“The couch is fine. I don’t want to bother you in any way.”
“You won’t bother us.” Luca leaned closer to her, his smile widened as his eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Thank you, Luca,” Holly said politely, “but I’ll be happy just to sleep in front of the cozy fireplace.”
“Let me get you a blanket.” Rafe moved down the hall and to one of the many closets his mother had added to the ranch since Rafe was born. He pulled out a thick, blue fleece. On the top shelf was a pillow, which he took that down and slipped a pillowcase over it. As he carried them back to the living room, Blake was saying good-night. He gave Holly a nod, and then one to Rafe before leaving to go to his room.
Luca, however, sat on the edge of the couch, explaining to Holly all of the new additions to the ranch since she’d lived in Montana. She wore a weary smile and appeared polite as she listened.
Rafe cleared his throat, which brought Luca’s story to a halt. “I think you’ve talked Holly’s ear off enough tonight, Luca. Go to bed and let Holly get some sleep.”
Frowning, Luca stood and mumbled his apologies to Holly before telling her good-night. He turned and walked toward his room with slumped shoulders.
Shaking off his cousin’s behavior, he handed the blanket and pillow to Holly, nodding to the brown couch. “That one is the best one to sleep on, in my opinion.”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze, but nodded as she took the blanket and pillow. “Thanks.”
“I’ll turn off these lights, but the fire will give you enough light.” He pointed to one of the side hallways. “The bathroom is down there if you need it.”
“Okay.”
“Sleep well.”
“I will.”
Apparently, she wasn’t going to look at him now that they were alone. No skin off his back. He was tired and didn’t want to play her games, anyway. As he took a step toward his bedroom, an inner voice inside shouted at him to find out what her problem was. Not knowing what he’d done to upset her would keep him awake all night.
“Actually, no.” He spun around and moved toward her.
She had just spread out the blanket, and stopped. Her eyes widened the closer he came.
“Before I go to bed, I want you to tell me why you’re mad at me.” He stopped in front of her, folding his arms. “What have I done to make you ignore me most of the night?”
Her cheeks reddened as her expression hardened. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Listen lady, I’ve done everything I can to be nice to you, so I don’t understand why you’re treating me this way.” He stepped closer. “And I’m not leaving until you tell me.”
Silently, she glared at him. Her nostrils flaring as she fisted her hands by her sides.
“Fine,” she snapped. “You want to know the truth?”
“No, I want you to lie to me.” He rolled his eyes. “Of course I want the truth.”
“I’ve been upset with you for the last fourteen years.”
Shock shook through him. “Fourteen... Are you kidding me? Why?”
“Because that was when you kissed me in the prop room. I know you’d planned to be with your girlfriend and I was there by accident, but did you even stop to realize what I had gone through once we left that room? Your brother, Steve, and his two friends – not to mention your girlfriend – had seen us come out of the room. That didn’t leave a very good mark on my reputation.” She took a deep breath, fighting off tears. “You were already a popular jock in school. I was a nobody who was trying to get noticed.” She shook her head. “And believe me, once your brother and his friends started spreading rumors that we had kissed in the closet, I was definitely getting noticed. The nice girls in school didn’t want to be my friend because they didn’t want to hang out with loose girls who’d make-out with anyone. And do you know what the boys thought?” Her voice lifted in anger. “Because you were the one I’d kissed, they thought I was easy and would go out with anyone and do... anything.” Holly took a deep breath. “People whispered behind my back for years, making me feel worthless. While Rafe Montgomery, the star quarter-back who took the high school football game to nationals, carried on his life as if nothing had happened.”
Tears gathered in her eyes, and her chest rose and fell quickly. She stepped up to him and glared into his eyes. “You ruined my social life. That was one of the main reasons I went to California.” She slugged him in the chest. “And not once did you even notice, or care, what others were saying about me.”
Confusion filled him and he slowly shook his head. “But Holly, I wasn’t responsible for that. Sure, I’d arranged to meet my girlfriend, but everything that happened that evening was an accident. You know it, so why are you still blaming me?”
A tear slid down her cheek, and his first reaction was to catch it with his finger. Instead, he stood still, not daring to touch her.
“Because your life wasn’t affected at all.” Her voice cracked.
Rafe stared at her, dumbfounded. He didn’t know how to make this right with her. Hopefully, he’d say something to sway her way of thinking. “If you wanted me to do something to change it back then, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was humiliated. I couldn’t even look at you.” She licked her lips and cleared her throat. “You’d been my first kiss, and it hurt that you didn’t try to stop the rumors. And don’t tell me you never heard them.”
“I didn’t hear them, Holly. I was in high school while you were in junior high. Why would I have heard the rumors?”
“Never mind. Just forget everything I said.” She covered her face with her hands and turned away from him.
“Holly, I’m trying to understand you.” He grasped her shoulders, keeping her from moving. “I’m sorry for not stopping the rumors, but I swear on my parents’ graves, I didn’t hear the rumors about you.”
