On a Sunday, I would have rather stayed in and had a few beers with Paxton, but I found myself in the woods. Now that the weather had cleared up, and the warmth of the sun enticed me outside, I had to admit that I was enjoying it.
Doing the rounds was more time consuming during the summer, when teenagers would often use it as their drinking and camping grounds, but now, in the dead of winter, there wasn’t a person around. Having nothing to clean on the outskirts led me to believe the inner forest would be completely fine. I was half-tempted to call it a day, but something kept me pressing forward. It was probably the sun at my back.
With the snow lying thick on the ground, it was impossible to use the roads through the woods. Even the Cooper Construction truck with its snow tires and four-wheel-drive struggled, so I was forced to park by the side of the road once I couldn’t move forward.
“On foot I go, then,” I murmured, the words coming out as cloudy puffs of breath in the freezing air.
It was beautiful in the forest, the mid-afternoon sunlight shining a path through the undergrowth for me to follow. As the pines grew thicker and taller and I moved deeper, less light filtered down to the undergrowth. Eventually, I was walking through a murky, silent twilight, the air free of the chattering of birds, the slight breeze no longer moving the needles. The canopy was so dense that little snow had hit the ground.
Breathing became harder as the path sloped upward, signaling the beginning of the hill where the oldest trees grew. I hadn’t been up the hill for several years since the trees at the top were never felled. They towered above the forest canopy—tall sentries looking over the town for all of time and eternity.
I imagined being one of those trees, whiling away your life watching the goings-on of Frazier Falls and never knowing that there are far more interesting places to be.
I chuckled at the thought. That job would be a dream for me. Watching. Listening.
“Except I’m not a tree, and I do enjoy a good fire, which would be cannibalistic if I were a tree,” I said aloud, shocked by the echo that returned to haunt me as I passed through a rare clearing in the forest. The sunlight painted the area in silver and gold, the snow on the rocks glistening in a futile attempt to melt before the darkness of night set in.
I brushed the snow from one of the rocks and sat down to take in the surrounding sights. All the clearing needed was an errant deer rummaging around for a stray patch of grass, and the image of a winter paradise would be complete. While I remained sitting here, a deer, or any other animal for that matter, would never dare show its face for fear of becoming dinner. Sighing, I got up and moved on, continuing my steady, twisting climb up the hill.
Eventually, it got to the point where I had to admit that I was bored, and without the sun, my walk underneath the trees had grown cold. I rubbed my hands together, my gloves doing nothing to heat me.
I had to come back down once I reached the top. I knew I should call it quits and leave before numbness set in, and yet, I didn’t. I must have walked at least three-quarters of the way up the hill. There were another ten minutes to go before I reached the top. Another ten minutes to freeze. I fumbled for my cell phone to check the time—it was past four. The sun would be low in the sky, painting the entire town in sunset tones of gold and red and purple. The view from the top of the hill would be worth the discomfort.
I plowed through the snow, ignoring my numb, stinging fingers, and the vague ache in my calf muscles until the trees thinned and the steep, uphill incline smoothed out. When I reached the last of the trees, I heard a noise I hadn’t been expecting—a voice.
What was someone doing all the way up here? They must be as crazy as me. The irony of the situation was not lost. Something caused me to retreat behind a pine tree, keeping me concealed, while I worked out who it was that was up here on their own.
“He’ll help you with the potatoes that you’re so obviously looking for,” the voice said rather sarcastically. It was female and familiar … and Irish.
“Oh, no, she hasn’t told me her name; I must bribe it out of her.” Emily continued, in a sing-song voice as if she were recounting a fairytale to a young child. “Save me from hitting my head, my arse. He was the reason I fell in the first place.”
Okay, that bit wasn’t part of any fairytale I’d ever heard before.
Even bad language sounded wonderful in Emily Flanagan’s accent. I was certain I could listen to her insult me all day and still crave more.
“But what the hell is she doing …?” I wondered quietly but aloud.
“Then that woman—Lucy—the one who ‘helps’ my ma sometimes!” she exclaimed. “What is she after? Is she trying to weasel her way into the will? Ma has nothing. Lucy could have it. Nothing is nothing, no matter how much you divide it up.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” I protested out loud. I heard Emily gasp as she took in the fact that she wasn’t alone.
“Who’s there?” she called out, uncertainty painting her voice.
“You’re going to hate that it’s me,” I admitted, not moving from my position of relative safety behind a tree.
“That’s you, Eli, isn’t it?”
“In the flesh.”
I could practically see Emily’s eyes narrowing in suspicion even from where I was standing.
“Did you follow me all the way up here?”
“Lord no. I was doing the rounds.”
“You were doing the—for God’s sake, stop hiding behind a tree, and face me like a grown man.”
I bowed my head beneath a branch as I made my way out of the tree line and into the glorious sunshine and the most outstanding view of Frazier Falls one could get.
I swung around with a hand protecting my eyes from the glare of the sun, looking for Emily. I found her sitting beneath the canopy of trees several yards away from the one I’d been hiding behind.
