Closer to You (A Haven, Montana Novel)

by Jill Sanders

  He jumped out of the truck and walked over to where his brothers were clearing the space for his garage.

  “How’s it going?” he asked once they shut the tractor down.

  “Son of a bitch tree.” Trent nodded to the stump he’d been pulling out of the ground.

  “Want me to take over?” he asked. It was an argument between the three of them who got to drive the tractor. Since it was the easy part, whoever showed up first usually got the job.

  “Right,” Trent said dryly, then smiled at him. “I thought you’d be busy tonight. Seeing as Kristen is back in town.” Trent took a swig from his water bottle.

  “Right,” he replied, matching his brother’s dry tone. He walked over to where Trey was cutting wood into smaller chunks with the chainsaw. Trey cut the machine off and sat down.

  “Ready to start stacking?” he asked, nodding to the pile of wood he’d cut up so far.

  “How about you let me take over the chainsaw and you . . .”

  Trey’s laughter stopped him. “You know the rules. Last one here gets the shit job.” He nodded to the pile of rough cut wood.

  He’d work off his frustration by chopping and stacking wood. They had been piling chopped wood near what would be the back door of his new house. He had already ordered a wood stove, so he could keep the place warm and still be able to cook if he lost power. His parents had a stove installed in the basement after one winter where they went almost a week without electricity.

  He removed his jacket and got to work on the downed tree. After a time he heard the tractor stop, and Trent joined him in stacking and chopping. Then Trey cut off the chainsaw but instead of joining in the labor, he started a fire in the makeshift fire pit they had built and handed out a few beers. They sat around the fire, drinking beer and talking about who could be behind the sabotage.

  The reports had found a few bolts on the elevator had been purposely loosened. The inspectors were shocked that there hadn’t been more damage, given the potential that such sabotage could have for disaster.

  The brothers struggled to contain their own shock and anger. Trent vowed to triple security, adding almost half a dozen new workers to his forces. They even considered running a few nightly drive-bys at active sites themselves.

  “It has to be Brian behind this,” Trent said, leaning back against a log.

  “I don’t know. We haven’t heard anything from him since he was released. Maybe he’s left town for good this time.” Tyler shook his head and took another sip of his beer.

  “Doesn’t mean he’s not behind it.”

  “True.” He thought about it.

  “Remember when he trashed your bike?” Trey added.

  “How could I forget?” He took another sip of beer, trying not to remember how he felt as an eleven-year-old whose new birthday bike had been tossed off a roof. All because Katie Hill asked Tyler to the dance instead of Brian. “And it was more than just a bike.” He closed his eyes and remembered the shiny blue Haro. “I miss that bike.”

  “We all do.” Trent sighed. “I remember having to lug you around all that summer on the back of mine.”

  “I remember half the time it was me pedaling,” Tyler shot back.

  “Your memory must be going. After all, you are the oldest.” Trent laughed.

  When darkness fell, his brothers headed out and he headed toward his trailer. His mind wandered to what Kristen might be doing. Before reaching the door, his stomach growled and he decided that a shower and a drive into town for dinner wouldn’t hurt. And if he happened to drive by the hotel and see her light on, maybe he’d stop by again.

  He had wondered how her conversation with her boss had gone after he’d left. The man was an ass, from what Tyler could tell. But then again, he was probably biased. And in any case, Tyler didn’t want to be the reason she lost her job.

  He desperately wanted to know what her answer would have been to his question. What had their time together meant to her? To him, it had meant everything. It was strange how he’d changed so much. Less than a year ago, he would have gladly enjoyed the sex and shut down any thoughts of relationships. Now, however, he knew that was no longer enough.

  He parked next to a patrol car and walked into the diner. The place was normally packed; however, tonight, there were only a few people in the dining room.

  He said his hellos to Mike and Tom as he walked by their table, then picked a booth near the back. He ordered a burger and clicked around on his cell phone while he waited for the food to arrive.

  When the diner door opened, he glanced up to see Brian walk in. The man caught sight of Tyler and for a moment, looked like he would bolt. Instead, he chose to sit at the table as far away from his as possible.

  Tyler didn’t rush through his dinner. When his plate was empty, his patience was rewarded as Kristen entered, looked around, and, when she spotted him, headed his way.

  He’d ordered a slice of apple pie à la mode and after Kristen sat down, the waitress delivered it.

  “I’ll take one of those.” She smiled up at the woman. “And a cup of coffee, please.”

  “Sure thing, hon.”

  He waited until the woman disappeared before speaking.

  “All alone tonight?” he asked.

  “Tyler,” she sighed. “I’m sorry we were interrupted.”

  “Did you lose your job?”

  She frowned. “Of course not.” She leaned forward. “But Mr. Burnett isn’t pleased with how I’ve . . . handled things.”

  Her words stung. “So this was all just business to you?”

  “No,” she said quietly, and he thought he saw a sadness in her eyes. “Is that what it was to you?”

  “No.” He had barked it out and somehow the word echoed in the room. He leaned forward and whispered it again.

  “But what can we do?” she asked.

  “Why did you leave without saying good-bye?”

