Drew shook his head. “I never got those letters. I would have opened them; I swear to you.”
Alex looked like he wanted to believe him, but his face took on a stubborn look. “I don’t believe you,” he said, then pushed past him and through the doors into the kitchen.
Drew started to go after him, but Jordan said, “Let him go.”
For a second, he’d forgotten that she was there. “This is all your fault; if you’d left him where he was, none of this would have happened,” he accused.
“My fault?” she asked, her eyes beginning to flash with anger. “I’m not the one who left him sitting under a tree all morning. I’m not the one who took off on a ride without a word to anyone about when you’d be back,” she said.
Drew had to grind his teeth to remain where he was standing. He took a deep breath and said, “In the future, I’d appreciate it if you let me know when you take Alex somewhere.”
Jordan smiled at him, but it wasn’t a smile he liked very much. “I’d be happy to grant your request as long as I can find you,” she said, then turned and stalked out of the meeting hall.
He stood there, watching her walk away, the strange mixture of anger and attraction making it difficult for him to move. When the throbbing in his groin has faded, and anger had cooled, he sank into a chair facing the murals and closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he’d been in this room, and that hadn’t been the way he’d wanted his first time back to go.
Taking deep breaths, he let the silence in the room soak into him, then opened his eyes and looked at the murals. A flood of memories came rushing at him, and he couldn’t help but smile as a feeling of wellbeing filled every cell of his body, making him feel like he was vibrating. Power swept through him, but he released it back into the room, knowing he had all he needed right then.
When he finally got up from the chair to find Alex, the murals had calmed him and reminded him that life was full of challenges. It wasn’t going to be easy to form a relationship with Alex, but with some time, it might just be possible.
As he turned to leave the room, a shaft of sunlight illuminated a section of the mural, and he found himself drawn to it. He closed the distance in only a few steps, his heart pounding in his chest, and looked at the painting. What he saw made him stagger back a few steps, but when he looked again, what he’d thought he’d seen was gone.
***Jordan***
Jordan avoided both Alex and Drew for the rest of the day, still wondering if she should stay. What had started as the perfect job was quickly turning into a mess, a mess she hadn’t signed up for. It was perfectly clear that there were some problems between Drew and his son, a long separation it sounded like, and the last thing she wanted to do was get between them.
She also wanted to avoid having another conflict with Drew, which had a strange effect on her, leaving her slightly aroused and highly frustrated. Her attraction to the man was almost as annoying as the man himself, and she couldn’t understand why her body craved a man she didn’t even like. It was like a betrayal.
The next morning when she saw them coming down the road, two feet separating them as they walked, she steeled herself for another confrontation, promising herself that she wouldn’t get mad. But Drew walked right past her, leaving Alex standing awkwardly in the yard, and went into the barn, clearly in a bad mood.
Alex started for his tree, but she said, “Looks like you’ve already had a big morning.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s mad because I won’t go riding with him,” he said.
Just then, Drew came out of the barn. “Are you coming in here any time soon?” he asked.
Jordan bit back the reply she wanted to give him, and instead said, “I’ll be right there.”
“You know you don’t have to sit there all day. You could come and help me with the horses or something,” she said, ignoring the looks Drew was giving her, his foot tapping the ground.
“I don’t think my dad would like that,” Alex said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll ask him,” she said, finally giving in to Drew and starting for the barn. “I’ll see you later.”
When she got to him, he let his eyes roam over her body and flush of heat spread through her, followed by a burst of anger. “If you’re done checking me out, maybe we should get some work done,” she said.
“I’m not checking you out,” he said, turning and going into the barn.
Sighing, she followed him, hoping the entire day wasn’t going to be one big fight. She found him standing in the center of the stalls, looking at the horses lined up. “How many of these horses have you ridden?” he asked.
Jordan was surprised by the question. “None of them; there hasn’t been time,” she said, feeling defensive.
“Then I think we’d better make time,” Drew said. “I’ll take them out one by one, ride them for a few miles, and then bring them back.”
Jordan could see where this was going. “You want me to stay here and saddle them for you,” she said, more a statement than a question.
“That would be nice,” he said, a bit sarcastically.
She opened her mouth to argue how unfair that was but Drew looked stormy, and she didn’t want to be the one to push him over the edge. “Okay, I guess that will work.”
He looked over at her in surprise, then looked a little disappointed. “I’ll start with this one,” he said, pointing to a horse named Partner.
When he rode out of the yard a little while later, she realized that she’d forgotten to ask if Alex could help her but decided there was nothing for Drew to object to. “Come help me get the next horse ready,” she yelled at Alex, who was watching his father ride away.
He got to his feet and came over to her slowly. “I’ll help you with the horses, but I’m not riding,” he said.
Jordan shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing any riding today either.”
What she thought was going to be a slow and agonizing day turned pleasant when she discovered that not only did Alex have a way with horses, but he knew exactly what to do. By the time Drew came back just before lunch, they’d turned it into a game, timing themselves to see how fast they could get the horse unsaddled, brushed down, and into the stall.
