by Donya Lynne
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered to the white world as she lifted her cup to her lips and sipped. “I’ve missed you so much.” She knelt and dug her fingers into the cold, lightly packed powder with the same fascination she’d possessed as a kid.
When she was younger, she had lived for mornings like this, when fresh snow coated the slopes where she rode her board. Packed snow was what she needed for the pipe and slope style, but fresh powder was strictly for fun. There was something about hitting a pristine slope after a heavy snow, one where she was the first to touch it, the first to cut her track into the powder. She had always felt like she was discovering a run all over again at times like that, taking what the mountain gave her and finding a new path to the bottom.
Lacey looked over her shoulder, past the open patio door to the front entryway. Not even ten feet outside the front door, in her SUV, her boards waited for her, almost calling to her. Take us out. Cut the snow with us, they seemed to be whispering. She looked back down at the snow melting in her palm and smiled.
Maybe. Maybe I will. But not today. She wasn’t ready, yet. Her body was healed, but her mind wasn’t. Soon, though. There was only so long she could resist when the snow beckoned every day.
Turning, she headed back inside just as the sound of a snowmobile whirred nearby. It grew closer, and she opened the front door just as Scott pulled in front of her cabin, his Oregon Ducks skullcap hugging his head, the little pom-pom bouncing. Snow covered his snowsuit-clad legs.
“Morning,” he called.
“Good morning.” She hugged her arm around her stomach and lifted her teacup in greeting. It had been a few days since their last date, but the heated memory of the way he’d kissed her stirred warmth low in her belly.
He hopped off the snowmobile and approached. Vapor puffed from his mouth as he exhaled. “I’m making the rounds. Checking on the tenants after the snow.” Clouds of powder sprayed around his feet and ankles as he made his way up the lawn.
“How thoughtful of you.” She bit her lip at the look of determination in his eyes. She felt like a target he was closing in on.
“I saved you for last.” The distance between them quickly evaporated.
“Oh? Why’s that?”
He took the three steps up to the porch in one giant stride. “So I could do this.” His gloved hands closed against her cheeks as he bent and pressed his lips to hers.
The heat of his lips, his tongue, his breath nearly melted her. Even as cold as it was outside, she suddenly felt like it was way too hot.
Breaking away, he smiled. “Now I can say it’s a good morning.”
Her eyelids slowly opened and she was sure a goofy, dumbstruck smile plastered her face. “Uh-huh.” It was all her mind could come up with now that he’d sent her body into the stratosphere.
He looked much too pleased with himself. “I just wanted to come by before I left.”
“Left?”
He nodded. “Once the roads are clear, I’m driving down to get Savannah. We’re going to head over to Sun Valley for the weekend.”
Lacey was familiar with Sun Valley ski resort. They had a state-of-the-art superpipe and terrain course. A couple of the girls she competed against trained out of Sun Valley, and she’d been there more than a few times in her career. She’d even competed there a couple of times.
She glanced skyward. “With this snow, the conditions there should be great. Great snowboarding weather.”
“Yeah, well, she wants to become the next Lacey Moon.”
Lacey laughed. “Does she now?”
“Yeah, she’s even growing her hair out so it can look like Lacey’s.” Scott chuckled. “I just hope she doesn’t start dying it. I don’t think I could handle it if Savannah turned up with red-streaks in her hair.”
Lacey ran her fingers over the back of her head, remembering all too well what red-streaked hair looked like and that a lot of young girls had emulated her hairstyle. In a way, that was fortunate, because other than her snowboarding skills, she was known more for her hair than her face. Obviously…since no one recognized her with her shorter, blond hair.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with Lacey Moon’s hair,” Scott said. “I just prefer…oh, I don’t know…a more natural look.” He eased in front of her, wending his hands over the tops of her hips. “And it seems I’ve recently developed a preference for blondes.”
“Don’t let Lacey Moon hear you say that.” How strange to refer to herself in the third person.
“I’d say it even if she were standing right here next to us.” He gazed into her eyes. “She’s not the one I’m interested in.”
She’s exactly the one you’re interested in. You just don’t know it. Because she’s too chickenshit to tell you the truth.
“Scott, I—”
He held up his hand. “I know. It’s too early to be this serious, isn’t it?” He broke away and took a step back. “But I just can’t seem to help it. I like you, Mattie.”
“I like you, too.” Which is why I really need to tell you the truth sooner rather than later. “But I need to tell you—”
His cell phone blared from inside his pocket.
“I’m sorry. Hold on.” He pulled out his phone and turned away. “Hey, Theresa. What’s up?”
Lacey sipped her tea and shuffled her Uggs in the snow, trying not to seem like she was listening while at the same time cursing herself.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll be there around five o’clock.” He hung up.
“Anything wrong?” Lacey said.
“No. Savannah just got invited to a birthday party with some friends after school, so I need to pick her up a couple hours later than planned. No biggie.” As he slid his phone back inside his pocket, his gaze shifted from her to his snowmobile, back around to the snow-covered porch, then to her face once more. “Well, I just wanted to stop by before I leave. I’ll be gone a few days, and…um…” He seemed to be wrestling with his words, as if he wasn’t sure he should vocalize his feelings. After toeing a chunk of ice away from the edge of the porch, he said, “I’ll miss you.”