  This question seemed to set her back. The sadness in her eyes deepened and she bit her bottom lip.

  “Haven’t you avoided something hard before?” she finally asked.

  He thought about it, then reached across the table and took her hand.

  “I’ve had to do a lot of hard things in life. Letting you go was by far the hardest one to date. But I would have preferred saying good-bye.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Kristen’s heart skipped beats in her chest as she watched the hurt behind Tyler’s eyes.

  “That will never happen again,” she promised.

  He held her gaze for a moment, then broke contact as her dessert was delivered.

  “So, tell me about this new offer. What does it mean for you?” he asked.

  “Mr. Burnett brought me along on this trip because he believes I’ve built trust with your family. He’s clearly trying to use me as a means to an end. To be honest, I’m not sure how much longer I can work for a man like him.” She took a bite of her pie before continuing. “But this deal—I wanted to come back to present the offer because this means that you finally know who’s behind all the offers.”

  “DW Petroleum Industries. They own a stake in JB Holding?” he asked.

  “Yes, and now maybe you could . . .”

  He cut her off. “Kristen, I’ve always suspected as much. I mean, DW pretty much runs the oil refinery industry in these parts. They’ve made some noise about adding another big pipeline that leads directly to their refinery.”

  “You knew . . .” Her words dropped off. “I thought . . .”

  “What?” He smiled over at her. “That it would make a difference? We won’t sell. No matter who makes the offer.”

  She shook her head. “No, I didn’t think you would. But I thought that you’d look at the offer to license out your father’s technology.”

  “When my father perfected his technique, he was offered several million for it. He turned them down then, and we’ll continue doing so now.”

  “Why?” She shook her head, not understanding. />
  He glanced around and sighed. His eyes zoned in directly behind her.

  “Why don’t we go somewhere else? How about some fresh air?”

  She pushed her empty pie plate aside and nodded. “Sounds good.”

  He took her hand once they stepped out into the cool night air and walked with her to his truck. It felt so right as he helped her up into the cab.

  They drove for a while in silence, then he pulled down a long driveway and parked in front of a double-wide trailer.

  “Where are we?” she asked, looking around.

  “My place.” He smiled. “It’s temporary until the house is done.”

  He helped her out of the truck. She glanced around, but it was too dark to see much.

  “This is the field we ate lunch in?” Nothing looked familiar.

  “Yeah, I had a drive put in on the side, instead of going through my mom’s place,” he added. “How about a walk around? I’ve got a fire pit over there.” He pointed a few feet away.

  She followed him through the short grass. She was thankful she’d changed into some jeans and the mud boots she’d bought the first time she’d been here.

  He rolled a log closer to the makeshift fire pit, and she sat down on the edge of it. Then she watched him lean down to build a fire.

  When the fire was going well, he rolled another log close to hers. She watched the flames for a while.

  “Do you know why DW Petroleum wants to get their hands on my father’s technology?”

  She glanced in his direction. “I would assume to use it. It’s safer and more efficient, right?”

  He sighed. “I thought that at first too.” He turned slightly until he met her gaze. “I looked over the new proposal.”

  “And?” she asked.

  “If I signed, they would have sole access to the technology. Meaning we’d have to stop using it on our sites. I’d be forced to revert to the old ways of drilling or to sell out to DW eventually anyway. The agreement blocks all other licenses for the technology. They would have a monopoly.”

  “Don’t you have one now?” she asked.

  He nodded. “My father worked for years to come up with something that worked better, faster, safer, and cheaper. His intentions were honorable. When I was young, just after my father and uncle started the business, there was an accident.” He shifted and looked back into the fire. “They lost three crew in less than five minutes. My father swore he’d never let anything like that happen again. After years of working on creating a safer, better way, he found one. When he thought he’d perfected his new method, he made a deal with my uncle. After ten years of testing the method, he’d give away his technology for free. So the rest of the industry could adopt it and hopefully it would become standard.” He glanced at her.

  “For free?” she asked, shaking her head. “But . . . it’s worth . . .”

  “So much more than one person deserves. It can save so many lives. Once it’s proven itself.”

  She watched as the light from the fire flickered across his face. “DW Petroleum would destroy everything my family has worked hard for. I get the feeling they’re not interested in improving technology industry wide. They’re worried about keeping their competitive edge.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “DW Petroleum is one of the largest petroleum companies in the States. They’re known for using controversial methods and because of that, they’ve had some pretty big oil leaks.” He sighed. “There’s a reason my father didn’t trust them. I don’t know what it was, but something in my gut tells me to follow his lead in this.”

  “Are you going to follow your father’s wishes?”

  “Yes. My uncle has been doing everything he can to stop us, but we are all in agreement to go ahead with releasing the technology. We almost have everything ready.”

  “How much more time do you have before . . .”

  “Another year and we’ll be ready to go public,” he said. “Of course, the accident has us worried.”

  “Do you think your uncle . . .” She trailed off.

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  “What will you do now?” she asked after a moment.

  “Now . . .” He reached over, took her hand, and tugged until she moved over and sat on his lap. His arms wrapped around her. “Now I will enjoy a few more days with you.” He leaned up and placed his lips over hers.

