“Will do.” Another blinding, too-wide smile. And then she shouldered her pack, grabbed her big plastic bag of stuff and got out. Buster jumped down after her.
He didn’t allow himself to watch her walk away. As soon as she shut the door, he put it in gear and got the hell out of there.
* * *
Gage was waiting for Willa in his office. He was on a cell phone arguing with someone about roadblocks or something, but he cut it short when he looked up and saw her in the doorway.
“Willa.” He gave her a tired smile and ended the call. Then he got up and came around the desk to her. She ran to him and he hugged her close. He said in a voice rough with emotion, “I’m so glad you’re all right.” She let her bag and pack drop to the floor and hugged him back, hard. He’d always made her feel safe and protected. And right then, after the way Collin had seemed so eager to get rid of her, well, it felt good to have her big brother’s arms around her.
When he let her go, she asked, “Have you been out to the ranch?”
His mouth formed a grim line. “Yeah. What a mess. I’ll be staying down the street, in a FEMA trailer for a while.”
“Why not stay at Mom and Dad’s?”
“It’s better if I’m right here in town, where I need to be.” There was a tap on the door. He went over and opened it and said to the dispatcher, “I need a few minutes here. Won’t be long.” Then he shut the door again and turned to her. “Buster?”
“He’s good. I tied him out in front.”
He came back to her, clasped her shoulder and glanced down at the pile of belongings she’d dropped at her feet. “I heard you’ve been staying over at the town hall on a cot—until last night anyway.”
She nodded, her gaze on his handsome face. He looked so weary, the faint lines around his eyes etched deeper than before. “It worked out.”
He took charge, the way he always did. “So, then. You need a car, a phone and a place to stay.”
She had a place to stay—with Collin. Or at least, she’d thought she did until a couple of hours ago. “A car and a phone would really help.” She was going to have a long talk with Collin that evening, whether he liked it or not. And then, if that didn’t go well, she’d find somewhere else to stay. “I need to get hold of the insurance people—for the house and for the Subaru.”
“Have a seat.” Gage gestured at one of the guest chairs and then went back to sit behind his desk, where he pulled open a drawer and took out another cell phone, a charger and the key to his pickup. “I’ve got cells I can use and the county provides me with a vehicle. For now, you take my cell and the pickup.”
“Oh, Gage. I can’t take your truck.”
“Oh, yes, you can. And you will.” He shoved it all across at her. “I programmed the number of the cell I’ll be using into this phone. So you know where to reach me whenever you need me. Get a hold of your insurance agent. And call Mom. She’s been asking about you.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“And with the truck, you can get around. Got money?”
She admitted, “I lost my wallet in the Forester.”
He passed her some cash and a credit card. “You should get over to Kalispell and replace your license. And you need to call about your credit cards....”
She granted him a patient glance. “Yes, big brother.”
He went right on. “There’s gas available, too. The garage just got its tanks refilled. With the truck, you’ll be able to stay at the ranch.”
She wasn’t committing to that. At least not until she’d had it out with Collin. “I’ll be okay. Please don’t worry.”
He was looking way too bleak. She knew what was coming next. And she was right. “So...you spent the night at Collin Traub’s.” He practically winced when he said Collin’s name.
She sat up straighter. “Yes, I did—and you can just stop giving me that pained look. Collin’s not what I always thought, Gage. I’m ashamed of how completely I misjudged him. He’s a great guy.”
He had a one-word response to that. “Dane?”
“Dane is not the issue here.”
“Willa.” He used her name as a rebuke. “The man asked you to marry him. I thought you were considering it.”
“I blew it, all right? I never should have told Dane I would think it over when he proposed. There’s nothing to think over. Dane is not the man for me.”
“You say that now....”
“Yes. And I should have said it from the first. As soon as Dane’s back in the country, I will apologize to him for keeping him hanging.”
“Dane’s a good man. Are you sure you want to just cut him loose?”
“I am absolutely certain.”
“Well, even if that’s so, it doesn’t make the Traub wild man right for you. Willa, come on. You know about Collin Traub. He’s not a man to hang your hopes on. The guy never met a heart he didn’t break. And he’s spent more than one night cooling his heels in the jail cell out there for being drunk and disorderly and picking a fight.”
She refused to waver. “People mature. They change. Collin grew up without a lot of supervision. Yes, he went a little wild.”
“A little?”
“He’s just not like that anymore. I...I care for him and I respect him.” Gage started to speak, but she didn’t let him get a word in. “Listen. I know you only want to protect me and I love you for it. But I don’t want or need protecting. I’m an adult and I know what I’m doing.” I hope.
“Well, I don’t like it.”
“Gage...”
He surprised her and admitted, “All right. I know that he’s made a go of his uncle’s saddle-making business. I give him credit for that.” Willa started to relax a little. At least Gage realized that Collin had created a productive life for himself. But then he went on, “However, when it comes to women, Collin Traub is bad news. I want you to stay away from him. Can you just do that, just stay away from him for my sake? Please.”
“I’m sorry. No. You’re the best brother any girl could have. But being the best doesn’t give you the right to tell me how to run my life.”
