by Vivian Arend
He brought the grocery bags closer and attached them to straps she hadn’t noticed before.
“You’ve got the most luxurious hammock of anyone I’ve ever met,” Lisa noted.
“I’ve slept in this,” he admitted. “Basically lived in it one summer. The bunkhouse I was assigned to had a few too many snorers and earplugs didn’t cut it. So I hung this in a quiet spot in the barn and roughed it out a whole lot more restfully than the other guys. I keep it in the truck as an emergency backup”
He’d leaned back, lying somewhat crosswise over the fabric. His legs were stretched out comfortably with his feet hanging over the edge. When she matched his position, facing the other way, she found it was like having a built-in backrest, bottom support and everything else.
He pointed beside her elbow. “There’s a cup holder there for you.” He reached into the first bag and pulled out one bottle of wine, twisting open the top and handing it to her. “Welcome, Mademoiselle, to Chez Heart Falls Granary. I hope you enjoy your visit.”
He was a goofball, but he was a darling.
“Thank you. I hope I do as well.”
She raised the bottle in the air before taking a drink. She passed it to him and Josiah took a sip before popping it into the cup holder beside him.
Then he brought out a collection of meats, cheeses, dips, and an already sliced French loaf, spreading all of it over a large cardboard plate.
They took turns stealing slices of food from each other and talking easily while the sun sank behind the mountains.
Lisa pointed toward the south ridge. “Is that your green flash pass?”
Josiah paused. “Could be.”
“I have to come back and try to see it from your house again.”
“You’re always welcome.” He paused, gaze drifting over her face. “You’ve got a lot of neat ideas written down in your book. Could keep you busy for a long time.”
“Yeah.”
He spoke softly. “Are you excited to start exploring?”
There was more he was asking than the simple question. So much more, and she knew it. Things were changing, slowly. Her family, her needs…
Her dreams.
Even though the time they’d had together had passed in fits and starts, being with Josiah had become important. It meant not tossing out some glib answer. It meant being truthful in a way that she’d rarely been with anyone.
Lisa spoke quietly. “It’s funny. When I started thinking about all the places I could go and all the things I wanted to do, it seemed like such an incredible and important goal. But with Tyler’s arrival and Julia being here, I’m not sure I want to go away. Plus, Finn showing up— I don’t think Karen knows he’s here, by the way. I haven’t told her. Totally got distracted.”
She didn’t mention him specifically as one of her distractions, but her gaze was glued to his face. On his almost too pretty jawline and those blue eyes that held the captured joy of a summer sky.
Josiah let her get away with it. “You’ve had a lot of big things happening at once.”
“True,” she agreed. “But not more than I’m used to. Not when I consider what I used to juggle. Why am I being utterly floored when it comes to deciding what happens next?”
She played with the bread crust in her fingers, looking up to find Josiah watching intently.
“I did a lot of stuff behind the scenes,” she admitted. Some of the family had finally figured it out—but only a few while she was orchestrating it. “Most ranches divide up when they reach a certain size, or as sons grow up. That’s what happened to our family too, but in the end, the Coleman land wasn’t distributed right. Not after more kids were born, and died, and left. Add in that the Whiskey Creek part of the ranch only had girls and my dad was not easy to work with, it meant things got tough. Tamara rebelled and left, deciding to become a nurse. Karen just fought with our dad on a daily basis but kept working with him. I didn’t want to fight or leave.”
Josiah was slipping the leftover food into the bag, listening intently. “But you did something.”
“I organized. Dropped hints and made suggestions in times and places where eventually it all sank in yet never seemed like it was my idea. Now all four ranches are back together, sharing operations and making the workload easier for everyone. I don’t need to be there anymore. I don’t need to be there to run interference between Karen and my dad.” She looked up at Josiah. “This is great news, and yet I’m panicking now that Tamara doesn’t need me anymore. I always thought the next thing I would do was something for me, but it seems I really like running other people’s lives for them.”
