Rocky Mountain Shelter

by Vivian Arend

  “Hell, yeah,” Trevor acknowledged. “And I think we could fool around a little bit, but only as much you want. No agenda,” he promised again.

  Becky curled her fingers into the front of his shirt. “What if I have an agenda?” she warned a split second before tugging hard and bringing him close enough for another kiss.

  He was gone. His body was back on full alert in seconds, his heart racing, and his cock rock solid. But he planted his feet on the floor and refused to rock against her, savouring instead the sweet touch of her lips over his. Enjoying the way she spread her palms against his chest and stroked in circles before becoming fascinated with his abdomen muscles.

  Every muscle in his body was clenched tight as he fought for control, the little noises she made as he kissed her back enthusiastically revving his engine higher and higher.

  Slow. Slow, his brain shouted.

  He caught hold of her hips and lifted her off the table, ignoring his brain as he slipped his tongue past her lips and took the kiss deeper. Becky wrapped her legs around his hips and clung to him, fingernails biting into his shoulders. Adrenaline and lust fought for dominance as he blindly backed into a chair, settling with her in his lap.

  Then he grabbed hold of the wooden base of the seat and held on for dear life to stop from touching her. To stop from ripping up her shirt and stripping away her bra and taking.

  Kisses only—deep, drugging-to-the-senses kisses that made him shake. They went on and on, both of them moaning and panting and making far too much noise, but it was right and it was fucking hot, and he was about to fucking die from pleasure.

  Becky finally pulled back, sucking for air hard. She stared at him, the golden flecks in her eyes sparkling, lips trembling slightly.

  “Holy, moly, that’s—” She let out a shaky breath, her face lit up with sheer delight. “I like kissing. I like kissing you,” she admitted.

  Jeez, understatement of the year. “I like kissing you too.”

  They sat there grinning at each other like fools. It was perfect, and it was right, and even if his cock was trying to escape his jeans and he was going to have to jerk off later tonight to deal with himself, there was nowhere he’d rather be, and no one he’d rather be with.

  It appeared he had a girlfriend.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Good to his word, Trevor asked his brother Lee for a hand on the down-low to make a dent in the mess filling her house. The next time slot that worked for them all was Becky’s half day, and she slipped out the shop door the instant Hope gave her the nod.

  A tall brunette was waiting for her street side, leaning on a familiar truck. “Becky?”

  She nodded. “Don’t tell me. Trevor is hiding around the corner, right?”

  The other woman laughed, hauling open the door and gesturing her in. “Nope. I’m Rachel, Lee’s girlfriend, and I got orders to pick you up when I was done work. Hop in.”

  Becky obeyed, laughing softly as Rachel crawled behind the wheel. “Trevor constantly offers to give away his truck, but I didn’t realize until now he’d actually do it.”

  Rachel shoulder-checked the traffic before pulling onto Main Street. “No kidding. That guy is missing the macho ‘this is my baby, no little women behind the wheel’ gene. I don’t even get to drive when I go places with Lee. But Trevor came into the café this morning and tossed me his keys without offering a single warning to make sure I drove carefully.”

  With the doors closed, an amazing aroma filled the cab as Rachel took them down the side streets, looping around to the road home.

  “Is there fried chicken in here?” Becky asked, her mouth watering involuntarily.

  Rachel patted the bag on the seat between them. “Yup. Hope you’re hungry. I made us lunch before my shift ended, and my boss sent along one of the day-old pies.”

  Well, that was embarrassing. “I didn’t expect you to feed me as well as come and work,” Becky complained.

  “Of course you didn’t, but you can consider this your welcome-to-the-neighbourhood dinner.” Rachel offered her a quick glance before focusing back on the road. “Sorry I didn’t stop by sooner.”

  “Don’t apologize. It’s been a bit crazy since I got here.” Silence fell for a while as Becky glanced out the window, staring at the sky where big grey clouds were rolling like someone was mashing potatoes vigorously. “I hope the weather holds off for a while. It’ll make cleanup easier.”

