by Kat Bammer
“Yes, still playing for the Hamilton Mohawks; they didn’t make the playoffs this year though.”
Lisa hadn’t followed hockey in a long time. She did during school, because Peter and Paul were on the team. But living in all those warm places all over the world, and with diving dominating her life, it just wasn’t a part of her anymore.
“Hey, Peter, hey, Blake.”
“Hello, Julie, Lisa.”
Lisa didn’t need to turn around. The timbre of his voice created goose bumps on her forearms and a slow heat crept over her neck.
When she turned around and her eyes met Peter’s, butterflies fluttered in her belly.
Peter tilted his head, his grin not masking the heat in his eyes. “Blake, meet Lisa Reynolds.”
Lisa’s focus was caught by Peter’s eyes, so it took some effort to take her eyes off him and look at the guy next to him.
Wow, this was a tank of a man. Huge, muscular. Dark sunglasses and an impressive red beard covered his face. Just the freckles on his nose lessened the impact a little. Just a little. Because they both oozed coolness in their jeans and Henley shirts.
The picture of both men standing there next to each other in the sunshine made all three women take a deep breath
“Hello.” Lisa stumbled over her tongue in her hurry to introduce Claire, who seemed equally shell-shocked upon looking at such perfect specimens of the other sex.
Luckily Julie took over the conversation and Peter and Blake said goodbye a few minutes later. But not before Peter’s eyes caught Lisa’s one more time. What was it with this man and his focus, that knocked her off her cool and made her feel like doing all kinds of things? Like kissing, or making out, or just staring into his eyes.
Claire’s eyes were on Lisa like a laser beam.
“That was your Peter? Holy hell. You never told me he looks like a Greek god. And not the only one in this town too.”
Julie laughed. Unfortunately, she’d just had a sip of coffee which came back out through her nose. They all cracked up and laughed so hard the other customers looked at them. Again.
“You got something going too. I was getting hot and steamy just looking at the both of you eye-fucking,” Julie said.
This caused another bout of laughter, especially from Claire and Julie. And even though Lisa’s first impulse was to deny it, she was sure glad when her body temperature returned to normal and the butterflies in her belly settled again.
“I love it when my guests have a good time.” Holly, with a huge coffee mug in her hand that had MINE written on it, dropped down at the empty chair at their table and her eyes danced. “What did I miss?”
“We just discussed why the Greek gods are roaming around Moon Lake,” Claire said.
“I always thought of them more like marauding Vikings, myself,” Holly replied, “but I see your point. They could get away as Greek gods too.”
“So, your Peter, hah? Already claiming your territory?” Julie looked at Lisa with an eyebrow waggle.
“You’re such a dork,” Lisa replied, and they all laughed again.
“So, what’s the story on the other one?” Claire asked.
“Sebastian Blake, an ex-Navy SEAL teammate of Peter’s,” Julie answered. “They got out together, and he moved here. Took over Fishermen’s Bar & Grill. They’re both pretty private. But Blake’s quite the lady’s man. At least in the bar there’s always a flock of girls around, flirting with him. When he first got here, I thought about having sex with him, but the waiting line got long pretty quickly.”
The girls giggled again.
“I think they are too big; I’m intimidated just talking to them. I couldn’t fathom sleeping with one of them. They could crack you like a piece of straw,” Holly said, completely serious.
Julie and Lisa sighed simultaneously, which made all of them laugh.
Lisa’s and Peter’s night together had been raw. He was her first, and he hadn’t been a really sophisticated lover. Most likely that had changed by now. She certainly had gained more experience in the last thirteen years, and the sex had gotten a lot better the more she knew what she liked and what she didn’t like in bed.
Would it be the same for him? How would it be now? He’d been intense and very physical but inexperienced. Now he seemed more caring. Lisa started daydreaming about Peter and zoomed out of the animated conversation of the other three women.
A few minutes later they all said their goodbyes and promised to meet again soon.
Lisa’s bubble burst when she and Claire went down the street, back to the Inn.
“So, married?”
It was more a statement than a question, but Lisa knew exactly what Claire meant, and the good feelings evaporated immediately. In their place of work, there had been lots of male guests who were on vacation, away from their wives, and looking for a holiday fling. It was a hard line for both of them which they both never crossed. Unlike many of their coworkers who didn’t have the same problems about sex with married men. Lisa couldn’t ever figure out the appeal. She’d had a few affairs but mostly with coworkers or men she knew well enough to know they were not married or otherwise hitched. She never wanted to be the other woman. Especially not for one night of meaningless sex.
“Yes, his mother told me. Obviously, it didn’t work out. I’m not sure if they are already divorced, but she lives in Whitebrook now.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
“Kind of. I don’t know, he was there for me when I needed him. But—”
“He broke your heart.”
Lisa shrugged. Did he? Break her heart? He sure treated her like crap, and maybe it wasn’t a good idea to open up to him again. She had been so vulnerable, and he had pretended that nothing had happened. What if he did it again? Could she go through something like that again?
