It didn’t matter that the two of them were surrounded by people, suddenly Rose felt as if they were, once again, alone.
“I like your dress,” Colby said.
“Thanks.” She glanced down at the simple blue-and-white cotton toile dress with its empire cut. It was her favorite of all her maternity clothes—the one item she still felt pretty in, despite her ever-growing girth. “Colby?”
“Uh-huh?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too. I shouldn’t have thrown your papers away like that.”
“No. I mean, yes. Yes, you should have. I mean, we’re both adults here, and even though I can’t see myself ever getting married, I didn’t mean to come across like some baby-making robot.”
He shrugged.
She gave him a halfhearted smile. “I’ll take that to mean I was as callous as I feared.”
“Well…” He took her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.
Warmth eased through her, and when the baby kicked, she gasped at the intensity.
“You okay?” he asked.
Nodding, she said, “Our little slugger must be ready for lunch. He’s raising quite a fuss.”
“Do you mind?” Colby released her hand to reach across the small table.
Assuming he meant to curve his fingers and palm to their baby, she guided his hand, then covered it with her own.
Their son rolled. The size of Colby’s grin did funny things to her resolve to remain a single mom. How amazing would it be? Sharing all of their son’s firsts with this kind, supportive man? “I think he likes me.”
“Much as I hate to admit it, I think you’re right.”
“You don’t have to make it sound like torture.”
“Sorry,” she said. “Again. It seems like all I’ve done since I got here is apologize.”
“Probably my fault.”
“Not at all. Here I’m supposed to be trained in helping people improve their lives, yet my own life is a mess.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. You’ve been blessed with my baby, haven’t you?”
“Aren’t you the modest one?”
He winked, shredding her resolve to close her heart against their Christmas Eve memories.
After their meal, when Nugget automatically brought Colby a coffee, Colby politely declined in favor of a glass of milk.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know.”
“Sure, I did.” He forked up the last of his hot apple pie. “What you’re going through—it has to be tough. You need to know you’re not alone.”
What she would’ve given to hear those words during her first trimester. The mornings she’d been sick. The nights she’d lain awake confused, wondering if she could handle being a single mom. Knowing sadly that in light of what she’d learned about marriage, she had no other choice.
You’re not alone.
It was a lovely sentiment, but aside from her son, she was alone, and always would be. For the fleeting moment she glanced up, only to lose herself in Colby’s gaze, the knowledge crushed her beneath the weight of its sadness.
Then she reminded herself that loving someone also hurt. She’d given love a try with Rick, and look where that had led. On a deeper level she rarely allowed even herself to visit, how sick was it that despite how abusive her father had been, she’d still secretly craved his love. Wished and prayed and hoped for him to change.
When he didn’t, she’d been the one forced to change. To harden. Was she even capable of love? Did she even know what it truly was?
She was smart to stick to her resolve to steer clear of Colby. It was one thing to be lonely. It was totally another to be consumed by soul-crushing pain no amount of aspirin could ease.
At a loss for words, Rose focused on her pie.
It had been much easier to convince herself that she was doing the right thing back when Colby had been obstinate. This charming side, the side she’d first been attracted to when he’d shared his grape Bubble Yum, was a definite drawback.
“What’s your favorite movie?” Colby asked.
Pleased by the lighter tone of their conversation, Rose said, “You go first. There are so many, I’ll need a second to narrow them down.”
“Let’s see… On any classic movie list, Terminator and Independence Day—the original—would have to be high, along with Alien and Aliens, but the last two in that series?” He shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “Your turn.”
“I’m still thinking. I’ve spent so much time studying, and then working, I haven’t seen that many movies. You go again. It’s fun hearing what you like.”
“To show I’m not all action and do have a sensitive side, for more recent selections, I liked Arrival and Hidden Figures.”
“Whoa. Even I’ve seen that one, and it’s definitely not your average shoot ’em up action flick.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a well-rounded guy, fully qualified to make a great dad and husband.”
“Colby…” she warned. “This has been such a nice time. Please don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything—just putting in a plug. You know, like a five-second campaign speech.” His slow and sexy grin vaulted over her every objection. Her runaway pulse applauded.
What would she do if her son had the same ability to melt her heart with a lone glance? How was she going to spend the next eighteen years separating him from his father, when every look reminded her of the man she was trying to avoid?
“You all right over there?”
She looked up, straight into his narrowed gaze. “I’m fine.”
“Sure?”
Swallowing hard, she lied with a nod. Why was she here? What was she trying to prove? She should have sent the legal documents via snail mail. Up close and personal like this made it all too easy to recognize the undeniable truth that Colby was a good man. He’d make a great dad. Maybe he’d even make some lucky woman a great husband—just not her.
The mere thought of him with another woman raised instant indigestion.
After covering a yawn, she said, “Thanks for lunch, but I’m ready for another nap.”
“Probably a good idea.” He stood, helping her from her chair. They’d long since paid the bill. Or rather, he’d paid the bill, even though she’d insisted Nugget charge their meal to her room. “I should’ve noticed you were getting tired.”