I gave her a broad smile. “Hardly believe you made it all the way up here, given how much you hate the town.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ma wanted me to go for a walk.”
“You were kicked out? At your age?”
“What of it?” Emily fired back defensively.
I shrugged. “Nothing much. It’s just funny.”
“What did you mean by doing the rounds?”
“I was making sure nobody had messed up part of the forest. With Rich gone, I took over his searching for unattended campfires or trash left by teenagers or idiots.”
Emily frowned. “Seems a bit cold for that, even for underage drinkers.”
“I know, but the rounds still have to be done. Rich and Owen flew out this morning for Germany. Pax is helping out in Wilkes’ again, so that left me.” I threw my arms in the air in a mock celebration. “Hooray.”
“You … do you own the forest?”
I nodded as I made my way over to sit down beside her. Emily immediately backed away.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
I looked at her pointedly. “Sitting down. It’s freezing out. I could do with proximal body heat, and so could you.”
She looked as if she desperately wanted to argue, but after a moment or two, she gave up.
“Fine. Do what you like,” She looked at me quizzically. “Do you own the whole forest?”
“No, my brothers and I only own the southern part—the area closer to the creek. The Stevensons own the rest. They’re the siblings who run the mill.”
“That basically means your family owns the whole forest now.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Because Carla is marrying—oh. Shite.”
I put two and two together halfway through Emily’s sentence. I almost laughed in response.
“Have you been stalking me, Miss Flanagan?”
“Not you, but your family. It was my friend from California, not me.”
“And how did your friend know to investigate a family she’s never met in a town she’s never been to?”
Emily looke
d away, a red flush pinking her cheeks. Or at least, she might have been blushing. Her face had been so red with the cold already; it was hard to tell.
“I may have been trash talking about you to her. She looked you up.”
“What? Then she recited my entire family history for your benefit?”
She winced. “Would you believe me if I said it was pretty much exactly like that?”
“Strangely enough, yes. Something tells me your stubborn pride wouldn’t let you so much as type my name into a computer no matter how curious you were.”
“I don’t know whether that’s a compliment or an insult.”
I glanced at her and was momentarily distracted by the sunlight glinting off her beautiful green eyes. Her hair was reflecting it, too, setting it on fire. Emily Flanagan was stunning. Even I was man enough to admit that.
“Let’s call it a bit of both.”
“Wonderful.”
The two of us were silent for a few minutes, Emily not looking at me as I busied myself with watching the town below us.
As I followed the silvery ribbon of the frozen creek with my eyes, Emily broke the silence.
“What did you mean that I wasn’t being fair?”
“Huh?”
“When you broke your cover in the trees,” she said, pointing back to where I’d been hidden. “I was talking about Lucy Rogers—”
“You mean you were bitching about Lucy Rogers.”
“Point taken. What did you mean?” She picked at the stray pine needles peeking through the snow.
“I meant exactly what I said. You weren’t being fair. Sure, Lucy’s a busybody and probably the nosiest person in the town, but she’s a good person. She gets along with your mom. Her daughter Rose must be close to your age. They probably talk about the two of you to one another. How old are you, anyway—thirty? Thirty-two?”
“I’m thirty-three. I didn’t know they actually got on that well…”
“Then maybe you should pay attention to the people who are looking out for your mom.”
Emily’s nose wrinkled in annoyance at the comment, but then she sighed.
“You’re right. Want a medal?”
“You got one? I look good in gold.” I laughed, shifting against the tree to make myself more comfortable. My arm ended up accidentally brushing up against Emily’s, but she didn’t pull away.
“Your impersonation of me was pretty spot-on, though,” I admitted.
Emily backed away slightly in horror. “Oh, Lord. You heard that part, too?”
“That was the whole reason I hid. So, tell me, who else can you do?”
Emily frowned uncertainly. “What do you mean?”
“The people in town. Who else do you think you’ve got pegged? Give me the run-down, and I’ll tell you if you’re right or not.”
“That sounds … pretty mean. And judgmental.”
“That’s exactly the point.” I gave her a look that told her I knew who she was. Like it or not, she was like me, and somehow that made her being in Frazier Falls perfect.
Chapter Eight
Emily
Of all the things to be doing in the world, I never thought I’d be sitting up on the top of a hill imitating the people down below in Frazier Falls with Eli Cooper.
“You seriously want me to tell you what I think of the people in town?”
Eli nodded. “Absolutely.”
Something told me that Eli wouldn’t leave until I did, and I had to admit that our conversation had been the first one I’d enjoyed with anyone other than my mom or Sadie in weeks.
“Okay. Who should I start with?”
“Have you met Rachel Wilkes?”
“What, you mean the ancient lady who runs the convenience store when she doesn’t have Paxton take over for her?”
“That’s the one. Though she’s not that old. I’m pretty sure she’s a couple years younger than your mom.”
“No way!” That information came as a shock. “I could have sworn she was older, and that’s not to mention that my mom doesn’t exactly look like a young seventy, either.”
