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

by Cindy Roland Anderson

  Control, when it came to Kurt and the way he treated Janet was not Michael’s strong suit. His hand clenched into a fist. “I should have punched Kurt again last night.”

  That made her laugh. “You always saw him for the jerk he was.”

  Michael softened and gently squeezed her hand. “I could see the way he looked at you. I saw how he tried to goad you into fighting with him. But honestly, I didn’t think anyone was good enough for you.”

  Her lips pinched together. “I worry for Lacy.”

  “Is he mean to her?” He tensed even more.

  “No.” She shook her head. “It’s more that he hasn’t really been involved with her life since…” She broke off, and she shifted her eyes. “He just took me to court a few months ago and won more custody. Lacy will be with him for roughly five weeks. She’s never spent this much time with him.”

  Something about the way Janet worried about Lacy reminded him of his own mother worrying about him. “You’re a good mom, Janet.”

  Tears instantly filled her eyes. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  She sniffed and grinned back at him. “Being a parent is hard, you know.”

  Her words pierced the center of his heart. He wasn’t about to tell her how many late nights he’d had to purposely make himself quit thinking about all the things he regretted missing out on. “I don’t know, but I can imagine.”

  The tension between them went up a notch. He stared into her eyes. After a minute he gulped in a breath and leaned back, letting out his breath. “Man.” All he wanted to do was kiss her.

  She let out a laugh. “So would you move back to a small town or not?”

  Michael cocked his head to the side. “It’s taken me a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to put together what I have in California. I have a great team. I have connections, and we have endless opportunities there.” He shook his head “The nature of my business demands that I’m there.” He was surprised to find himself wishing that wasn’t the case.

  They way she nodded and searched his eyes made him smile. “Figures.”

  “What figures?”

  She grinned. “That you’d be a city boy.”

  He laughed. Something ached inside of him. He wanted to help her. “Tell me why your dad has to sell the land.”

  Slowly, she shook her head back and forth. “Nope.”

  This frustrated him more than he wanted to admit. “You won’t tell me?”

  She grinned, and all he saw was mischief in her eyes.

  He pulled away and moved to the other side of the spring. “Fine.”

  She laughed. “Spoil sport.”

  He laughed and splashed her. “Brat.” He enjoyed how much like a sixteen-year-old he found himself acting. “I’ll find out anyway.”

  After rolling her eyes, she motioned to the flat rock that lay up higher on the mountain. “Let’s go dry off.”

  They got to the rock and both laid down on their stomachs, letting the summer sun soak into them. Michael closed his eyes. “This is heaven.”

  This time, Janet reached for his hand.

  He opened his eyes, and she was smiling.

  “Yeah it is.” She closed her eyes.

  Time stilled for a moment: the warm rock beneath him, the sun burning down and drying his wet clothes, and Janet Snow laying next to him. He wanted to open his eyes and stare at her but refused. Heck, he’d already admitted that he’d wanted to marry her, and she hadn’t said anything about that. Granted, she’d missed him, and this physical chemistry between them had always been there and was still palpable. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his heart he knew that she could feel it too. Pushing her was a bad idea. He would go back to Los Angeles in a couple of days, and she had her life here. Her daughter, her family, and her business were all here. This moment would have to be enough.

  Janet broke the spell by turning on her side and propping her head into her hand. “So the great Michael Hamilton got a business degree and runs his own company.”

  He didn’t turn. “Yeah.”

  She poked him.

  “Hey.” He pretended to be too relaxed to respond to her.

  She poked him, again.

  He ignored it.

  “So did you take your high school in California to state senior year?”

  Football used to be the thing Michael loved to talk about, to brag about. That last year it had become his only outlet after his mom died and his father was in and out. “Yes, but I want to know about you.” He rolled over and opened his eyes.

  The way she looked caught told him that she’d been doing the exact thing he hadn’t wanted to do—checking him out. He grinned. “Tell me everything.”

  She sighed. “You already know everything. I married a jerk, had an amazing kid, divorced said cheating jerk, and still have to deal with him.”

  Though he was happy to hear her call Kurt a jerk, it didn’t take away the fact that she had to put up with him in her life, and he didn’t like that for her. He frowned. “I’m sorry.” He meant it.

  She shrugged. “What about you? What happened with the cheerleader?”

  The way she said cheerleader made him smile.

  “What?”

  “You sound like you’re jealous.”

  “Oh, like that maybe she was leggy, wore thick makeup and…let’s see, I’m sure she always said, ‘Oh, Michael, you’re so brilliant.’”

  Noting the flash of anger in her eyes, he sat up. “Ha, you are jealous!”

  She sat up, too, crossing her legs and turning her face to the sun and closing her eyes. “I’m not jealous.”

  “Are too.”

  “Am not!”

  He laughed. “You don’t have to be jealous.”

  They didn’t speak for a minute.

  “Why did you break things off?”

  A stir went through him, but it was more—an ache, a need for this woman in front of him. “I’ll tell you when you tell me the real reason you’re selling the land.”