She shrugged away from him and quickened her steps away from the fireplace, toward one of the windows. “Rafe, I realize it’s all in the past, but it won’t leave my heart or mind. Maybe I’m the one at fault here, but I can’t forget. I can’t forget that you did nothing to repair the damage.”
Helplessness flowed through him. He understood her anguish, but he wished she wouldn’t blame him. He moved toward her quickly, wanting to soothe her pain in some way, and right now, the only way he could think about doing that would be to hold her in his arms.
Just before he reached her, the lights flickered and the power went off. Because they were behind the fireplace, this corner of the room was darker. Not seeing where he was stepping, he stubbed his toe and tripped, stumbling against her. She gasped loudly and grasped his arms. It was too late. He didn’t have balance, and he fell, taking her with him. They landed on one of the couches. She was underneath him... in a very intimate position.
FOUR
Rafe leaned up on his arms and gazed down at her. The small glow from the fire behind them allowed him to see the outline of her shadowed face and wide eyes that were still glistening with tears. His heart twisted painfully. Never had he felt more frustrated. Why couldn’t he make her see he wasn’t at fault? Nobody was. If only he could take away her cruel memories of yesteryear and replace them with happy memories.
Her breathing quickened. But then again, so did his. Her throat constricted in what appeared to be a hard swallow. The urge to kiss her was overwhelming. He struggled to keep those feelings from consuming him, but she was lying underneath him, so soft, so cozy, nearly perfectly. How could he not think about kissing her now?
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “It looks like fate keeps throwing us into compromising positions, doesn’t it?”
She licked her lips. “Then fate has been drinking too much of my grandmother’s recipe for rum-laced eggnog.”
Rafe chuckled softly at her humor, especially at this particular moment. He had to kiss her... or he’d regret it. But just as he lowered his mouth, the loud footsteps from one of his cousins echo
ed in the hallway. Rafe grumbled and quickly moved off Holly. Once he was on his feet, she jumped up and stood beside him. At that moment was when the light from Blake’s cell entered the room. Rafe walked in front of Holly, heading toward his cousin.
“Oh, great,” Blake snapped. “The power is off.”
“True, but,” Rafe knelt in front of the fireplace, “thankfully you and Luca have hearths in your bedrooms. You can build a fire to keep warm.”
“What about you?” Holly’s voice was almost a whisper, so she cleared her throat as she sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. “Do you have one in your room, too?”
“Actually, he doesn’t,” Blake answered for Rafe. “My cousin wanted a hot tub in his room instead of a fireplace.”
Rafe peeked over his shoulder at Holly and shrugged. “What can I say? I wanted to relax at night after working a hard day.”
“That makes sense.” She took the blanket and wrapped it around her as she curled up on the couch.
Another pair of quick footsteps echoed from a different hallway as Luca held his cell phone up, the light showing him the way. He stopped when he saw the others.
“What’s going on?” His breaths were ragged.
“Everything is fine,” Rafe grumbled and stood. “Everyone go back to bed. We’ve been without power before, so we can handle it tonight.”
His cousins nodded, turned, and walked back toward their rooms. Rafe switched his gaze to Holly. Once again, she wasn’t looking at him, but staring at the fire, instead. Cautiously, he moved to the couch and sat on the other side. She still wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“I don’t have to stay out here if you don’t want me, too.”
She shrugged, keeping her gaze on the fire. “I suppose you’ll have to now that the power is off. I mean, if you want to stay warm, anyway.”
“I’ll admit, it’ll be warmer in here, but it’s not like I’m going to freeze.”
Her eyes shifted his way briefly, before returning to the fire. “Do what you want. This is your house.”
His heart twisted again. How could he get her to forgive him for something he hadn’t been responsible for to begin with? He stood. “I’ll go to my bedroom. Good-night.”
He waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t he sighed in defeat, and stepped toward the hallway. After taking two steps, he stopped. That inner voice inside of him just wouldn’t leave him alone tonight.
Rafe moved back to the couch and squatted in front of her until her gaze locked with his. “I would have stopped those rumors fourteen years ago if only I had known about them. I don’t believe in bullying, and that’s exactly what those kids were doing to you. If I could go back in time, I would take away all of your pain.” He cupped her face and smiled. “You’re too sweet a girl to have to grow up with kids making fun of you for something that wasn’t your fault.”
Her eyes filled with tears. He dropped his hand and stood, but she quickly grasped his hand, pulling him back down.
“I’m...sorry.” Her voice cracked. “I shouldn’t have blamed you like that, but... that’s how I have felt for all of those years. I let my anger for the unfairness of it all affect my emotions. You were not to blame, and I know it.”
He cupped the side of her face and ran the pad of his thumb across her wet cheek. “I wish I would have known and put a stop to it.”
She nodded as a small smile tugged on her lips. “Thanks, Rafe. That means a lot.”
As much as he wanted to kiss her again right now, this was just not the right moment. His emotions were twisting inside his chest, and he wanted to comfort her in some way.
She pulled away before he could gather her in his arms. She wiped her fingers under her eyes, drying her tears. “You don’t have to sleep in your room if you don’t want to. I can share the fireplace with you.”