“Some people are simply cursed with bad genes, I guess.”
“But not you, right?” I said with a smirk. “You and your brothers are absolutely perfect.”
“Hey, you’ve already roasted me. Do Rachel.”
“I don’t have much to say about her, except I’m pretty sure she has no clue how to run a shop.”
“Exactly, right?” Eli replied with surprising excitement. “There’s no way her age has anything to do with it. She doesn’t know how to actually stock shelves or work a register, and now it’s too late to ask someone to teach her.”
I burst out laughing. “You know, that’s exactly right. I’ve been in a few times over the years when I’ve flown in to see my mom, and she has never known where the canned tomatoes are even though I make a point of asking every time I’m in.”
“Sounds about right. Hey, if you’ve visited here so often, how come I’ve never seen you?”
“It’s not as if I stay long.” I grimaced at the thought of staying in Frazier Falls. “I’m only ever here to see my mom, so generally, I stay with her. My visits are usually a day or two over the weekends. It’s not all that surprising that you haven’t seen me. We spend our time sitting in the living room catching up.”
“I suppose … okay, next one. Have you met Brady Huck?”
“Ugh, is he the guy who runs that other bar? The one down the street from Reilly’s?”
“That would be the one. Doesn’t sound like you hold him in high regard.”
I rolled my eyes. “He hit on me a couple years back when my mom insisted on taking me to Huck’s for a drink. The man told me I reminded him of Hermione Granger because of my accent. What a dullard. She’s British. Not even close. The guy’s a real creep.”
“I’m fairly certain he’s a creep to everyone, and that’s a valid reason to dislike him.”
“He seems like the kind of guy who might piss on his neighbor’s daisies.”
Eli almost choked in response. “Definitely guilty of that, except they were roses. He said it was an emergency and couldn’t make it the extra twenty feet indoors.”
“Yuck. Why does anyone go to his bar if he’s such a creep?”
“Because his dad’s a decent man, and the place is cheaper than Reilly’s. Also, you’ll never get kicked out, which is a plus.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You have cause to take that as a plus?”
“Owen got us kicked out of Reilly’s a couple times.” Eli chuckled. “Once for fist-fighting with Rich, and once, for over two weeks, for being an asshole to Ruthie McCall on a date.”
“Is that the barmaid who’s always on her phone?”
“Only recently. She’s met a guy in the next town over … hopefully, he’s less of a dick than my brother.”
I frowned. “I had Owen pegged as the nice one out of you Coopers.”
“Not Pax?”
“He doesn’t count. He’s almost too nice. There must be something going on with him behind the scenes.”
“For a girl who doesn’t like this town, you sure have your finger on the pulse. You’re good at this. Owen usually is the nice one, but he was a bit of an accidental playboy before he met Carla.”
“How can one be an accidental playboy?”
“It’s possible if you’re never aware that’s what you are,” Eli replied. “That, and Owen is pretty charming and can’t say no. That’s a bad combination when it comes to women asking him out.”
“I suppose. What’s Paxton’s deal?”
“Basically,” Eli shrugged his shoulders, “he’s actually great with people. They tell him everything he needs to know before realizing he’s wormed the information out of them for a reason.”
“He doesn’t look like you or Owen.” I turned to look at Eli. The scruff on his face called out to me to touch it to see if it was soft, but it was too cold to remove my gloves to find out. “Was he from
a different marriage or adopted?”
“Nope, he’s one hundred percent our brother by blood,” Eli smirked. “Though we made damn sure to try to convince him he was adopted when he was a kid.”
“That’s cruel.”
“That should be right up your alley.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not terrible all the time, you know. I can be nice.”
“I know. You’re being nice now.”
“I’m literally making fun of everyone in Frazier Falls.”
“Yes, but you’re doing it because I asked you to, and I’m joining in.”
“That doesn’t make me nice. That makes us both terrible people.”
Eli stared at the tiny, twinkling town down below. The sun was setting lower and lower in the sky, causing everything to sparkle as if it were made of diamonds instead of brick and lumber.
“I suppose you’re right,” he murmured.
The comment took me aback with its sincerity.
“I had half-expected you to vehemently deny that,” I admitted. “Who confesses to being a bad person?”
He looked at me, and part of my brain confirmed that his eyes were indeed blue—like a summer sky, rather than a winter one. They were beautiful. It occurred to me that Eli was way too close to me, but something prevented me from moving away.
“I don’t believe either of us are truly bad people,” Eli said, his voice low. “We’re a little on the critical side. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Clearly, there is. If I can’t even thank a person for stopping me from falling flat on my face out of spite, and you can’t go shopping without deliberately pissing off a stranger, we might have to consider the possibility that we’re not nice.”
“I’m nice, and you’re nice.” He winked. “I bet we’d be nice together.”
“Have you been talking to my friend, Sadie?”
“No, but would she tell me your secrets?”
“I don’t have secrets.” I wanted to lean forward and kiss him. But that was a secret I’d never tell.
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