Staying The Course (The Men of Endurance Book 3)

by Siera London

  Oh shit. He’s getting up. He’s coming towards me. Try to smile.

  Her smile looked as if she’d just stolen peaches off his favorite tree, and broken off a limb. He wasn’t looking at her face but almost over her head. Julie turned to see if someone stood behind her.

  No one was there.

  “Rough night?” big sexy man asked.

  “No, bad morning,” she replied, looking up at him, “the coffee pot in my rental is broken.”

  “It would appear your hairbrush is as well,” he said, placing a massive paw on top of her head.

  “Huh?” she said, moving over to the glass to see herself in its reflection. Hair stuck straight up from her head as if she’d walked through an electromagnetic current. “Oh, dear Jesus!”

  The man laughed a throaty chuckle that reverberated in his chest. Julie was mortified twice. First, the conveyor belt now this. Her hair stood up on her head in the center of her scalp, and one side was mushed to her head. The lipstick she wore yesterday had not come off during the night, but was smeared across her mouth as if she’d been molested by Couchie’s best pal, Mr. Pillow.

  “My name is Abel,” he said. “Abel Burney.”

  “Julie Kraztner, Sports Complicated Magazine,” she said, looking down at the hand he offered in introduction.

  “Ms. Kratzner, where is the rental that you are residing in during your stay?” He asked.

  “A few blocks over,” she told him, sipping the coffee, trying to clear her brain. “The little blue cottage on Dodger Lane.”

  “I know it well,” he said, offering her a napkin. “I tell you what I am going to do. Please allow me to treat you to breakfast at Della’s Diner, then we will see about getting you a coffee pot.”

  “Go ahead and admit it,” she mumbled, “you think I’m pathetic.”

  “No, I think you’re adorable,” he said with a smile.

  She knew that kind of smile. It was the type of warmness a man gave when attempting to assess the level of crazy on a woman. Based on what her brother Eric had told her, men would venture as far as an eight on the crazy scale with a woman if the sex was bananas. A nine on the crazy chick scale could easily be a drawn out into a three-night stand, but a ten meant run.

  “Good. This adorable lady needs some food,” she said to him.

  “In normal circumstances, I would suggest we walk, but you appear to be incapable of making complex decisions this morning,” he said.

  “The altitude is messing with me, Mr. Burney, but I drove myself over here,” she said looking at him with interest. “I can drive myself to the diner.”

  “Great, meet you there in a few,” he said, mushing her hair down.

  “Cupcake,” she said to him. “I have eggs and bacon at the house. I want a cupcake or a bagel, not breakfast.

  He pointed down the street towards the center of town. “The Cupcakery is right over there next to town hall. Considering you are in house slippers, are you up for the walk?”

  Julie looked at her feet, then realized, at some point during the night, she’d put on her pajamas. She was in public, in her pajamas, in pink bunny house shoes, with no bra, and her hair stood up all over her head. At least, she’d put on a jacket and the coffee was good.

  “Mr. Burney, twice you have seen me in less than optimal conditions. If you would be so kind, I need to go home first and get dressed,” she said with a blank look on her face.

  “I tell you what Julie Kratzner... I’m going to drive you, wait while you get yourself together, and treat you to one of the best cupcakes in town,” he said, gripping her elbow. She shuffled towards the door, looking forward to getting out of the small shop.

  “Hey lady, your change,” the girl behind the counter called out.

  “Start a tab,” Julie said. “I’ll be back.”

  ABEL WITNESSED JULIE pull up in the little blue car, parking haphazardly and taking up two parking spaces. It took everything in him not to laugh when she stepped out of the car, her hair sticking up in every direction, with the pink bunny slippers on her feet. She was in dire need of a cup of coffee, and quite possibly a babysitter. He remembered her from the plane as well, allowing him to hold her hand during the turbulence. He thought he’d repaid the favor in full when he rescued her from the luggage carousel, when her handful of bottom was tooted up in the air as she rode around on top of the luggage. She was, in fact, adorable as she sat in his passenger seat, losing the battle with the seat belt. In frustration, she growled when she was unable to get it to connect after several attempts. Abel reached over, grabbed the strap, and clicked the safety device into the holder.

