by Marie Force
“Speaking of sucking up, I haven’t forgotten what was happening when we were rudely interrupted.”
“Dream on, pal. Or better yet, call your friend Angie. I bet she’d be happy to kiss your little boo-boo better.”
“There’s nothing little about it, and the only one who will be kissing it better is you.”
She wriggled out of his embrace and stood by the bed, finger-combing her hair. “So what’s the bathroom situation in this rustic palace of yours?”
“Outside and to the left.”
“Outside.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And is there water?”
“Yep. We’re attached to a well out there and in here. The water pressure isn’t great, but it is what it is.”
“All right then.”
“Want me to get your stuff out of the truck?”
“I’ll get it. Are you going to get ready?”
“I am ready.”
“I’m coming back in my next life as a guy.”
“That’d be a terrible shame, honey.”
Riled and out of sorts after their “fight” but always amused by him nonetheless, Lucy pulled open the door and stepped onto the porch. The air was significantly colder here than it had been at the lake, and she was glad she’d brought a sweater as well as a sweatshirt with her. She stepped off the porch and came face-to-face with a giant animal. Screaming, she took a step back and tripped over a tree root.
Lucy landed hard on her backside as the animal let out a loud “moo.”
Lucy’s scream launched Colton out of bed. He ran for the door and bounded down the stairs to the yard, where he saw Fred the moose having a standoff with Lucy, and judging by the fact that Lucy was flat on her back, Fred seemed to be winning this round.
“Easy, babe.” Colton offered her his hand. “He’s a friend.”
“A friend? He’s a monster.”
“Fred’s a pussycat.”
“That’s Fred? Cameron’s Fred?”
“The one and only.”
Lucy let Colton help her to her feet, and she plastered herself to him, not that he minded. “Holy cow. No wonder her car was nearly totaled. He’s massive!”
“Holy moose, you mean, and he’s big, but he’s a sweetheart.” He brushed the dirt off her backside.
She jolted.
“Are you hurt?”
“Mostly my pride. I landed kind of hard on my butt.” Rubbing her backside, she eyed Fred with trepidation. “I may not be cut out for life in the wild.”
“This is hardly the wild, babe.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“He knows I’ve always got some twigs and leaves and other goodies for him, so he stops by for a visit from time to time.”
Sarah and Elmer came running into the yard, barking gleefully at Fred, who nudged at them playfully the way he always did. The three of them were old friends.
Colton kept an arm around Lucy as he walked her to the truck to get her bag and got her safely to what he referred to as the bathhouse. He thought that sounded better than outhouse. He got her a couple of towels and showed her how to work the water.
“How about a mirror?” she asked.
“Oh, um, that might be a problem.”
“You seriously don’t own a mirror?”
“I don’t really need one. I know what I look like, and until recently I hadn’t shaved in years.” She scowled at him, apparently not finding him as funny as he found himself. One thing he would say for Lucy is that she was endlessly amusing. “Don’t you have a mirror app on that fancy phone of yours?”
“A mirror app.”
“Why not? Don’t they have apps for everything else?”
She rummaged through her bag and withdrew her phone. “I thought the signal was supposedly sketchy in the mountains.”
“Cameron says the best service in the area is up here.” He pointed to the east. “Clear shot to the cell towers over in St. J.”
“Ah, look at that. Several mirror apps to choose from.”
“Told ya.”
“Buzz off and let me get ready without an audience.”
He kept his arms propped above his head in the doorway. “What if I want to watch?”
“You’re not watching. Go feed your dogs and your moose.”
“All right, I’m going, but next time I want to watch you get ready.”
She closed the door in his face and slid the lock into place. That door and lock had been there since his grandparents lived here. He figured it was best not to mention that the lock could be temperamental, which was why he never used it.
After he scattered some goodies around the yard for Fred, he brought Sarah and Elmer inside to feed them so Fred wouldn’t get any ideas about sharing in their dinner.
No one was entirely sure how Fred had become so domesticated. Rumor had it that Gertrude “Dude” Danforth, also known in town as Snow White, had worked her animal taming magic on him. As much as Fred was a man about town, the residents were careful not to feed him anything other than what he’d eat in the wild. No one wanted to make it so he couldn’t care for or defend himself if need be.
While he waited for Lucy, Colton changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a collared polo shirt, which were the nicest summer clothes he owned. He stopped short in the middle of the room to wonder why he’d gone to the trouble of dressing up for her. He didn’t dress up for his own mother, so why did he do it for her and why did he do it without even thinking about it?
After a moment of contemplation, he decided he’d done it because he wanted to look nice for her. He wanted to please her. He wanted her to want him, to want to come back again.
She’d certainly dispatched Angie, who was one of the more tenacious of his “groupies,” as his brother Landon liked to call the women who came up to visit him on the mountain.
In the past, he’d encouraged the visits, enjoyed them even. But now, the only woman he was interested in spending time with was Lucy. During the weekends they spent together, he couldn’t get enough of her. While they were apart, he counted down the hours until he could see her again. There was no point in trying to deny that his feelings for her ran deeper than they ever had for anyone else.