  Janet held his eyes. Then she broke into a grin. “Do you remember the first time we sat on this rock?”

  His heart picked up speed. “I remember. It was the first time we kissed.”

  Her cheeks reddened, and she laughed. “I thought it was so gentlemanly that you asked me first.”

  He knew his own cheeks were red. “Hey, I knew better than to assume anything from you.”

  She laughed, too. “I guess last night you thought you could assume.”

  The tension grew palpable. He scooted closer, their legs touching. He couldn’t stop looking at her lips. “I guess last night’s episode told me that I still got it.”

  After a second, she laughed. “Oh, yeah?”

  Warmth filled him. He leaned forward, taking one side of her hair and pushing it back behind her ear. “Yeah.” He stared in her eyes. “But I’ll ask anyway. Can I kiss you?”

  Chapter 11

  She knew she shouldn’t do it. She shouldn’t get lost in Michael Hamilton because he was leaving. She shouldn’t encourage this uncontrollable thing between them because she didn’t need complications. Even knowing all of that, she couldn’t stop herself.

  The space closed between them, and she gently pressed her lips to his. The sense that this man in front of her wanted her could very well be the best feeling she’d had in a very, very long time.

  Her pulsed raced like the sound of a rip-roaring diesel truck starting on an early winter’s morning. She hugged him closer, hating herself for needing this physical touch so much. It had been almost four years since she’d been diagnosed with cancer. She’d joked it had been the cherry on top after she’d moved back to Snow Valley. It had forced her to move back in with her parents. All of that lost time coupled with the fact that this was Michael, the first boy she’d ever kissed and loved, was…intoxicating.

  She let herself be kissed and kissed him back. She stepped away from the responsible Janet. The one that was a mother and storekeeper. The one that worried about things
like never pursuing a relationship again because of the constant, nagging fear that one day the cancer would somehow come back. The doctor had reassured her that it would be highly unlikely with how well her system had responded to the treatment, but once death had knocked at a person’s door, they didn’t take the threat lightly.

  He pulled back, searching her face. Then he gently kissed her neck, right under her ear.

  Fire burned through her, and she pulled him closer.

  He answered her unasked demand by simply reaching both hands beneath her and pulling her onto his lap. Then he kissed the other side of her neck.

  His hands held her face as he deepened the kiss.

  All she could do was surrender to this. To him. She ran her hands through his slightly damp hair, down his neck, on the top of his broad shoulders. Desire circled in her like nothing she’d ever experienced with Kurt. Suddenly, she shoved herself away, pulling in a deep breath, not trusting herself. She stumbled and then stood.

  He shook his head and put a hand through his hair. “Sorry.”

  She laughed.

  He stood, his hair all tousled. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Laughing harder, she took his hand. “I don’t think it was all you.” She looked around. Seeing shadows, she realized it was later than she had thought. “We should head back.”

  After pulling her into his side, he used one hand to stroke her hair down and then gently kissed her forehead. “Maybe we need a chaperone.”

  Grinning up at him, she nodded. “Good thing you’re only staying a couple more days.”

  Michael held her to him for a second and then nodded, kissing her head softly. “Yep, good thing we’re not letting it get complicated.”

  Chapter 12

  Michael woke the next morning to the smell of bacon and pancakes. He checked the clock, seven am. He rolled to his side and stared out the window at the Hamilton ranch. He couldn’t stop what he knew would be a stupid schoolboy grin from spreading across his face. Images of kissing Janet Snow by the springs yesterday washed over him. It had been…delicious.

  After taking her back to her modest, but well-kept home on the edge of town, she’d invited him in for a light dinner and a movie. Afterwards they’d sat in folding chairs, eating popsicles and holding hands while watching the fireworks. He’d left her with a slow soft kiss that tasted like cherry. Now all he wanted to do was see her again.

  Grabbing a quick shower, he checked his phone messages while brushing his teeth. He’d ignored texts from his assistant, Veronica, all day yesterday, and he didn’t even feel guilty about it. He pressed her number.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  Veronica was in her mid-twenties. She was ambitious, smart, and treated him as more of a peer then a boss. She was also second in command and his Vice President of Marketing. “Are you holding the fort down?”

  She tsked her tongue. “I thought maybe that small town had sucked you back in. Or maybe it’s some long lost girlfriend.”

  He paused, grinning. He hadn’t dated much since his engagement had fallen apart last year and Veronica knew that. “Don’t be teasing the boss too much. Remember, I can still fire you.”

  “How is your father?”

  Family was something they usually didn’t talk about, but he also hadn’t visited his father since she’d started working for him either. “Fine, thank you.”

  She moved on quickly and went into several projects she was overseeing at the moment, giving him details about the people they had on the job, reporting where the project was at, and asking for advice on different issues that had popped up. She also reported the recent numbers.

  Michael liked getting reports. Reports made him feel like things were getting done, and he liked it when things got done. “You sound like you have it handled. I’m impressed.”

  “Maybe I’m doing such a good job that I should get a bonus when you get back, especially since I’m like your Number One at the moment.”