  “We’ll get it done, no matter what.” Rachel tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “And in case you feel the need to apologize for the mess we’re going to deal with, let me tell you a story first. You know the Rylers?”

  “That’s the people who lived in my house before.”

  Rachel nodded. “They’ve been coming in for breakfast two or three times a week since they moved into town. They sit in the same spot every time, and just this past week my boss and I finally realized they take absolutely everything home with them at the end of the meal, except for the plates and utensils.”

  Becky wasn’t sure she understood. “They’re stealing stuff?”

  “Oh, no. Not really. We put things on the table for the customers’ convenience, but they don’t stop at using what they need. It’s like they take the extra stuff just in case.” Rachel slowed as she approached Becky’s driveway. “The packages of sugar, all the jams, the napkins—my boss said it’s not the first time she’s seen it. A bit of fallout still from the war generation. They don’t know when they might get another opportunity, so they stash away everything they can.”

  It made sense, Becky supposed. To squirrel away things. “That would explain some of what I found when I cleaned the kitchen.”

  Rachel parked next to a dark-blue truck, waving out the window at a muscular young man standing on Becky’s front porch as he dumped a load of garbage into the bucket of the tractor. “Looks like the boys got a head start on us. That’s my Lee.”

  Trevor marched out the door right behind his brother, emptying his armload before hurrying to Becky’s side. “Right on time,” he said, curling an arm around her and tugging her to the side. “Hey, Rodeo.”

  Becky glanced at the other couple, but they weren’t looking at anything except each other. Lee held Rachel with one hand and the lunch in his other as he welcomed her with a vigorous kiss.

  Trevor cleared his throat. “Where’s my kiss?”

  Her cheeks heated up like she’d been in the sun all day long. “Really? Right now?”

  “Right now,” he agreed, although he moved slowly enough she could have evaded him.

  She wasn’t stupid. She’d been looking forward to their next kiss since the instant they’d stopped the other night.

  He kept it short, but definitely not sweet, and she imagined her cheeks were flaming red to go with the tingling he’d triggered in her entire body. Then he took her by the hand and led her onto the porch to where a table and four chairs had appeared.

  Rachel put the lunch bag in the middle as Lee stood waiting for them. He offered her a crisp handshake. “I’m Trevor’s younger and much handsomer brother.”

  His girlfriend smacked him across the shoulders lightly as she laughed. “Stop flirting, or you don’t get any dessert.”

  Lee tossed a wink at Becky before hurrying to soothe Rachel, but the teasing was obviously good-natured and all meant in fun as Trevor pulled out her chair and sat her at the table, and they filled plates with food from the café.

  Trevor dropped a third drumstick on his plate. “Lee had the idea of using the tractor bucket to help with cleanup. We can get an awful lot in there before driving it to the burn pile.”

  “That’s smart. I wish you could open up the walls and use the tractor inside the house,” Becky grumbled. “I did another walk-through the other day, and so much of it is trash.”

  “If that’s the case…” Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why don’t you and I go through and grab anything that needs saving? The rest can be shoved toward the door for the
boys to deal with.”

  Lee nodded. “Even the furniture—I took a quick peek, and whatever you do want to keep is going to need a thorough cleaning. Trevor and I can haul it onto the porch, then after the floors are done, anything you need can be brought back inside. The rest of it will be easier to haul away if it’s out here.”

  Becky felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of work they were offering to help her with. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “It’s what neighbours do,” Trevor reminded her.

  “Heck to being neighbourly.” Lee broke out into an enormous grin. “I’m doing it because I get to watch Trevor be all goo-goo eyed over a girl. That’s payment enough for me.”

  “Lee,” Rachel whispered as if she were scandalized. “What if Becky doesn’t know?”

  Her cheeks were heating up again. “What if Becky doesn’t know, what?”