Lacey’s eyebrows shot up. Scott didn’t seem the type to say something like that just to say it. Or maybe he was that type but had kept that side of himself buried for the last ten years. The gruff, scowling man she’d seen that first day had gradually faded over the past few weeks, replaced by someone who smiled more. A man who seemed to be opening up a little more every time she saw him. Maybe she was seeing the real Scott McCord and the man she saw that first day had simply been a shield he’d put up to ward people—especially women—off.
He took a tentative step closer. “How much longer do you think you’ll be staying in Hope Falls?”
The way his voice wavered and his gaze danced over her face through guarded eyes made it clear he was searching for an answer that would give him hope.
Truth was, she hadn’t really thought about when she would leave. She’d already renewed her rental contract through Christmas. “I don’t know.” Her eyes locked to his. “There’s still so much I haven’t figured out, yet.” And right now, she was looking at her biggest quandary.
She hadn’t expected to encounter a man like Scott when she began her trek to find herself. He’d thrown a wrench into things. Now, not only did she need to figure out who she was and what she wanted, but she needed to determine where and how Scott fit into the picture…or even if he should. She wanted him in the picture, but a lot stood in the way before that could happen.
Scott tilted his head to the side. “What about your job? Won’t they miss you? You’ve been here a long time already.”
Lacey hastily shook her head. “Uh, I’m sort of taking an extended leave of absence.” Way to bend the truth, Lacey.
“That’s nice of them to give you the time off. Not many companies would.”
She glanced down into her teacup. “Yeah, it’s a decent gig.”
Shit, but this lying garbage had to stop. She had to tell him. Now. She lo
oked up at him, but all the words she’d gathered to blurt out the truth caught in her throat.
He towered over her, a monolith of hard muscle and rugged outdoorsman that stole not just her breath, but her thoughts, as well. And yet his face looked as serene as an angel’s, despite the shadow of trimmed scruff outlining his jaw. Her confession locked down and wouldn’t budge as he stepped closer, his gaze cutting into hers like a soul invasion.
“I have to get going,” he said, but he didn’t make a motion to leave. Instead, he eased his hands over the tops of her hips. “But let’s have dinner one night next week. At my place.” His dark-brown eyes sparkled expectantly. “You, me…and Savannah.”
Gulp. Dinner with the daughter. Officially. This was a big step, because this dinner wouldn’t be like the accidental dinner they’d all had together a few weeks ago when her furnace had stopped working. She and Scott were romantically linked, now.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I think she already suspects something’s going on between us. She’s been asking questions.” One side of his mouth curled upward. “She’s seen how happy I’ve been and knows you’re the reason.”
Guilt knifed her gut. “Scott, I—”
His firm lips stole her voice as they gently caressed hers. It was just one tender, burning kiss, but his mouth lingered on hers for an eternity before he finally pulled away, leaving her floating speechlessly.
“Please say yes.” His eyebrows cut inward.
He seemed so eager. As if taking this step to formally introduce her to his daughter as the woman he was dating had stretched him outside his comfort zone, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her saying no.
The confession she’d been so close to voicing melted off her tongue.
Every time Scott kissed her, her vocabulary skills vaporized. His lips were seriously dangerous and should have come with a warning. Will cause temporary lapses in judgment, reasoning, and language skills. Could cause confusion. Care should be taken when operating farm equipment, driving, standing, or making important life decisions such as coming clean about one’s past.
She sighed and offered a shallow smile, vowing to tell him the truth at the next opportunity. Once more, now wasn’t the right time. “Okay. Yes. I’d like to have dinner with you and your daughter.”
His face relaxed. “Don’t worry. She knows this isn’t anything serious.” The unspoken “yet” hung in the air. Even though he hadn’t said the word, Lacey had seen it on his face in the way he blinked and dropped his gaze.
Her face heated. She liked the idea that whatever was going on between them could become something more serious.
“Okay, well…I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you.” Scott took a forced step back, dragging his gloved hands from her hips.
Still speechless but smiling, she gazed after him as he tracked back through her yard and mounted his snowmobile.
With a wave, he sped off, leaving a blanket of hope and expectation in his wake.
* * *
Scott couldn’t remember ever feeling this way.
Something about Mattie burrowed under his skin and sparked his heart back to life. When was the last time he’d felt so alive in a woman’s presence?
But he had only just met Mattie. Well, not just, but it hadn’t even been two months. And she hadn’t even been inside his cabin, yet. Was it crazy that he was already this addicted to her smile? To the way she made him see hearts every time his gaze met hers. To the way his body heated every time he heard her voice.
