I Saw Her Standing There

by Marie Force

  She stared at the ring and then at him, trying to process everything he’d said. “Yes.” The single word seemed somehow insignificant in light of all he’d said to her, but judging by the joyful light in his eyes, it was the only word he needed to hear.

  Blinking back tears, he slid the ring onto her finger and took her into his arms.

  She returned his embrace, holding on for dear life to him and his assurances that they really could make this work as long as they had love and commitment to depend on.

  He drew back from her and framed her face with his big, rough hands and kissed the tears off her cheeks before focusing on her lips. As he kissed her and held her, all of Lucy’s worries drained away, gone in a sea of desire and love and need for the one thing she couldn’t live without—him.

  “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me—or how relieved I am that you said yes,” he said.

  “You have no idea how happy I was to see you sitting on my stairs. To say I missed you doesn’t do justice to how awful I’ve felt the last two weeks.”

  “My grandfather told me two weeks would be long enough to make you feel bad enough to say yes.”

  Lucy gasped and then laughed. “So he coached you through this?”

  “He told me what I needed to do, and he was right. But two weeks was way too long to be without you.”

  “What about Sarah and Elmer? I’m not allowed to have pets here.”

  “They’re with Cameron and Will this weekend, enjoying some time with their cousins, and the good thing about my gigantic family is that there’s always someone who’d be willing to help us out with them when we’re here.”

  “So Cameron knew you were coming?”

  “Yes, but she didn’t know why. No one does, except for my gramps. He helped me pick out the ring.”

  Lucy took a good long look at the gorgeous diamond set in a platinum band. “It’s beautiful. You guys did good.”

  “I went with simple over fancy because I thought you’d like that better.”

  “I love it, and I love you. Thank you for this, for showing me how foolish I was to think I could live without you after everything we’d shared.”

  “I was prepared to let you go if that’s what you really wanted, but Gramps told me it wasn’t what you really wanted. It was what you felt you needed. Want and need were two very different things in this case.”

  “He’s very wise.”

  “Thank goodness he helped me to see the difference.”

  “Thank goodness is right.”

  He reclined on the sofa and brought her with him, arranging her so she faced him, their legs intertwined. The way he looked at her made her melt from the inside out. “So we’re really going to do this?”

  Lucy nodded. “We really are.”

  “Could we start doing it now? Because, you know, it’s been a really long two weeks.”

  Laughing as she caressed his adorable face, she said, “Yes, Colton, we can start right now.”

  EPILOGUE

  “We have a problem,” Elmer said as he slid into the other side of the booth.

  “What kind of problem?” Lincoln asked.

  “I heard a rumor that Nina and Brett are selling the diner. He got a position overseas to teach next year, and they’re looking to unload the place quickly.”

  “How is that our problem? And is this why you made me drive all the way over here to meet you for lunch?” All the way over here in this case meant a sandwich shop in St. Johnsbury.

  “I didn’t want anyone to overhear us. There’s going to be a lot of interest in that little gold mine of a diner. We have to keep this top secret.”

  “Keep what top secret?”

  Elmer looked at his son-in-law with exasperation. “Are you paying attention? We can’t let anyone know we’re interested in the diner.”

  “Interested in the diner? Have you lost your mind? I’m not interested in the diner.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “Please, enlighten me. Why am I interested in the diner exactly?”

  “And here I thought you were such a smart guy. You’re not interested in the diner. Hunter is.”

  “He’s never said so to me. How do you know that?”

  “Lincoln, have you been drinking?”

  “No, I have not been drinking in the middle of the day, as you well know. How about you stop talking in circles and give it to me straight?”

  Elmer leaned in, speaking quietly. “Hunter wants Megan, Nina’s sister. If Nina sells the diner, where does that leave Megan? And where does that leave Hunter?”

  “Ahhh, okay. I’m starting to get the picture.”

  “Thanks goodness. I was beginning to worry about you for a second there.”

  As Linc scowled at him, Elmer ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup.

  “That sounds good,” Linc said to the waitress. “I’ll have the same.”

  “So what’re we going to do about this situation?” Elmer asked when they were alone.

  “I don’t know what we can do. We just committed to buying the acreage on the mountain. That on top of the website . . . I don’t want to get us overcommitted. Hunter would never allow that to happen.”

  “Hmm,” Elmer said as he stirred cream into his coffee. “That is a problem.”

  “How’d you hear about all this anyway?”

  “Cletus’s son works at that fancy school where Brett teaches. He heard rumblings that Brett applied for an overseas position and got it. After he did a little extra digging, he found out they’re planning to sell the diner before they go.”

  “What about Megan? What will she do?”

  “That’s the big question. I’ll be honest with you . . . I don’t get what our boy sees in that girl. Don’t get me wrong . . . She’s very pretty. That’s undeniable. But she can be . . . What’s the word? Cranky. Extremely cranky. But from what I’ve heard, Hunter sees past that. If he wants her, we can’t let her get away.”