  Trevor caught her fingers in his under the table and squeezed lightly. “That I’m goo-goo eyed. It’s a terribly distracting condition caused by being in the presence of a woman you’re very attracted to.”

  An imp of mischief jumped on her shoulder. “You mean like the way Lee can’t keep from staring at Rachel every chance he gets?”

  Trevor hooted, and Rachel laughed. Lee shook his finger at her before draping his arm along the back of Rachel’s chair and nuzzling the side of her neck. “Guilty. It seems Becky is a secret physician.”

  “She certainly diagnosed you on the first try.” Trevor let go of her fingers, but only to rest his hand on her thigh, stroking softly as they finished the meal.

  Every time he touched her, he set off a chain reaction, and by the time they put away the remains of the lunch and got to work, she was glad for the break. Her skin felt sensitive, as if she was headed toward overload, but she wouldn’t trade away a single touch.

  They worked for three solid hours, and by that time the main floor was stripped bare, and the upstairs rooms reduced to nothing but furniture.

  And Becky was in love.

  Rachel was funny, energetic, and instantly made decisions Becky hesitated over. The older woman hadn’t once judged or said a thing to make her feel anything but happy to spend time together.

  Becky had shared bits and pieces of her situation, a little worried about it, but willing to take a chance and open up more. Rachel needed to know why it was important to keep some things that otherwise would’ve been sent to the dump.

  Starting with nothing meant it was easy to find value in someone else’s trash.

  But Rachel shook her head as Becky debated keeping the boxes of books they’d found tucked into the back of a closet. “We could put them in the pile for giving away, but they smell. Even if there were a valuable book in there, which I doubt since I see a bunch of encyclopedias, the pages are mildewed and moldy.” Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Let them go, hon.”

  “But…they’re books,” Becky protested.

  Rachel hesitated then came over and caught Becky by the hands. “Oh, sweetie, I know. But I promise I’ll make sure you get all the books you can handle, and more.”

  The words were matter-of-fact, but the touch was caring and real, and for a moment, a wave of homesickness for her sister struck hard enough Becky felt it in her heart. “Thank you.”

  “And not only kid’s books, like Winnie the Pooh.” Her fingers got another squeeze before Rachel set her free.

  Becky took a quick glance toward the door, but they were still alone. “By the way, I was looking for a mention of Tigger, but I didn’t find it yet.”

  Rachel’s lips hitched up into a smile. “Does Tigger have some deep significance I don’t know about?”

  “It’s supposed to be Trevor’s nickname,” she shared.

  This time Rachel’s amusement escaped in a loud laugh. “Okay, I can totally see that. I’ll see what I can find out. We’ll deal with that the next time we get together, which will be soon. If you’re okay with spending more time with me,” she teased.

  It was hard to not be overeager and suggest they get together the next day. “I’m not busy, except for work and cleaning up around here.”

  “And spending time with me,” a deep voice interrupted as Trevor stuck his head into the room. He gave Becky this look that made her knees shake in a good way. “Dammit, woman. Don’t you go getting yourself booked solid with dates with other people.”

  Rachel planted her hands on her hips and gave him a cocky grin. “You snooze, you lose, sucker. She’s my girlfriend now, too.”

  “Nope. I don’t share. Besides, your boyfriend is downstairs waiting for you. He said something about taking you to a movie.”

  Becky followed them as they continued to banter, but she’d lost track of the conversation the instant Trevor had said I don’t share.

  Memory slammed into her, as if all the garbage they’d hauled out of the house had been picked up and dumped on her. It was hard to breathe, and she had to concentrate on every step down the stairs to stay vertical.

  I don’t share.

  It was like the load lifted, vanishing between one second and the next. Becky took a deep breath and firmly put a smile back into place.

  These were good people, good friends, and her thanks to Lee and Rachel were sincere as she offered them.

  Rachel climbed onto the bench seat and sat in the middle as Lee settled behind the wheel, lifting his arm over her shoulders to nestle her closer. “Glad we could help. If you need another hand, give us a shout.”

