“What’s wrong?” His voice was soft as he started to slowly trace his fingertips across the back of her hand. “It’ll be fun.”
Without warning, she jerked her hand back. “I’m not sixteen anymore. I don’t need complications in my life, Michael.” She didn’t know why she was trembling.
Michael hesitated, looking down at her lips. “I don’t need complications either. I’m just asking an old friend to come hang out for the day.”
Her heart rate shot up a notch. If kissing tension truly existed, theirs would rate at the top of the scale. But today she didn’t want to get caught in another make out session by the Snow Valley onlookers. Still, ignoring the voice in her head that told her she should send him on his way, she gestured for him to follow her deeper into the store. “This way. I’ll show you how to unpack the inventory.”
With Michael’s help, unpacking the boxes took no time at all. Janet finished situating the flowers inside one of the larger refrigerators and then bent to grab the cardboard box they’d been held in.
Michael had been given the chore of taking all the wreaths to his car, which they would drop off before, in his words, ‘getting something fried to eat and heading for the hills.’
As she turned to head out of the shop, she grabbed the other box and then tried to push her way out of the back door to get the boxes to the dumpster. One of the boxes got caught, and she lost her footing and fell backward. Luckily, the other box cushioned her fall. Well, maybe it didn’t exactly cushion her, but at least it prevented her from falling straight back. The side of the cardboard jammed into her ribs, and she awkwardly ended sitting right on her rear. “Ouch!”
Michael was coming out of the back door and immediately jogged to her side.
She tried to push away the boxes and stand, but she lost her balance and fell back down.
He frowned and put out a hand to help her out. “What happened?”
Even though the pain in her side did hurt, she shrugged and took his hand. “Nothing, I’m fine. I don’t need to go to the hospital, and I don’t need to get checked out. It’s just a tiny scratch from the box, okay?” Her voice had turned panicky. Ever since the cancer, people tended to over-react when she was injured, and she hated it when everyone freaked over little things.
Michael didn’t let her hand go, searching her eyes. The smell of the same cologne from last night wafted around her, and she felt herself slowly starting to melt into him. “Well, even though you look like you weigh less than a paper weight, I highly doubt a scuffle with cardboard boxes could beat the great Janet Snow.”
At his words she felt herself relax. “Yep, I’m right as rain.”
His eyes narrowed, and he took a step back, reaching for the boxes. “How come you look like you’re not telling me something?”
Then it hit her. He didn’t know. He didn’t know that she was fragile and that people called her a miracle. Freedom coursed through her. An idea occurred to her. “Hey, if I told you I’d been coughing this morning, what would you say?” She tested.
He shrugged. “Take an allergy pill?”
She grinned. “Exactly.”
He gave her a confused look. “You’re acting strange.”
She was struck by his genuine concern but relished the fact that to him she was normal. Tears came to her eyes, and she quickly looked away. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 8
They got the wreaths dropped off to the Chamber President. Then Michael insisted on getting them a bucket of fried chicken, some homemade rolls, a couple of waters, and, of course, two home-brewed root beers.
He headed back to the car with Janet solemnly following. He looked around. “Does it seem like Snow Valley has an inordinately large number of firefighters in attendance?”
Janet glanced to the side, seemingly preoccupied. “Oh, yeah, it’s been a big fire season.”
He watched her. Why he’d stayed in Snow Valley was still beyond him. Why he couldn’t stop himself from seeking her out today mystified him. Obviously, she was struggling with that jerk Kurt taking Lacy away last night. He put the food in the back seat of the mustang and opened her door.
“Where are we going?” She paused before getting in.
At this close distance, he could smell her. This time he knew he was smelling the orchids, poppies, and sunflowers they’d unpacked. He could get lost in her ever-present flower scent. “Hmm…” He shook his head to clear it and grinned. “Just get in. You’ll see.”
Before she could question him further, he was off-roading toward the spot she’d spoken of last night. It was the same spot he’d dreamt about for the past ten years. The trail to the hot springs. “Did you bring your suit?”
She laughed. “What happened to good old-fashioned skinny dipping?”
All Michael could think about now was Janet Snow without clothes on. He’d never actually seen it, but… He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts right and laughed. “Umm…”
The way she roared with laughter took him by surprise. She shoved his shoulder. “Geez, Michael, I haven’t changed that much. We’re not skinny dipping.”
After parking the car, he made her stay and ran around to her side to open the door for her.
Their eyes met, and she grinned. “You always did open my door. You know you don’t have to.”
There would be no getting around him on this matter though. He took her gently by the wrist and looked steadily into her eyes. “A gentleman should always open doors for a lady. The point is not that they can’t do it for themselves. The point is that I respect you enough that I want to treat you well, and I want to show that.”
The way her eyes filled with moisture made his heart clutch in that familiar way it did when he was around her.
Quickly, she reached up and gently kissed his cheek. Their eyes locked and the way her pale green ones shone with such…light made him instantly want to kiss her back. “I’ve missed you.”