15
“There was nothing more they could do for him. That’s what the doctor said.” Lisa’s sister flitted through the different rooms in the cottage. She fluffed a pillow on the couch and threw the bouquet of dead flowers into the trash.
Lisa stood, flummoxed, in the middle of the room. “So, what happens now?” She had read a lot about the procedures and treatments for brain injuries in the long hours in the hospital so she couldn’t understand why her father would be brought home instead of being sent to a rehab facility. They had removed the ventilation a few days ago, and he’d started breathing on his own. But he didn’t wake up. This had been another devastating blow to their mother, who had been convinced he would wake up. Now, according to the doctors, chances of Carl Reynolds gaining consciousness, or ever being his old self again, were nonexistent.
Vegetative State was the term they used. Not in a coma anymore but not able to wake up either. And he probably never would again.
“The doctors told Mom about rehab, but she decided to take him home instead. She’s lined up all sorts of therapists who’ll come and work with Dad at home.”
“When did all of this happen?” She had been in the hospital every single day; she knew about the Vegetative State, but not about her mother’s decision to bring him home.
“She decided yesterday. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she was dead set against a rehab center.”
Lisa scrubbed a hand over her face. “When will they arrive? What can I do?” Her mother must have lost her mind. To make such a radical decision against the advice of the doctors. But she would just run with it for now. Maybe they could talk some sense into their mother later.
“We’ve got to make space for the bed,” Karen said.
They both looked around the small cottage. It was functional with space enough for two people but not enough space for a hospital bed.
“The bedroom is out—there is definitely not enough space next to their bed,” Karen said.
“Then the living room it is. But we’ve got to get rid of the couch first.”
An hour later they both fell onto said couch. Sweating, out of breath, and more than tired.
“We should have asked somebody for help,” Karen said. “This thing is huge.”
“Hey, we did it on our own.”
Somehow they’d maneuvered the couch out the door and down the steps, but that was as far as it would go. How their father had gotten the huge thing in there was a miracle, because it hardly fit through the front door and they had to try three different positions to get the thing out.
Now it sat smack dab in the middle of the lawn in front of the cottage.
“When are they due?” Lisa asked.
“Mom called twenty minutes ago, when they left the hospital, so they should arrive in the next ten to twenty minutes.
“This is kind of crazy, don’t you think?” Lisa redid her hair and sagged down on the couch.
“Yes, she just wouldn’t hear any other option. I think she’s just tired of hospitals and wants to go home—so that’s where he goes.”
They looked at each other. Their mother had always been a strong person. When she made a decision, she stayed the course. Their father had always gone along with her. ‘I just want her happy’ was something he had said on numerous occasions.
“Okay, let’s get the room ready and cleaned up.” Lisa stood up, and on the way up the front steps, Karen laid her hand on her arm.
“Thank you,” she said.
Lisa smiled. She didn’t know what her sister was talking about. “What for?”
“For staying, for taking over the Inn. For disrupting your whole life to help our family. You’re brave and you grew into a responsible woman. I’m proud of you, little sister.”
They teared up—another family trait they shared with their father. He was a bear of a man, tough as nails, and the strong foundation of their family, but he teared up whenever something was remotely emotional.
Lisa shrugged her shoulders. “Thanks, but everybody would have done the same. It’s home, family, you know.”
At that moment the ambulance arrived and reversed across the lawn to get as near to the cottage as possible. A police cruiser came right behind the ambulance and parked on the parking lot.
“Oh, great, finally some muscle we would’ve needed half an hour ago.”
Lisa looked up at her sister’s sarcastic statement and watched Peter march across the lawn, straight at them. She felt the familiar heat rise in her body. How could this man create this reaction in her?
As Peter got closer, he raised his eyebrows. “Who moved the sofa out here—the two of you?” His tone was so disbelieving, Lisa’s hackles rose.
“No, it went flying out the front door on its own.”
Peter chuckled. “I’m impressed. This thing is a bitch to get through the door. At least it was so going in.”
He smiled and Lisa’s ruffled feathers went down immediately. He was there and helped her dad with the furniture? How come nobody ever mentioned things like that to her? It wasn’t like she never talked to her dad. But he never mentioned Peter, at least not to her.
“The stairs will be a problem.”
Lisa and Karen turned in unison and stared at the stairs. How did they miss this? The gurney they could maybe carry in, but the hospital bed, which would arrive any minute, wouldn’t get up the stairs.
“I think Carl kept some planks in his workshop; maybe I can think of something.” Peter turned and dashed around the cottage so fast. When Lisa reached him he was already halfway inside the small space.
Lisa panicked. Had she put away the papers again, after the last time she read them, or where they strewn all over the place?
But Peter single-mindedly steered toward some wooden planks that leaned in the corner. “I hope they are long enough, but we gotta try,” he said, passing Lisa. “Can you close the door behind me?”
Lisa hurried to do so. She had to talk to Peter about the papers. It didn’t feel right to keep this from him, and even though she’d gone through them multiple times, she didn’t have a clue why her father had kept all of this.
