Christmas on the Last Frontier (Last Frontier Lodge #1)

by J. H. Croix

  Marley looked around as she drove into town. Diamond Creek had grown since she’d moved away. Though she’d visited every year, she hadn’t taken time to explore town much. There were now three grocery stores in town, and the multitude of art galleries, restaurants and shops catering to tourists had ballooned. She was meeting her sister, Lacey, for coffee at Misty Mountain Café. Lacey was two years younger than her and had happily returned to Diamond Creek after she finished college in Juneau.

  Marley walked into Misty Mountain, smiling at how little had changed. The café was in a renovated Quonset hut, one of many scattered around Alaska, relics from World War II when the huts had been used for military installations throughout Alaska due to its proximity to the Pacific Rim. The owners had transformed the utilitarian steel tube-shaped building with finished walls and decorative timber beams. Cheerful paint colors and curtains brightened the space with local artwork lining the walls. She looked around and found Lacey in the corner. She waved and headed to order her coffee.

  Threading her way through the scattered tables, she grinned when she reached Lacey and slid into the chair across from her.

  “Hey there,” she said with a lift of her cup in greeting.

  “Hey yourself,” Lacey replied. “How’s it going over at the little red inn?”

  That was Lacey’s affectionate name for the cabin Marley had commandeered on her parents’ property. The cabin wasn’t red, but the roof was, so the name stuck. Marley shrugged. “Pretty good. I forgot how amazing the view is from there.”

  Lacey nodded, her chestnut ponytail bouncing along. “The rise from the hill makes it feel like you can reach over and touch the glacier across the bay.”

  Lacey paused and waved to someone who entered the café. Yet another person Marley didn’t recognize.

  “So how are you? Any more trips planned before the snow flies?” Marley asked.

  Lacey was an outdoor guide. She spent most of summer away from Diamond Creek with brief stays in between treks to the backcountry. She wasn’t a hunting or fishing guide, but an expert backcountry guide for elite hikers who wanted to experience hiking without easy access. Lacey didn’t consider anything hiking unless she had to fly in. She was tough as nails. Marley had the brains, and Lacey the brawn. Lacey was pure athlete and dressed the part. Her body was toned and fit, and she could have easily been a model for outdoor clothing companies. Except for the fact that her clothing was usually worn to shreds within weeks of getting it.

  Lacey nodded, her green eyes, so similar to Marley’s, taking on a gleam. “One more. Heading up to the refuge for a week. My friend Cal is running this trip with me. The early snow is already flying that far north.”

  “You mean the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?”

  At Lacey’s nod, Marley continued. “Wow. That’s way up there. Have you been there this late in the year before?”

  Lacey shook her head. “Nope. It’s safer than going in the thick of summer. The grizzlies are already hibernating.”

  Marley shook her head. As if grizzly bears were all Lacey would need to worry about. Marley wouldn’t mind finding a way to siphon some of Lacey’s courage. She’d never thought of herself as a frightened person, but getting robbed at gunpoint made her afraid of too many shadows.

  Lacey nibbled on a muffin and pushed a plate across the table to Marley.

  “For me?” Marley asked.

  “Of course! It’s your favorite—spinach and ham pinwheel.”

  Marley almost burst into tears. It was ridiculous how emotionally edgy she was these days. The mundane moment made her feel safe, something she’d never take for granted again. She took a slow breath and tried to gather herself.

  “You okay?” Lacey’s voice was soft.

  Marley nodded, the press of tears subsiding. “Yeah. It’s just…good to be home.”

  Lacey looked at her carefully. “So, what now?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you’re here now. What are you going to do next? Mom and Dad are going to be super helpful, so either you come up with your own plan, or else,” Lacey said with a wry grin.

  Marley sighed. “Working on it. My plan right now is to try to do what I meant to do in Seattle—start my own app company. I have plenty of connections. All I need is an internet connection to do what I need. I have some money saved up, so I figure I might as well try.”

