Love Locked

by Britney M. Mills

  And when Walker helped her with some of the cleaning, a secret wish ran through her mind, the hope that she’d eventually be with someone as kind and as caring as he was…if things didn’t work out with him now.

  Chapter 14

  Walker woke up Monday morning to Bear licking his hand. Scratching behind the dog’s ears, he sat up, stretching as he did so. Sleeping in his bed was considerably more comfortable than his night on the couch, but he still preferred having Lauren in his arms.

  The sun was a bit higher in the sky than he was used to, and checking his phone, he shook his head. Seven in the morning.

  Preston’s name appeared just below the time, showing a missed text. Guilt filled him. Now that his feelings for Lauren were growing, was he going to feel like he had to cover his tracks every time his best friend talked to him?

  Hey, they said the roads should be cleared later today. I can come help out at the lodge if you need. The cows should be good until tonight.

  As much as he could use the help with the last few things before people started showing up in just over a week, he wondered how it would work to have Preston and Lauren under the same roof, even for a few minutes.

  Walker had never been a great liar, and after all she’d done to help him out the day before, not to mention the light flirting and laughter they’d shared while working on his new dream, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his feelings from Preston. The lodge had seemed incomplete before she arrived, and now he didn’t feel that deep loneliness he hadn’t been able to recognize.

  It was a chance he’d have to take. Sounds great, he replied.

  Closing his eyes, he breathed out a sigh. He stood and pulled on some jeans and a long-sleeved flannel shirt. He wouldn’t be going back to sleep, and Bear needed to be let out.

  Walker sipped his juice a little bit later while checking emails on his phone. The sound of a truck idling outside the lodge drew his attention. Preston must have been right about the roads clearing up, or the large delivery truck wouldn’t be sitting in his driveway.

  “Looks like the roads are clearing up, huh?” Lauren said from behind him, startling Walker. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She squinted to look out the window. “Is that a truck outside?”

  Walker stood, stretching his arms high into the air and walked over to the door. “Yep.” He opened it to see a large mound of boxes next to the front door and a large transportation truck pulling away. The one pathway they’d been able to clear had been beneficial because the last few décor items, as well as several fixtures, had finally shown up.

  But a truck coming in meant the roads were now open. A sense of sadness ripped through him, as he knew there was no reason for Lauren to stay at the lodge when she could get back to her childhood home. It had been so lively here for the past few days, and somehow, she made this large building feel like home.

  The text from Preston came back to mind, and he groaned inwardly. Walker had been awkward around Cara’s family when they’d started dating, but how was he supposed to react with his best friend?

  “Wow! That is a lot of boxes. Why do you have so many?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest as she looked out the glass front door. She looked so beautiful this early in the morning, and he was half tempted to kiss her again.

  “Probably just built up from not being able to deliver for a few days.” Walker shrugged and opened the door, pulling boxes in and setting them neatly against the wall.

  Lauren picked up a box and mumbled something inaudible before she asked, “What is it all for?”

  “The lodge. I had to order a bunch of things online since the hardware store in Afton either didn’t carry the ones I needed or didn’t have enough. I’m just hoping it’s everything I ordered because there won’t be much time before the lodge is officially open.”

  Taking a seat on the couch, Lauren tucked her feet underneath her and watched the growing number of boxes for another moment before Walker finished. “What made you decide to open so soon?”

  “I know it’s crazy to open right before Christmas, but I figure it can be a nice place for families to come for dinner for a change. You might not remember, but there aren’t a whole lot of dining options in Coldwater Creek.”

  “Oh no, that I remember quite well. I usually grumbled about it when it was my turn to do the dishes.” Lauren grinned, continuing to pull Walker in. He needed to be careful. Fix her a quick breakfast and then drive her to her dad’s before his heart got sucked in too deep.

  “Well, the roads must be open if the delivery truck made it. Let me get you some food, and I can take you home.” Maybe that would be the best way to deal with Preston coming. If Lauren wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have to worry about pretending that his feelings for her never existed. But if she was gone so soon, would she forget how it felt? Or did she even feel like that in the first place?

  “Are you sure you don’t need help with that?” she asked, pointing to the mound of boxes he’d just pulled in. “If you don’t remember, I don’t have a job at the moment and will have time to help if you need it. You just say the word.”

  Moving his gaze from her face to the boxes, a familiar twinge of guilt hit him in the chest. He didn’t want her only memories of staying at the lodge to be of working. But he knew he wanted her there, wanted to talk to her just a bit longer before this small fairytale disappeared like a good dream. He’d take his chances on his acting skills when her brother came.

  “If you’re fine with that, I’d appreciate the help. Every little bit gets me to opening day.”

  She nodded, and his heart leaped. “I saw some bagels in the basket. Can I make you one, and we’ll get working on all this?” She gestured to the pile of boxes sitting around them and raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

  “Sounds great. I’ll take one of the plain bagels with strawberry cream cheese.”