“I don’t doubt that you did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, but I’ve come to know Tamara,” Josiah said. “Trust me. She needs you. Maybe not in the same way she needed you a month ago, but you girls have got some pretty strong bonds between you. That’s important.”
“It is,” she agreed. “But warm familial feelings aren’t enough for me to base my life direction on, or so my brain says.”
He kept listening intently, rubbing a hand over her thigh in a comforting motion.
Lisa shrugged. “I’m a tiger who’s spent too much time in an undersized cage. The walls are suddenly gone, yet I don’t know how to step out any farther than I’ve gone all my life.”
Josiah nodded as he stared out the window at the sunset. “Your drive to go away and do something different makes sense. It’s not necessarily the away, it’s the doing that you love.”
“But I’m almost always doing for other people,” Lisa said. “At some point in my life, aren’t I supposed to do things for me?”
He caught her fingers in his. He raised them to his lips and kissed them. “If you’re doing what makes you happy, why define it more than that? It’s okay to have the kind of heart that thrives on giving to others.”
Lisa had to think about that more. In the meantime—
She swung her legs over the edge of the hammock, stealing away the wine bottle and tucking it safely against the wall.
Josiah folded his hands behind his head, smiling at her. He looked completely at home in the swinging contraption. “I take it I’ve had enough to drink?”
She grabbed the food bag and hung it from a nail beside the window, high enough Ollie couldn’t get at it, although she probably didn’t need to worry. The dog was curled up and snoring happily. Ollie had gathered their footwear into a pile and was sleeping on top of the lumpy mass, completely content.
Lisa stepped in front of the window, undoing the buttons on her shirt one by one. She shimmied the fabric off, then reached behind her to undo her bra.
Josiah squirmed.
She paused. “Troubles?”
He eased his legs a little. “You’re blocking the sunset.”
Lisa threw back her head and laughed.
A second later he was out of the hammock, stripping off his shirt and tossing it aside. Hands flew to the button of his jeans. He pushed off the fabric and his briefs at the same time.
Lisa rushed to catch up. A second later they were both naked.
Cool air brushed past her and her nipples tightened, but she wasn’t sure if she should blame that on the temperature or the way he was looking at her. Hungry. Needy. His cock hard and waiting.
“Oops.” She scrambled for her jeans, pulling a condom out of the pocket the instant before he picked her up. Heated skin met heated skin, then their hands were stroking, lips connecting. He held her off the ground in his strong arms, walking to the hammock as they kissed.
Lisa wiggled so when he sat, she was straddling him, the condom tucked between the firm muscle of his thigh and the hammock material.
Hands once again free, she pressed her hands to his chest, caressing her way up, leaning over until her breasts touched his torso. His fingers skimmed her butt, adjusting so he could rock her sex over his hard length.
Kisses. Caresses. When he cupped her breasts and teased, she sat upright and let her head fall back, sounds of pleasure es
caping her lips without fear of being overheard.
When he covered himself and lifted her, carefully lining them up, Lisa sank onto his thick length with a contented sigh.
It was a precarious thing, having sex in a hammock, but as they moved together, she gave herself over to his protection. As his slow languid touches drifted over her breasts and between her thighs, she let the pleasure rise.
Josiah took a deep breath, lifting her just slightly before beginning a hip motion that heated the fire between them to blazing hot. Pleasure teased from her clit outward and when he pressed his thumb, rubbing hard, she broke. Squeezing tight around his cock.
“C’était putain incroyable.” Josiah breathed the words in one long exclamation as his head arched back and he came.
The hammock shook and rocked, and when Lisa’s arms quivered, Josiah pulled her against his chest. His heart was pounding and she was definitely not cold anymore.
“Okay. That was a lovely adventure.” Outside the window, the sky had gone dark, the sun fully set behind the range. “We missed the green flash,” she complained.