  “Shut up,” she said in laughter at her own ridiculousness. “These past two days have been horrific. I am all out of sorts.”

  “Not judging, just enjoying the show,” he said, putting the car into gear. He drove the three blocks to the little blue cottage. Parking in the drive, he asked her for the keys to the front door.

  Julie looked at him with large, doe-like eyes, as she said softly, “I left them in my car.”

  Abel started to laugh as he backed out the driveway, turned his vehicle, and headed back to the coffee shop. He didn’t make a sound as he parked, got out of his car, walked around the back end of the automobile, and retrieved her keys from the ignition. Luckily, the majority of the crowds had not come to town yet, or someone would have had the pleasure of joyriding in her car. He held onto the keys as he drove them to the blue cottage, parking in the drive for the second time. Reaching across the console, he unfastened her seat belt and pulled the latch to open the car door for her.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “No worries,” he replied, “I’ll wait for you while you shower and dress.”

  As far as Julie was concerned, her interactions with Abel Burney couldn’t get any worse than the two she’d already had with the man. He opened the door to find her suitcase in the middle of the floor with her clothing strewn all over the hardwood. A pair of underwear dangled haphazardly on the lamp, with the crotch facing upwards.

  “I’m not even going to ask,” he said, looking about. He picked up the suitcase, clamped all the loose clothing inside, picked the panties off the lamp, and carried it to the bedroom. Sitting the luggage on the bed, he looked at Julie closely. Adorable was the perfect word for her. She was nearly five seven, but her head only reached his chin. Soft, ebony skin, big brown expressive eyes, and curly black hair which sorely needed a brush. He felt an unfamiliar attraction to her, unlike any he’d experienced in the last few years. Maybe, I’ve been single too long because this woman is a heated mess, but I’m drawn to her.

  “Good, because I don’t have an answer,” she told him kicking off the pink bunny slippers. “I won’t be long.”

  “I’ll wait in the other room,” he told her. Abel closed the bedroom door. Heading to the kitchen, he checked the fridge. She did have bacon and eggs, so he decided to cook them a quick breakfast. Curiosity made him check the coffee pot, and it was indeed broken. He left the uncooked eggs and bacon on the counter. Grabbing her keys, he made a quick run to the local store, where he purchased a new coffee pot and filters.

  When he returned, Julie was still in the shower, so he started the coffee. Abel sizzled bacon, scrambled eggs, and made a few slices of toast by the time she came out of the bedroom dressed. She was visibly shocked when he poured her the second cup of hot coffee to get her morning going. By Abel’s assessment, the lady needed at least two to make her a functional member of society.

  “If you are telling me that you got the pot to work, I am packing my things and leaving right now,” she said, accepting the mug.

  “No,” he said, pulling out the chair. “You took so long to get showered and dressed, that I went and bought you a coffee pot and made breakfast.”

  “Normally, I don’t give two toots from a cow’s arse what people think of me, but you for some odd reason matter,” she said.

  “Are you telling me Julie that I matter to you”
he asked with one eyebrow arched.

  “You don’t matter more than this coffee and food if that’s what you are asking,” she said.

  “Fair enough. Eat up and we’ll go and get you a cupcake,” he said like a father would to his child. There was a twinkle in his eye when he said the words in a non-fatherly tone, as if implying good behavior meant she would receive more treats. The oddest sensation came over her. She didn’t want Abel Burney to think of her as a child, contrary to everything he’d seen about her thus far.

  I am intrigued by this man, and I care about what he thinks of me.

  THE CUPCAKERY WAS A delightful shop full of pastel colors. Equally vibrant sweet treats lined up like delectable soldiers in the display case, vying for customers to snap to attention and salute the chef’s efforts. To Abel, it reminded him of the animal shelter with all the animals crying out to be taken home and cared for by a loving owner. Julie decided not to let them down. Three red velvet, two key lime, and the banana pudding cupcakes were hers to love. The banana pudding, she wanted to eat on the spot, taking a table by the window with her new friend Abel.

