Bluestone & Vine

by Donna Kauffman

  “I hadn’t heard that,” Seth said, “about her moving back, but maybe this will simply expedite those plans.”

  “I hope so. Even if he comes back from this, it’s going to take a long while. And I can’t imagine he’ll be fit soon, or possibly ever, to run the place by himself.”

  “He has help, and he has Maggie.”

  She nodded. “I know, and that’s such a good thing. It’s only, he strikes me as being a lot like my grandfather, and my father. My grandfather worked right up to the moment he passed, saying he couldn’t imagine what in the world he’d do with himself if he didn’t get up with the sun every day. My father is much the same way. I suspect Mabry is, too.”

  “You’re probably right, though it would do him well to slow down a bit, or at least not rely only on himself and the few farmhands he has to keep the place going. If Maggie can move back, I think that might be best for both of them.”

  “First, he has to heal,” she said. “I know more than a little about that.” She shuddered lightly. “Maybe not to the degree of what he’ll be facing, but—”

  “I don’t think it’s as much apples and oranges as all that. If it’s something that prevents you from doing what you do in life, then one is just as monumental as the other.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again; the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. “Thank you. I don’t think I’d ever thought of it like that. It ... helps.”

  He wanted to ask her what, exactly, she needed help with, but didn’t. Every minute they spent like this was going to make it harder to keep his hands off her going forward. He was attracted to her, yes. But he also really liked her. And that was the far greater temptation, as it turned out.

  “Well,” she said, “I should probably find my way out of your lap. I’ll help you in the barn.”

  “No,” Seth said, brooking no argument. “I’ll see to that.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, not bothering to hide her relief, which made them both smile. “I’ll be happy to pick up the slack in some other way. I do want to be of help.”

  He braced his hands on her hips and helped her shift back off his lap and to her feet. He decided he’d wait a few more minutes before doing the same. “You were a big help out there,” he said. “It wasn’t easy doing what you did, staying by him, talking him through it.”

  “I felt so helpless,” she said. “I wish I could have done more.”

  “I felt the same way. I’ll call down to the firehouse in a bit and talk to the paramedics, see what they know.”

  “If you’d rather go on down there now, I could just go ahead and borrow one of Mabry’s farm trucks as planned. If Maggie or his grandsons need it, I can rent something and get it back to them.”

  “What about the driving lessons?”

  She smiled. “I’ll drive around the yard a bit first, get to know the truck. Given the lack of cars on the road up here, I should be able to sort myself out fairly quickly.”

  Seth nodded. “Actually, I’m pretty sure you will.”

  “Why, thank you,” she said, and performed one of her little curtsies, which made him chuckle. “If you’ll give me directions to Noah’s cabin—”

  “About that,” Seth broke in, his smile fading. “I should have told you—”

  “No, I understand,” she said, then added, “I truly do. I was forced on you at an apparently difficult time. That’s not a good thing for you or for me. The little fishing cabin looks perfect.”

  She was putting on a good face, and he appreciated that, but he’d seen her true reaction that moment in the truck, when he’d first pulled into the drive. “I could have handled it better,” he said. “I apologize. I usually have better manners than that.”

  She busied herself pushing at her hair, smoothing her clothing, looking anywhere but at him. “I feel bad just leaving you with the mess in the barn.”

  “It won’t take that long. I’ve had some experience with that kind of thing.”

  Her gaze flew right to his then. “Oh, right.” Her expression fell. “I’m so sorry. I should have thought. This wasn’t easy on you, either. And on top of that, you had to deal with me getting all flighty.”

  His grin was swift and very real. “You’ll get no complaints from me.”

  Her cheeks flushed a bright pink, but she laughed at the same time. “I suppose I could blame my loose behavior on not being in my right mind.” Her smile settled into something more sweet than wry, and her voice held a note of honest affection when she said, “But I can’t say I regret it, either.”

  He nodded, but opted to remain silent.

  The silence spun out and their gazes remained locked. She finally looked away. “So,” she said briskly, “if we can figure out where Mabry keeps his truck keys and which truck you think he’d want me to take, I’ll get out of your hair once and for all.”

  Seth’s mind flashed to how she’d fisted her hands in his lengthy locks, how she’d pulled his mouth to hers, no uncertainty at all about what she wanted. His body flashed back to awareness, reminding him just how much he’d liked that about her. Like I had a chance in hell of ever forgetting. Seth stood and quickly shifted around her, leading her along the hall to the kitchen, willing his body to settle down. “I’m sure the keys will be in the truck. I know he drives the big Ford Ranger, so I’m guessing he was thinking about his old blue and white Chevy. Not much you could do to hurt that old thing.” Seth kept on walking, through the kitchen door, across the porch, and outside, waiting for her to catch the door behind him.

  They walked across the backyard toward a second, smaller barn that Mabry used as more of a makeshift garage. The fire trucks coming and going had flattened the bulk of the snow behind the house, and the sun was doing a pretty good job on the rest of it. “It’s slippery out here. Be careful,” he cautioned, trying to silence the running argument going on inside his head.

