Finding Love in Sun Valley, Idaho (Resort to Love Book 1)

by Angela Ruth Strong

  “Wow,” Emily murmured. “You’d think they could get trees from the East Coast or at least somewhere closer.”

  “Oh, they could.” Mr. Lake gave a lazy half-smile. “But then we wouldn’t make any money off them… Driving to Florida was never a problem. It was the coming home that always depressed Becky. She hated returning to all this snow. Finally, I suggested we not return at all. It’s been a nice change of pace for us, hasn’t it, dear?”

  Mrs. Lake nodded grudgingly. Maybe the woman simply wasn’t fond of Emily’s relationship with Tracen because she wasn’t fond of much at all. She was the exact opposite of Violet. Emily sent up a silent prayer of thanks for her mother’s optimism.

  “Hey, Emily Van Arsdale.”

  Emily smiled over at Tracen’s oldest brother. They were all still calling her by her full name. Too cute.

  Dave held up an action figure — a female with red boots and a star-spangled cape. “Look what I found in my suitcase. It must belong to one of my daughters.”

  Tracen held out a hand. “Let me see that.”

  Dave tossed the doll, and Tracen caught it in his palm. She had to get used to the way the Lake boys threw everything. When she’d asked Josh to pass the ketchup, it had become a football, and she hadn’t been quite ready to play receiver.

  Emily watched in good humor. The action figure didn’t bother her. She’d learned to expect to see her image everywhere. The mall was the worst — DVD covers in the electronics store, T-shirts in the T-shirt store, even a sketch of Wonder Woman at an artist’s booth. Why would she think she could get away from it all in Tracen’s backyard?

  “If you ask me, her outfit is kind of skimpy.” Mrs. Lake sniffed.

  Josh quipped, “Why do you think the movie did so well, Mom?”

  Which started another conversation between the brothers about their favorite actresses.

  Emily refused to wilt in embarrassment. “It’s a patriotic costume. I actually thought about wearing it this weekend, for the Fourth of July.”

  She stifled the smile that image brought, but the brothers hooted in laughter. Mrs. Lake’s expression soured like the lemonade Emily had forgotten to add sugar to.

  The truth was that it had almost been like wearing a swimming suit to work when she was filming Wonder Woman, but with the way swimming suits were designed anymore, the costume could be considered modest. Relief swept through her as Tracen held the doll next to her face, thus moving on.

  “I don’t see much resemblance,” he said, tilting his head. “The doll’s nose is proportionately bigger and her eyebrows are thinner. And she doesn’t have the same amazing bone structure.”

  Emily chuckled. “What do you know about bone structure?”

  The expression in Tracen’s eyes warmed. “I know I like looking at yours.”

  Emily wanted to get lost in Tracen’s gaze. She liked looking at him too. But the clatter from across the table told her that Mrs. Lake was clearing the dishes. Emily had better help make up for her last comment. She gave a “thank-you” smile to Tracen before standing.

  Making polite small talk, Emily gathered all the condiments onto a tray. She hoped this would be a chance to connect with Tracen’s mom, but somehow she ended up loading the dishwasher all by herself. She finished and headed to the bathroom to look for hand soap. Being the bachelor that he was, Tracen used dish soap to wash his hands in the kitchen. She stepped into the tiny room and was about to flick on the water when Tracen’s voice outside the open window caught her attention.

  “Why don’t you like her, Mom?”

  Emily’s inhale got stuck in her throat. He was talking about her. With his mom. Who obviously wasn’t her biggest fan.

  “I do like her.”

  Whew.

  “She’s beautiful. Sweet. Confident. You said she’s a Christian.”

  All good things, but the woman’s tone didn’t sound accepting. Emily tensed for the “but” that was coming.

  “But?” asked Tracen.

  “She’s an actress.”

  Emily frowned. How ridiculous. Tracen’s excuse that she’d been too short for him was more of a legitimate reason not to like her. Did the woman think she was acting? That she didn’t really care for Tracen?

  “Mom, she’s from Boise. She’s moving back to Idaho.” Quiet. Except for Emily’s heart pounding.