  Lacey grinned. “Awesome! That’s what I was hoping you’d do.”

  “Really?” Marley felt so disoriented since the robbery that she questioned everything she did. Between that and years of witnessing how hard it was to break into the market with anything new, she’d lost the confidence she’d once had in herself.

  Lacey took a sip of coffee. “Of course! I always wondered why you thought you had to make a go of it in the city. You can do everything you need to right here, and avoid the bullshit of all the hobnobs telling you what you can and can’t do.”

  Marley nodded slowly. “Right. Maybe I should have asked your advice about ten years ago,” she said ruefully.

  “Nah. You had to figure it out yourself.”

  Marley pondered Lacey’s point. Marley had been determined to show her stuff somewhere outside of Diamond Creek. She wished upon wish it hadn’t taken a robbery to shake the foundation of her life, but coming home felt so good.

  “Hey, did you know that Last Frontier Lodge was reopening?” Marley asked, ready to move on from discussing her life.

  Lacey’s eyes widened. “No way! Where did you hear that?”

  Marley filled her in on her encounter with Gage, minus the details about how drool-worthy handsome and sexy he was.

  Lacey leaned back in her chair. “That’s big news! I’m stoked. We’ll finally have somewhere to ski again nearby. Last time that place was open, we were so little, all we could do was coast down the bunny slopes. Now we can do some real skiing. What’s he like? The guy who inherited the place?”

  Marley paused and pictured Gage—his body, all hard muscle, his eyes like lightning, his mouth sensual and full, and his reserved manner. She flushed at the mere thought of him.

  “Oh my, Marley, you have a thing,” Lacey said with a sly grin.

  “I do not!” she replied, trying and failing miserably at making her blush go away. She was so rusty at relationships, the idea of having a ‘thing’ for anyone intimidated the hell out of her.

  Lacey giggled. “All I did was ask you what he’s like, and you got all quiet and dreamy. Don’t you hate how easy you blush?”

  Marley rolled her eyes, her face and neck hot. “You do too!”

  “That’s how come I know you probably hate it,” Lacey retorted. “Okay, so you’ve got the serious hots for him. As far as I’m concerned, you are in need of a distraction, and this Gage guy might be exactly what you need.”

  “Um, pretty sure he’s out of my league.”

  Lacey waved a hand dismissively. “You’re totally hot, but you had your nose buried so deep in books and computers that you’ve never noticed. When’s the last time you went on a date?”

  Marley tried to recall. After a long moment, she gave up. “I don’t know. You know how it was for me. I worked all the time. Sixty, seventy-hour weeks were the norm. There wasn’t much time for dating.”

  Lacey’s grin faded as she looked across the table. Her green eyes softened and she absently twirled her ponytail around a finger. “I hate what happened to you and it pisses me off that you’re feeling bad about freaking out about it, but I’m really glad you’re home. I didn’t want it to happen this way, but I’ll take it.” She paused, considering her words. “I’m not the mushy sort, you know that. But if you need to talk, I’m here. And if there’s only one thing I can tell you, it’s that you have to know anyone would be scared if they went through what you did. Stop beating yourself up about it.”

  Marley looked over at her sister and wondered how Lacey understood her so well. They were so different. Marley t
ook a deep breath and closed her eyes. Opening them, she met Lacey’s. “I’m working on it, okay?”

  Lacey nodded. After a moment, her grin returned. “Maybe you should offer to help Gage out with the lodge? Be a friendly neighbor and all that.”

  Marley started to shake her head.

  Lacey held her hand up. “Or you could skip the preliminaries and screw his brains out.”

  Marley choked on her coffee.

  Chapter 3

  Gage walked down the driveway. He was tired, dusty and sweaty from an entire morning dedicated to cleaning and repairing inside the lodge. Given how many years the lodge sat empty, the inside areas were in surprisingly decent shape though covered in dust. His grandmother had left the place with all the windows boarded up and the doors secured. Throughout the lodge’s many rooms, he’d only encountered a few mice infestations. The inside was in dire need of updated furnishings, along with some minor repairs, but the essentials were sound. The outside was where he had more work to do. He’d ordered the exterior paint yesterday from the local hardware store.