  Another friend walked through the door. Dr. Winter entered with an expression of determination on his face, marched up to the counter, and ordered the banana pudding cupcake, chatting away with the shop owner. The woman listened intently, but only provided two word answers.

  “He’s trying too hard,” Julie said to Abel. “The woman is obviously not interested and only being polite.”

  “You’re wrong,” Abel said, biting into a Snickerdoodle, “look at her body language.”

  Abel was right. The shopkeeper’s body language was different. It conveyed to the good doctor that she was indeed interested. Fingers lingered in his palm when she returned his change, as if they shared a secret tryst the night before and no one knew but the two of them. She touched her hair several times after removing the gloves she wore to bag up or box up sweet treats, but she wasn’t talking back to him.

  “She’s not returning the conversation,” Julie said, watching them closely, “only two-word responses.”

  “Sherron, that’s her name. She has a speech impediment,” Abel said. “The doc knows this which is why he phrases his comments so that she can answer in her own way.”

  “Are they in a relationship?”

  “No,” Abel said. “However, she is a catch.”

  “How? She’s dressed like one of the Who’s from Whoville. He’s in tailored black clothing, which is a complete opposite of her. They have nothing in common, and I don’t believe that opposites attract that much,” she whispered to Abel.

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “I take it you disagree with me,” she said.

  “I do. You don’t see me leaving the house in my pajamas and pink bunny slippers to go get coffee, but here we are together,” he said, arching one eyebrow.

  “You and I are no more in a relationship than those two people,” she countered.

  Abel bit into the remainder of the cookie, eyeing her with interest. Julie intrigued him, and he wanted to know more about her. He also found himself interested in her perspective on relationships.

  “Not yet,” he said, watching her expression change as she tried to understand what he was inferring.

  “The couple is not yet in a relationship,” she repeated, trying to find clarification.

  “Sure, if that’s what you thought you heard,” he said, raising his hand to Sherron for another cookie. This also drew Doc Winter’s attention away from the store owner, prepared to challenge whoever dared to draw her focus away from him.

  “Oh hey, Julie,” Dr. Winter said to her, spotting Abel. “Hey there Abel. I see you met your tenant.”

  Julie arched her eyebrows in response, which crinkled her forehead. He was the owner of the cottage she rented, as well as the golf course. Abel Burney was shielding loads of information from her, and she prayed the good doctor would feel the need to hold back a few tidbits of information about their first encounter as well. He didn’t.

  “I’m glad to see you out and about Julie,” he said. “I was concerned when I found you splayed out like that on your front porch. Ma Hildie asked about you as well when I returned the shopping cart. She said she didn’t think you were going to make it up that incline. They were placing bets that you would pass out before you made it to the driveway of the cottage.”

  Julie sighed as Abel’s fist went to his mouth to stifle his laughter.

  “I thought doctors were supposed to be tight lipped keepers of the HIPAA Act and Hippocratic oath,” Julie said.

  “You are not my patient,” Dr. Winter replied. “Besides, it is fairly common with the thin air to have that sort of reaction.”

  “Welcome to End...dd...u...rance,” Sherron the shopkeeper said as she placed another cookie on a cute paper plate in front of Abel.

  “Hi, I’m Julie Kraztner, from Sports Complicated Magazine,” she offered.

  “You know...Chad...wick...? I mean...Dr. Winter,” Sherron asked with one eyebrow raised.

  “Yes, we met yesterday,” Julie said. “How long have you two been dating?”

  Both Dr. Winter and Sherron began to stutter as she wiped her hands on her apron and disappeared behind the counter. More people came into the shop, pulling the cupcake maker away, taking her attentions from Dr. Winter’s skillful flirting, leaving him to take a seat without being offered one.