  “Tracen…” The one word sounded like it had a lot more meaning to the guy she spoke it to. Like they’d had this argument before, and he already knew what she was going to say. Emily, however, had no idea.

  Tracen’s response filled in the missing pieces. “I know what you’re getting at, Mom. And I worried about the same thing at first. But she’s not Serena. She’s not obsessed with fame. It’s different this time.”

  Emily’s chest constricted. Was Serena another actress? Had she left Tracen for Hollywood?

  Mrs. Lake’s voice softened. Maybe she focused on the negatives to protect the ones she loved. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Sugar.”

  ****

  TRACEN WATCHED THE LIGHT from the exploding fireworks play over Emily’s features. She lay on the roof next to him. Both had their hands behind their heads, but Emily was looking up, while he was looking at her.

  Had his mom been right? Or Honey, for that matter? Jor-El’s mention of a sequel to Wonder Woman played in his mind. But Emily would have told him about it. She said she wanted to come back to Idaho. She fit in here.

  Her profile pivoted until she was facing him.

  “Did you have a nice day?” His brothers could be a little overwhelming sometimes, but she seemed to enjoy them.

  Emily’s lashes lowered for a moment so he couldn’t see her eyes. She glanced up, but with the shadows, it was still hard to read her. “Your brothers are great. And your dad too.”

  At the moment all four of his brothers were by the river. Dave had a permit to shoot off fireworks that were normally considered illegal in Idaho because his retreat center put on a display every year for New Year’s. Tracen could hear them down there laughing about Sam’s exploits in Iraq. Sam would tell them stuff that he didn’t tell their parents — stuff parents didn’t want to know.

  He’d find out about Sam’s stories later. His little brother planned to stay with Tracen for a while. It had to be hard coming home from serving in the military, only to find that the home you grew up in no longer existed.

  Tracen’s parents had already left for the night to stay at Howie’s house. He had Emily all to himself.

  “I think Sam’s got a crush on you.” Sam had to be six years younger than her. It was like having a crush on a babysitter.

  “Sam has been surrounded by men for the last year. He’d have a crush on anyone in a skirt.”

  “Or a cape, for that matter.” Tracen grinned and laced her delicate fingers through his, claiming her as his own. He lifted her hand so he could study it, their elbows resting on the rough shingles between them. The booming and whistling of fireworks faded so that the chirping of crickets sounded loud. Satisfaction filled him. There was nowhere else he would rather be.

  “Tracen?” her hesitant voice roused him from rest.

  “Yeah?”

  “I might be jumping ahead in our relationship, but I want you to know that I can’t picture myself ever being with anyone else.”

  The current of his blood sped up. He rolled to his side and lifted up to an elbow. She was so beautiful bathed in moonbeams. How did he get so lucky?

  She continued, as if afraid he might interrupt. “I’m not one of those actresses who meets a new boyfriend with every film. This is new for me.”

  She watched him like she was looking for a sign he wouldn’t believe her. Probably because what she was saying was unbelievable. If he didn’t feel the same way, he’d assume she was playing him. Had one of his brothers fallen into a romantic relationship so quickly, he’d wrestle said brother into the shower and blast him with cold water.

  But this was different. They couldn�
�t take their time and let things happen naturally. Either they went their separate ways when she finished filming the movie, or they took action now to make sure they could be together later. Emily was definitely worth taking action for.

  Emily curled onto her side to face him, tucking both hands under her cheek like a pillow. Tracen studied her, unsure how to communicate his feelings. Earlier he’d mentioned that it was important she like the last name Lake. Wasn’t that enough?

  “I’m really glad to hear you say that,” he responded at last. There. They were on the same page. Now they could laugh about the way Toto chewed up the Wonder Woman action figure or the way his brothers kept trying to impress Emily by giving their own reviews to all the movies that had recently come out.

  “Who is Serena?”

  “What?” Tracen couldn’t have heard her right, but if he had, then his stupid question bought him a little more time to figure out what he was going to say. Did one of his brothers blab about his ex? He was going to kill whoever it was. Unless it was Sam, of course. Sam could probably take Tracen out without even standing up.