He started to rise. “Now, you listen here—”
“Sit down, Gage,” she instructed in her best schoolteacher tone. Surprisingly, he sank back to his chair. And she pressed her advantage. “I’m a grown woman. And I am fully capable of making my own decisions about my life—and the men in it. I want you to give Collin a chance.”
“A chance to what?” he demanded. “To hurt you and mess you over?”
“No. A chance to make you see that there’s more to him than your old ideas about him. All you have to do is ask around town and you’ll learn a thing or two about everything he’s done for Rust Creek Falls since the flood. He saved my life, Gage. He’s been at the front line of the rescue efforts and the cleanup. He’s a natural leader and he’s right there when he’s needed—and no, I can’t say if what’s happening with Collin and me is going to last forever. But I do know that, however it ends up with us, I will never regret being with him.”
Gage gave her a long, dark look. And then he grabbed a pencil, pulled open his pencil drawer and tossed it in. He shut the drawer good and hard. “I’m not happy about this.”
“That’s your prerogative.”
“But what can I say?”
She gazed at him coaxingly. “That you’ll give Collin a chance.”
He blew out a breath. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it. For now. I’ll just knock myself out being open-minded about Collin Traub.”
She beamed him her fondest smile. “Thank you.”
“But if that wild man breaks your heart, you can be damn sure I’ll be first in line to break his face.”
* * *
Willa spent the day taking care of personal business.
She used the cell Gage had loaned her to call her insurance agent and the FEMA flood insurance number. The clerks she talked to took her number and promised she’d get calls back from adjusters within twenty-four hours—fo
r the car and for the house and for her separate government-run flood insurance policy. Next, she made calls about her credit cards. That took a while, since she no longer had the cards, she was calling from someone else’s phone and her records had been turned to mush in the flood. But in the end, she gave the ranch as a temporary address and was promised that new cards would arrive there within the week. After that, she decided to go ahead and drive to Kalispell to visit her bank and her cell phone provider, and to get a new driver’s license.
As soon as she got her new phone in her hand, she called everyone back and told them she had her own phone now. Then she called her mom in Livingston.
“You got your phone back,” her mother said when she answered. “Oh, honey. We miss you....”
“I miss you, too, Mom.”
“I talked to Gage just today...”
“Yeah. He finally made it back. He loaned me his truck.”
“Good. There are still a lot of problems with the roads, so we thought we’d just stay here in Livingston a little longer.”
“That sounds wise, Mom.”
“Gage says they’re giving him a trailer so he can stay in town.”
“Yes. You know him. He needs to be where the action is.”
“Honey, I’ve been meaning to ask. You are staying at the ranch, aren’t you?”
“Uh, no.”
“But why not?”
Willa didn’t want to go into her relationship with Collin. Not now. Not on the phone—and not after last night and the awkwardness of that morning. It was all too new and exciting and scary. Not to mention, up in the air. And evidently, Gage had stayed out of it and said nothing to their parents about where she’d slept last night.
Thank you, big brother.
“Willa? Are you there?”
“Right here. And I’ve been staying in the town hall.” It was true. She had been. Until last night. “They have cots set up for people whose homes were flooded.”
“But surely you should be out at the ranch. Even with the power out, it seems to me that you would be so much more comfortable there than sleeping on a hard, narrow cot in a public building....”
“Mom. I’m managing. It’s working out fine.”
“Just think about it, won’t you? Consider it.”
“I’ll manage, Mom.”
Her mother muttered something under her breath. “Always so independent.”
“I love you, Mom. Give my love to Daddy. I have to go....”
“And we love you. You’re eating right, aren’t you? Taking care of yourself...?”
“I’m perfectly healthy and I’m getting plenty to eat. And I do have to go.”
With a sigh, her mother said goodbye.
* * *
Willa and Buster got back to Rust Creek Falls at a little past three in the afternoon. She stopped in at Gage’s office and returned his cell phone. Then she visited the town hall and the Community Church in hopes that Collin might be at one or the other.
He wasn’t. She tried not to feel too disappointed. The man could be back up on the mountain working in his shop, or out on flood cleanup—or just about anywhere.
She considered calling him, but decided to wait. Tonight, one way or another, she would track him down.
Summer school was out by then, so she went to Paige’s house. Shelby was there with her little girl, Caitlin, who would be in Willa’s class next year. Willa got a full report on the day’s activities at the park. Shelby said the day had gone well and volunteered to fill in again for Willa whenever she needed a hand.
Willa thanked her. She really liked Shelby, who was a wonderful mother and a talented teacher. Shelby wasn’t having an easy time of it raising her little girl alone. A blonde, blue-eyed beauty who had once been the most popular girl at Rust Creek Falls High, now Shelby made ends meet tending bar at the Ace in the Hole. Willa had been encouraging her to apply for a full-time teaching position with the district.
When Shelby and Caitlin left, Willa stayed to brainstorm with Paige on new projects for their summer school kids—projects that would lend themselves to an outdoor classroom setting.
At five-thirty, Willa put Buster on his leash and Paige walked with them to the church for dinner. The gas had never stopped working on the north side of town, but the power was still out. Paige had no generator, which meant she couldn’t keep food refrigerated. The church, with the help of donations from a number of sources, would continue to provide meals for the community as long as people needed them. Refrigerated trucks brought in food daily.
