by Caroline Lee
“I don’t think she wants your lunch, I think she wants you.”
The casual comment stopped both of their laughter cold, and Ellie could swear that she saw him flushing under his tan. “I mean, she likes you. She wants you to stay right where you are.”
Ellie swallowed. “Oh, she does, does she?”
Without dropping her gaze, Will slowly nodded, and Ellie knew they weren’t talking about the dog anymore. “Well, I’m happy right where I am.”
Suddenly breathless, Ellie knew that was the absolute truth. She was happy where she was. Who would’ve thought that a girl from the Lowcountry—a girl who loved the hustle and bustle of L.A.—could be happy here in Idaho?
But, as she scratched Indy’s chin with her free hand, she realized that where she was didn’t affect her happiness nearly as much as who she was with. And that was certainly a realization that she needed to ponder, wasn’t it?
Will cleared his throat and pulled out a pack of chips. “You were awesome on the river this morning. We make a good team.”
His words caused a flutter in the belly. The same kind of flutter his kisses had caused, come to think of it. “Well, you were a good coxswain.”
He let lose a bark of laughter. “A ‘guide’, usually. If you’re going to ride the river with me, we’d better break you of this boating language!”
She liked the sound of that. Riding the river with him. “It’s a lot of fun, and I’m learning.”
“You’re amazing, is what you are.” That little wry grin made her chest tighten. “We’ve got another three hours through some of the biggest rapids.” He nodded to the bus parked some way from the landing. “Zack and Soap are on a run right now, but it’s the only one today.”
“That’s impressive.”
“What?”
“You say that dealing with stuff like scheduling and management gives you headaches, but you knew on Tuesday that you only had the one run today, and you knew exactly when it was and that Joey wasn’t lifeguarding, so he could cover for you.”
Will shrugged. “I just got lucky?”
“No. I think you’re better at management than you give yourself credit for.”
A snort. “I doubt that. But I’ve got to be better, because I can’t get much worse, can I? Besides, it’s not the same when it’s the river.” He looked out at the water. “This isn’t management, you know? It’s… It’s life.”
“I think I see what you mean, Will.”
And his smile, when he toasted her with the water bottle, was everything she’d hoped for. Everything she wanted. Excitement, strength, caring. Will.
CHAPTER SIX
Will’s good mood lasted all weekend; Zack kept teasing him for whistling the old hit “Walkin’ on Sunshine,” but Will couldn’t stop grinning. Didn’t want to stop grinning… He’d kissed her! And man-oh-man, had she kissed him back!
Friday’s rafting trip had been everything he’d ever wanted out of life, and he got a kiss out of it. And not just any kiss, but one that left him cross-eyed and stuttering and breathing way deeper than normal. Thank goodness Ellie’d had the good sense to go overboard after she untangled herself, because otherwise Will would’ve kissed her again.
And he kinda got the impression that she didn’t want that.
Oh, she’d kissed him back, alright, and hadn’t seemed to mind the embrace at all. But she’d been the one to pull away first, and then she was the one to distance herself after. And although she’d been open and laughing and wonderful for the rest of the run, she didn’t make an effort to initiate any more kisses, either. So Will had contented himself with just being with her, and trying not to fixate on the way her lips felt against his.
And it had actually been easier than he’d expected. Oh, he wasn’t ever going to forget that kiss, but spending time with her was just as nice. He’d kissed his share of girls over the years—Jace used to tease him about it during their years at summer camp—but besides Kelsi, Will couldn’t think of another woman whose company he liked as much as Ellie’s. Her experiences were so different from his, but he liked the way that she listened to and understood him, and tried to make him understand her. He liked the way she looked at his paintings and saw the emotion behind them, rather than just the paint. He liked the way she smiled with excitement when she saw the white water, and the way she played with Indy—even though she said she wasn’t really a dog person!—and the way she teased him.
Yeah, he liked Ellie alright. Maybe more than he ought to, considering she was going back home to L.A. in two weeks.