He had no idea how long he’d been standing there thinking about her when she came back into the cabin looking sweet and beautiful and nervous.
“Do I look okay?”
Colton realized he was staring at her.
“What? Do I have something on my face or something? The mirror app wasn’t as helpful as it could’ve been.”
Because the attraction was too powerful to resist, he went to her and raised his hands to her neck, using his thumbs to stroke her face. “You look amazing.” He bent his head to kiss her and then took a second taste because the first one was so sweet. “And you have no reason to be nervous.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. I can tell by now.”
“Don’t act like you know me so well.”
“I know you, sweetheart, and I also know it’s no small thing to go to dinner at my parents’ house when we were supposed to be spending a quiet weekend alone at the lake. You’ve gotten way more than you signed on for, including a visit with Fred.”
“That is true. You’re going to have to make it up to me when we get back.”
“I’ll try to think of some way I can do that.” He collected her into his arms and held her close. “It’s a big group but a welcoming one. You’ll be fine. I promise.”
“I wish Cam was going to be there.”
“I’ll be right there with you, and I won’t leave your side. I promise I won’t let them bite you or anything.”
“They bite?”
“Lucas and Landon had a little problem with biting for a while there, but they’ve outgrown that now. For the most part.”
“Lovely.”
“I’ll keep them away,” he said with a chuckle. “Shall we do this?”
She took a deep, calming br
eath and released it slowly. “Yes, let’s go.”
CHAPTER 15
Sap Surge! A sugarmaker would never admit there is such a thing as too strong a sap run, but days like today test that opinion.
—Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, April 3
As they rode down the steep hill from the mountain to the main road, Lucy told herself—repeatedly—that she had nothing to worry about. Molly and Lincoln Abbott had been warm and welcoming to her from the first time she met them. But that had been because she was Cameron’s best friend and business partner, and they loved her.
This time, today, she was coming as Colton’s . . . friend or girlfriend or whatever she was to him. He’d been right when he said she was getting way more than she’d expected out of this weekend in Vermont. Not only had Will and Cameron forced them out of the closet, but now she was heading for Sunday dinner at his parents’ house, where most of his siblings would be in attendance.
They were nice people. And contrary to what he’d said, she didn’t expect any of them to bite. However, she was nervous just the same. Everything had changed this weekend. Their fun interlude had become something much more serious, and it wasn’t only because they’d finally made love or because his family had found out about them. No, it was more than that. Things between them were more serious, and that had nothing at all to do with anyone but them.
“Talk to me,” he said after a long period of silence.
“About what?”
“About what you’re thinking right now.”
“I want to know how many other Angies are out there.”
“That is what you’re thinking about?”
“Among other things. Are you going to answer the question?”
“There’ve been a few Angies. Here and there. Nothing significant.”
“So they’re like fuck buddies or something like that?”
“Lucy! Such language from that sweet mouth of yours.”
Though he chastised her, she could see he was also amused. “You still haven’t answered the question.”
“I guess they’d probably qualify as FBs, if we’re getting technical. I never said I’ve lived like a monk. I like women. I’ve always liked women, and they seem to like me, too.”
That made her snort rather inelegantly through her nose.
“You find that funny?”
“You say that so casually. ‘They seem to like me, too.’ When you know it’s more a matter of them loving you and coming up to the mountain to keep you from getting lonely. I see right through your entire operation, Abbott.”
“It’s not an operation, per se. It’s more of a . . . lifestyle.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“It was a lifestyle. Past tense. Now I’m a one-woman kind of guy.”
“Because that’s what you want or because I started a rumor about your egregious axe injury?”
Laughing, he said, “Because it’s what I want, although your rumor might help to get the word out a little quicker than it would’ve happened otherwise.”
“Good.”
“You’re a spiteful little wench when you want to be, aren’t you?”
“You know it.”
He reached across the console for her hand and linked their fingers. “I do love sparring with you, Lucy. You keep me on my toes.”
“Someone has to. You’ve had it far too easy in the past. It’s high time someone gave you a run for your money.”
“I’m really glad it’s you giving me a run for my money.”
As always, his sweetness was hard to resist, which of course was what made him so popular with women. They turned onto Hells Peak Road a short time later.
“Did I ever mention that I was raised in a barn?”
“I don’t think you did.” Lucy took her first look at the “barn” the Abbotts called home. Like everything else about their family, the red barn was incredible, filled with different-shaped windows, a weathervane on the roof. The acres of land that surrounded the barn were lush and green, and the mountains in the distance majestic and breathtakingly beautiful. “It’s amazing,” she said softly, trying to imagine what it had been like to grow up in such a place in the midst of such a family.
He brought the truck to a stop behind several other vehicles, all of them big and rugged and built for the harsh mountain winters. Sarah and Elmer bounded out of the backseat and went off to frolic with George and Ringo. Another smaller dog was also running around with them, and Lucy recognized Colton’s sister Hannah keeping a close eye on the little one.