“I’m a big girl, Colby. Please stop acting like my well-being is your responsibility.”
His large hand deliciously warming the small of her back, they walked out of the considerably less crowded room. Only two other tables were occupied, by sportsman types wearing outfits fresh off the pages of an L.L.Bean catalogue. The men she’d thought she recognized from their rescue crew were gone. A shame. She would have liked to thank them again.
In the shadowy cove of the lodge stairs, Colby paused, taking her hands in his. “Look, Rose, what you just said, about not being my responsibility? You’ve got that all wrong.”
The warmth in his gaze made her mouth feel dry.
“You see, from the moment you first climbed on board my plane, you became my responsibility. Your life was quite literally in my hands.”
“Yes, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve landed safely.”
“Have we?” He drew her closer, easing her hands behind her back, fitting their bodies together like two puzzle pieces. She licked her lips. “Look at me.”
Helpless to do anything else, she did.
“Do you think for one second you believe anything about our situation is safe? We’re talking about a baby. My baby—yours. You act as if this is all just a game you’re determined to win, but it’s a helluva lot more. A whole life is at stake, and—”
“Sixty-seven bottles of beer on the wall, sixty-seven bottles of…”
Colby groaned.
Through the lodge’s front door tottered ten or so very drunk Global Oil guys with Dot and Dan at the helm. Brody, Tanner and Sergei followed close behind.
/> “There’s our man,” slurred Dan. “And look, he’s got his bride-to-be with him!”
“Excellent,” Tanner said.
From out of the dining room stepped Nugget, along with Henry, Stanley, and all three cooks and dishwashers.
“What’s going on?” Colby asked as the crowd came closer. He slipped his arm around Rose.
“What do you think is going on?” Dot asked.
“I-I’ll just be heading on up to bed…” She might have said she was leaving, but she clung to Colby as the crowd of at least twelve or thirteen men and her friend Dot surrounded them. At least ten more people streamed in from the bar.
“Sorry, sugar bun,” Nugget said, “but this here is an Alaskan intervention, and you’ll be going nowhere but where we send you.”
“Oh, no,” Colby said. “You’re not really going to—”
Too late for protests, he and Rose had already been hefted off their feet and propelled toward the lodge door.
Chapter Nine
“LET ME OUT of here!” Rose shouted, banging on the delivery truck’s metal door. Outside, a latch clicked into place.
“Good job, boys,” Nugget could be heard saying, his voice muffled but chipper. “Dot? Brody? Did you two put the milk I set out in the cooler for our expectant momma?”
Brody said, “Affirmative.”
“Let me out!” Rose screamed. “Are you people nuts? This is kidnapping! Double kidnapping!”
Colby, drawing Rose onto one of the comfy pillows lining the truck’s floor, said, “Wouldn’t that be a triple kidnapping, or don’t I count?”
“Grr…” In the oddly romantic light of at least fifty green glow sticks, she glared at her baby’s daddy. “Tell them to stop. This isn’t funny.”
“Hey…” He held up his hands in surrender. “See me laughing? I’m just as much a victim as you. And look on the bright side.” He pointed to a heart-shaped basket filled with a bottle of sparkling cider, crackers and Rose’s favorite squirt cheese. “At least they gave us snacks.”
She made a good show of frowning, but couldn’t quite hide the twinkle in her eyes when her gaze landed on the cheese.
The truck engine rumbled to a start. From outside, Nugget hollered, “Don’t you two worry about a thing. Brody and Dot were just pretending to be drunk. They’re both sober as preachers on Judgment Day. They’ll get you where you’re going, nice and safe.”
Rose groaned, spotting boxes of what she guessed were supplies in a corner.
“Okay, hit it!” On Nugget’s command, the truck lurched forward, flinging Rose against Colby’s chest.
He shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder if the area’s isolation isn’t throwing a few people off their rockers.”
“This thought just now occurred to you?” A tooth-jarring pothole left her holding on to Colby for dear life.
“Hey!” Colby shouted toward the truck’s cab. “You two fruitcakes mind slowing down?”
They did, and thankfully, although the ride was still bumpy, the bumps became easier to bear.
A few minutes later, Rose realized she was still clinging to Colby, her arms around his neck, her cheek pressed against his warm, solid chest. She knew she should let go, but didn’t want to. He was not only a safe harbor in this bizarre storm, but a comfortable one.
“Relax. We’re going to be fine.” He stroked her hair. “This is what my so-called friends consider an Alaska-sized therapy session.”
“Yeah, but where are they taking us, and what do they hope to achieve?”
She felt him shrug. “Probably some cabin out in the woods. Most of us have places in the boonies we use to get away.”
At that, she leaned back and sighed. “Like the stress of being around all two hundred or so occupants of this town can be a strain?”
“Try over a thousand occupants. Kodiak Gorge is a happening place.”
“Sorry.”
“You should be.” He tweaked her ear.
“What was that for?”
“Sass. Now, where was I?”
“Explaining why your high-stress lifestyle requires you to get away.”
Shaking his head, he said, “Have you met any of the people who locked us in here?”