  “All this time, she’s been right across the street from where he works all day every day, and he hasn’t done a thing about it.”

  “That’s because she’s been carrying a torch for Will for years. Apparently, she’s only just recently given up on him, which opens the door to other possibilities.”

  “So you’re actually suggesting we buy the diner to keep Megan in town in the hope that Hunter might actually—finally—do something about these so-called feelings he has for the pretty but cranky waitress who’s worked across the street from where he works for years?”

  Elmer squirmed in his seat. “When you put it like that, it sounds kinda farfetched.”

  Lincoln’s laughter had other patrons looking at them with curiosity. “How do you propose I go around my CFO to buy this diner you want me to acquire for my CFO?”

  “I’m not proposing you go around him, per se. I’m proposing you make him think it was his idea.”

  “And where’s the money coming from? He’ll never go for it after we just agreed to buy the property to expand the sugaring facility.”

  “If you can get him to agree to the purchase, I’ll come up with the money.”

  “We’ve had a good run, you and me,” Lincoln said, eyeing his father-in-law skeptically. “We’re three for three, on a roll and running the risk of getting a little full of ourselves and our successes. But this one . . . I don’t know if she’s the right choice for him.”

  “That part ain’t up to us. We’re just here to give a little encouragement where we can. The important stuff . . . That’s up to them.” Elmer sat back in his seat, gazing at Lincoln shrewdly. “So . . . Are we getting into the restaurant business, or what?”

  Lincoln let out a deep sigh, knowing defeat when he saw it. “I guess we’re getting into the restaurant business.”

  Elmer smiled. “Excellent. If it goes the way I think it will, this one counts in my column. That’ll make us tied at two, even though Colton should count as mine since I saved the day there.”
/>   “I already told you—Lucy came to us through Cameron, and she was my doing.”

  “I’ll give you that, even if I know the truth about how Colton managed to pull off an engagement.”

  “You’re a worthy adversary, Elmer Stillman.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” He held up his coffee mug in a toast. “Number four, here we go.”

  Lincoln touched his mug to Elmer’s. “Here we go.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, Audrey Coty, proprietor of the Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm in Stowe, Vermont, for allowing me to borrow liberally from her blog (nebraskaknoll.com/vtmaple2013) detailing her facility’s 2013 sugaring season for Colton’s journal entries at the start of each chapter. She also helped to ensure the accuracy of Colton’s descriptions of how he makes syrup. My visit to Nebraska Knoll was one of my favorite moments in researching the Green Mountain Series, and I’m grateful to Audrey for her generosity. Thank you to “Jack’s” team—Julie, Lisa, Holly, Isabel, Cheryl and Nikki—for all you do for me so I can write, write, write. To my agent, Kevan Lyon, my editor, Kate Seaver, and everyone at Berkley Publishing, thank you for your support of the Green Mountain series. A very special thanks to the Orton family, proprietors of the Vermont Country Store, as well as the awesome staff in the Weston and Rockingham stores, for their incredible generosity toward me and the books that were inspired by the store and the Orton family. The series launch parties we held at the stores were the most fun I’ve ever had as an author, and I hope we can do it again sometime.

  Thanks to my family—Dan, Emily and Jake—for supporting my writing career, and to my dad for enjoying this wild ride with me.

  I usually thank my readers last, not because you are the least important, but because I like to save the best for last. I couldn’t do what I love to do without all of you. Your love for my books overwhelms and honors me every day. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you loved Colton and Lucy’s story. If you did, be sure to leave a review on the retail site of your choice and/or Goodreads to help other readers discover the Green Mountain series.

  When you’re finished reading, join the I Saw Her Standing There Reader Group on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/ISawHerStandingThere to discuss the story with other readers and fans with spoilers allowed and encouraged. Much more to come from the Green Mountains! Keep up with all the series developments and qualify for occasional giveaways as a member of the Green Mountain Reader Group at facebook.com/groups/GreenMountainSeries. The best way to stay up-to-date with all my news is by joining my mailing list at marieforce.com.

  Watch for Hunter and Megan’s story in And I Love Her, coming in March 2015. Keep reading after the Colton and Lucy short story, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” for a sneak peek at Hunter and Megan’s story. Thanks for reading!

  xoxo

  Marie

  Turn the page for a bonus short story featuring Colton and Lucy,

  LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

  A Green Mountain Series Short Story

  CHAPTER 1

  “You want to do what?” Lucy asked, certain—absolutely certain—she’d heard him wrong.

  “Come on, Luce,” Colton said in that charming, cajoling tone that usually worked wonders on her, especially when he was trying to separate her from her clothes. “It’ll be a blast. And you’ll get two whole days with Cameron, your second favorite person in Vermont. Come on . . . Pretty please?”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “What am I doing?”

  “That whole I’m-too-cute-for-words thing you do whenever you’re trying to talk me into something you know I don’t want to do.”