When she took the last horse from Drew and walked it into the barn, she didn’t realize that he followed her, then sank back into the shadows to watch. “Okay, Alex, this is the last one,” she said.
“Where’s my dad?” he asked, looking out of the barn doors.
“I think he’s still outside,” she said.
Alex grinned, then said, “Okay, on your marks, get set, go!”
They were still laughing and giggling when they slid the mare into her stall and gave her a big cup of oats. “Well, we didn’t beat our fastest time, but I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard,” Jordan said. “Are you sure you’re okay? That was a hard fall you took.”
Alex grinned at her. “The only thing I hurt was my pride,” he said, then burst into laughter.
Jordan joined him, but their laughter was cut off when Drew stepped out of the shadows and clapped his hands as if he was applauding. “That was quite the performance. I hope you’ll teach the campers better than that.”
Chapter Eight
***Drew***
Drew felt a little bad when he saw the pleasure disappear from Jordan and Alex’s faces, but jealously had flared to life and he’d spoken before he could stop himself. He wasn’t sure who he was jealous of, Jordan or Alex, and that alone was enough to make him angry. They’d been having so much fun, joking and laughing, that for a moment, he felt left out, like the kid on the playground no one wants to play with.
It was a feeling he wasn’t accustomed to having, had never been left out of anything in his life, and wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. So, he’d struck out, like a juvenile, when he should have joined in on their laughter; it had been funny when Alex slipped. Knowing he’d missed an opportunity, he promised
he’d try harder next time.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry,” he said, trying to lighten his voice.
Jordan was the first to recover. “I guess it is lunchtime,” she said, hanging the bridle she’d been holding on the horse’s stall. “I think I’ll head down to the dining hall.”
Drew looked over at Alex, who was practically cowering against the stall. “What do you think, Alex; should we join Jordan for lunch?”
Alex swallowed. “I guess,” he said, his voice cracking.
They walked in silence down the path to the dining hall, the tension palpable in the air, and he searched desperately for something to say. But Jordan saved the day. “How were the horses this morning?”
Relieved to be on comfortable ground, he said, “They’ll all make great trail horses.” “If the rest are as good, we’ll have no trouble on that front. Ben may be young, but he knows his horses.”
Jordan looked over at him, “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say anything nice about him,” she said, surprising him with her honesty.
But he realized she was right. “I think I’ve been a little hard on him,” he said, wondering if he’d been too hard on Alex as well.
When they got to the dining hall, it was still on his mind, and he promised himself that he’d stop being such a grump. It really wasn’t like him, plus, it was exhausting. But his promise only lasted until they sat down to eat, and he got a good look at his son’s table manners. When he wasn’t chewing with his mouth open, he was shoveling the food in so fast, Drew was afraid he’d choke.
After only a few minutes, he’d taken all he could. “Alex, slow down, and sit up while you’re eating,” he said, trying to make his voice soft but commanding.
His son paused with a bite halfway to his mouth, food falling back out, and stared at him, then went back to eating. Drew tried to calm himself, but Alex had issued a challenge, and he wasn’t going to back down. “Do as I asked or I’m going to take that food away from you,” he said, his voice deadly calm.
Alex looked at him again, seemed to consider his options, then went back to eating, pausing only long enough to say, “You wouldn’t dare cause a scene.”
Drew paused as he tried to control his anger, his eyes locked on his son as he shoveled food into his mouth. Jordan was staring at him, her eyes huge as he slowly got to his feet, picked the plate up off the table, took the fork from Alex’s hand. He walked over to the trash and threw the entire thing in, plate, fork and all, then walked back over to the table.
“When you can eat like a civilized human being, you can eat in here. Otherwise you can eat outside with the rest of the animals,” he said, then turned and walked out of the dining hall.
Wishing he hadn’t lost his temper, he paced back and forth in front of the lodge, knowing that not even the murals were going to calm him. When Jordan came out of the dining hall and headed for him, he wanted to run, knowing that he was about to get a lecture just from the look on her face.
“I know, I shouldn’t have done that, but I’m at my wit's end. He won’t listen to anything I say; he just stares at me and keeps doing whatever he’s doing,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m doing the best I can.”
He was waiting for her to scold him, but instead, she said, “Do you want to tell me what’s going on? I seem to be in the middle of this, and it might help us both.”
When he didn’t answer right away, she said, “I sent Alex back to your cabin with a sandwich and some cookies. Let’s go for a walk, or we could ride.”
Drew didn’t want to expose himself to this woman who drove him crazy in so many ways, knew that being vulnerable with her was a dangerous step, but the need to talk was stronger than his sense of self-preservation.
“There is a trail I wanted to check out this afternoon,” he said, letting her concern wash over him.
She smiled at him, “That sounds good to me; I haven’t been out of the barn in days.”
