The Rebel

by Jennifer Bernard

  She crutched across the room to Max and dropped a kiss on his cheek. Which was more than she’d given Kai, he noticed.

  Still propped on her crutches, Nicole beckoned to him. Her eyes were shining with excitement. She looked different—her hair was shorter, framing her heart-shaped face in pretty waves.

  There was something else, and it took a moment for him to pinpoint it. She looked carefree. No longer wary and cautious, but free.

  “Are you guys ready for my idea?”

  Gracie held up her iPhone to record the moment. “Totally ready.”

  Feeling as grumpy as the old Max, Kai folded his arms across his chest. “Is this another of your wacko treatments? Snowflake therapy or some shit like that? Because we have some basic infrastructure needs that come first.”

  “I get it. Believe me, I know all the problems, all the soft spots. That was my job, remember?” She twisted her face in apology. “I figured I might as well use all that knowledge I gained for good. I can help you, Kai. We can fix everything that needs it, and more. Because…” She drew in a long breath. “I found an investor.”

  30

  No one said anything, which sent Nicole into a fit of nerves. Keep talking.

  “When I was in the hospital, I started thinking about how I could make up for my really poor decision-making and then it came to me. A silent investor who loves the wilderness! And then I remembered someone I met through my ex-fiancé who fit that description exactly. He’s a wilderness fanatic and a billionaire. I met with him and told him all about the lodge. He agrees that between the fire station and all the wilderness maintenance we do here, that the best thing is for the lodge to stay in Rockwell hands. He wants to be a silent partner, nothing more. He won’t interfere, except maybe to visit now and then and ski the black diamond run. Well, what do you think?”

  Nicole hoped all of her words had come out in the right order, but she really couldn’t be sure. Just getting here had taken so much effort and planning, not to mention the work that had gone into securing an investor. And now she was face to face with the combined charisma of the Rockwells, especially the one she was madly in love with.

  She held her breath as she looked around at this family that had come to mean so much to her. Would they accept this “apology”? She felt a little like a cat who had captured a mouse and was laying it at their feet. Will you accept this investor who I worked so hard to bring on board?

  Stealing a glance at Kai, she wondered what he was thinking right now. They hadn’t spoken since he’d rescued her from her car. His letter was so vague. She didn’t really know what it meant. But she did know that she was a grown woman who’d made the choice to come here under false pretenses. Now all she wanted was to make up for that.

  Kai cleared his throat. “You said ‘we.’”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You said ‘all the maintenance we do here.’ We.”

  “Oh. Right.” She turned pink at that slip of the tongue. Probably not a good idea to broadcast her attachment to the lodge like that. “I misspoke. I meant ‘you,’ of course. You Rockwells.”

  “Well, I think it’s a perfectly fine way to put it,” Gracie declared. “You found an investor, you should stay here and help us. He probably expects you to be part of it, right?”

  Nicole shook her head. “No, no, I made clear that it’s your family, your lodge. I’ve done enough damage already.”

  “What damage?” Max snorted, then blew his nose in his big handkerchief. “The only damage you did is to poor Kai here. He hasn’t been the same since you left. Moping around here like a teenager.”

  Kai shook his head at his father. “Give it up, Dad. When are you going to stop trying to get under my skin?”

  “Next lifetime, maybe. If you’re lucky.”

  He gave a wry laugh and stepped toward Nicole. “Can I talk to you for a minute in private?”

  Unable to read his expression, she nodded. A lump formed in her throat. She’d read his letter a hundred times. She’d listened to the messages he’d left. She’d almost called him back a few times, but hung up before completing the calls. What was there to say until she’d fixed this?

  Since then she’d been completely focused on righting the wrong she’d committed.

  Well, that, and trying to figure out her next move. The money from Roger’s ring was almost gone. Rumor had it one of the nurse practitioners at Sunny Grove was leaving. Nicole had already submitted her resumé. On the plus side, she’d see a lot of Birdie. On the down side, the pay was barely enough to cover expenses.