It surprised him how much that simple statement from her affected him. He released her and got the food. “Let’s get going.”
The place was just as he remembered it. This area of the property had tall trees. The smell of the aspens, pines, and damp earth permeated the air, and he realized he’d missed it even more than he’d admitted to himself. The trees were shaded by the mountain, and he moved tree branches along the path as they began their short hike. The hike didn’t take more than ten minutes, but he had the sneaking suspicion she was more than a little relieved when they reached the hot springs.
“Sorry,” she muttered and then gulped in a breath. “I guess I’m out of shape.”
Gingerly, he took her hand and fell into step beside her. That niggling feeling that she wasn’t telling him something had returned when she said she was out of shape, but he didn’t say anything.
“Isn’t it beautiful.” She looked around with wonder in her eyes.
All he could do was stare at her. Her cute blond bob made her look young. The fullness of her lips as she grinned and pointed to a spot next to one of the hot springs distracted him. “Let’s go over there under that tree and eat.”
They shared a large, flat rock, and he held the fried chicken bag as they each ate a piece.
He closed his eyes for a second. “Man, I’ve forgotten how good Snow Valley fried chicken is.” He took a swig of root beer and smiled ruefully at her. “I also forgot napkins.”
Janet chewed and grinned back. Without warning, she leaned over and wiped her mouth against the shoulder of his shirt. “That works.”
Normally, if someone had done that to him, it would have ticked him off. But the spunky look in her eye took him aback. He jerked out a laugh. “Hey!”
The way her eyebrows lifted as she easily took another bite of her chicken, like she knew he wouldn’t retaliate, made him laugh even more.
Without much determination, he wiped at his shoulder. He tsked his tongue. “Ten years and you still haven’t changed a bit.”
Her eyes clouded f
or a second before she shrugged. “I figure you owe me.”
Guilt tugged inside him, and he focused on his chicken, knowing she spoke the truth.
She broke the silence with a giggle. “Do you remember when a couple of us stole the whole teams clothes after football practice?”
He mock glared at her. “Uhh, yeah, I remember,” he said letting a grin break though.
She giggled some more. “We watched all of you come out of the locker rooms with towels wrapped around you looking as angry as mountain lions.”
“Except George, remember he took it as a chance to streak?”
Her hand went to her mouth, and she sucked in a breath. “That’s right.”
He laughed and put the chicken bones down, using his shirt as his napkin, too. “Snow Valley was different from other towns.”
“Oh yeah.” She cocked her head to the side, lost in memories.
“I think that’s why my dad wanted to come back. When we were here, life was good.”
Janet turned away from him. Her eyes grazed over the springs. “You didn’t have to shut me out, you know.”
The truth of that ticked him off, but he couldn’t stop the truth from coming out. “I…I was going to come back for you.”
She went still and stiff. “What?”
Without thinking, he used his shirt again to wipe his hand and then put it on hers. “I had this dream of riding into Snow Valley.” He laughed, thinking how stupid he’d been. “I had a cool, black motorcycle, too. It was one that I’d fixed up myself. I had been saving my money for it senior year, but I was too embarrassed to call you after I’d been such a jerk. Anyway, I had this whole plan that I would ride in and go to your house. You would answer the door and be so overwhelmed by my…” He broke off laughing.
She let out a laugh. “What?”
He shook his head and kept laughing.
“Tell me.” She nudged him.
He couldn’t believe that after all the years, all the lost dreams, he was sitting here now with Janet Snow, holding her hand. He sobered and stared into her eyes. “I had this dream that you would jump into my arms. Then I would ask you to marry me, and you would say yes.”
Chapter 9
All the breath went out of her. Marry him. Marry him? Michael Hamilton had wanted her to marry him? He’d had a plan to ride into town on his black motorcycle and ask her? “What?” She noticed his face had gone red, and his hand trembled before he pulled it back and ran it through his black hair.
“Stupid, right?”
Every part of her went perfectly still. What would her life have been like if Michael hadn’t moved away or if he had come back for her? To hear him speak of it now, it made her feel like she’d lost so much. She hadn’t felt this kind of hopelessness since she’d first been diagnosed with cancer, like all the potential of something had escaped her.
She watched the emotions roll across his face. He had a firm jawline, and he clenched it for a second as if trying to decide what to say. Janet looked him up and down. After last night’s kiss, she knew beneath that white t-shirt he still had that amazing athletic frame. He definitely didn’t look like he ate a lot of fried chicken. She chided herself for being so physically attracted to him. For heaven’s sake, they were grown adults. “What do you want me to say?” She challenged, all the old emotions bubbling to the surface faster than she could stop them.
He cleaned up the chicken and moved it to the side of him. Then he turned back to her. His eyes studied hers. “I didn’t deal with my mother’s death well.”
The speed of her pounding heart felt like it would break her ribs. “I flew out there for you. Why didn’t you call me after I came back?”