  After a long morning inside, he needed some fresh air. He reached the head of the drive and eyed the sign at the entrance, a large wooden sign mounted between two posts. The chain was broken on one side. He tugged the new chain he’d brought with him out of his tool belt and wiped his face on his sleeve. He quickly got to work replacing the chain, stepping back once it was done.

  “Well, your sign doesn’t look drunk anymore,” a feminine voice called out.

  Gage turned to find Marley walking up the road toward him. Her auburn hair fell around her shoulders in loose waves. She wore running shoes, fleece leggings and a t-shirt that pulled tightly across her breasts. When she reached him, she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, eying the sign. All she did was stand there and his body kicked into gear. His breath hitched as he imagined what it would feel like to run his hands along her curves.

  “I’d say it’s level,” she said with a grin.

  “Would you tell me if it wasn’t?” he countered. He wanted to keep her talking—about anything. Because that meant she’d keep standing here beside him. Get a grip, dude. You’re about to lose it over a woman you barely know.

  She pursed her lips, those full, sensuous lips a magnet for his eyes. He had to force himself to look up. Of course, that meant looking into her bright green eyes.

  “I would. I mean, you’re trying to fix it, right? You seem like someone who’d want to do it right.”

  Gage couldn’t help but grin. “I definitely want to do it right. No sense in half-measures.” He paused and looked to the bay. The sun was high in the early afternoon sky. Clouds drifted lazily in front of the mountains. A cool breeze gusted when he looked back at Marley, blowing her hair wild. She ignored the tousled waves. Her nearness kick-started his pulse. Without the slightest effort, she made his body stand up and take notice.

  “What brings you up here?” he asked.

  “When I came home a few minutes ago, I saw you working on the sign. Just thought I’d see how it’s going.”

  Her genuine curiosity and friendliness threw him. He couldn’t say why, but it wasn’t something he experienced much beyond his family. After several years in the military, his mother had tried to point out that he’d become less approachable. He’d ignored her though part of him knew she was right. Marley didn’t seem to notice and carried on as if checking on a neighbor she barely knew was perfectly normal. In a place such as Diamond Creek, it probably was. But this world wasn’t the world he’d lived in for years.

  He damn sure didn’t know how to manage his attraction to her. After too many years of high-level missions as a Navy SEAL, women weren’t something he considered. His life was all work and no play. His last girlfriend had tactfully ended their relationship. He’d been too quiet, too withdrawn and definitely not emotionally available. Yet, he hadn’t encountered a single woman who affected him the way Marley did. And Marley—she did it without the slightest effort, no artifice, and appeared oblivious to the effect she had on him.

  Looking over at her, he watched her absently twirl an auburn curl around her finger. When she caught him looking at her, she flushed and dropped her hand. He realized he’d yet to reply to her.

  “If you’re wondering how it’s going, it’s been busy. I’ve gotten the lay of the land, so to speak, and now I have to get to work. I was hoping I’d be able to get the lodge up and running by the holidays, but I’m not so sure. I’m focusing on the outside work from today on, so I can get new exterior paint on before it’s too cold. After that, I have to decide what to do inside.”

  Marley tilted her head. “I can see the buildings need a new coat of paint, but what do you have to do inside?”

  “Gram did a good job of boarding the place up, but it’s dusty and needs a hell of a cleaning. I have to decide what to do about the furnishings too. This place was modern roughly twenty years ago, but now it’s like walking into a time warp. I’m not thinking that’s a great way to start if I want to make a go of it with the lodge. Assuming I can take care of everything in time for the holidays, then I have to figure out the website situation. This place closed long before the internet existed. My sisters insist I’d better plan to get something up online sooner rather than later, but I’m lost in that area. I don’t want to start too soon, or before I know the lodge will be ready to take reservations.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. The repairs, even trying to handle the decorating inside, he figured he could somehow make it work. The online thing—forget it. He’d argued with his sisters about it, but they were adamant he’d be silly to think he could get a ski lodge up and running without some kind of online presence.