  Instantly, her body melted against his. He surprised her by breaking the kiss, his hands roaming over her back gently. “Tell me what you did since I last saw you.”

  She laughed. “You don’t want to know about my boring life.” She tugged on his neck until he was kissing her again.

  “Sure, I do,” he said between kisses. “I’m extremely interested in . . .” She didn’t let him finish. Moving up, she straddled his hips, pressing herself against his hardness. She heard him groan and knew he was no longer interested in talking.

  She wanted to take her time. To show him how much she’d missed him.

  Instead, her body had demands of its own. Tyler’s hands roamed her curves, building a need in her she couldn’t control. Her desire overrode every shred of coherent thought she had.

  When his hands skimmed under her top to brush against her bare skin, she felt her breath hitch and her heart jump. Goosebumps rose everywhere his mouth traveled.

  When they finally lay naked together, she wondered how she’d ever be able to leave him again.

  Tyler woke with Kristen’s hair in his face. She was sprawled across his chest. He wanted nothing more than to lay for the rest of the day, holding her body against his. Then his cell phone chimed again and he realized why he’d woken.

  He reached over to grab it from the nightstand, only to end up a few inches too short. Shifting while trying to keep Kristen where she was, he bumped his elbow on the edge of the nightstand and cursed under his breath.

  “Here.” In a smooth motion, Kristen reached over, snatched up his phone, and handed it to him. She graced him with a dazzling sleepy smile.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled, then answered his phone with a resounding “What?”

  “Tyler, you might want to get down to the office.” His mother’s tone jolted him fully awake.

  “I’ll be there.” He tossed his phone on the bed.

  “What happened?” Kristen moved aside as he sat up.

  “Mom said I’m needed at the office. That’s all I know.” He glanced back at Kristen and groaned. “Damn.” He leaned in and placed a firm kiss on her lips. “I wanted to spend the day in bed with you.”

  “Me too.” She smiled, then glanced down at his phone. “Do you think it’s bad?”

  “Not sure. We’ve had a few . . . things happen since last time.”

  “I’ll go with you.” She climbed out of his bed.

  “No, you should . . .”

  “Tyler, I’ll need a ride back into town. Mr. Burnett will be . . .” She shook her head and trailed off. “I’ll need to be back in town.”

  He sighed and nodded. “Sorry about this,” he said as she pulled on her jeans. He’d already tossed on his jeans and a shirt and was looking around the room for his shoes, but stopped and walked over to wrap her in his arms.

  Her arms came around his neck. “Don’t apologize.” She leaned up and placed another kiss on his lips that had him cursing whoever was responsible for the drama that was pulling him away from this woman.

  He dropped her off at the hotel on his way to his office. He guessed that her boss would be looking for her soon and felt a wave of guilt. He didn’t want her getting in trouble. He also didn’t want to face any strained conversation with Mr. Burnett on top of the mess he was walking into at his office.

  As he expected, two patrol cars sat at the curb. When he walked to the front door, he groaned as he saw the shattered glass all over the entryway.

  Rea sat on the sofa, and his mother held a cloth to Rea’s forehead. Worry propelled him forward.

  “What happened?
” he asked when he reached her. His mother shook her head and he knew he needed to lower his anxiety level.

  “It happened so fast,” Rea cried and shook her head.

  “Who did this to you?” His eyes narrowed and he turned to Mike. “Was it Brian?”

  “No, it wasn’t him,” Rea said.

  “How do you know?” his mother asked.

  “I know.” Rea’s swollen eyes met his. “I was opening up, unlocking the doors when I heard a loud crash. The glass, it just shattered in front of me.” She dabbed the cloth on her head and he saw blood. “I turned around and saw someone running away.”

  “What did he look like?” he asked.

  “We have a pretty vague description.” Mike stepped forward. “There’s a note. It was attached to the brick the guy threw.” Mike held up a plastic bag.

  “I guess some of the glass caught me,” Rea said. His mother moved the cloth and he saw the cut.

  “Have you called an ambulance yet?” he asked his mother.

  “She wouldn’t let me.” She nodded to Rea. “But I had Mike call anyway.”

  “It’s just a cut,” Rea started to say, but he stopped her.

  “I’ll take you down to the clinic myself,” Tyler said.

  “Tyler, I don’t need . . .”

  The look he gave her stopped her from finishing the sentence.

  “Rea, let him drive you there. You might need stitches. I’ll ride along with you,” Gail said.

  Rea finally nodded and reached for his mother’s hand. “Thank you.”

  “Give me just a moment,” he told them. “Then I’ll take you.” He walked over to Mike. “What does the note say?” he asked softly.

  Mike handed him the paper in the bag.

  McGowan—You think this town belongs to you. You’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough.

  “That’s all?” he asked and handed the note back.

  “Yup, we figured whoever threw this probably just intended to do damage to the property, didn’t see Rea in the way. It was still early, pretty dark and according to her, the street lamp was out.”

  Tyler glanced back outside, to where the sun was warming everything up. Less than an hour ago, he knew that the street would have been dark. Glancing over, he realized Rea was dressed in dark colors.