Under a Firefly Moon

by Donna Kauffman

  Wyatt wasn’t sure what to say to that. Not that he planned to ask her to make such a sacrifice, but it seemed a pretty hard line to draw. He’d been grappling with the same issue, though, and he wasn’t sure he’d answer the question any differently.

  Chey nudged him to his back and snuggled next to him, sliding her arm over his chest. “Let’s not talk about that,” she said softly. “Not today.”

  Wyatt didn’t want to talk about it ever, but he knew that conversation was going to happen sooner than later. That he had another eight weeks or so in the Falls felt like forever right now, but the time was already passing at breakneck speed. He felt inextricably bound to her, from their childhood together all the way up to this very second, and he had absolutely no desire whatsoever to do anything to break those ties. He only wanted them to be stronger, wrapping their lives ever more securely together.

  But it was a Saturday morning after a couple of very long, tumultuous weeks, both leading up to events by the lake a week ago, and the scandal that had kept the grapevines buzzing ever since, what with the arrests and revelations. Tory had said she’d take on the barn chores that morning, allowing them a lazy lie-in, at least until Hannah and Avery arrived and another day on the farm began in earnest. He liked learning about lavender growing and all the processes, how to make the variety of products they sold. Avery had offered him a tour of her mini lab, which was the processing area now, where she’d laughingly said the lavender magic happened. He was looking forward to seeing that.

  Wyatt had gone out to bring Tory coffee when he’d gotten up to brew a pot earlier, along with some of the muffins Vivi had sent home with them the night before. Grant had stayed in town after the fallout the previous weekend, remaining at Lavender Blue with Vivi, supporting her and lending his assistance where he could as things progressed out at the lake. Wyatt felt the same way Chey did about their burgeoning relationship. It looked good on both of them. But he was seeing the whole world through some pretty rosy glasses these days.

  He smiled, thinking about Bailey, who had been in the barn with Tory, tending to the goats. When he’d come in, she’d been in the middle of asking a million questions about the days when Tory and Chey competed against each other and whether Tory could teach Bailey how to be a barrel racer.

  Wyatt thought he’d let Tory spring that news on Chey, who he knew had been giving Bailey riding lessons for some time now. He couldn’t imagine there was much Bailey couldn’t make happen if she put her mind to it, so he expected he’d see barrels being rolled out into the training ring quite soon.

  He hadn’t been in the Falls that long, but he already felt like he was part of the ebb and flow of life there. And that didn’t alarm him in the least. It was settling and grounding to feel that he was part of something stable and permanent. His life had been none of those things now for as long as he could remember. He’d been so busy, cramming thirty hours of living into every twenty-hour day, and enjoying every minute of it, he hadn’t even known stability was something he was missing, or that he was wanting, until he had it.

  It wasn’t that he missed his empty croft in Wales. This was an entire life being handed to him here. He’d been welcomed like a long-lost member of the family, and he’d come to care about these people quickly. Not because they were important to Chey, but because he truly liked them.

  He wanted to take up Jake on his offer to show him the winery and the grapes he was growing and learning to press; he wanted to see Seth and Pippa welcome their first child into the world. He wanted to learn more about the exotic orchids he’d seen the previous week, and talk to the artists in residence at the mill, watch them ply their various trades. And those were just the people. He was itching to put a kayak on Big Stone creek, hike up into the rugged mountains above Firefly Lake, take up Addie’s invite to explore her area up in Hawk’s Nest Ridge, see the majestic birds of prey who had given the place its name.

  And so much more.

  The problem was, wanting all of that hadn’t stopped him from wanting the life he already had. He hadn’t even begun the final edits on the streams from Nepal or looked through the set of requests Dom had narrowed down to the “next pick” list and sent him just that morning. Wyatt was excited to look through them, meet with Dom, Jon, and Peli, along with the rest of the core crew, and see what worked for everyone. Then it would be time to assemble the rest of the team, dive into all of the paperwork and other planning that went into setting up the actual trip.