Will sighed, and turned down the long winding drive that led to his house. His brain might be giving him good advice, telling him not to get too attached to Ellie Redfern, but his heart sure wasn’t listening. He was getting more attached by the moment, and was coming to cherish all those little times during the week when he accidentally ran into her at the pool or the boathouse or in the Ranch House. Seeing her—seeing her face light up when she saw him—was almost better than the thrill he got riding the rapids.
The gravel pad in front of his house looked like a parking lot when he pulled his beat-up truck in. There was the fancy ranch golf-cart he had to use sometimes, and the ’90 Mustang he’d been working on for at least five years now, and Kelsi’s truck, and Wade’s black Range Rover.
He wasn’t surprised to see his sister; he’d called her earlier that day to ask if she could cut his hair, which was getting shaggier than usual. It was a standing tradition, but used to happen in her room in the Ranch House. Now that Shane had married her and stolen her into Riston, she had to cut Will’s hair at his house. But it was kinda unexpected to see Wade here too; he cared enough about his image to buy that Range Rover, and to get his hair cut at the spa. Because Kelsi, bless her heart, wasn’t as great at cutting hair as Dani and Will let her think.
But mostly, Will just liked letting Kelsi cut his hair because it gave him time to talk to her. Maybe Wade needed someone to talk to, too.
Indy jumped out of the cab behind Will, so he opened up the gate to the backyard first thing. “Go on, girl. Find your egg!” When she howled happily and took off into the yard, he ambled around to the front porch. Sure enough, his oldest brother was sitting on a folding chair beside the porch swing, a towel wrapped around his neck and Kelsi standing behind him with scissors.
They both turned when Will clumped up the front steps, but only Kelsi smiled. “Hiya, Will. I mentioned to Wade that I was on my way over here after my shift, and he waylaid me.”
“You said you had plenty of time.” Wade’s stoic expression would’ve done Wyatt proud.
“I did! Will doesn’t mind waiting. Do you, Will?”
“Nope,” he answered his sister with a grin and plopped down on the swing. “Either of you want anything? Water? Soda? Pickle juice?”
“Oh man.” Kelsi didn’t look up from where she was snipping around Wade’s ears. “Pickle juice actually sounds pretty awesome.”
Will pulled a face, but she didn’t see it. It was a well-known fact that Kelsi thought pickle juice was “yucky”. He glanced at Wade to see how his brother was taking what had to be a joke, and saw those familiar ice-blue eyes closed. In fact, the rest of Wade’s face didn’t look great either. “You okay, dude?” When Wade’s eyes snapped open and flicked towards him, Will shrugged. “You look exhausted, or sick or something.”
Wade’s sigh mixed with his chagrined smile. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks. Just…tired.”
“Long hours in the office?” Will didn’t actually have much idea of what his oldest brother did on the ranch, but it involved an office and a computer and desk chair and artificial light and just sounded horrible, as far as Will was concerned. “You need to get out more.”
Wade’s snort wasn’t quite a laugh, but he leaned his head obligingly to one side when Kelsi pushed it over. “Get out more? You think I like being stuck—” He inhaled sharply through his nose when he cut himself off. But then he muttered, “Sometimes I really envy y
ou guys, you know.”
It was the second time one of his brothers had told him that they envied him. Will remembered his reaction to Wes’s claim at the beginning of the month, and started to wonder if maybe there wasn’t more to it. “You mean…just because I’m not stuck inside all the time?”
“At all.”
“Yeah, at all. I like being outdoors, you know.”
“Me too.” Wade tipped his head forward when Kelsi pushed it, so that his next words came out muffled. “I mean, I like my job, but sometimes I miss…”
When he trailed off, Will thought about what it’d be like to be cooped up in an office all day, and shuddered in sympathy. “You know, I had pretty good luck hiring someone to help me out.” Boy, did he! He’d never thank his parents for giving him the kick in the rear he needed, but he’d always be grateful for meeting Ellie. “Maybe you should do the same.”
“Like who?” Wade sounded like he was talking through clenched teeth, but maybe that was just because Kelsi had one hand on the top of his head and was pressing his chin into his chest while she worked on his nape. “Between the mess your aquatics program used to be in—” Will noticed the emphasis, but didn’t know whose benefit it was for, “—and all this nonsense with Wyatt, I don’t know who’d understand.”