He studied her face. “I was young. My dad had gotten called up again to Afganistan. I was alone—”
“I wanted to be there for you.” She interrupted, the force of her emotions surprising her.
He shook his head. “I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t drag you through that. I had to get my head on right.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”
The most sensible part of her understood that his mother had been everything to him, especially since they’d moved so many times because of the military. But he didn’t understand how much she’d needed him, too. She bit into her lip and clamped down on all these emotions. She smiled. If having cancer had taught her anything, it had taught her that it did no good to focus on what could have been. “I forgive you.” Of course she did. She nodded and tried to blink away all of the emotion from her previous admission. She stood and kicked off her flip-flops, needing a distraction. She pointed to the side of the spring. “Oh my gosh, look at this.”
He didn’t move at first.
She turned back and saw the look on his face was sad. “I’m serious, c’mere.”
“All right.” He relented, standing and moving closer to her. “What?”
Before he could bend all the way over, she pushed him.
The bad thing about messing with someone as tall, strong, and athletic as Michael was that her push didn’t completely unsteady him. He had enough time before toppling to grab her.
The end result was that both of them went crashing into the spring. Hot water assaulted her, and she inhaled some water, immediately going into a coughing fit. But seeing the wild, happy look on Michael’s face made it all worth it.
“I seriously can’t believe you just did that.” He laughed and let her go, wiping the water out of his eyes.
The heat of the water soothed her, and she laughed, leaning back against the rock edge of the wall. “Believe it, football hero. I can still get the jump on you.”
He sank lower into the spring and moved so he was next to her. “Dang, this is incredible.”
She looked around, taking in the three other springs that bubbled next to them and the trees and rocks that jutted out around them keeping this place hidden. The locals had always known about it, and her family had always allowed anyone from town to use it, for the most part, whenever they wanted. They made it clear there were to be no parties up here, and they’d only had to bust a couple over the years. “I’ve always loved this place. It really is my favorite spot.”
Michael moved closer to her, so their shoulders touched beneath the water. She felt his hand reach for hers. “It’s too bad you’re selling it.”
It dawned on her again how comfortable they were together. She held onto his hand and studied his face. “Isn’t it weird that we haven’t seen each other in ten years, and now you’re holding my hand?”
He lifted his other hand and softly traced her jawbone. “It feels right to me. You’re so beautiful, Janet.”
She smacked his hand away and let out an uncomfortable laugh. Maybe she had been beautiful once, but she no longer felt that way. “Stop. No complications!”
He grabbed her other hand. “You are beautiful.” He held it. “That’s not complicated.”
She shook her head. She couldn’t really be falling for Michael Hamilton again. Could she? She had been devastated when he’d pushed her out of his life, yet here he was, looking at her like he wanted to kiss her again. Here she was, wondering if she would let him.
Unexpectedly it was Michael who broke the moment with a question. “Tell me, why is your father selling the place?”
Chapter 10
“I told you. He needs the money.”
Michael didn’t like to get involved in people’s money problems, but the fact was that he was good at helping businesses get and stay solvent. It’s what he did for a living. “Maybe I could help.”
“You couldn’t help,” she answered quickly.
One thing Michael loved about living in California and having worked to establish his name for the past couple of years was that he usually never had to toot his own horn. He didn’t have to tell people what he did and how he could help them. They already knew. But for Janet, he would make an exception. “Helping businesses grow is what I do.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she took
a breath. “That’s what you do?”
“I have a degree in business, and I worked for a company called Henning that took over businesses for three years. Then I decided I didn’t like doing that, so I opened my own business to help companies figure out how to thrive.”
She looked at him like she didn’t know him. “What, exactly, does your company do?”
“Basically, we get paid to fix problems. Companies that are struggling hire us to come in and look at their books and systems. We help them see where they can cut costs or get rid of unnecessary practices. We help them improve practices to increase profitability, or we help them create entirely new income streams.” It felt good to tell Janet Snow who he was now. To share how he’d worked hard and become something more than that scrappy military brat.
A slow smile lifted the edges of her lips. “You sound like you like it.”
He squeezed her hand. “I do.”
Pulling both of her hands out of the water, she pushed her hair back behind her ears. “Do you like living in Los Angeles?”
He knew what she was thinking. “No place is as good as Snow Valley, huh?” He grinned.
The arch of her eyebrows tugged together. “I left.” She challenged back.
“You did?”
She nodded. “Kurt and I lived in Billings for a while. He went to school, and we both worked.” She felt her cheeks flush. Talking about her life with Kurt to Michael made her feel weird. She looked away. “I’ll give you the short version. I got pregnant right before high school graduation, so we got married and moved to Billings. Since we had Lacy, I stayed with him longer than I should have.” She shrugged and met his eyes. “It’s the same sad, cliché story. The straw that broke the camel’s back was I caught him cheating on me one day when I came home from work at lunch because I felt sick.” She hesitated before finishing the story. “Lacy was three. I moved back to Snow Valley, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2) Page 37