  Rachel leaned around him toward the open window. “And I’ll stop by at work to chat. We’ll figure out when our next date is,” she teased.

  “A book date?” Becky asked.

  “Sure. And sometime we’ll have a girls’ night out, but we’ll work up to that,” Rachel said with a laugh.

  Lee rolled his eyes. “That’s like telling the newbie runner to look forward to her first marathon. You’re mean.”

  “But you like me this way.” Rachel snuggled against him.

  “I love you this way,” he corrected her, offering Trevor and Becky a wink as he put the truck into gear. “See you tomorrow, bro. Becky, it was great to meet you.”

  The air got quiet as the truck left the yard, and suddenly Becky felt a little shy. So she stuck to what she knew. “That was amazing.”

  “My family? Yeah. They kind of rock,” Trevor admitted. “Except for Lee. He sucks at times, but I like Rachel, so I won’t toss him out on his ass anytime soon.”

  Shyness vanished. “Rachel said you helped set them up.”

  “Let’s talk while we drive,” Trevor suggested, guiding her toward his truck and opening the door for her.

  She paused. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “We’ve worked for hours. We’re taking a break before supper. If you’re good with that.”

  Becky crawled in without another complaint. “Breaks are good. And you guys saved me a couple weeks’ worth of work.”

  “Glad you’re happy.”

  He turned left instead of right out of her driveway.

  “I thought the only thing this way was Coleman land.”

  “Yup,” Trevor agreed. “And some of the prettiest countryside in the Foothills. Wait. I think you’ll like this surprise.”

  He took her to the river.

  The instant he led her down the narrow path to the water’s side, she abandoned her shoes and socks, then stepped into the mud, the deep brown mess squishing up between her toes. She didn’t care if she was getting filthy—the place called to her. It was glorious.

  And when Trevor sat without a word and pulled off his boots as well, something warm lit inside.

  The river was wide, the slow-moving surface drifting past them like a speckled board, the sun filtering through the leaves. “I always loved walking by the river. Of course, our river was more like a creek, and it’s not there all year long.”

  Trevor didn’t squeeze her fingers, or show any outward sign that he was aware she’d shared something new. But he’d not
iced. She was sure of it.

  Then he turned it around and shared as well.

  “The water meanders through all the Coleman land, except ours. We call it Whiskey Creek, but it’s got a strong source, and most of the year it keeps chugging along nicely until the late fall. Over the years we’ve found different places along the creek to get into all sorts of mischief. The section close by the original homesteads is deep enough to go swimming, and there’re a couple of really good spots for rope swings.” He glanced over. “God, I love that. That’s one of my favourite things on a hot summer day.”

  She could picture him, all wild and excited. “You’ll have to take me sometime.”

  He curled a hand around hers, guiding her slowly as they left a set of barefoot prints behind them in the mud. “What about you? Did you ever go swimming at this creek you grew up by, or was it too small?”

  “Where I grew up, yes, there was water all the time. But swimming wasn’t approved of, so on hot days I’d hurry through my chores to find a moment to be down by the water. And I’d take off my shoes and socks, stick my feet in, and it was like I was in my own special world. Nobody was going to find me.”

  He brushed his thumb over the back of her neck. “You said that’s where you were little…?”

  Secrets were bundled up so tight inside of her she didn’t know which string to pull to begin the unraveling.

  “I moved to Saskatchewan when I was about sixteen…”

  There was no about regarding the date. She’d been sixteen the day she’d arrived at Paradise Settlement to be scrubbed and dressed and made ready.

  The sacrificial lamb prepared for slaughter.

  It was too much—she wasn’t ready for those memories. She twisted toward him, trying to revive the happy glow from moments earlier.

  “I don’t want to talk about that here.” She waved a hand at the water. “This is a special place, and I don’t want to mix up these new memories with those old ones.”

  Trevor stepped closer, slipping his arms around her and resting her protectively against him. “Then we’ll have to do something other than talk.”