  He grinned. Star Trek was something they had in common. He paused, considering her comment. “Perhaps.”

  “Because you’d rather pay me a bonus then pay taxes, right? That’s what you always say, you want to choose where your money goes in tax write offs more than in tax dollars.”

  Michael grinned even wider. “You’re paying attention, number one.”

  She laughed. “Okay, that means you’ll think about the bonus thing?”

  “Look, if you can find how it saves me tax money, I’ll do it.”

  “I’m on it!”

  “I’m going to hang up now, Veronica.”

  “Okay, Cap. I’ll look forward to another debrief tomorrow.”

  He looked out the window at the ranch, and then his eyes went to the mountains and the Snow property. “Wait, Veronica?”

  “Still here.”

  Her tax-advantage-finding skills might be just the thing he needed right now. “I need you to look into what kind of tax advantage we could get if I bought some property.”

  “Oh. Property.” She said it like any other woman would have said, “OOOOOOh, diamonds.”

  He knew she would already be hunched over her computer, her phone pressed between her ear and shoulder, looking it up on Google. That’s why he valued her so much—her tenacity. He grinned. “I’ll check back tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.”

  When he finished getting dressed, he sauntered into the kitchen.

  His father sat at the big log table, looking at a large window that oversaw the front part of the ranch. The house had been done in a rustic theme, with tons of windows that made the whole place bright. He hadn’t really paid much attention the first night when he’d arrived, thinking he would be leaving the next day. Then yesterday, he’d only looked around a little before going to the flower shop, but today he took a closer look.

  It had a great room that encompassed both the living room and the kitchen. The ceiling was high and vaulted with beams the size of tree trunks. Even though it was rustic looking, it was new. His father had built it when he’d bought the ranch. Michael’s heart clutched, and he thought about the life insurance money from his mother that he assumed had been used to build the place. When it had been paid out, his father had come to him with a check, wanting him to use it for school or a business or anything he’d wanted. He’d refused. Of course he had. No amount of money could make up for his mother’s death.

  “Son, grab some breakfast on the counter.”

  Michael jolted out of his thoughts, instantly remembering all those awkward weeks between deployments when they were thrown back together and forced to live under the same roof. He took in a breath and moved to the kitchen.

  Michael allowed himself to think of Janet. She calmed him. He picked up a plate and loaded it with bacon and pancakes, slathering on butter and syrup. Usually, he ran for an hour everyday and had weights in his apartment that he used. Usually, he didn’t have this kind of appetite, the sole focus of his life being work. Usually, food didn’t taste this good.

  He sat at the table and noticed the bouquet of flowers—roses, poppies, and something else he wasn’t sure of, but he knew the bouquet was from the wedding. He knew that Janet had put it together. He leaned forward and smelled…her. That night, making out with her, getting caught by their fathers. Unconsciously, he grinned.

  His father let out a chuckle and put his cup down. “You look happy, son.”

  Michael took a bite of pancake, unashamed of his ‘thing’ with Janet. “It’s a good day.”

  His father smiled, and Michael noticed the fine edges around his eyes had deepened in the last few years. He looked older than before. “I’m going to take a spin out to see where Roy’s at on branding, do you want to come?”

  Roy was his father’s ranch hand, and he was the person that kept the ranch going according to his father.

  “Maybe another day.” Michael shoved another bite of pancake into his mouth.

  The way his father wavered told Michael he
wanted to say something else. But he only nodded and stood. “I hope one morning you’ll come out with me and check out the ranch and all of the things we’ve built. It’s quite the operation.”

  At the moment he didn’t know where he and his father stood. There was a lot of past between them. His father was trying to make things better between them. There was no denying that. Part of Michael wanted that, too. Another part of him didn’t know how they could make that happen. “Maybe,” he mumbled.

  His father put a card down next to him on the table. “I have a friend that takes people up over Snow Valley in helicopter rides. I bet Janet might like it if you happen to run into her today.”

  Michael looked up, and his father wore the same grin he’d worn the other night when he’d caught them kissing. Even though Michael shouldn’t be embarrassed, he had to admit that no matter his age, knowing his parent had caught him felt weird. “Helicopter rides aren’t really my thing but thanks.” He said it without thinking. It was stupid, but it was hard for him to accept anything from his father.

  His father didn’t go. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see Janet so lively.”

  A vision of Kurt flashed into his mind. Michael imagined he must of put her through hell if his father was mentioning it. “Yeah, her ex did a number on her.”

  His father stood. “Come here for a second, will you?”

  Michael did as he was asked.

  His father pointed out the large window. “Do you see where the tree-line hits the mountains right there?”

  Michael frowned and wondered why his father was showing him this. “Yep.”

  “That’s where the cut off between the Hamilton ranch and Snow property begins.”

  Michael’s interest was peeked. “Okay.”

  “Janet’s father is selling off that chunk of land.”

  “The same part that includes the hot springs?”

  “Yep.” His father grinned. “You should buy it.”

  Even though Michael had just told Veronica to research it, he wasn’t ready for his father to suggest it.. “Umm, but I don’t ranch.”