  “I could help with that,” Marley said.

  Gage looked at her, her beauty hijacking his brain for a second before he forced himself to focus. “Huh?”

  The effect she had on him was flat ridiculous. He was a man of precision and focus. He’d handled high-stress, high-pressure missions for years. Yet, all he could say to Marley was ‘huh.’

  She nodded, a strand of hair blowing across her face. Since she didn’t offer further clarification, appearing to think he understood her, he had to ask another question.

  “What do you mean you can help with that?”

  “I mean, I can help you build your website. If you tell me what you want, we can have one up and running pretty quick.”

  Gage stared at her. “You can do that?”

  Marley smiled and flushed. “I’m a programmer. Building a website isn’t that hard. I don’t mean to take sides, but your sisters are right. You need a website, and you need it up and running before you’re ready to open. If you don’t do that, you won’t have a way to take reservations and set up a payment system. No one will even know the Last Frontier Lodge exists unless they happen to live in Diamond Creek. The locals love this place, but they aren’t your bread and butter. You need a presence online as soon as you can get it. You can’t leave it until the last minute. We can set it up so you post updates about when it will be ready to open.”

  Gage stared at her for so long, he didn’t notice until she started to shift on her feet and glance away.

  She cleared her throat. “Sorry if I overstepped there. It’s just...”

  “You didn’t overstep. Sorry if it seemed like I thought you did. The whole website thing is so out of my territory that I kind of hoped I could ignore it. But if you’re really offering to help…” He battled the smile building inside. Marley’s offer was two-fold for him. He needed the help she was offering, but more than that he couldn’t help the anticipation of having an excuse to be around her.

  Marley’s smile made his heart clench and his pulse gallop away again.

  “I’m really offering. Tell me when you have some time. I can stop by with my laptop and we can get started.”

  “We?”

  Marley threw her head back with a laugh. “Not to worry. ‘We’ doesn
’t mean you have to do anything other than take a look at some other sites with me and tell me what you like.”

  “I think I can handle that. How about this afternoon?” He startled himself with the offer. An unfamiliar part of him was making itself known—a part that didn’t fit the tidy, controlled compartments he’d lived within during his years as a Navy SEAL. Impulsive, last-minute decisions weren’t part of the planned life he’d lived for years. But he didn’t care to question himself. Beyond legitimately needing her help with something he’d planned to ignore, he couldn’t deny how much he simply wanted to be around her.

  Marley held his eyes for a long moment before nodding slowly. “This afternoon is fine. What time?”

  Gage calculated what he had left to do and the fact that he desperately needed a shower. “Four?”

  “Four works for me. I’ll head back to my place and see you then.” She gave a small wave and turned to look at the sign once more. “It’s nice to see that,” she said softly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I missed skiing at the lodge. If you get to know people around town, you’ll find plenty of people are going to be beside themselves about this place opening again.”

  At that, she turned again and started down the slope to her cabin. “See you soon,” she called, her voice lifting above the breeze.

  He watched her go, her arms swinging at her sides, her hair a blowing curtain behind her.

  ***

  Marley stood by the table where her laptop sat and stared blankly at it. A vision of Gage filled her mind. He’d been wearing faded blue jeans, his leather tool belt hanging loosely at his hips, with another t-shirt that molded over his body like a glove. Sweaty and dusty, he’d been a sight to behold. Somehow, she’d remembered her manners and managed to engage in normal conversation with him. Then she’d gone and offered to help him with the website for the ski lodge. She hadn’t even been thinking. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help. It would be minimal effort on her part. Problem was Gage drove her to distraction and made her want things she couldn’t have. He was probably accustomed to beautiful women, not brainy girls with an outdoorsy streak. But now she’d gone and said she’d be there this afternoon. And a tiny part of her was thrilled!