  This didn’t feel right. Not just because it made him a rude host or because he knew she’d been disappointed by the change in plans. The plain and simple truth was, he didn’t want her somewhere else. All the more reason to make sure that’s exactly where she goes. If she stayed under his roof, he was pretty certain, one way or the other, they’d end up in his bed. And hers. And probably every other flat surface in the house. The hunger she’d ignited in him was no small thing. And he was pretty damn sure she’d say the same. It was for both their sakes that it was best if they were in separate digs. He was doing the right thing. For himself, for her, for their respective siblings.

  “We don’t have to mention this to Kate or Moira,” Pippa said as she came to stand beside him. “About my being in the cabin.”

  They both looked at the truck, an aging aqua-blue and white Chevy pickup whose best years were behind it. In the right hands, it would be a classic, but out here, it was just a beat-up old farm truck. Seth hoped she didn’t mind getting her backside dusty, or worse.

  “Probably a good idea,” he said. “Once Moira is off on her grand adventure, she won’t be giving us much thought anyway.” He looked at Pippa then. “It was very kind of you to offer up your place to a total stranger.”

  She smiled easily. “Not exactly a stranger. We’ve not met, but she’s Katie’s dearest pal, and that makes her family. I was happy to help. And, honestly, it wasn’t like I was using it, so it really wasn’t much of a favor to grant. My oldest brother, Garrett, owns a pub in the village there. I’ve instructed him to keep an eye. He’s done that much and more for me and Katie over the years, so she’ll be well looked after.” She laughed. “Probably more so than she’d like, actually. He’s quite the daddy hen.”

  “I’m liking the man better by the minute,” Seth said. “So, there’s a pub in your family, too? My folks started ours right after they married. We’ve all worked there when we were younger. My older brother, Aiden, runs it with them now. My oldest sister, Kathleen, takes care of the books. She and my mom have a small bookkeeping business.”

  “Sounds lov
ely,” Pippa told him. “Ours isn’t a family business. Garrett is the first tavern owner among us. Katie has worked for him, though.”

  “Where do you fall in the family lineup?” he asked.

  “Katie is the youngest at twenty-six, the baby of the clan, like Moira, which is likely why they bonded so closely. She’s four years younger than me. Then my brother Cassian, who is right in between us, then me, then our three older brothers. Garrett is ten years older than I am, Brian eight years older, and Braedon five. He’s the stuntman.” She grinned. “My folks had three, then took a break, then had three more. What about you?”

  “In the middle. Aiden is forty-one, then Kathleen, who is thirty-nine. Both married, both keeping my parents out of our hair by giving them plenty of grandkids. Then Catriona, who is thirty-six. She’s an engineer, engaged to an engineer, so a match made in heaven,” he said with a chuckle. “Then me, thirty-two, my sister, Branna, twenty-eight. She’s an elementary school teacher, wrangling third graders this year. And Moira, twenty-five, lawyer.”

  “That’s an impressive lineup,” Pippa said, smiling.

  “No less than your own,” he said with a nod.

  “Even with our age differences and me and Brae being all over the world at any given time, we’re still close. It sounds like it’s the same for you.”

  He nodded. “It is. It’s hard for folks to understand how united a large family can be unless they come from one.”

  “Oh, aye, it’s true. I often wonder how my parents did it and remained married, without doing away with any of us during our teen years.”

  Seth chuckled and their gazes caught, held, then held some more.

  Pippa ended the moment by walking around to the driver side of the truck. “Brae would never let me live it down if I couldn’t manage a simple truck,” she said, looking through the driver-side window.

  “It’s a stick,” Seth mentioned. “Clutch.”

  “I know the lingo,” she said dryly, then opened the door and hoisted herself up on the seat, not so much as glancing at the dust, straw, and other farm detritus littering the interior. Of course, she was already dusty and dirty from sitting on the barn floor earlier, which hadn’t seemed to faze her, either.

  She pulled the seat belt across her lap, then undid it and reached under the front of the seat to move it forward, then forward some more. Seat belt back on, she turned her attention to the steering wheel and dash. The keys were, in fact, dangling from the ignition. “Okay, laddie, I’m sure you want to do me proud today,” she murmured in a soothing tone as she pushed in the clutch and started the engine. “There you go,” she purred, then shifted into first gear. “Let’s see how you—” She broke off as the truck lurched forward, and promptly died.

  To his credit, Seth had simply stepped back calmly when she’d started the engine. “I think you’re in third.”

  “It’s backwards,” she called out. “We have the clutch the same, but I’m used to the gears being on me left.” And to her credit, after two more tries, and a few leaps forward, she pulled off as smoothly as if she’d driven the truck for years. She did a circle around the yard, then stopped, backed it up, and went forward again, then repeated the whole maneuver twice more. Then with a wave to him, she carefully pulled out onto the road and was gone.

  It wasn’t until Seth was halfway through cleaning up the barn, trying like hell to ignore the echo of utter silence that surrounded him once again, that he realized he’d never given her directions to Noah’s cabin.

  Grinning, and knowing he had no business being happy for the excuse, he closed the barn doors to keep the critters from getting inside until he could get back and finish the job. Then he hopped in his truck, and headed out after her.