  He had a few weeks, tops, before he had to have at least the initial stages underway if they had any hope of being prepped and ready to go come fall. Harvest season at Lavender Blue. He didn’t want to miss that, either. Or miss watching Chey and her friends celebrate their first full, beginning-to-end lavender season.

  He thought about Dom’s words. We’re all entitled to make our world a better place, too. Don’t forget that.

  How did he straddle both, keep both? He wanted his work, and he wanted to have a life here with Chey. When Pippa had laid a hand on her belly and told Chey she was expecting, the look on Chey’s face had been everything. Wyatt wanted that for her, for them. Wanted to put his hands on her belly and know life was blooming and growing there, a life they’d created together.

  “Where has your mind wandered off to?” she said softly, drawing lazy circles on his chest with her fingertips.

  “Just thinking about last weekend. How amazing you were,” he said. She was right. Now was not the time to find solutions to unsolvable problems. He shifted and lifted her chin and kissed her. “You were pretty badass.”

  “I was pretty terrified,” she told him. “I can admit that now. But I was more pissed off than I was scared, and I knew the only chance I had was to confront him in front of everyone in a way that would guarantee he wouldn’t be able to retaliate without everyone knowing what he’d been up to.”

  “Want your own superhero stream?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I happen to know a guy.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I like the boots, but I don’t do capes. And don’t get me started on the spandex Underoos.”

  He barked out a laugh at that, then rolled and put her on top of him. “I don’t know, I think you could do the cape.”

  “I don’t even wear dresses,” she said.

  He pulled her down and kissed her. “I’d just take them off you, so probably just as well.”

  She smiled against his mouth. “Because they’d look that awful on me?”

  He rolled her to her back. “Yeah, that’s totally why.”

  She toyed with his hair. “I should be getting up and showered and out in the fields.”

  “I know,” he said, kissing his way down the side of her neck. “Dom sent me the list of contenders for our next stream a few days ago, and I have to get to that today.” He nuzzled the spot by her nape that he knew she loved. “But I could help with the shower part.”

  She went still, and not because he’d licked an erogenous spot. He replayed what he’d just said and closed his eyes. So much for not ruining the moment. He just wasn’t used to filtering what he said to her.

  “Sorry,” he said, “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No,” she said, and turned her face to his. “It’s okay. It’s silly to pretend this isn’t what it is. I know that.”

  Now he frowned and pulled back just slightly. “What do you mean, ‘what it is.’ What is it?”

  “Don’t do that—that’s not what I meant.” She sighed when he didn’t say anything, then immediately struck an exaggerated pose, baring her neck to him. “Can’t we please continue with the ravishing, dear sir?” She glanced at him from the side of her eyes, still holding the pose. “Don’t make me get my cape.”

  He smiled at that, because he couldn’t not smile. And he wanted, badly, to just pick up where they’d left off. He knew what she’d meant. Mostly. It had just thrown him to hear her give voice to the same concerns he’d been having, only in a way that seemed to indicate maybe she’d come to some conc
lusions already. And her conclusions didn’t include the two of them figuring this out.

  He waited a beat too long to respond and she lowered her arm and shifted back around so she could look at him fully. “What I meant was—”

  “It’s okay, Chey,” he said quietly.

  “What I meant was,” she repeated deliberately, “we have the next month or two to play house, and while it would be lovely to think that it will be this way forever and ever, we both know it’s not. August will get here, and you’ll have to go, and we’ll have to figure out what that means. So, this”—she gestured between the two of them—“is going to change. Meaning it’s temporary, until we figure out stage two. So, it’s silly to pretend that change isn’t coming.” Then she smiled at him. “But it’s sure fun to try.” She slipped out from under him. “Shower time. Come, wash my back.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “In that order? Seems backward, but—”

  She threw a pillow at him and he caught it and threw it to the floor, then took her hands and pulled her up as he rose to his knees, so they were both kneeling on the bed, facing each other. “I love you, Cheyenne McCafferty,” he said without preamble, just put it right there. Right out in front. “And this feeling is way stronger than the love I had for you back once upon a time.”