  “Sherron and I are not dating,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, but you want to date her,” Julie said, leaning closer and whispering back.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because you talked to her about the most mundane things to get her to engage with you,” Julie said. “The moment her attention was drawn to someone else, you reacted as if Abel’s request for another cookie was a threat. You’ve got it bad doc.”

  “Julie, you’re new in town,” Dr. Winter said to her with all sincerity, “you can’t just go about making assessments of people and sharing what you think, which may or may not be correct.”

  “Now you know how I feel,” she said to him.

  Abel and Dr. Winter leaned back in the chair in unison, folding their arms across their chest as they took in Julie Kraztner. The corner of Dr. Winter’s mouth twitched while Abel Burney squinted his eyes. I like her. I like her a lot.

  “Julie, Endurance is not only the place where people come to test their mettle against nature, but it’s also a community of single fathers,” Abel said.

  “Are you a single father as well?” She asked Abel.

  “Yes and no,” he said. “My son is completing college at the university this year.”

  She turned her attention to Chadwick, “And you Dr. Winter?”

  “I have a three-year-old named James,” he said.

  “Interesting,” Julie said looking at both men.

  They waited for her questions about their lives, but they didn’t come. Instead, she watched the public interactions with Sherron. Each man that approached the counter made Dr. Winter tense up like he was doing interval training on love muscle failure. The man was sucking all the air out of the shop. Julie needed to get her day moving, unpack, and learn how to breathe in the thin air of Endurance.

  “Don’t wait too long to make your move doc,” she offered standing up. “A woman like that is catching many eyes and loads of attention. This cupcake alone is enough to make me want to ask her out, and I don’t like women.”

  Abel sputtered the rest of his cookie at the frankness of her words. He got to his feet collecting his cup of decaf tea, hurrying to catch up with the woman. Abel wanted to spend more time with Julie. She had something very few women were able to get from him, his undivided attention.

  Chapter 3 – The Art of Persistence

  Abel sat behind his desk staring absently out the window, trying to determine how the wreck of a woman named Julie had penetrated his defenses. Julie Kraztner was nothing like any of women he’d ever dated nor had any interest in. If y
ou would have asked him five years ago, well even ten, he would not have given her a second look. After only two days, the hot mess of a writer was all over his radar, blurring the screen with her constant blips of adorable annoyance.

  Even now, he wanted to call her to see if she was free tomorrow night to attend a gala opening at the Endurance Museum with him. The curator, Amelie Bishop, had a new display coming in on African art, and it would be followed up in the spring with an exhibit on Mayan artifacts. The gala, a catered affair with tiny finger sandwiches and seafood on skewers, had quickly become a winter seasonal favorite by the art lovers in the town. If he wasn’t mistaken, Amelie had also hired genuine African dancers, and authentic cooks to cater the food for the opening. He loved the gala opening because it meant guests would come to his golf course for an afternoon or early morning tee offs on the links.

  He needed to be persistent with Julie if he wanted her to know he was interested in more than a helpful way of marrying her to her coffee, or rescuing her from herself. Maybe he would call on her for lunch under the guise of getting her out of the house to explore more of the town. The good folks in Endurance had embraced him when he was at his lowest, after his divorce and ceremonial emptying of his pockets. Hell, he was almost homeless as well.

  The divorce had left him a mess of man. Coming to Endurance for a race had changed his life. He loved the community so much that he bought the two-bedroom cottage Julie now rented for his home. Once his son Ralph came for a visit over the summer, he too fell in love with Endurance and wanted to stay, much to his wife’s disapproval. However, Abel didn’t have the seven-figure job he once had, and child support payments dropped to almost nothing. In his approximation, her fight over Ralph centered on the monthly child-support checks. When those dropped to less than two hundred dollars a month, she lost the willingness to fight with him on where and how he could spend time with Ralph. She also stopped fighting when his son returned home after weekend visits. When she stopped calling, he reduced his timelines in returning their offspring back to Sacramento on Sunday nights, until one day he didn’t take him back at all. Oh, he still sent the check each month, but his son stayed with him. It was one of the best decisions Abel ever made.