  Kai put a hand on her lower back as she crutched her way out of the lounge. All the deer heads were gone, she noticed. In the three weeks that she’d been away, the temperature had dropped about twenty degrees. Kai wore a thick black sweater and thick fleece workout pants and looked as drop-dead sexy as ever.

  “You never called me back,” he said as they reached the reception area. “Why?”

  She wetted her lips. “I…had a lot to figure out. I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head impatiently, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Enough with the sorry’s. This is you and me. Tell me the truth, Nicole. I came back here to deal with Dad, thinking I’d talk to you soon. Then, poof.“

  “I’m here now. With the best news, at least I think it is.”

  He leaned one hip against the front desk, brushing against a bobblehead bear which immediately began jiggling away. “You didn’t want to get involved when you were here. Is that the problem? Regrets? Second thoughts?”

  “No! Nothing like that. I just…Kai, I was embarrassed. I came here as a real estate spy before. I couldn’t come back until I fixed it.”

  “That’s what the investor is all about? Fixing it?”

  “Yes. You should accept his offer. He’s a good person and we can make sure the contract completely protects you.”

  “This isn’t about some contract.” His jaw flexed, his eyes smoldered deep green. His muscles tightened under his black sweater. Every cell of her body wanted to sway toward him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jesus, Nicole. That’s business. I don’t want to talk about business. Give me a chance here!”

  “A chance to what?” She blinked at him in confusion.

  “A chance to…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Shit. To tell you—” he burst out. “Damn it, Nicole. I left you that letter. You never answered.”

  “I thought you still hated me. It was so…” She couldn’t come up with the right word. “Restrained? Like you were trying not to be mad?”

  “Ah, shit. Forget the letter. I wasn’t mad, except at myself for being such an ass to you that night. I know you, I know your heart, I know how much you care about Max and how kind you are and that you must have had a damn good reason for everything. But instead I had to go off like a jackass and—”

  Stunning her to her core, he dropped to one knee on the floor in front of her. “Nicole, I love you. I want to be with you. I want to take care of you, I want to stand by you, I want to be your partner in every possible way. I want to do wild and crazy things with you. I want to hear every quirky idea you ever had about anything. I want to marry you, if you’ll have me.”

  A funny sound came from her mouth. She was pretty sure it was a sob. “You do?”

  “I do. All of that. And more.”

  Her head was spinning. Kai was always unpredictable, but this? “Please stand up. I can’t follow you down there because my leg’s in a cast. It’s not fair.”

  Cautiously, he rose to his feet. “I recognize that look. What’s wrong, love?”

  “I can’t,” she burst out. “I can’t leave Birdie.”

  He leaned toward her and cupped her face in his hands, the love burning in his gaze enough to make her faint.

  “Of course not. You don’t have to leave Birdie. I have a whole master plan here. I got to know her pretty well on our road trip. I know she likes the place where she’s living, but I think Rocky P
eak can win her over. First we’ll bring her here for a visit. We show her the snow in winter. Set her up with a wheelchair-friendly toboggan, if she wants.”

  “She’s never even seen snow.”

  “I bet she’d love a good snowball fight.”

  Nicole drew in a long breath. She’d never really allowed herself to dream about bringing Birdie here. She imagined her zipping up and down the rabbit warren of corridors, laughing with joy. “She would,” she whispered. “She really would. But are you sure you want that? Roger—Roger couldn’t handle her living with us.”

  “Roger didn’t deserve either of you. And hey, if the snow isn’t enough to convince her, there’s always art therapy.”

  Another sob escaped her. “Kai, be serious about this. You really want us to be part of your family after…after everything?”

  ”Yes.” His firm answer left no room for doubt.

  “People will think you’re crazy.”

  “You know me. Always the rebel.” He smiled down at her and tilted her chin toward him. “I want you. I love you. Every wonderful, imaginative, occasionally imperfect inch.” Tears stung her eyes. “The thing is, you fit perfectly with my imperfect inches.”