Then again, Scott had always been a bit of a romantic. Before Theresa had blown his world apart, he’d worn his heart on his sleeve, giving her endless tokens of his affection. Flowers, tiny boxes of chocolate truffles, a homemade picture frame housing a photo of the two of them snuggled on the bleachers after a football game, him still in his uniform. And every time they went someplace that had those little gumball machines filled with trinkets, he ponied up fifty cents and let fate drop a gift in his hand by way of one of those clear plastic eggs. Theresa had amassed an entire shoebox of rubber balls, plastic rings, tiny tiaras, rubber spiders, and every manner of Made-in-China nothingness. At the time, those senseless trinkets had meant everything. Not just to Theresa, but to Scott, too.
Then she lied to him.
And while he lay in a hospital bed recovering from the accident, he removed his heart from his sleeve and hid it away.
Now his heart was making a comeback. He wanted to do all those little things he’d done with Theresa again, but this time he wanted to do them with Mattie.
It had been too damn long since he’d had a woman in his life to give flowers to. Too damn long since he’d held a woman. Now that he’d met Mattie, his body needed that. It needed the supple, warm curves of her body pressed against the hard plains of his.
And something about Mattie awakened his instinct to protect. Not that she came off needy or dependent, just a bit lost, as if she were running from something. The clues were in the way her gaze shifted away from his sometimes when their eyes met, and the way she brushed her hand self-consciously through her hair as if trying to brush it over her face. But he saw strength in her, too, like an understated fire that stirred just beneath the surface. It made for an odd combination. She seemed both scared and excited.
He wanted to think he was part of what excited her.
But she lived in Utah. How would that work? He couldn’t move, and he couldn’t ask her to move to Hope Falls. Except maybe she would want to. She said she didn’t have any immediate plans to leave town.
An unexpected rush of delight raced through Scott’s veins that she was thinking of staying around for a while. It really shouldn’t have pleased him so much, but it did.
If she stayed, who knew how far their relationship could go?
Did he want it to go there?
His heart beat a little harder at the prospect.
Chapter 12
With Scott spending the weekend with Savannah out of town, Lacey took the opportunity to do a little soul searching. She went for a long walk in the snow, relishing the brisk air on her cheeks and the crunch of snow under her boots.
The temptation to take out her boards and cut a track down one of the many available hills surrounding her cabin had grown stronger every day, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could resist.
On Saturday afternoon, she made her way into town and browsed the bookstore. When she spied a rack of journals with colorful skulls that reminded her of Mardi Gras on them, she remembered how, when she was a kid, she used to keep a diary. Journaling had helped organize her thoughts more than once. Maybe it could do the same now. She grabbed one notebook with a black cover, which was made of what felt like canvas fabric over thick particleboard, and added it to her stack of books, which included Apolo Ohno’s autobiography. She figured he’d been where she was now, and who best to gain insight, wisdom, and inspiration from than someone who understood what she was going through.
After leaving the bookstore, she meandered aimlessly, taking in the Thanksgiving decorations, as well as some early Christmas lights, letting fate pull her where it may.
And of all the places it could have pulled her, a Bingo hall was the last place she would have expected. But there she was, drawn in by the crowd and the warmth. And the restroom. Because that was what had really sent her into the single-story, brown-brick lodge.
“Well, hi there, sugar.” Shirl carved her way out of a group of middle-aged women who appeared to be her gossip buddies. They all eyed her with renewed interest as Shirl made her way over.
“Hi, Shirl.”
“You here to play, honey?” Shirl locked her arm around Lacey’s elbow and began guiding her toward the bingo hall without waiting for an answer. “You can sit next to me.”
Lacey’s alarms went off. As sweet as Shirl was, the woman had loose lips and what Lacey imagined was an uncanny ability to put everything she heard through a filter to ensure when she retold the story i
t came out even juicier and more embellished than it went in.
“My friends and I are over here.” Shirl pulled her to a table along the perimeter, by a window.
The next five minutes were a whirlwind of introductions and explanations about how to play. She knew how to play Bingo, but she went along with everyone fussing over her. It was easier that way.
Then the emcee called the crowd to order and everyone got serious. Seemed these ladies meant business when it came to Bingo.
For the next thirty minutes, focus was on the guy calling out the letters and numbers, interspersed with the occasional muttered curse as someone at another table yelled “Bingo!”
“So, Miss Mattie,” Shirl said during a break while the others scuttled off to the restroom or to restock their refreshments, “how you settling in at that cabin of yours?”
Lacey shrugged as innocently as she could. “Okay, I guess.”
“Scott sure has been smiling a lot since you came to town. And you seem to be smiling a lot, too, I might add.” Shirl’s eyes narrowed and one of her eyebrows arched as she tilted her head and gave her a look that screamed she was fishing for the juicy bits.
“Oh?”
Shirl lightly shoved her arm. “Don’t you ‘oh’ me, sugar. You know what I’m talking about.”
Trying to dissuade Shirl was like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.
“We just have a lot in common, that’s all.” Maybe if she gave Shirl a nibble, she’d drop it.
“Uh-huh. And having lots in common is the first step toward something more meaningful.”
Or not.
“I’m not even sure how long I’ll be in town, Shirl.” Lacey really didn’t want to get into this, especially not with Shirl.