  Walker watched her walk away, smiling as he saw her graceful movements and wondering what a life with Lauren would look like. She was a lot more willing to help than Cara had ever been. More agreeable too. But he still came back to the fact that Lauren had listened to him talk about things every single time he’d needed it while they were growing up. That was a girl he needed by his side.

  As they worked to open the boxes and figure out what contents came in which unmarked boxes, he tried to keep his mind on the fact that he had someone to help him and not on the fact that she might have been staying because she felt the way he did. He liked Lauren Burke, and the thought both thrilled and terrified him, even knowing that chances of things actually working out were slim.

  She’d already mentioned something about needing time off from dating after her breakup, and here he was, hoping for a future together. The guilt sank deeper, like a large boulder pulling him down. What kind of a man was he to go around falling for a girl who’d just gotten out of a relationship?

  “Go ahead and take those light switch covers into each of the rooms. I’ll follow behind and install them.” Walker motioned to the pile of covers sitting at her feet, each one designed with a bear, moose, or other animal on top of it to round off the nature themes of each room.

  “I can do it. Just hand me the screwdriver, and I’ll get started. You have that whole pile of fixtures to install still. We can work on each room together.”

  She smiled at him as he handed her the screwdriver and stuffed her pile of covers into one of the opened boxes, making it easier to carry. Walker picked up two of the ornate fixtures, not wanting to break anything by carrying too many at once.

  They made their way upstairs and into the first guest room. It was the room Lauren was currently staying in, and seeing her luggage opened on the luggage rack and the bed hastily made sent some sort of warning through him, like this was her personal space and he shouldn’t be invading it.

  “Maybe we should start in the next room, and I’ll get this one later.” He shifted from one foot to the next, not daring to move over the threshold
of the door.

  “It’ll be fine. Let me just throw a few things in my suitcase, and I’ll get it out of the way so you can hang the fixture.” She shoved several articles of clothing into the suitcase and moved the whole thing into the bathroom.

  As she invited him in, it made him feel closer to her, trusted. He shook his head at the thought. He was reading way too far into it.

  None of the rooms were customized just yet, as he’d been waiting for all the fixtures and décor to come. He was just glad some of the items had finally made it so he could focus on the final touches before the people who’d already booked rooms started coming.

  “Do you have a system for which room is which theme?” Lauren asked, rifling through the covers.

  “I’d planned for everything in each room to be the same, so moose light cover, moose fixture, moose décor.”

  She looked up at him, her expression blank. “But do you want this to be the moose room? Or bear?”

  Walker searched his brain, trying to remember what he’d decided with his mother and sisters. They’d helped him a lot with the planning of the rooms, but with school and everything going on at the ranch, they hadn’t been able to get out to the lodge much.

  “I think this one is supposed to be one of the wolf rooms.” Walker nodded as he remembered the sketch his younger sister had made of the lodge. With twenty rooms inside, he’d had to have multiple rooms the same, but that also made it easier to find the necessary décor.

  “Perfect.” Lauren pulled out a light cover and opened the package.

  Walker watched as she walked over to the switch and started screwing the plate into place like she’d done this every day of her life. There was no way Cara would have done anything like that, even at the beginning of their relationship.

  Breaking his stare, Walker turned and moved quickly back down the stairs, grabbing the small stepladder and running back up. He placed it under the wiring in the ceiling and focused on the work of connecting all the right wires so the fixture would be in place. He was lucky his father had taught all of his kids the basics of home remodeling when they were in their teens, giving him the knowledge to be able to do it himself and save some money.

  It took about twenty minutes for him to install the fixture, making sure it was secure and that everything worked properly. He walked into the next room and found Lauren had already attached the light cover. He got to work again, grateful for her help and wishing he could find a way to have her stay longer than that afternoon.

  Chapter 15

  It was invigorating to help with all the small details of the lodge, and Lauren found herself pulling more and more items from the great room floor and taking them to the different rooms, making the beds in the ones that had a bed and doing her best to make things easier for Walker. She didn’t need to be told where things went or what to do next, as she could figure it out as she went.

  As each piece was brought into a room, it was as though a part of her was linking to the lodge like this was the place she was supposed to be. Shrugging that off, she knew it sounded ridiculous, especially since she’d just gotten out of a relationship. Their almost-kisses were on her mind at least every few minutes, and as hard as it was to push the thoughts away, she couldn’t help but enjoy the memory.

  Several of the rooms were near finished except for the fixtures and décor on the walls, but she’d have to ask Walker what he had in mind for those elements later. After wrapping up all the paper and plastic the items had come in, she took a couple of fixtures upstairs, placing them in rooms that still needed them.

  She bumped into Walker on his way out of one of the bear rooms, and they laughed as they dodged back and forth, trying to let each other pass.

  “Go ahead,” Walker said, standing against the wall and waving her past with a wide smile.

  Lauren grinned and raced down the hall, moving quickly to retrieve the last two fixtures and bring them upstairs. When she’d deposited them in their correct rooms, she moved back to where Walker was working and leaned against the wall in the room, staring up as his fingers connected the wires.

  “I can’t believe you know how to do all that,” Lauren said, shaking her head.