“What’s wrong with Wyatt?” Kelsi beat Will to the question.
“Oh, he’s…” Wade pulled his head out from his sister’s hand, and rolled his neck. “He’s found evidence of trespassing and poaching out on the trails in the mountains. When he had proof, he brought it to me, and I sent him to Shane. But I don’t know what the law can do that Wyatt can’t do himself, and he’s more motivated. I’m worried about him.”
Will settled back against the swing, and glanced at his sister. He saw the same relief-mixed-with-worry on her face too. “Don’t worry,” he said, as much to reassure her as himself. “Wyatt’s way too smart to do anything dumb out there. I’m glad he’s on their trail.”
Wade was already nodding, but Kelsi didn’t look reassured. Instead, Will watched her bite her lip and turn away to clean off the scissors, a glimmer—were those tears?—in her eye.
“Well, I guess I’m going home.” Wade stood up and pulled the towel off, shaking it over the porch railing. “You know, to get some rest, since I look so bad.”
“Horrible,” Will deadpanned. “Nearly monsterish. You’re scaring the ladies.”
“Thanks for the vote of support, little brother.”
“We get to vote? Did you get a vote?” he asked Kelsi, whose answering smile looked a little watery. “I wouldn’t have voted Wade in charge.”
The towel caught Will in the face, and he sputtered while he unwrapped it. Wade was grinning, and Kelsi looked a little happier, and Will figured that was the best he could hope for. “Seriously, man. Go to sleep. Then hire someone. Maybe not someone big-picture, like you. But a new… uh…” He wracked his brain. “Accountant? Scribe? Abacus-flicker? Whatever it is that you office-types do.”
Wade rolled his eyes as he stepped off the porch. “I’ll consider it.”
“Good!” Will called as his oldest brother headed for his Range Rover. “And I won’t tell too many people that you’re taking business advice from me!”
Wade’s gesture told them that he didn’t believe Will’s earnest promise for a minute, but all he yelled back was “Thanks for the trim, Kelsi!” before driving off.
Chuckling, Will plopped down in the chair his brother had vacated, and tried to wrap the towel around his neck. His sister slapped his hand away and took over.
“So, you want your usual?”
“No offense, Kels, but you don’t know how to do anything else.”
Her quiet sniff was halfway between a laugh and a snort. “It’s never mattered to you before. You only get this shaggy mane cropped once a year or so.” She dragged a wet comb through his hair, and he tried not to wince. She was right; he didn’t mind letting his hair grow long. “So what’s made you want to clean up, huh? Or is it who, maybe?”
Will grinned at how well she knew him. “Maybe. I had a nice date, wouldn’t mind another one.”
“Hmmmm.” Kelsi began to pull the hair on the top of his head straight up, to trim it. “Another date? With someone who you want to impress. Maybe someone who isn’t used to seeing big shaggy blonde men? Someone a little more urbane, yeah? Who thinks that you’re a smelly Idaho cowboy?”
She knew exactly who he meant, he’d bet. “Yeah alright, alright,” he chuckled. “It’s Ellie Redfern, as you very well know.”
He’d expected her to squeal or at the very least crow about being right. He hadn’t expected her to place one hand gently on his shoulder and sigh softly. “Oh, Will, I’m so happy for you. She’s wonderful, and I just loved her from the first moment we met.” Was it his imagination, or was his sister sounding maudlin? “I think that she’s just perfect for you. What kind of date did you go on?”
A little disconcerted to hear his little sister so emotional, Will slouched a little lower in the chair until she started snipping again. “I made her dinner. And she went rafting with me.”
“Rafting? Did she enjoy it?”
“Yeah, I think.” Will shifted in the chair, thinking about that kiss, and her smiles after. “I mean, she liked the rafting, I’m sure of it. She’s real good with Indy, too.”
“But…?”