Drew felt a mixture of guilt and pleasure as he watched her start down the trail to the barn. He never should have made her saddle all those horses alone this morning; although she’d managed to get Alex to help, it had still been unfair. But he was going to spend the afternoon with her, and his body responded to that news with a thrill of attraction that started deep inside him and quickly turned to desire.
It was probably a mistake to go riding with her, but nothing could have stopped him at that moment. He was tired of fighting his attraction to Jordan, tired of ignoring what his body was telling him, and if what the mural had shown him was true, he was fighting a losing battle. Alex had to be his top priority, but Jordan wasn’t going to go away, so he’d stop fighting, let fate play itself out, and hope that when it was all over, his heart was still intact.
***Jordan***
Jordan adjusted the stirrup once more, then stood in the saddle. “I’m ready when you are,” she said, wondering how she’d gotten to this point.
The last place she wanted to be was out riding with Drew, especially when he vaulted up into the saddle and flashed her a big grin. The smile made his eyes light up, and the worry lines on his forehead disappeared, making him even more handsome. Her heart did flip-flops, and a thrill rushed through her, and she wondered what it was about him that made her feel that way.
But before she could think about it anymore, he kicked Gideon into a trot. “I thought you were ready,” he called over his shoulder, his laughter ringing through the trees.
She turned Justice, kicked her heels into his flank, and caught up easily. “Where are we headed?” she asked, taking a deep breath of the warm afternoon air, heavy with the scent of pine trees. “It smells so good here.”
Drew grinned at her. “I bet it’s different than the city,” he said.
Jordan braced herself for more, but when he was silent, she said, “I didn’t really live in the city. I mean we had an apartment in New York...”
Jordan didn’t finish her sentence; the specter of her father came rushing at her, stealing her breath and reminding her that she wasn’t really free of him. Drew looked over at her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, pushing her father from her mind. “I’m fine,” she said. “You never told me where we’re going.”
“I thought we’d check out the bottom of the trail to the old sawmill,” he said. “If you think it smells good here, wait until we get to the mill.”
Jordan smiled at him. “Okay, then lead the way.”
They rode for several hours before they came over the top of a hill and Jordan saw the old sawmill with its waterwheel still turning in the stream. The trail led steeply downhill into a little cove, and she felt the temperature drop with each step they took. The air was filled with a fine mist of water that settled on her face, cooling her skin. Sunlight sparkled through the mist, little prisms of color floating in the air, and everywhere she looked, there was a blanket of moss.
Even the old mill was covered in a green blanket of moss and vines, and she wondered if that was all that held the building together. The creak of the water wheel and bubbling of the stream as it wound its way through the little cove had a musical quality, and she suddenly felt sleepy. Around her, the moss looked soft and inviting, making her want to stretch out on it and take a nap.
When she took a deep breath of the moist air, she smelled the fresh scent of green growing things, but under it, she detected the twang of decay. She took another breath, then let it out slowly. “I can smell life and death here,” she said, then wished she hadn’t.
Drew looked at her strangely, then asked, “What do you mean?”
Jordan felt herself blushing. “I just meant that it smells like life here,” she said. “You know, things growing and things dying.”
He studied her for a second, then nodded. “I know what you mean,” he said, his eyes locked on hers.
When he dismounted a second later, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was short of breath. Something had pass
ed between them just then, she’d felt it, and it made her slightly uncomfortable, like Drew had just looked into her soul. Being attracted to him on a physical level was one thing, but what they’d just shared was so much deeper than that; too deep.
“The trail goes on from here, but I think this is a good place to stop for now,” Drew said, bringing her out of her thoughts.
“This is incredible,” she said, taking Drew’s hand and jumping down from Justice.
Drew looked around and nodded. “I loved coming up here during camp,” he said, walking over to the stream. “When I got older, I’d come up here all year long.”
“I can see why; it’s so peaceful up here,” she said, sitting down on a rock by the stream.
“It won’t be with six campers scrambling around,” he said. “That’s why I brought you up here today.”
Jordan laughed. “I’ve handled a few more than that at a time, although not someplace like this,” she said.
“You’ll be fine. I’ve seen the way you handle Alex,” Drew said, surprising her.
She looked over at him, saw the sincerity in his face, and felt bad for him. “I didn’t mean to step on your toes with Alex; he just looked so sad sitting over there under the tree. I did mean to leave you a note, but I wasn’t sure he was going to come with me.”
“I might have overreacted,” Drew said. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, and he’s so angry at me. I don’t know if we’ll ever get past that.”
“I don’t know the whole story, and you don’t have to tell me, but I do know that sometimes, all it takes is some time,” she said. “Alex is going to have to learn to trust you, and that doesn’t happen overnight. He’s not a bad kid; he’s just trying to protect himself.”
Chapter Nine
***Drew***
Jordan’s words bounced around in his brain, the ring of truth in them making him see that he’d been acting the same way with her: he’d been pushing her away because what he felt scared him. Vowing right then and there to face those feelings like an adult from then on, he looked over at her.
Mountain Wolf Playboy (Daddy Wolves 0f The Wild Series Book 3) Page 5