  She’d been about to grab another pillow, but went still, then turned to him. And it was wonder he saw in her eyes. And surprise. And most importantly, joy.

  “You really say the damnedest things,” she said faintly.

  “Did I mention? Dom got us a swear jar. It’s the size of a butter crock,” he said dryly. “In fact, I think it was a butter crock. Between the two of us, we will cover my airfare for years.”

  “Yeah, well, you keep talking to me like that, mister, and I might just—”

  He pulled her into his arms. “Just love me back, Chey,” he said, looking into her eyes. “And we’ll be fine. You know that, right? We’re going to be fine.”

  She nodded, and then a slow smile curved her lips. “No more pretending then, I take it?”

  Now he did grab a pillow. This was so not how he’d seen that declaration going. And yet this was so much better than anything he’d imagined. Cheyenne was real, the real deal, inside and out.

  “Yeah, enough with that stuff,” he said, as if they’d decided to blow off paying for cable. He made a pfft sound.

  She copied the sound. “Yeah. No more of that.” She tilted her head. “So, does this mean no more carrying me into the shower? ’Cuz I kinda liked that part of the fairy tale.”

  “Ah,” he said, pretending to seriously ponder the question. “Yes. That.” He braced one hand on his chin, then ducked down, scooped her over his shoulder, and in one smooth move was off the bed and heading to the bathroom while she squealed and kicked her legs.

  “Yeah, under the no-pretending rules, this is the only certified mode of transportation.”

  She reached down and pinched his ass. Not gently.

  “Hey now,” he said.

  “You want to reconsider that rule then?” she asked, trying not to laugh. Failing.

  He reached into the glass-enclosed shower stall, which was fast becoming one of his favorite parts of her house, and flipped on the huge pan-sized shower head, then stepped in, taking the brunt of the just-warm water on his back as he let her slide down his front. “I don’t know,” he said, as steam started to billow. “I rather like the dismount.”

  “Point taken,” she said, gasping when he scooped her up, then turned them so her back was against the tiles. She gasped and arched into him as he moved between her thighs.

  “Oh, not yet,” he replied. “Very soon though. First things first.” He nudged her head to the side. “Now, where were we? Oh right. Coming first, then back washing.” He started kissing his way down. “Check.”

  * * *

  Chey was twenty minutes late meeting up with Hannah and Avery in the main house kitchen.

  “I’m sensing a pattern developing,” Hannah said wryly.

  “Given you’re speaking from personal experience with this matter, I assume you know the answer to that,” Chey said sweetly.

  Hannah’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Come to think of it, I do,” she said, then waved a hand. “Carry on.”

  They both laughed and at the same time reached for a plate mounded with cookies.

  “Wow, Vivi’s been busy,” Chey said, picking up an oatmeal raisin.

  “Grant flew out this morning. I suspect there might be a lot of baked goods in our future. At least until he comes back.”

  “Better happen soon or I’ll be buying all new jeans.” Chey closed her eyes in bliss as she took a bite. “Although, I could use a few new pairs. My God, this is amazing. I’m ravenous.”

  “Can’t imagine why,” Hannah said, and laughed when Chey gave her a little kick under the table. Her expression matched Chey’s a moment later when she bit into a chocolate chip and macadamia nut. “See, this is why I wear flowy dresses and skirts,” she said, humming a little as she chewed. “Hides all kinds of sins. And cookies. So many cookies.”

  “Wyatt and I were just talking about dresses this morning,” Chey said. “Maybe I’ll surprise him.”

  “You should,” Hannah said, not even bothering to ask how that topic had come up.

  Chey picked up her second cookie. “I thought we were meeting in the barn to go over storage and the drying setup for the bundles we want to sell this season and to get our daily to-do charts from Ave.”

  Avery whisked into the kitchen just then and tossed printouts at them as she slid into her seat. “Be careful what you wish for.”

  Chey checked her watch. “Twenty-five minutes late.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Hannah. “Looks like Wyatt and I got some competition.”

  “It’s not like that,” Avery said primly, then picked up a cookie and took a bite. “This is amazing. How did she know? I’m starving.”

