Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2)

by Cindy Roland Anderson

  “Wow. You weren’t kidding I needed to take my time.”

  She released her hold on him and shook her head. “S-s-stay,” she commanded. She came back a few seconds later with a water bottle.

  “Thanks.” Luke opened it and downed half its contents. “Did I ever mention I’ve never had a massage before?”

  Her sweet laugh bubbled from her lips. Luke joined in and they were laughing like they were before his massage. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed over something that really wasn’t that funny, just for the sheer joy of hearing her laugh.

  He captured those beautiful fingers that could do so much good and asked, “Go to dinner with me?”

  She shrugged, pulled her fingers free, and strode from the room. Luke downed the rest of the water bottle and followed her.

  She was sitting at her little desk. He pulled out his debit card and handed it to her. “The massage was amazing.”

  She smiled her thanks and ran the card, handing him the receipt. It was only $35. He gave her a twenty dollar tip and then signed and returned the receipt. Her eyebrows rose, but she said nothing. He wished they could talk, really talk.

  “Do you ever write down what you’re thinking?”

  Her eyebrows rose again. He loved the way she did that.

  “Would you write for me? What you’re thinking?”

  She shrugged her shapely shoulders and studied him for a few seconds before pulling out a notepad. She wrote for a few seconds then handed it to him.

  I’m thinking that this cowboy is a nice guy who’s uncomfortable with my silence.

  “I guess you got me there. I don’t really talk too much, usually just swear at the cattle. So I’m not a nice guy at all.”

  She took the pad back, wrote, and handed it to him again.

  You’re definitely a nice guy. I knew that when you bought the thoughtful gift for your sister. Why do you want to take me to dinner? Feeling bad for the new girl in town?

  He grinned. “Nope. Feeling intrigued by the new girl in town and wanting to get to know her better.” He handed the pad back to her.

  You don’t have the time to get to know me better, it would take hours for me to get anything out with my stutter.

  He laughed. “Sweetheart, I’ve got the time and the desire to get to know you better. I really do love the sound of your voice, but if you’re more comfortable we could communicate like this.”

  Her grin widened. How about we give it a few days? I don’t go to dinner with men I don’t know.

  “How about I come back tomorrow and see you so you don’t have to go to dinner with a man you don’t know?” He paused. “Dang. Tomorrow we’re checking the range cows. Friday?”

  She looked dubious.

  “I’d like an appointment Friday at five for...” He looked over the list of options. “A foot zone. If you’re available, I’d like to take you to dinner after.”

  She wrote quickly. Reading your feet will definitely help me get to know you. Are you sure you’re ready for that kind of disclosure?

  A surprised laugh escaped him. “You can tell stuff about me from rubbing my feet?”

  She pointed at the word reading.

  “Reading my feet?”

  She nodded, looking very smug.

  “Okay. I have nothing to hide. You’re sure we can’t go to dinner tonight?”

  She waved at him.

  Luke inclined his head. Annie was a challenge. He liked her more each minute.

  ***

  Annie could hardly sleep that night as Luke’s blue eyes filled her mind. His rugged but handsome face. She didn’t know much about him. What did he do for a living? Who was Luke Wilson, really?

  Wait. She did know some things about him. He was kind. He hadn’t mocked or coddled her after he learned about the stuttering. He was a hard-worker. She could tell that by the muscular shoulders she’d massaged, and the callouses on his hands showed a life of hard labor. He cared about his family. He’d initially come in to find a thoughtful present for his sister, and she could hear the love in his voice as he talked about her.

  She sat up in bed. He said he liked listening to her voice. Who in her life had ever liked listening to her voice? She smiled sadly. Her daddy. But he’d been out of her life for too long, and her stuttering had reached epic proportions after he’d deserted them. Her mom had paid for the best therapists in Hawaii, then forced her to go to the mainland for all kinds of camps and treatments, but nothing helped. She couldn’t conquer her stuttering. When she felt really comfortable with someone she trusted, it would lessen. Right now the only person that fit that bill was her best friend, Jen, and maybe Luke.

  Nobody but Jen had ever thought of having her write things down so they could know more about her. Even people who would be considered friends, as well as most of her family, were happy to hear themselves talk and took her token stuttered interjections as permission to continue talking about themselves. She didn’t mind that as it kept the focus off her, but this feeling of someone, an extremely handsome someone, wanting to know about her—she liked it. A lot. She pictured Luke standing in her therapy room, holding her hands to his chest. Oh, what a chest it was. She squished into her pillow and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  Chapter 3

  Luke thought the day would never end. Checking range cows with his dad used to be such an adventure. Mom would pack them a lunch, and they’d ride horses all over their property, wandering up the canyon and through the mountains into beautiful little valleys no one but them ever went. Now it was his and Porter’s time to see how many cattle had been slaughtered by the wolves, to try to verify the kills so they could receive compensation from the government, and to hopefully shoot a few wolves if they were lucky.

  “We should set traps again,” Porter muttered, snapping some pictures to document the third kill this week. The mother cow nudged her calf, trying to get it up.