Under her ear, his heart raced, and his chest shook with a rumble of amusement. “Trust me, darlin’. There were plenty of flashes, and the earth moved, and all the rest of it for me. If it didn’t happen that way for you, I’ll just have to try harder next time.”
“Trying harder might just kill me,” she admitted.
Still, not a bad way to die.
18
Tamara smirked at Lisa then crooked a finger to motion her forward. “We seem to have had a visit from snow pixies last night.”
Lisa rubbed her eyes and blinked hard, waking herself up enough to figure out what Tamara was talking about. Last night—
Right. In one of a long line of amazing dates over the past weeks, it had been nearly two o’clock in the morning when Josiah had dropped her off after dancing at the local pub, Rough Cut. “Okay.”
She stepped beside her sister, following her pointing finger to the gentle slope leading up to the small cottage across the yard. It had been snowing when they got home, the gently falling flakes trailing off as she’d kissed Josiah on the porch.
It had taken a little while to finish saying good night.
But it seemed after she’d gone in the house to dream happy thoughts, Josiah had taken to the hillside.
He’d stomped the snow down in a series of strange twisting patterns that Lisa recognized from history books. “That’s hysterical. He turned Silver Stone into a second Nazca site.”
Tamara leaned on the counter, looking her over. “Having fun?”
She didn’t have to think about it for long before being able to offer an enthusiastic answer. “So much fun.”
It was true. Not only the dates and the dancing, but the fact Josiah was great at texting when they couldn’t get together, which was often between his work and her helping at the ranch.
But even their message exchanges made something inside her warm and fuzzy.
She scrolled back to reread an exchange from a couple nights earlier simply because it made her smile.
Lisa: If you could go anywhere in the world to watch a sunset, where would you go?
* * *
Josiah: Upstairs, and about 5 feet to the north
* * *
Lisa: Seriously
* * *
Josiah: I am serious. But if you demand more, then I’d watch the sun set over an ocean. I also like to watch the sun rise over an ocean—I’ve never been to the East Coast.
* * *
Lisa: I’d like to watch the sun not set. Summer solstice north of the Arctic Circle
* * *
Josiah: Cool
Little tidbits. Sharing slivers of their hopes and dreams. It was good.
It scared her to pieces at times, but mostly it was amazing.
She still didn’t know what she was doing, but as she’d told Tamara, she was having fun despite her confusion.
The first of May arrived. This night was not about time with the delectable Josiah, but a moment to sink deep into happiness with her friends and sisters.
She glanced around the room and noticed with pleasure all of her gal pals had arrived, except for Kelli. Time to get things rolling,
Lisa stood on the bolster by Caleb’s chair and raised her voice. “Hear ye, hear ye. Tonight’s gathering of HFH has officially begun,” she announced.
Tansy Fields enthusiastically offered help by knocking a spoon against the side of her glass, changing to gentle taps when baby Tyler’s arms shot out at the loud burst of noise. “Oops. Apologies to the youngest attendee. Enjoy it, kid, while you’re still allowed into this sacred women-only territory.”
Tamara held Tyler comfortably with one arm as she stole a cookie off the tray Tansy had brought as her contribution to the evening. “I appreciate you bringing the evening to me. I’ve missed you.” She glanced around the room, gaze landing on Julia. “I’m glad you get to meet all my friends. They’re pretty awesome.”
“I think I’ve met everyone over the last couple of weeks. And I’m always game for a gathering.” Julia had a drink in one hand and a fistful of chips in the other. “Is there a particular agenda for the evening or is it just to visit?”
Lisa was the official host for the evening which meant according to the girls’ night out rules, she was in charge. She’d had all sorts of ideas, yet couldn’t seem to settle on one—
She snorted. Seemed a familiar recent predicament.
She offered a partial answer. “Mostly chatter and food, but since I’m too wishy-washy to come up with a new project to learn, we’re headed back to grade school and making collages.”
Rose flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. “Nice. Honestly, collaging is getting popular again. I was thinking about setting up a class at the shop. One of those wine and art evenings.”