  That made her laugh. “I hate to break this to you, but your inches are nothing but perfection.”

  “Then how can you say no?”

  Still, she hesitated. This was such a huge change, it felt as if she were careening down the highway with no guardrails and only a blurry glimpse of the road ahead. If she made the wrong move, took the wrong path, she wouldn’t be the only one affected. Birdie would be too.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Kai said. He shifted so he could dig into his pocket. “I found this the other day, when I was going through Mom’s things. I’ve been carrying it around ever since.” He opened his palm, revealing a lovely, delicate filigree ring with an aquamarine stone the color of a sunlit sea. “She always loved this. It made her think of the ocean.”

  “The ocean. You mean, ‘Kai,’” she said softly, touching the ring with wonder. It was so beautiful. The most beautiful jewel she’d ever seen. “It made her think of ‘kai.’”

  “I want you to have it, so you’ll think of me. Hopefully in an engaged kind of way, but we can sort out the details later. I’m not going anywhere.” He slid the ring onto her middle finger. The one right next to the ring finger, which somehow felt about right.

  Almost engaged. When-she-was-ready-for-it engaged. Once-she’d-gotten-used-to-the-idea engaged. Her heart swelled at his thoughtfulness. Kai was a rebel in so many ways, but this was one of the best. He was absolutely willing to defer to her feelings.

  “I love you, Kai,” she said softly. “I love you so much. I have for so long, but I thought we didn’t have a chance. I kept thinking that I could cure myself from it, but it just never happened.”

  His gaze intensified, those soul-deep green eyes capturing hers. “Good. Some things don’t need a cure, Nurse Nicole. Some things are meant to be.” He dipped his head to hers, kissing her with such depth and passion that the room spun around her.

  A shudder of desire passed through her. Now that she was out of the hospital and off painkillers, she’d started to miss him physically. After all those glorious nights in his bed, her body yearned for him.

  “I don’t think I can make it all the way to my old room,” she managed through the kisses he was peppering onto her neck.

  “And my guesthouse is too damn far away.”

  “Plus you’re supposed to be in a family meeting right now.”

  “I am. You’re my family.” That simple statement sent a river of joy coursing through her. He reached the base of her neck and drew her collar away with his teeth. “Besides, you just changed everything. A silent investor, that’s big. I predict that before long every single one of us Rockwells will be back home, trying to pull this thing out.”

  “Pull what thing out?” she teased, sliding her hand along his upper thigh. The hard muscles tensed and flexed under her palm. “This thing, maybe?”

  “Don’t tempt me. Shit, Nicole. Anyone could walk in here. Guest, family member, staff.”

  “You said ‘staff.’” She gave him her sassy face.

  He groaned at her terrible double-entendre. “Wait, I have an idea. First, you need to stop looking at me like that for the next two minutes, until I can get us somewhere private.”

  He pushed her crutches out of the way and bent down to scoop her into his arms. She clung to his shoulders as he strode out of the reception area and down a crooked hallway she’d never explored. “Where are we going?”

  “The only place I can think of that’s guaranteed to be private.” When he reached a door labelled “storeroom,” he lowered her down so she could turn the knob. Then he whisked her inside.

  For one astonished moment, she gazed at the room in silence. Then she burst out laughing, while Kai cursed under his breath. “I forgot we put these in here,” he muttered as the two of them surveyed the collection of plastic deer heads stuffed into the room, jumbled every which way.

  “I can’t kiss you with Bambi staring at me,” she said.

  “Not Bambi. Benji.” Kai put her down next to an antique desk to give her something to hold on to. Then he grabbed an old patchwork quilt and draped it over the deer. “Better?”

  She contemplated it for a moment. “I’m still going to know they’re there, but they are plastic, so I guess it’s like kissing in front of…lawn ornaments or something.”