  Hannah and Chey looked at each other and said, “Oh, it’s exactly like that,” at the same time, then laughed.

  Hannah put her hand, palm up, above the middle of the table, and the other two joined in for a three-way high five, then wiggled their fingers before lowering their hands to the table.

  Chey took another bite. Moaned. “We may have to jog a few laps around the barn later, but I’m game.”

  “Vivi said she wanted to talk to us in here before we headed out to the barn,” Avery said.

  Chey frowned and paused midbite. “Did she say why? Is everything okay?”

  “Maybe it’s to talk about the news,” Avery said. “You heard about Hammond being arrested and charged?”

  “That happened so fast,” Hannah said.

  “Well, there were enough journalists on site that it was a race to see who could get the dirt first,” Avery said.

  “Wyatt talked to the mayor this morning,” Chey said. “Apparently the district attorney had been trying to nail Hammond for years. He just needed some leverage to get someone to flip.”

  “That’s where the media attention made the difference,” Avery said. “I heard the developer was also being looked at for various shady practices by the DA in his state, and with the added pressure of Hammond’s takedown being so public and the media feeding frenzy that followed, he caved.”

  Chey nodded. “Things moved fast after that.”

  “As well they should have,” said Vivi as she sailed into the room in a cloud of lavender chiffon and black pencil-leg pants. “I’m just thankful we won’t have some prolonged public harangue.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table with them. “We need to move forward.” She beamed. “It’s all very exciting really, this new lodge, and all the potential. Grant and I were up half the night talking about it.” She reached for a cookie. “Sorry I’m a bit late. Oh, my goodness, I’m positively famished this morning.”

  Hannah, Chey, and Avery shared a look, then burst out laughing.

  “What?” Vivi asked. “What did I
say?”

  The three lifted their cookies. “A toast to the twenty-minute rule,” Chey said.

  “Well, more like the twenty-to-thirty-minute rule,” Hannah added with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

  “I’m not sure what you three are talking about,” Vivi said primly, taking a tidy bite of cookie. She took a sip of coffee to wash it down, then shot them all a wink and a rather devilish smile. “But I have a pretty good idea.” She took another bite of cookie and made a humming sound, and they all cracked up laughing.

  “Well,” Vivi said, after she finished and dabbed the corner of her mouth, “let’s get down to business, shall we?” She turned to Avery. “You’ve got a notebook and pen? We’ll need that.”

  Avery had both. When didn’t she?

  Vivi folded her hands on the table. “So, it appears we’ve got ourselves a lavender farm, and a new home, and new friends all around us. We couldn’t have asked for more.” She smiled. “And yet, each of us has found more.”

  Chey knew what Vivi meant, and she and Hannah and Avery shared a smile. “It appears that way, yes,” Chey said happily.

  “Well, I don’t know about you all, but I don’t plan to lose this farm, or any of you, or to leave Blue Hollow Falls.” She lifted a hand to stall their reply. “That said, I also don’t plan to lose Grant, now that he has so miraculously ended up in my life once again.” She held each of their gazes in turn. “I assume you feel much the same about our home?” Her smile deepened. “And your men?”

  Chey grinned. “I think we can safely say yes to both.”

  Hannah and Avery both raised their hands. “Aye,” Hannah said.

  “Good. We’re partners in this,” Vivi went on, “and we’re family, both in and outside Lavender Blue.” She reached out her hands, bracelets jingling against the table.

  Avery and Chey each took one of Vivi’s outstretched hands, then reached their free hands to Hannah, who clasped them both.

  “So, I want us to come up with a plan that allows us to continue doing what we love here. We just got started,” she added with a bright smile. “And I can’t tell you how excited I am to see how things go this season.” She squeezed Chey’s and Avery’s hands. “A plan that also allows us to figure out a way to be with the men in our lives.” She looked at Hannah and Avery. “Now, I know the two of you have been making that work for a while now. Hannah, you’re the most settled of the four of us, and Will is in the Falls full time, so it’s been a wonderfully smooth transition for you.”