty of other occasions you can work with to attract guests and even get local residents from the surrounding community out to the lodge. You have tons of room here on the grounds and around the animal rescue, so I thought maybe you could start with a Fall Harvest Festival.”

  Interest sparked in the other woman’s green eyes. “Go on.”

  “I know it’s short notice, but this first year, if you plan for the weekend after Halloween, you can avoid competing with the haunted houses and the Boo Zoo, plus you can hopefully beat the snow. You guys already have a reputation for doing things right, and I think you could get a fair amount of interest from the community.”

  Janelle nodded. “So…harvest festival. Are you talking like booths and stuff?”

  “Yes. Booths with games for kids, a petting zoo with some of the rescue animals, something with pumpkins, a pie baking contest, silent auction, maybe even some local arts and crafts,” she rattled off. “Hay rides, hot chocolate, booyah—”

  “Ooh, I love this! We can come up with all kinds of stuff.”

  They brainstormed a whole list of additional possibilities before falling silent as Janelle scooped up the legal pad and scanned the plans. She sat back and Mallory saw that once the initial wave of excitement passed, reality set in.

  “This is going to be a ton of work to get done in just one month.”

  “I think it can be done on a smaller scale this year,” Mallory insisted. “And I’m willing to put in the time. It’ll lay the ground work for an even better event next year that you can start planning much further out.”

  Regret filled her boss’s expression. “The thing is, I can’t pay much overtime for a fundraiser, and my time is much more limited with Hazel these days. This might be something we have to start now to build up for next year.”

  Disappointment flooded through Mallory, until she recalled a thought she’d had while walking around the lake yesterday during her lunch break.

  “Well…I might have a solution that could work.”

  When she hesitated, Janelle’s eyebrows rose as she sipped her coffee.

  Mallory fiddled with the pen in her hand. Her current wage didn’t pay near enough to cover rent and allow her to save money for an eventual move out of town. Shane had been great about everything, letting her stay at his place, and giving her rides when her car was in the shop the last couple days, but too much longer and they’d drive each other nuts.

  Just ask.

  “I’ve been staying with my brother for the past month because my apartment building was going through some structural updates. I found out yesterday that the building has now been condemned, and I won’t be able to move back in.” Nothing less than she expected these days, but—

  “That sucks.”

  She gave a short laugh when Janelle finished her thought. “Yes, it does. However, when Mark gave me the tour a couple weeks ago, he pointed out the two older cabins way past the others you guys currently rent around the lake.”

  “Yeah. He got a great deal from a resort up north and transported them here for a fraction of the cost of building them from scratch,” Janelle explained. “Levi’s been working on the renovations all summer on his days off. He has one fixed up already, plus I think he’s almost done with the second one.”

  She took a deep breath and forced her question out. “Would you consider letting me live in one in exchange for my work on the fundraiser?”

  Janelle’s eyebrows rose, and after a moment she said, “That’s Mark’s call. Not that I would mind, but he handles that part of the resort business. Although, with Levi’s similar arrangement, we know he’s open to the idea.”

  Mallory lifted her head in surprise. “Levi’s arrangement?”

  “Mark gave him use of the last cabin in the back as part of his salary.” She gave her a considering look. “I thought that’s why you suggested it?”

  “No.” She sat back, fighting dismay. “I didn’t know he lived back there. I just hoped if I could bring in enough to exceed what the cabin makes in revenue, you guys might be willing to work with me on a trade. And I can do other PR work, too. I’ve got a lot more in me than managing the shop.”

  Janelle’s gaze flicked to the legal pad. “I can see that.”

  “Well, as far as the cabin goes, I don’t want to be a bother.” To them, or Levi. She masked her disappointment with a smile. “I can stay with my brother a little longer until I find someplace else. And I’m still more than willing to work on the festival.”

  Coffee cup in hand, Janelle pushed up from the table. “Listen, I’ve got to ge
t back out to the barns, but let me run everything by Mark when he gets home tomorrow, including the cabin situation. I think this festival could be great and really don’t want to wait until next year. Plus, I’d love to see what you can do.”

  “Thanks. But…I honestly didn’t know about Levi. If Mark does agree, do you think he’ll mind suddenly having a neighbor?”

  She shrugged. “The cabins are far enough apart that privacy shouldn’t be an issue. Besides, you staying there isn’t any different than if we rented to guests.”

  “I guess not.” Mallory reached for the note pad and pen.

  “And then again,” Janelle murmured, “it’s always possible he wouldn’t mind at all.”

  Something in the other woman’s voice made Mallory glance up to see her gaze focused out the window, a small smile on her lips. As she turned to see what had captured her attention, the redhead said, “See you later.”

  The sight of Levi approaching the patio sent her pulse skipping. He nodded at Janelle when they passed, then turned his attention toward Mallory as he entered the shop. Sucking in a deep breath to calm her racing heartbeat, she stood and met his gaze with a welcoming smile.

  “Hey, Levi.”

  “Hi.”

  She gathered the items off the table and moved past him to the counter. He’d carried the fresh, crisp scent of the outdoors in with him, and she savored a discreet inhale of musk and pine as she set her things aside before turning to face him from behind the bakery display.

  “I haven’t seen you around much the past couple days.” She kept her smile in place after the words were out, even though they revealed she’d been looking for him.

  “Been busy,” he said shortly.

  There was no distinct color to his gaze today. The mix of green and brown made her want to lean close and study his eyes in sunlight. She almost laughed at the thought of his expression if she dragged him outside to do just that. He’d think she was crazy.

  As her lips twitched, he lowered his gaze to peruse the items in the case, and she let hers take in his long, lean frame. Jeans, snug T-shirt, and an untucked, unbuttoned black and green checkered flannel shirt. The shirt-sleeves were rolled up to reveal his muscled forearms, and though she wanted to linger on those lines, she forced her gaze back to his face as he shifted to his left. His dark hair was tousled from the wind, and his usual scruff was shaved to just a shadow on his jaw.