  “I overheard your mom say she didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  Oh, his mom. Darn that woman for being so protective.

  “And I overheard you say you’d been worried at first that

  I was like Serena.”

  She may not be a superhero, but she sure had super hearing. “Uh...”

  “Is she an actress?”

  Serena an actress? This conversation wasn’t making sense anymore, but that could be because he wasn’t participating in it. “She’s a dancer.”

  “And she went to Hollywood?”

  He probably should have told her earlier. But he’d still been trying to figure her out at the time. “Serena was my high school sweetheart. I proposed the week we graduated.”

  “That’s young.” Emily sounded like she was making excuses for Serena. He didn’t want to hear it.

  “We were supposed to go to college together then we were going to take over the tree farm. But halfway through our freshman year she ran off.” He still had the letter she left him. The rose-patterned stationery. The scrunched script. The tearstains. His and hers.

  Emily spoke quietly. “That was a long time ago.”

  She didn’t get it. She’d never had a fiancé dump her, so she couldn’t. “Yeah.” He should just leave it there. Emily didn’t need to know that, since Serena, he hadn’t met a single woman who cared about him enough to stay in Sun Valley.

  “So that’s really why Honey and Gigi warned that you wouldn’t be interested in dating me.”

  She’d connected the dots, which was better than him having to spill his guts. Couldn’t they get serious about each other without such serious conversations?

  “Yeah. Though you are pretty short.”

  Emily giggled, scooting closer.

  It took him a moment to realize she was comparing the length of their legs. With their hips lined up, her feet only reached to his calves. “I think I was your height in sixth grade.”

  Emily’s teeth flashed in the moonlight as she grinned. “Then we were the same height. I haven’t grown since I was twelve.”

  Tracen chuckled and stretched out, flexing and relaxing his muscles. The heat from the day had followed the sun behind the mountains, but he wasn’t going to let the growing chill ruin this moment. In fact, he’d give his sweatshirt to Emily if she suggested going in because she was cold. It surprised him that she hadn’t made the suggestion already.

  “Tracen?”

  “You can have my sweatshirt.” He sat to unzip the hoodie and lay it over her.

  “Thanks.” She snuggled down. “But that’s not what I was going to ask.”

  Goosebumps popped up on his arms, so he used it as an excuse to pull Emily close. Body heat had benefits. He nuzzled his nose into her fruity-smelling hair and considered kissing her, but their lip locks hadn’t been turning out well. First her mom found them together. Then his. If he tried anything now, he’d probably roll them right off the roof and into his brothers’ laps.

  “What’d you wanna ask?” His lips were so close to her temple. One little kiss couldn’t—

  “Do you miss her?”

  Ooh, that hurt. Tracen paused. Why were they still talking about Serena? He pulled a couple strands of Emily’s hair from his mouth to answer. “Not really.”

  Emily tilted her head to look up at his face. It would have been the perfect opportunity for a kiss, were they not still talking about his ex-girlfriend.

  “What does that mean?”

  Tracen groaned. He thought he’d gotten out of revisiting past pain, but he owed it to her. She’d shared about her father’s illness. “I guess I mean that I don’t really miss Serena. I mostly miss what we could have had together. You know, the home-cooked meals every night, the two-point-five kids, the vacations to Disney World™. I had it all perfectly arranged in my head.”

  He felt the tender touch before he realized Emily had lifted her fingers to his face. She traced his hairline, then his eyebrows, his cheeks, his chin — as if wanting to memorize his every feature. Hopefully her memory of features was as bad as it was for names. He’d enjoy the tingles that her prolonged practice would bring.

  “Life is never what we expect it to be.”

  Tracen lifted his own hand to pull hers to his lips. He brushed a kiss across her fingertips. “Sometimes it’s better.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  TRACEN SLOWED HIS RUSTY OLD SILVERADO and turned off the main road since it was apparently closed for a parade. They detoured around The Days of the Old West, passing a kiddie carnival and art display. Emily planned to check out the local art for a memento when they returned for the rodeo later.