He grinned. “I think you just want someone here in case you get scared.” He chuckled. “This is a large ranch. You might hear the wolves howling outside. And I’m sure you’ll hear things that go bump in the night inside the house.”
She laughed. “I think I’d rather hear those than men snoring.”
Standing, he chuckled and shook his head. “Aren’t you the funny one. But I think I would enjoy sleeping in my bed tonight, if you don’t mind. I need all the sleep I can get. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be very busy fixing things around the house.”
“Don’t forget about my car.”
He nodded. “Yes, and I’ll be digging you out, too.”
“Good-night, Rafe. And thanks for helping me deal with my emotional outburst.”
He winked. “Anytime, sweetie. Good-night.”
Finally, he was able to make it to his room without his inner voice stopping him. Exhaustion came over him quickly, but so did relief and happiness. Thankfully, he could put his mind at rest now that they talked about why she hated him.
He quickly undressed and jumped into bed. But his mind was still too active to sleep. How could he get Holly out of his head? But more importantly, why was he thinking more about Holly than he was about his own girlfriend?
STRETCHING, HOLLY SQUINTED against the brightness of the sun glaring off the fallen snow from outside the window. She yawned and scrubbed her fingers through her hair, but when her fingers caught on her hair-tie, she stopped. I slept with my hair like this?
She groaned and jumped off the couch, heading toward the bathroom. Thankfully, nobody was awake yet, so she had time to make herself look presentable. When she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she frowned. Her hair was a mess!
Carefully, she removed the hair tie, pulling out the strands that were caught. Once the tie was out, she groaned again. She’d never be able to get this mess looking good. Not without a brush.
She turned on the water in the sink and splashed it on her hair, using her fingers as combs. Gently, she tugged, pulled, and eventually, removed all of the tangles, but straightening her hair wasn’t an easy task.
In the other room, she heard the men moving around. From the kitchen came the sound of pans clanging together, mixed with soothing male voices. She paused, listening harder. Were they all in the kitchen trying to make breakfast? Was their electricity back on, by chance? She flipped on the light switch, and the bulbs in the overhead lights brightened the room. She sighed with relief. That was one less thing the men had to worry about doing this morning.
When her hair was finally passable, she left the bathroom, and walked toward the kitchen. The scent of bacon wafted through the air. As she neared, she could also see Rafe by the stove breaking eggs and adding them to a frying pan. Her stomach grumbled. Scrambled eggs and bacon was her favorite breakfast. How did he know?
“Good morning, Holly.” Luca’s voice from behind, startled her and she jumped.
“Uh, good morning, Luca.”
Rafe and Blake swung around to look her way. They both had sleepy faces, which made her want to laugh, but she refrained since she knew she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, either, so she probably looked very tired to them.
“Good morning,” she said to everyone.
“How did you sleep?” Rafe asked.
“Considering it was a couch, I think I slept pretty darn good.”
He chuckled and turned back to the eggs. “Didn’t I tell you that couch was comfortable?”
“Yes, you did. I’ll never doubt you again.”
Rafe gave her a wink and a grin before turning back to the stove. Her heart flipped. Why was he able to get this reaction from her? She’d dated other men before, but never had she felt breathless around any of them. And for sure, her heart never acted like popcorn kernels hopping around in a pan of hot oil.
“I hope you’re hungry.” Blake moved past her with his arms holding plates, and his hands holding cups and utensils. “We’ll definitely need a big breakfast this morning with all of the work that needs to be done.”
She glanced out of the window. “How many inches do you think we received last night?
”
“It looks like it’s about twelve.”
“Wow, that much?”
Luca chuckled and sat at the table. “You must have forgotten about Montana’s snow storms.”
“I believe you’re right, Luca.” She smiled and sat where she had last night. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Just sit there and look pretty,” Blake teased, giving her a wink.
“She already knows how to do that.” Luca grinned wide.
Laughing, she shook her head. She’d never received so many compliments from people who lived in Timberland than when she’d returned the other day. Had they forgotten about the little twelve-year-old who kissed the quarterback in the prop room? It sure seemed like it, but she didn’t dare get her hopes up too high. After all, people in small towns never forget scandals.
Breakfast was over before she knew it, and as they all helped clean the table, the men discussed what each one would do once they went outside.
“Um, what do you want me to do?” she asked softly.
All three of them looked at her with wide eyes, but it was Rafe her attention shifted to the most. He shook his head, grinning as his gaze moved over her from the top of her head down to her fashion boots.
“Sweetie,” Rafe chuckled, “you’re not dressed to work outside in the deep snow.”
She glanced down at her attire. He was right. She’d freeze to death. Shrugging, she looked back up at them. “But I don’t want to sit around here while you all are outside.”
Luca stepped forward, wearing an expression of concern. “Oh, but you’ll be more comfortable in here.”
Blake nodded. “He’s right. I think you should stay in here.”
“Unless...” Rafe scratched his head. “What do you think about wearing a pair of my boots? I know they’ll be big, but if we tighten them on your feet, you might be able to at least walk in them.”
Her heartbeat picked up rhythm. “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Okay, I’ll go get them.”
A Thrill of Hope Page 5