Luckily the planks were long enough, and the rest of the operation went down without a problem. The hospital bed was clumsy to get in, but with a little twisting and turning, it fit, right where they intended it to be, by the window.
Lisa’s father was carried in and they all crammed into the kitchen. They didn’t do anything but watch, so Lisa, Karen, and Peter left the cottage and let the professionals and her mother transition him into the new bed.
When finally her father was settled in and everybody had left, they went back in.
“Thank you for your help, Peter.” Her mother’s voice sounded brittle and Lisa looked at her. Dark circles under her eyes marred her face.
“Mom, maybe you should rest a little.” Lisa turned to the bed.
Her heart hurt seeing her father back home like this and tears clouded her vision. He looked better now, without all the beeping machines around him. But he didn’t look like his old self anymore.
Lisa kissed him on the cheek anyway and squeezed his leathery hand. “Hey, Dad, welcome home,” she whispered. His lack of reaction nearly gutted her. Nothing would ever be the same.
Karen and Peter sat on the couch out front and Lisa dropped down next to them. She sniffled and wiped away the tears that stung in her eyes.
Karen squeezed her. “I’m sorry but I have to go; I have to get Mattie.” She said goodbye to Peter, and they hugged one more time, before she stood up.
Peter and Lisa watched in silence while Karen walked across the lawn, got into her car, and left the parking lot.
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Lisa looked sideways at Peter.
“I have to leave too—work, you know.”
They both got up and walked across the lawn to his car. They passed the rose garden where the first rose blossoms had started to bloom. Soon their smell would be so intense it would fill the Inn.
“Thanks for your help. I feel like you’ve rescued me a lot, in the last weeks.”
Peter chuckled. “I like rescuing you a lot. Makes me the man, you know.” His voice took on a cowboy-ish tinge and Lisa gave him a watery smile.
He raised his arm slowly and laid his hand gently on her neck while he wiped away the residual wetness beneath her eyes with his other thumb.
“I’m here for you if you need me, you know.”
He pulled her toward him, and she looked up into his eyes when their bodies touched. A soothing embrace—that’s what Lisa anticipated. Maybe a little kiss on the forehead. But after they stared each other in the eyes, something much hotter sizzled between them. She didn’t know if it was him, or her own doing, but after some agonizing long seconds, their lips met.
It started out soothing. Unhurried and languid but soon changed into something deeper, something much more carnal.
All rational thoughts flew out of her head and there was only heat and a deep, hot, coiling desire in her belly. That matched his desire, which she could feel against her belly.
She melted against him a little more, not sure her feet would even hold her up anymore.
But he did.
With his strong arms he pressed her against his body and Lisa lost track of everything around her. Until they came up for air, then conscious thoughts returned. And all kinds of feelings welled up besides desire.
Fear, anger, desperation but also hope and a longing she hadn’t felt since their night together all these years ago.
It was that good.
It was also the middle of the day, in the parking lot, where everyone could see them.
He must have felt her stiffening but didn’t release her.
So they just stood there and looked into each other’s eyes.
Lisa didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to break the magical spell around them.
But soon, Peter kissed her forehead, loosened his hold, set her back a few steps and opened the door. She still stood anchored on the same spot when Peter, before closing the door, devoured her with his eyes from head to toe.
A grin spread over his face. “I’ll see you soon, Lizzy.”
Then he closed the door, started the car, turned around, and got on with his life.
16
The barbecue at the Inn, in honor of Paul and his teammates visiting Moon Lake, was winding down as the sun set behind the mountains. It had been a great day for their guests. The games and competitions they’d planned for the families and kids had lasted all afternoon, and a lot of guests had thanked them for the fun day before they retreated into their rooms and apartments, the children exhausted and the parents, as well.
Lisa and Claire were completely exhausted too and happy that their first big barbecue was over.
“So, this day has been a complete success, partner.”
Claire grinned back at Lisa and they both moved toward the shore.
Now they could join their old and new friends at the campfire that shone like a beacon. Paul Brooks and some of his NHL teammates were down by that fire.
When they’d arrived earlier today, they had joined the activities on the meadow at once. Which had made them the big heroes with the kids.
Julie had helped Lisa with the games, while Holly had assisted Claire with all the food-related stuff. Now they all were down by the campfire enjoying the beautiful summer evening.
Lisa took two beers out of a cooler, handed one to Claire, and dropped down on a tree log next to the campfire.
“Hey, beautiful, you did good today. Your guests were extremely happy.” Paul sat down next to her on the log. When they’d met earlier, for the first time since high school, it had taken them exactly three seconds to reconnect. Obviously being a sought-after NHL hockey star hadn’t changed him at all. He still was a prankster and funny to boot. He had the young girls and boys in stitches in minutes.
“I have you to thank more than anyone. You really made their day, meeting a bunch of famous hockey players and all. Thanks for being such a good sport.”
“Julie promised me great rewards, you know.”
Lisa tilted her head. “Is that so? And what kind of rewards are we talking about?”