  “Exactly.” He picked her up again and made his way through the jumble of vintage lodge detritus—a magnificent antique grandfather clock, old ice cream signs, broken ski goggles, antique apple boxes, so many intriguing items she couldn’t wait to sort through. In the corner sat an old daybed covered with a crocheted blanket. He gently set her onto the bed. “How’s your leg feeling?”

  “My leg is feeling turned on, just like the rest of me.”

  “That’s what I was hoping.” He grinned and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her.

  She nestled against his side. “My leg also wants you to take your shirt off.”

  “Really? You speak fluent leg?”

  “No, but it’s a safe assumption.”

  He sat up and tugged his sweater over his back. She touched his warm skin, his rippling stomach, with a feeling like coming home. “In case you’re still waiting for an answer, it’s a yes. I would love to be married to you, Kai. I’d stopped thinking about a husband, you know. I was always too caught up with what to do about Birdie.”

  “And now?” He eased her back so he could brace himself over her and slid a warm hand under her shirt.

  “Now I know you. And you make me do crazy things like make love in storerooms with plastic deer spying on us. Getting married seems sane compared to that.”

  His leg nudged between hers, offering gentle pressure through her clothes. She sighed and stretched sensuously as her nerve endings sizzled.

  “I can’t promise sane,” he said. “It’s not really my thing. But I can promise that I’ll give you everything I have. All my heart, all my love, my body, my soul. My family. Everything I am and everything I will be.”

  The intensity of those words brought tears to her eyes. “Oh Kai. I promise that too,” she whispered. “Everything I am, everything I will be.”

  The moment felt almost sacred as they sealed that promise with a kiss she felt all the way to her soul.

  “With these plastic deer as our witnesses, so be it,” Kai murmured against her lips.

  And there they went, laughing again, until passion took over and they sealed things once and for all, body and soul.

  31

  After much discussion and arguing and jokes about the new investor being the only silent person connected to the lodge, the Rockwells said ‘yes’ to the offer.

  Birdie said ‘yes’ to a visit—actually, she more or less shrieked it. Kai was completely confident that eventually she would want to move to Rocky Peak.

&n
bsp; Since Nicole had already said ‘yes’ to everything—the lodge, Kai, the Rockwell family—he was happier than he’d imagined possible just a few months ago.

  After all the “yesses” had been established, Kai drove Nicole down to the spot where she’d driven off the road. She examined the tire tracks she’d left, the trampled spot in the brush, the tall trees that she had somehow, incredibly, managed to miss.

  “This isn’t close to where you and your mother crashed, is it?” she asked softly. The treetops swayed and she tightened her jacket against the bite of the wind. It held the taste of autumn, which made him think about nights cuddled with Nicole in a cozy bed while the snow piled up in the forests and valleys. It had been too long since he’d experienced a Rocky Peak winter, and he loved the idea of showing her how magical it could be.

  “No, not really. That happened further up the mountain. They installed a guardrail at that curve. No one thought this one would be a problem.” He lifted an eyebrow at her.

  “Yeah, well, that’s me, making trouble wherever I go.” She gave him that impish smile that he loved so much.

  “Not that kind of trouble, not ever again,” he said firmly. “I’m going to make sure of it.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I know a professional who volunteered to teach you in his spare time.”

  She swung around to stare at him. “Griffin?”

  “Griffin.” He nodded in satisfaction. “He’s coming home. He’ll be back any day now. The man can drive anything with wheels. He grew up driving this road and I trust him with my life.” He pulled her close so she leaned against him, giving her a chance to rest from the crutches. “Which is what you are now. You’re my life. I hope you’re okay with that.”

  Her eyes sparkled like starlight. “You say the sweetest things, Kai Rockwell. How do you manage it, when you look so rough and wild?”

  “I’m a man in love, that’s how.”

  He held her hand as she leaned against him. A feeling of extreme satisfaction settled through him, something he hadn’t felt since Mom died. As if things were finally in their right alignment. He was home, in all senses of the word. That restlessness that had nipped at his heels all this time was gone.