  “I’m too cute for words? Awww, thanks, honey. You say the sweetest things. I’m so glad I was smart enough to ask you to marry me.”

  “There! You’re doing it again! Stop trying to distract me, and the answer is still no. An emphatic no-way-in-hell-are-you-talking-me-into-going-camping no. Any questions?”

  “Just one.”

  “And that is . . .”

  “Do you love me, Luce?”

  “Oh don’t do that either! What kind of question is that? You know I love you. I tell you I love you every day—at least ten times a day.”

  He came to her then, his eyes warm and amused as he looked at her, and put his arms around her. “Then let me share something I love with you. Trust me enough to ensure you’ll have a great time and be perfectly comfortable. Please?”

  “My idea of camping is an all-inclusive resort with a spa and room service.”

  “We’ll do that sometime, too. Any time you want.”

  “And Cameron actually agreed to this plan of yours and Will’s?”

  “She’s in.”

  “I won’t believe that until I hear it from her.”

  “You aren’t calling me a liar now, are you?”

  “Liar is a strong word. Occasionally truth challenged might be a better way to put it.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You do crack me up, Lucy Mulvaney.” Sliding his arms around her, he drew her in close to him and kissed her neck until her knees went weak.

  “Don’t do that either,” she said with far less conviction than she’d shown a few minutes ago.

  “What?” he whispered, setting off goose bumps down her arm. “What am I doing?”

  “Seducing me into going along with this harebrained plan of yours.”

  He pulled back to look down at her, his brow raised rakishly. “Harebrained? Really?”

  “Yes! Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass I’ll be on a camping trip? Do you have the first clue how much bitching, moaning, pissing and groaning there’ll be?”

  “I have a fairly good idea.”

  “And you still want to take me?”

  “Very badly.”

  She shook her head with dismay. “You’re a glutton for punishment.”

  “Your kind of punishment is my favorite kind.”

  “Colton! I’m being serious. I’ll hate every minute of it, and you’ll hate me for ruining something you love.”

  “I could never, ever, ever hate you, Lucy. Ever.”

  “Even if I complain for two straight days without taking a breath?”

  “Even then.”

  Lucy wished she were still eight like her niece, Simone, and could get away with a full-blown temper tantrum followed by a good old-fashioned pout. But that wasn’t going to happen, and it was beginning to look like the camping trip was. So she had two options—flat-out refuse to go and run the risk of disappointing him or suck it up and compromise. This relationship thing was not for the faint of heart.

  While she had her own internal argument with herself, he waited patiently, his gaze never straying from her face as she weighed her extremely unappealing options.

  “Fine,” she said sullenly. “I’ll do it. But, you’re taking me to a fabulous spa in the next month.”

  “Deal.” He kissed her then, sucking the oxygen from her lungs and all thoughts from her head that didn’t involve the exquisite pleasure of being kissed—devoured, in fact—by Colton Abbott, love of her life. “Wait till you see how hot tent sex is.”

  Damn if he didn’t always make her laugh, especially when she was on the verge of starting a great big fight with him. “It better be the hottest sex of my life, or this will be the last time you ever get me into a sleeping bag, you got me?”

  “Oh, baby . . . I got you, and I do love when you throw down the gauntlet.”

  The look he gave her was full of sexy determination. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  * * *

  It sucked. It absolutely, positively sucked. Suck, suck, suck was the only word bouncing around Lucy’s mind as she pretended to participate in the paddling of a canoe against a strong current in a river located smack in the middle of nowhere. She was hot, sweaty, smelly and apparently the daily special on the mosquito buffet despite multiple doses of bug spray.

  Even though she’d lathered on sunscreen and
reapplied frequently, she could feel her fair skin burning as the sun beamed down on them. And her arms ached from the effort required to help propel the canoe forward.

  She glanced over at Cameron, sitting in the front of Will’s canoe, laughing and splashing with her boyfriend and appearing to have a jolly good time. Lucy wished she’d brought a slingshot and some acorns she could shoot at Cameron, who was ruining everything. How was she supposed to bitch and moan when perky Cameron had embraced this fiasco as a great big adventure?

  Naturally, Colton had failed to mention the canoe part of the program when he talked her into this ridiculous outing. She kept telling herself—two days and one night and then they’d be back to his place on the mountain, which was positively plush compared to this. It was funny to think that she’d once found his cabin to be rustic. This was rustic—trees and water and birds and a cloudless blue sky above them.

  On most days, Lucy appreciated a cloudless blue sky. Today she’d kill for a cloud or two between her and the hot sunshine. If there was one perk to this nightmare, it was the opportunity to occasionally glance back at Colton in all his shirtless glory as he paddled and steered the canoe from the back.

  The play of his finely honed muscles was a sight she usually enjoyed. When they were in Vermont, one of her favorite pastimes was sitting on the porch of his cabin and watching him swing the axe as he split the wood he’d need for the next sugaring season.