She laughed.
“Anyway, I imagine they’re planning to leave us wherever they drop us off until we either bicker each other to death or agree to marry.”
“They have to know we can’t be manipulated like that.”
Back to stroking her hair, he said, “Oh, I don’t know. When Nugget gets a hankering to do something, there’s no stopping him. He did this to my friend Tanner and his wife Jenny when they announced they were getting a divorce.”
“So? What happened? Are the two of them still married?”
Sighing, Colby said, “Guess they fell under the category of bickering each other to death. I have to confess to being in on that kidnapping, though. After their time together, they never spoke again.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah…”
WHEN THE STEADY rise and fall of her breathing told him she was asleep, Colby cradled Rose closer.
There weren’t many roads leading out of Kodiak Gorge. Two, to be specific—Old Gold Road and New Gold Road. And Old Gold Road should’ve been downgraded to Old Gold Mule Trail about twenty years back. Judging by the increase in bumps, Colby guessed they were on the trail.
The one that led straight to his fishing cabin.
He knew Nugget and the rest of the gang meant well, but having Rose in his town was hard enough. Why in the world would they believe he wanted her at his sanctuary? Especially since every time he cast out his fly rod from now on, he’d be thinking of what quiet joy could have been found in having his son standing beside him, proudly holding up his first fish.
The strange thing about that image was the absence of little-boy-Nick’s mother. Did the fact that Colby couldn’t imagine Rose in his future mean he was destined to only see his son part-time?
No. The very idea was unacceptable. He snuggled his son’s mother close, settling in for a long, bumpy ride—both emotionally and physically. Colby also drifted off.
Hours must have passed when he woke to blessed peace from jostling and the old truck’s chugging engine.
“Rose, hon, wake up.” Colby eased her from his chest, grinning at the tiny wet spot in the middle of his green shirt where she’d drooled sometime during their journey.
“No…” She snuggled closer. “It’s too early.”
Moving her off him and onto one of the dozens of pillows lining the truck’s floor, he tried the door, and it slid right open. Hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from still potent sun, he was treated to the sight of one of his favorite places on earth—his log fishing cabin in all its rustic glory, nestled among towering Sitka spruce, mountain hemlock and cedar.
Between the trees the lake glittered.
As far as Colby knew, the lake didn’t have a formal name. He’d always just thought of it as his lake. Although now, oddly enough, he looked forward to sharing it with Rose.
Usually, he flew in, and the aerial view of his private paradise always filled him with quiet pride, but the place was just as sweet from this angle. Even though Rose was a big-city girl, he couldn’t imagine her not forming an instant attachment.
Turning to her, he knelt, sweeping her thick hair back from her ear so he could whisper, “Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re home.” Still beside her from her last snack was a can of squirt cheese. Knowing she’d be wanting another hit soon, he put it in his pocket for later.
“Hey…sleeping beauty. Time to rise.”
She swatted him. “I already told you it’s too early to wake up.”
“Judging by his momma, our son’s gonna be a bear to wake for school every morning.”
“He’ll go to night school.” Though her eyes were still closed, a grin tugged the corners of her lips.
“That’s all well and good,” he said, taking her hands in the hopes of making h
er sit up. “But last I heard, Kodiak Gorge didn’t offer late-night kindergarten.”
“They would for our boy—he’ll be a VIP.”
Colby’s spirit soared. “That mean you’ve rethought your plan to head back to Chicago?”
Her eyes popped open, and she bolted upright—surprisingly fast, considering her size. “What?”
“What you just said—you know, about our son being a VIP, and how Kodiak Gorge would open a kindergarten just for him. That mean you’re sticking around?”
“No—absolutely not. I was half-asleep. I wasn’t in my right mind after not getting a moment’s decent rest.”
“That’s funny,” he said with a wry laugh. “Most of the ride, your snoring kept me up.”
“I can’t help it,” she said, scrambling to her feet. “All this dry air up here messes with my sinuses.”
“Oh.”
“It does.”
He hopped down from the truck, then held out his arms to help her.
“Thanks,” she said, “but I’ve got this.”
“By all means.” He stepped aside. “I wouldn’t dream of interfering.”
“Thank you.”
Using the side of the truck for support, she seemed poised to jump, but the truck floor looked to be a good two feet off the ground, so she opted for another approach. After turning around, she eased onto her knees as if prepped for a backwards hop, but considering how her belly got in the way, that didn’t seem to be working, either.
“Need help?” Colby tried not to laugh. Really, he did.
“I’m fine,” she muttered from between clenched teeth.
“Sure. Just asking.”
“Yeah, well, don’t.”
She next tried a forward squat, but when she damn near toppled over, for her and his son’s safety, Colby snatched her from behind, briefly cradling her before setting her on her feet.
“Thanks.” She fussed with her hair. “Eventually, I could have done it.”
“I had absolute faith you would.”
Arms folded, her initial reaction was to glare, but then she laughed. “Who am I kidding? The only way I could’ve exited that truck alone was with a remote-controlled forklift. Thanks for the rescue.”
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