  Luke swallowed and looked away. “The traps aren’t effective. We end up capturing innocent animals and I don’t want that.”

  Porter grunted, indicating he didn’t care.

  Luke pushed back his hat and fanned his forehead. “I’ll have to run some numbers. If the compensation fund runs out again this summer, and they only pay us for half the cattle because they doubt our kills are from wolves, it might be smarter to just keep the cattle closer to home and pay for some hay rather than let them range.”

  “The kills this month have usually been in this valley. We could stay up here tonight and hunt.”

  “Let’s go get some supplies.” Luke swung onto his horse, Phillip, and Porter followed suit.

  “So, how was the massage?” Porter asked.

  “Definitely worth the money.”

  “Maybe I’ll go try one out myself.”

  Luke whipped his head and pinned his younger brother with the look. “You find your own massage therapist.”

  Porter chuckled. “She must be pretty cute.”

  “She’s more than cute.” Luke spurred Phillip into a gallop. He didn’t want Annie touching any man but him, which was silly as it was her profession. But if Porter tried to go see her, Luke would be hunting more than wolves.

  Chapter 4

  Luke swung open the door to Annie’s shop, filled with trepidation. He knew nothing about foot zoning. After the massage, he’d changed his mind about the therapy being voodoo. Annie was amazing, and hopefully this foot zoning felt as awesome as the massage, but something about Annie saying she could read him with a zone had him spooked.

  She was stocking lotions on a shelf and turned when he walked in. Her beautiful smile alleviated any reservations he had.

  “Okay, I’m ready for this.” He shook out his arms and then rolled his neck.

  “Y-y-you th-think.” Annie laughed.

  “You’re right. I’m definitely not ready for this, but if it’ll get you to go to dinner with me, it’ll be worth it.”

  She shook her head, still smiling, and led him towar
d the back and the overstuffed chair.

  He plopped down and grinned. “I’m already feeling relaxed.”

  Grabbing a large exercise ball, she rolled it over, sat on it, and lifted one of his feet onto her lap. Luke’s relaxation fled, his heart beating faster at the intimacy of his foot lying across her legs. She started removing his shoe, and Luke sat up straighter. “Sorry. I can take those off.”

  “It’s f-fine.”

  He was suddenly grateful he’d showered and had on fresh socks and some comfortable loafers instead of his usual cowboy boots. How embarrassing would it have been if his feet stunk? Annie taking off his shoe and sock felt almost sensual. He leaned forward, wanting to be closer to her.

  She started kneading his foot with her knuckle, and Luke realized this was going to be even better than the massage. He relaxed against the cushion and sighed. “Wake me up in a few hours.”

  She laughed but said nothing as she continued. After a few minutes, she worked her way to his little toes, and he jumped. “Ouch.”

  Annie’s brow furrowed, and she gave him a sympathetic look, but didn’t stop the pressure.

  “‘Kay, this isn’t relaxing anymore. Can you stop that?”

  “N-n-need to w-work it out.”

  “What exactly are you working out?” And why does it hurt so much? He couldn’t express that non-manly thought.

  “S-s-stress.”

  “Oh.” He leaned back and tried to relax, embarrassed that she could sense the stress radiating from him.

  “W-why so stressed?” She said the words deliberately and hardly stuttered.

  Luke focused on her beautiful brown eyes, and she returned his gaze for a minute before continuing to work on his toes. He tried to hide the grimace her fingers created and admitted, “I was an engineer for Boeing.”

  He watched for her reaction and she didn’t disappoint. Those expressive eyebrows and eyes communicated she was impressed and wondered why his engineering days were in the past.

  “I had to quit my job to come home and work, or they would’ve lost the ranch.” No need to tell her about his dad and all his other personal issues and have those sympathetic eyes widen further. “Kazlyn and Ty challenged me last Christmas to find some way to keep working in my field. I talked with my old boss a few months ago, and he has me doing consulting projects from home.” He sighed. “It’s been great to work in my field again, and the money is nice, but summer is the busiest time on the ranch, so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed trying to do it all.”

  Luke leaned back and realized he hadn’t given a speech that lengthy in months. What was it about this woman that had him sharing everything and relieving his stress with treatments that two days ago he would’ve called laughed at?

  “I c-c-can h-help,” she said.

  “Yes, you can,” Luke grinned at her and then said, “Going to dinner with me after is going to help even more.”

  Annie smiled but didn’t reply. She went back to kneading his feet again, and the pain turned into pleasure until she hit a spot in the middle of his foot, below his arch, that almost made him jump.

  “S-sorry,” she said, but she didn’t stop the excruciating pressure. He heard and felt a little pop, and then she smiled. “W-worked it out.”

  Her fingers turned gentle as she continued to work through the spot until the pain calmed down. It was the strangest thing, like she was curing something that was wrong with him. But nothing was wrong with him.

  She finished with that foot, put his sock and shoe on, and changed feet. She didn’t talk, and her brow radiated concern. Some parts of the zone were relaxing but others hurt, like the little toes again and the same spot in the middle of the foot caused almost excruciating pain until she worked through it.