“You ready?” he asked when he came around to the passenger side of the truck to help her out.
“Absolutely.” He didn’t need to know her heart was beating fast or that her hands were trembling ever so slightly or that she’d never done this with any other guy. She’d never gotten this far with anyone else, so meeting the parents and family had never been an issue.
Hannah came over to greet her brother with a hug and kiss. She took a surreptitious glance down the front of him. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. Why?”
“Heard a little rumor about an injury in a very delicate place.”
Colton hooted with laughter. To Lucy, he said, “I told you it’d be all over town in no time at all.”
“I’m afraid the rumor is all my fault. We had an unwelcome visitor up on the mountain and I took a little liberty with the truth.”
Hannah joined in the laughter. “It’s good to see you again, Lucy. I understand you’ve had one heck of a weekend in Vermont.”
“That’s putting it mildly. I’ve also met Fred.”
“Even better.” Hannah linked her arm with Lucy, who immediately felt at ease with Colton’s gorgeous older sister. Her dark hair shone in the afternoon sunshine and her eyes were aglow with happiness. “Come on, Homie. Leave the big kids to play and come with Mama.”
The multicolored puppy responded immediately to Hannah and trotted after them into the house.
“He’s so good,” Lucy said.
“I’m proud of him,” Hannah replied. “He’s a very good boy.”
In the spacious mudroom, Lucy noticed the row of hooks with ten names above them. For some reason she found that ridiculously endearing.
A handsome dark-haired man came into the mudroom. “Oh, there you are, Hannah. I was coming to find you and the little monster.”
“Lucy,” Hannah said, “this is my fiancé, Nolan, who isn’t going to be my fiancé for long if he continues to refer to my baby Homer as a monster.”
As Lucy laughed at the comment, she shook hands with Nolan. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too.”
“She’s Colton’s . . . friend,” Hannah added for Nolan’s benefit.
“Ohhhh. I see.”
“You don’t see anything, so mind your own business,” Colton said.
Nolan cracked up laughing. “Right. The same way all of you minded my business a few months ago?”
“That was different,” Colton grumbled.
“Really.” The more Colton squirmed, the more amused Nolan seemed to get. “How was it different?”
“It just was. Come on, Lucy. He’s not officially in the family yet, so we don’t have to put up with him.”
They left Hannah and Nolan laughing in the mudroom and continued into the enormous kitchen, where Molly was standing guard over the stove with Colton’s other sisters, Ella and Charlotte, assisting her.
“There you are!” Molly said, coming over to hug them both. “I heard you were injured. Everything all right?”
“Everything is just fine,” Colton replied. “It was all a big misunderstanding.”
“Is that right?” Molly’s shrewd gaze darted from Colton to Lucy.
“Uh-huh,” Colton said. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving, and we’re having pork roast with potatoes, vegetables and applesauce.”
“The homemade kind?”
“Is there any other kind?” his mother asked.
“I’m drooling,” Colton replied.
“See if you can contain yourself,” Ella said to her brother as she came over to greet Lucy. “Nice to see you again.”
“You, too.”
“So you’re the mystery woman, huh?” Charley asked.
Though her sharper-than-expected tone put Lucy’s back up, she kept her expression neutral. “I guess you could say that.”
“Are you going to move here, too?”
“Charley!” Ella and Molly said in stereo.
“Don’t ask her that!” Molly said.
“Really, Charl,” Colton said. “Way to help a guy out.”
“Why is that an unreasonable question?” Charley asked. “Her best friend and business partner just moved here.”
“I’m sorry about her,” Molly said, patting Lucy’s arm. “We’ve been trying to purchase a filter for her for nearly thirty years to no avail.”
“She’s fine,” Lucy said with a nervous laugh. Charley’s question had caught her off guard, and now she wondered if all the Abbotts would expect her to move the way Cameron had. But she wasn’t Cameron, and she’d said from the beginning that she wouldn’t move.
“Stop,” Colton whispered in her ear. “I can feel you spinning.”
Before Lucy could formulate a reply, two identically gorgeous young men came rushing into the kitchen. They fixated on Colton’s crotch. Both wore firefighting gear that only added to their supreme hotness. Lucy had once referred to the Abbott men as a DNA wonderland, and these two were a big reason why.
“Oh, dude,” one of them said, his tone full of relief. Lucy thought he might be Lucas, but she couldn’t say for sure. “We heard the weirdest thing about you at the fire-house, and we came over here as soon as we heard.”
“Let me guess,” Colton said with a sideways glance at Lucy. “Something about an axe and my junk?”
Both twins shuddered.
“Yeah, that,” Landon said. “What the hell?”
At that moment they both seemed to notice Lucy.
“Oh,” Lucas said. “Are you—?”
“The mystery woman?” Lucy replied. “That’d be me. I’m Lucy.”