Halfway there, Paige asked gingerly, “Are things okay with you and Collin?”
Willa sent her a sideways glance. “Ask me in a day or two.”
“I’m here and ready to listen anytime you need me.”
Willa hooked an arm around her friend’s slim shoulders. “I know. It’s just another reason why I’m so glad you’re my friend.”
At the church, Willa spotted Jerry Dobbs sitting at a table with three other members of Collin’s cleanup team. Collin wasn’t with them.
Willa told Paige she’d join her in a moment. She got a bowl of dog food from one of the church ladies and took it outside to Buster. As the dog wolfed down his dinner, she gave Collin a call.
He didn’t answer.
She left a message. “Hey. It’s Willa. Note this number. It’s mine. I went to Kalispell and replaced my cell phone today, along with my driver’s license. I also dealt with replacing my credit cards, insurance adjusters and with my bank...” And really, did he need a blow-by-blow? She realized she was nervous because he hadn’t picked up when she called. She tried again. “Right now, I’m down at the church for dinner. No sign of you. Give me a call....” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she left it at that.
Back inside, she went through the serving line and sat down with Paige. Throughout the meal, she kept waiting for the phone to ring.
Didn’t happen.
She couldn’t help but feel a little bit dumped. Which was ridiculous, and she knew it. How could she be dumped? To be dumped implied that you’d shared some sort of at least semi-committed relationship with a guy. She and Collin? They were friends who’d slept together. One time.
So then, did that make her just another of Collin Traub’s one-night stands?
Oh, dear Lord. She did hope not. Collin couldn’t be that disappointing and hurtful. Could he?
She wished she could stop remembering her argument with Gage that morning.
Was Collin going to go and prove her big brother right?
No.
She needed to stop this. She was not going to think like this. If she kept on in this vein, she’d be right back where she started before the flood: racing out of rooms just because Collin Traub entered them.
That morning, she’d argued fervently with Gage on Collin’s behalf. She’d said how Collin had grown and changed from the no-strings wild boy he used to be. And she had absolutely believed what she’d said.
Collin had changed. And if he could do it, so could she.
The friendship they’d found since the flood meant a lot to her. And last night had been beautiful—no matter what happened next. One way or another, she was working this out with him. If he didn’t want to be with her in a man-woman way, well, that would hurt.
A lot.
But she would get over it.
Right now, what she needed to do was talk this out with him. And to do that, she had to find him.
Jerry Dobbs had finished his meal. He was busy putting his tray away, tossing his trash and separating his dishes from his flatware.
Willa told Paige she’d see her tomorrow, picked up her tray and went to ask Jerry if he might know where Collin had gone.
* * *
Collin tried to concentrate on the intricate pattern of leaves and vines, on the good, clean smell of veg tan top-grain leather, on the slow, exacting process of stamping the custom design with his stylus and mallet.
But his mind was not c
ooperating. His mind was on a certain brown-eyed woman. On the scent of lemons, on the way it had felt to have her tucked up against him naked all night long.
She had called over an hour ago. He hadn’t answered and he hadn’t called her back, though he had played her message. Three times. So far.
Yeah, he was being a real jerk and he knew it.
Still, he kept thinking it was better this way. Let her be completely disappointed in him, start avoiding him again.
Better for everyone.
Being her friend was one thing. But taking it further...
Bad idea. He’d blown it and he knew it. He shouldn’t have given in to that thing he’d always had for her. He’d seriously stepped over the line and he wasn’t going to let it happen again.
The sound from upstairs stopped his thoughts in midramble and his mallet in midair.
Someone was knocking on his front door.
He dropped the mallet and stylus and headed for the stairs as fast as his boots would carry him.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding me?” she asked when he pulled open the door. She stood there in old jeans and a frayed T-shirt, her hair loose on her shoulders, Buster at her feet. He’d never in his life seen a sight quite so beautiful. She tapped her booted foot. “Do I get to come in or not?”
Chapter Twelve
Collin glanced past her shoulder, saw her brother’s pickup parked next to his. Of course, Gage would have seen to it that she had transportation.
He accused, “The road up here is still dangerous.”
“You’ll be happy to know that Buster and I made it just fine.” She stuck out her chin at him. “Ahem. May I come in?”
It was a bad idea. And he was way too crazy happy to see her.
“Collin. Hello?”
He stepped back automatically. She moved forward, the dog right behind her. He edged around her, shut the door and turned to her. “What?”
She squared her shoulders, kind of bracing herself. “Look. If you regret last night, that’s fine. I can deal with that. I would rather you didn’t regret it. I would rather be, um...” She paused, swallowed. He watched the warm color flood upward over her sweet, soft cheeks. “I would rather be your lover. But if you don’t want that, well, okay. If you think it was a big mistake, what we did last night, okay. I won’t like it and it...hurts me. But I will get over it. Because what I really want, most of all, Collin Traub, is to still be your friend.”
Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: Marooned with the MaverickHer McKnight in Shining ArmorCelebration's Bride Page 14