  When she finished, she put his sock and shoe on, stood, and walked to a little sink. She washed her hands then returned to him, and Luke stood to follow her out of the room. She hurried to her desk with him in tow.

  He started to get nervous when she didn’t say anything. She wrote on the pad of paper. She was going to say no to dinner. He just knew it. Fighting off disappointment, he pulled his debit card out to pay for the treatment. She finished her writing, handed him the pad, and took the card.

  I’d recommend a foot zone every few weeks to help manage your stress. The pain you felt near your arch is a concern. I believe you have a simple blockage of your intestine and descending colon. I’ve already worked out the blockage, but you may have an inflammatory bowel disease or it may be something as treatable as constipation where you just need to up your fiber and water intake.

  Luke’s eyebrows shot up. Great. This beautiful woman thought he had issues with his colon and bowels, that he was constipated. That had to be attractive. He fiddled with the notebook.

  I insist you get into your family practitioner and have him do an X-ray or ultrasound. I’ve loosened the blockage with the zone and we can continue to treat it that way, but I’d feel better if you talked to your physician as well, just to rule out Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

  Luke exhaled and met her gaze. She didn’t seem disgusted by him, just concerned.

  “You found some kind of blockage, but you took care of it?”

  She nodded.

  “Thanks. I haven’t noticed any pain in my abdomen or anything.” No reason to talk about his bowels. This was humiliating.

  She grabbed the paper and began writing again, You might not notice pain, but you still need to make an appointment. If everything checks out, I can continue to help you with the zoning and some dietary changes.

  He stared at her, weighing his options. She knew her stuff and was definitely a professional. His bowels didn’t seem to disgust her; she genuinely seemed concerned.

  “I don’t really like doctors.”

  Her brow squiggled.

  He suddenly thought of a solution. “But I could be persuaded to get an X-ray with Doc Taggart on Monday if you come to dinner with me tonight.”

  She smiled and wrote. I’ll make that deal, but could we just grab takeout and go to a park or something? I really don’t enjoy sitting down in a restaurant.

  Compassion oozed through him. Was it difficult for her to order? Had she been humiliated in a restaurant? “You’re in luck. I have Tina’s Place in my contacts and her husband is an amazing cook. We’re mostly meat and potatoes around here, but he does do a great taco salad, and his stir-fry isn’t bad.”

  What makes you think I’m not a meat and potatoes kind of girl?

  “As knowledgeable as you are about the human body, I just assumed you filled yours up with veggies.” Not to mention how good she looked.

  I do love veggies, and you should make sure to get plenty, but I think we can handle one meal of good, old home-cooking.

  “Sweet. House special it is.” He dialed Tina’s number and placed the order before Annie changed her mind.

  It was after six when Annie locked up the front door of her shop and they walked the two blocks to Tina’s Place. Tina was friendly as ever and didn’t make any issue of it when Luke introduced her to Annie and Annie nodded a hello without speaking. They took the sacks of food to the city park across from Annie’s shop and sat at the picnic tables. The summer evening was perfect in the shade, with just a hint of smoke in the air from the forest fires a few valleys away.

  Annie watched the children playing on the playset with a wistful expression. Luke handed her a Styrofoam container with the dinner salad and one with the main course of strip steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans, all saturated with gravy. He opened the steaming container of scones and honey butter and placed it between them.

  Annie made him proud as she ate almost everything, including one of the scones. For some reason, his old girlfriend, Missy, flashed before his mind. She’d always been one to pick at her food and claim she couldn’t eat or she’d gain weight. Missy used to be his ideal woman, but now he’d rather have a woman who had an appetite and looked fit and strong, like Annie.<
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  The sounds of the children playing, the whisper of wind through the trees, and the stream gurgling next to the park were their dinner conversation. Luke thought he could get used to eating without the distraction of having to talk, but at the same time he wanted to know more about her. Scratch that, he wanted to know everything about her.

  He leaned back on the bench. “So, you know too much about me from reading my feet. What about you. Where are you from? How’d you get into massage and foot zoning? Why’d you move to Snow Valley?”

  She grinned and pulled the notebook from her purse.

  “I like a woman who’s prepared,” Luke said.

  Annie winked. She bent her head and started writing, and Luke leaned closer. He wanted to stare into those dark, brown eyes and never leave this spot. He watched her highlighted curls sway as she wrote and wrote.

  I grew up in Maui. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty great falling asleep to the crashing waves every night, going surfing with friends in the morning.

  Luke glanced up. “You left the ocean for Montana?”

  She pointed at the paper.

  I loved Maui, but needed to find my own spot. I went to massage therapy school at the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois. I took some courses in foot zoning while I was there and wanted to make a difference in a little town that wouldn’t have either option. I love Christmas time and hadn’t had a traditional white Christmas until I moved to Illinois, so I started researching small towns that did Christmas big and found out about Snow Valley. I came here and fell in love with the rugged beauty of the mountains and green fields. It reminded me of Maui without the ocean. When I found the retail space for rent right on Main Street with an apartment above, I decided it was fate.

  Luke looked up at her. “I really appreciate you sharing with me, but something is missing.”