  Walker stood on the bed with his boots off as he worked, and she stared at the sight of his pants cut as if they were meant for him.

  “I’m just glad you were able to get all the covers on. And that you made the beds and put a bunch of the little stuff out. This would have taken me a lot longer without you.” He smiled at her before turning back to the fixture, sending Lauren’s legs to feeling like jelly. She was just grateful she was already leaning against the wall so she didn’t fall to the ground.

  “What are you going to do about staff? You aren’t planning on running this all by yourself, are you?” Lauren asked. Her feelings about the lodge had pushed the questions off her tongue. Maybe she could find a job here if nowhere else in Coldwater Creek.

  Walker fidgeted with the light some more before opening his mouth to answer. But before he could say anything, the doorbell chimed, and they both froze, surprised by the sound. They hadn’t had anyone by since the snowstorm, and it looked like a part of that solace was now gone.

  “I’ll go answer it. Maybe it’s just another delivery truck.” Lauren took the stairs quickly and made it to the bottom stair where she could see the door. Her stomach dropped as she saw Walker’s younger sister, Kassidy, as well as Preston behind her. Kassidy smiled with a curious look on her face.

  Walker must have locked the door after bringing in all the boxes, because the deadbolt was done as well. Lauren unlocked them and threw the door open.

  “Kassidy! It’s been so long. How are you?” She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around the slightly taller girl.

  When they pulled back, Kassidy said, “I’m good. But I’m a little confused as to what you’re doing here.” A sly smile crept over her face, and Lauren’s cheeks turned to flames at what Kassidy must be thinking.

  Preston didn’t look quite as happy, his eyes narrowed and mouth taut. “I’m just glad to hear you broke up with the spineless Turner guy. At least that’s what Dad said when he told us you’d been in an accident.” His voice conveyed a bit of the betrayal he must be feeling since she hadn’t called him, and Lauren knew she’d have to explain it all.

  Pointing out the big window, Lauren said, “Well, if you’ll notice my lovely car stuck over against the fence, covered in snow, I’ve been stranded for a few days. Walker pulled me out of my car, unconscious, Thanksgiving night, and he’s been kind enough to let me stay in one of the upstairs bedrooms until the roads cleared.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay, but you tried to drive from Colorado during that snowstorm?” Preston asked, the vein in his neck throbbing. He walked forward and pulled her into his arms, holding on longer than she was used to. Her irritation ebbed as she remembered how much he’d always protected her, and with their mom gone, he’d been even more protective.

  Not willing to take any more of this, Lauren ushered them in the door and closed it behind them. Turning to her brother, she moved a few inches in front of him and stared up into his furious gaze.

  “If you actually cared to know, I broke up with Cory and quit my job all in that same day. I just wanted to get home and spend some time figuring out my life. Is that okay with you?” She locked eyes with him, trying not to smile when she saw him backing down.

  “I didn’t know all that. I’m sorry, Laur. But if it makes you feel better, Cory didn’t seem like the best one for you.” Preston took off his coat and hung it one of the hooks just inside the door. Kassidy did the same, giving Lauren a hug as well.

  “It’s been a while, girl. How are you?” Kassidy whispered into Lauren’s ear.

  Pulling back a bit, she gave her old best friend a nod with a small smile. “I’m good. Just realized I wasted too long with the wrong guy.” Looking up at Preston, his words about Cory seemed to stir up the old annoyance in her about what he’d
done to so many other guys she’d had crushes on over the years.

  “Well, it seems you don’t think anyone is good enough for me, brother.” She set her jaw and waited for him to retaliate. But instead, all eyes turned to the sound of someone coming down the stairs.

  Walker grinned and walked forward, giving Preston a back-slapping hug. He then turned to Kassidy and gave her a hug as well. “Did you two come together?” he asked Kassidy.

  “No,” Kassidy said, her face lighting up like Rudolph’s nose. “We just pulled up at the same time. I figured you could use some help around here to get things settled, but it looks like you’ve already gotten a lot done.”

  “She doesn’t sass like you do,” Walker said, chuckling as he pointed to Lauren.

  Preston joined in, and Kassidy frowned at him, her lips pinched together like she’d eaten something bitter.

  Preston walked to look at the great room. “What can I help you with?”

  Lauren watched as Walker fidgeted, wondering what was going on with him. He was standing as far away from her as possible, and she wondered if that was a coincidence or intentional.

  “I have a lot to get done out in one of the cabins. The rest of them should be good, but I haven’t checked on them since the storm.”

  “Let’s get to it, then. I have to be back by six to milk.” Preston stalked back to grab his coat again.

  As Walker grabbed his coat, Lauren walked up and touched his arm. “What do you have planned for Christmas decorations?”

  He gave her a blank stare. “Um, I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “Kassidy and I will come up with something for you. You’ll need to have this place decked out for your guests to enjoy.” She gave him a wide grin, hoping to feel the same way she had while they’d been in the lodge alone. Like there was some chance between them.

  “I’d appreciate that. Thanks,” he said briskly. He pulled on his snow hat and walked out the back door behind Preston.