  No wonder Bruce had wanted to start filming earlier. The population of the tiny town seemed to have doubled. The scenes would definitely have been compromised by giggly teenagers or curious fans.

  Tracen headed down Highway 75 to take Emily fishing at the infamous Silver Creek. The brothers made it sound like she’d be facing a challenge, but she loved the excuse to be alone with Tracen. It beat attending the Weekend of antiques with his mom. Though she would have enjoyed watching the Summer Ice Show performed on the outdoor rink behind the resort where she stayed.

  “You know…” Tracen pulled off the highway, giving Emily a glimpse of the river snaking through the valley ahead. “The first time my dad ever came fishing here, he met Ernest Hemingway.”

  Was he pulling her leg? “Hemingway fished?”

  “Oh yeah. His favorite sport. His son actually persuaded The Nature Conservancy to purchase the Silver Creek Preserve, and Hemingway’s wife donated his last house to them.” Tracen nodded toward a stone marker that read The Hemingway Legacy as they passed. “He used to also hunt duck from a canoe out here.”

  Now that intrigued Emily. “I’m staying in the Hemingway Suite at the resort. The concierge made a big deal out of it, but I really don’t know anything about the guy.”

  Tracen slowed and wedged his truck under some trees at the side of the road. “Yeah, the resort used to invite all kinds of celebrities up to gain popularity. You’ve probably seen the black and white photos lining the hallways.”

  Emily swung her large door open and slid out. “Yep. Though I was more impressed with the fact that Sun Valley had the first chairlifts. I can’t wait to ski Baldy this winter.”

  Tracen hauled a couple of fishing poles out of the truck bed. “I’ll take you up there before it snows. You might also like paragliding off the top.”

  Emily’s toes curled, and her stomach heaved at the idea of dangling from such height. “Um, that might be too close to skydiving.”

  Tracen joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He grinned down. “You’d love it, my dear.”

  “Maybe.” Or maybe she loved the thrill of being close to him. Falling in love could be considered a little like skydiving.

  Turning her attention from him for t
he first time, she surveyed their surroundings. Glistening water shimmied over rocks and around sagebrush. She felt every bit as free.

  Tracen led her down a beaten path to a muddy embankment. “Have you ever gone fishing before?”

  “I have.” She avoided Tracen’s eyes but didn’t miss the twitch that almost turned into a smile on his lips.

  “Did you catch anything?”

  “I did.”

  Now Tracen gave her the full grin — a surprised yet approving full grin. “I’m impressed.”

  Emily grinned back. Hopefully she didn’t make too big a fool of herself with his rod and reel.

  “When was the last time you fished?”

  Apparently real fishermen liked telling their fishing stories. She was not one of them. “I was ten years old, and my dad had purchased his first boat.” She smiled sheepishly. Though he wore his ever-present sunglasses, she could imagine Tracen’s hazel eyes sparkling like the sunshine reflected off the river. Might as well tell the whole truth. “Dad threw my fish back, which made me mad. Fishing seemed like such a waste of time after that. Especially since all the other boaters got to water ski. I told my dad to take my fishing pole back and get me skis.”

  “There it is.” Tracen acted as if her fishing experience were a joke, and he’d been waiting for a punch line.

  Her defenses stiffened her spine and lowered her voice. “What?” She lifted her chin as she watched him dig through a little backpack he wore on his chest.

  Tracen studied the area, looking for the right spot to cast from. “I wondered if you would get bored today.”

  Just past Tracen a fish jumped, causing a small splash and rippling effect. She was so enthralled by the simple beauty, she almost forgot what they’d been discussing. Oh yeah, boredom. She’d definitely not be bored, and his assumption was so off the mark it didn’t even deserve a response. Anything was an adventure with Tracen around.

  Digging her cell phone out of her shorts pocket, she delighted in the fact she’d remembered it for once. “This is all so pretty. I want to take a picture.” She pressed the power button, hoping the battery wasn’t dead. The responding digital ding let her know she was in luck. She stepped away from the creek. “Stand there, Tracen.” She pointed the phone at him to capture the image, but he didn’t cooperate and stay still.