Leave it to Kelsi to hear the but. “But I’m not sure if she…uh…enjoyed me, you know? She liked the date, liked the rafting, but…”
“Have you kissed her yet? Kissing changes a lot of opinions.” She sounded like her typical know-it-all self there for a moment.
“Yeah.” Not that it was any of Kelsi’s business, but she was one Weston he’d always been able to talk things over with. “And she kissed me back. But only the one time. And she’s leaving soon…”
“She doesn’t have to, you know.” She sounded so authoritative that he grinned. “She’s falling in love with Idaho, Will. I know from talking to Jaclyn about Ellie, and maybe influencing her a bit.” He managed not to snort at that. Kelsi could make friends with a brick wall. “She’s here for a temporary position because she’s left one job and planning on taking another job in the fall.”
“I know.”
“And she budgeted enough time in between to visit with her family.”
“I know.”
She swatted his head and snipped a few times. “My point is that she’s sorta in limbo now, right? You could talk her into staying.”
“Staying and what? I mean, I’m not going to deny that it’s been nice to have her here handling all the stuff that I hate, because I’ve gotten to spend more time on the water and have a lot fewer headaches…” Kelsi knew how much he hated all the stuff Wade seemed to like doing. Of course, his oldest brother’s confession might make Will re-think some things. “But I don’t know if a long-term salary is in the program’s budget, and in theory she’d have less to do once she’s got us all straightened out by the end of the month—Oww!”
Kelsi flicked his ear and then sighed. “I didn’t mean talk her into keeping her job, silly! I meant talk her into staying.”
“And doing what?”
“Marrying you, of course.”
Marrying him. Marrying? Will opened his mouth, and then closed it with a snap. Marry Ellie? Why not? He liked spending time with her. He sure liked kissing her. Did he love her, though? He’d seen how happy Kelsi and Shane were, and Jess and Jake… Could he be that happy with Ellie? Like, forever?
“That shut you up, huh?” He could hear the smirk in Kelsi’s voice.
“I… um…”
“You mean you hadn’t thought about marrying her yet? It’s pretty much all I think about.”
“Marrying Ellie Redfern?” He wasn’t sure if he should be jealous.
“No, silly. Making sure that my family is happy. And…” He could swear that he heard her sniff. “And I think that what will make you happiest is settling down. Findi
ng your true love and…” Another sniff. “And marrying.”
“Kelsi?” Will twisted in his seat to stare up at her. “What’s up?” She was usually so bubbly and cheerful. It was weird to hear her sound so intense and weepy. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I am.” Her smile was a little watery, but he grabbed her hand anyhow. “I’m just awfully emotional these days.”
He stood, the towel still around his neck, his heart suddenly pounding at the tears in her eyes and the way her lips pulled down. This wasn’t like his sister at all. “Yeah, Kels, I can tell.” He squeezed her hand. “Is everything okay at home? Did Shane do something? Do you need—”
“Oh, Will.” Kelsi rolled her eyes, the tears still threatening. “Shane is just wonderful. So loving and kind and gentle and—”
“Okay, okay.” He didn’t need to hear all the details. “If Shane isn’t the problem, then what…?”
“Well,” she began, a suddenly shy smile flitting across her expression. “You remember that conversation we had a few weeks ago, when you’d ordered pizza?”
He wracked his brain. “The night I told you I was hiring Ellie, right? What else did we talk about?”
“Oh, nothing much, Uncle Will.”
…Uncle Will? “Uncle Will?”
“Would you prefer ‘Uncle Willy’? Because I told Shane that’s cuter, but he says that you’d hate—”
“You’re pregnant?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer, but began to laugh and wrapped her in a giant hug and spun her around. “That’s fantastic, Kelsi! Who have you told? Who can I tell?”
“Put me down!” When he did, she looked a little green. “I’m weepy and nauseated and I don’t care how excited you are, Will Weston, you can’t just go around—”
“Right, right, sorry.” He couldn’t stop grinning though, as he carefully patted her shoulder. “Sorry. I’m just really, really happy. For you. I mean, I’m happy to finally be an uncle—I’m going to be the coolest uncle, I swear—but I know you and Shane have been wanting a family.”