“There you go, Lisa,” Tamara teased with a smile. “Once again on the cutting edge of fashion.”
Hanna Ford, the petite, brunette woman with a soft smile and a very sparkly ring on her left hand, got to her feet. “Let me help. I swung by the library and picked up the discarded magazines you asked for.”
“I will continue to pour drinks, although most of your drink preferences are far from challenging,” Brooke Silver offered. Her long, brunette ponytail swung as she swooped in to grab Tamara’s empty water glass to refill.
Lisa sat next to Julia, enjoying the easy conversation that flowed between them. She’d been officially meeting with the local girls for the last couple of months, but it was neat to suddenly have Julia there. It was also entertaining to observe the interaction among some of the women, like Rose, Tansy, and Brooke, who had been friends for years.
“By the way.” Tansy’s tone was full satisfaction. “Heard through the grapevine the police made a couple of arrests over the puppy mill business.”
A sharp stab of pain struck Lisa at the remembrance of that day. “Good,” she growled. “I hope they get locked up without food or water or heat.”
“There’s the bloodthirsty sister I know and love,” Tamara drawled.
Lisa glanced at her.
Tamara showed her teeth. “Notice I didn’t say there was a single thing wrong with your suggestion.”
“Anyone we know?” Brooke demanded.
“A couple guys out of Okotoks.” Hanna offered the tidbit. “Brad told me they were with a pet store and it’s been shut down. There will be more in the news this coming week.”
It didn’t change the past, but maybe it meant a few more animals would be safe in the future.
Kelli James slipped into the room, shaking the snow off her cowboy hat before hanging it and her coat up. “Hey, guys, sorry I’m late. I was helping Uncle Luke figure out how to make a pillow fort for the girls.”
Laughter drifted among the group. Lisa’s nieces had been in heaven at the idea of having a sleepover at their uncle’s house, no matter that it was just across the lake and only five minutes a
way.
“I thought Dustin was helping Luke take care of the girls tonight. And thank you for sweet-talking your guy into that, by the way,” Tamara said.
Kelli blew a raspberry. “Luke loves your kids. And Dustin is there. Between the two of them, they were debating the merits of building a reenactment of Stonehenge.”
Tamara shook her head. “As long as they don’t plan to make any sacrifices.”
“Caleb was walking in the door as I slipped out, so I’m pretty sure the girls are safe.” Kelli slapped high-fives with Tansy and Rose en route to stealing Tyler from Tamara and planting a kiss on his cheek. “Hey, cutie. Did you miss your Auntie Kelli? Of course you did. She’s the bestest cowgirl auntie in town since Auntie Karen’s not here…” Kelli paused, glancing at Julia and making a face. “Damn. Lisa’s still here. And you—you’re not a cowgirl, are you?”
Julia wiggled her fingers. “Maybe? EMT by training, but I grew up on a dude ranch. You could probably call me a cowgirl.”
Kelli sighed dramatically. “Well, I can’t go around handing out false advertising.” She rearranged Tyler to shake a finger in his face. “I’m your favourite auntie under five-foot-five. Lisa’s your favourite funny auntie. Julia can be your favourite red-haired auntie.”
“Does that make you Auntie Shorty?” Tamara asked with a snicker.
Kelli gave her the evil eye as she accepted a drink from Brooke. “Tell me what we’re doing, because it looks like it might burn off a little frustration.”
She gestured with her free hand at the piles of paper waiting on the table.
Lisa gave Rose the go-ahead to explain, settling back beside Kelli and watching Tyler attempt to focus.
“Pick a theme if you’d like,” Rose said. “An emotion, a place. A word. Let’s go with a word. Pencil that on your page, then flip through the magazines and find pictures and sentences that you like. Rip them out or cut them out, and pop them on the paper however you want—no perfectionists allowed.” She glanced at Brooke. “If I see you get out a ruler, I will spank you with it.”