  Chapter Seven

  Pippa sat on the small wood bench outside Turtle Springs Memorial Hospital, waiting. There wasn’t nearly the amount of snow down here in the valley as they’d had up in the mountains. There were a few small piles here and there from previous plowing, and still some snow cover in yards that had more shade than sun, but otherwise, it looked more like the wet pavements and sidewalk puddles one saw after a good rain.

  She hadn’t gotten lost. Not really. Once she’d headed up into the hills and realized she had no idea where she was going, she’d initially kept on driving. There weren’t that many roads up there, so she’d thought, how hard could it be? She hadn’t remembered Seth making any turns when they’d gone to the cabin the first time. Or not many, anyway. When that plan hadn’t worked out, she’d thought if she got high enough in the hills, her mobile signal would miraculously come back, and she would do a quick search to find the town’s only inn, contact Noah directly, and be on her merry way. Worst case was she’d use the map system to find her way back to Mabry’s or the vineyard.

  Unfortunately, the long day had taken its toll on more than just her body and her ability to think clearly. Somewhere during her trip higher into the hills, her phone had died. Even if she’d had a charge cord on her, which she hadn’t, the old truck wasn’t exactly equipped with a USB port.

  So, she’d taken the next turn that headed down out of the mountains, hoping she’d come across a sign that would lead her into Blue Hollow Falls, where she could ask directions to the inn and Noah. Instead, she’d found herself all the way down in the valley, at the two-lane highway her driver had taken to head up to the vineyard in the first place. There wasn’t a helpful sign for the vineyard, of course, but there was a sign telling her she was five miles from Turtle Springs, where they’d taken Mabry. So she’d headed there instead, to see how he was doing.

  The rest could wait.

  Part of that “rest” was, of course, finding her way to her new lodgings. The second part was dealing with the other big thing that had happened that day. On the couch. Right there in Mabry’s house. It would be handy, and not entirely untrue, to blame her out-of-character behavior on the extraordinary stresses of the day. But she knew that was only half of it. Seth Brogan had ignited a long dormant flame inside her from the moment he’d stepped inside his own mudroom, looking like a conquering warrior, just in from the storms of battle. At best, her reaction to Mabry’s heart-pounding rescue had simply lowered her defenses enough to do what she’d wanted to do all along. You mean, jump him?

  She propped an elbow on one knee and lowered her forehead to rest on her hand. Not two days out on your own, untethered from the world, and you’re making bad decisions like it’s your first semester at uni. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping her good sense would return. It’s going to take more than breathing exercises to handle this one.

  That was the core reason she hadn’t given Seth a chance to backpedal on the cabin rental. Because no matter how many deep, steadying breaths she took, no matter how lost she got herself up on those beautiful, snowcapped hills, or how long she locked herself away in a tiny cabin built for one ... the truth was, she wanted to jump him again so bad she ached with it.

  “Well, I guess I can tell the sheriff’s department to call off the search teams.”

  She whipped her head up so fast she had to blink several times and look down again when the setting sun half blinded her. “My phone died,” she said, as if that explained everything. Shielding her eyes this time, she looked up—way up—at the man presently towering over her. “I’m sorry I worried you,” she said sincerely. “I drove off without thinking to ask for directions, and foolishly thought I could figure things out.” She relayed the rest of the story, adding, “I haven’t been in to see Mabry. He was in surgery when I got here. I talked to Maggie, though. She’s inside, in the waiting room. I came out here because . . .”

  “You’re probably not a big fan of hospitals,” Seth said, finishing for her.

  And that right there was why he was such a danger to her. Her libido wanted to jump his impressive frame, yes. As often as he’d let her. That she could deal with. Probably. Possibly. If she wasn’t anywhere near him. Her heart, however, was already looking for way
s to wrap him up for keeps. He was a good, kind, caring, funny, sexy-as-hell man. How was she supposed to talk her heart out of wanting that? Who wouldn’t?

  Two days. What would it feel like in two weeks? Or two months?

  “I’m not a big fan of them, either,” he said.

  “Oh, no,” she said, feeling instantly ridiculous. “I’m so sorry. Were you injured in the war? Wait, that’s not my business.” She shook her head. “I must seem so foolish to you. You’re out risking your life defending your country, and I’m out here shivering because I had a little surgery once and the smell of a hospital makes me queasy.”

  “Like I said before, I don’t think it much matters why,” he said. “We feel how we feel.”

  We do, indeed, she thought, wishing he’d stop being so damn perfect.

  “Your little surgery sounds like it was the result of a potentially life-changing injury. It would be odd if that didn’t affect you, potentially quite powerfully,” he said plainly. “And no, I wasn’t injured. I was one of the very fortunate ones. But a great number of my buddies weren’t so lucky. I spent a lot of time with them afterward. So, the less time spent anywhere around a hospital these days, the better.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said again, further abashed. “I don’t have any experience at all with that, or what your life was like while serving.” She smiled briefly then. “The closest I’ve come is playing music and singing for the troops. The British troops.”

  “I can’t imagine they weren’t appreciative for the break,” he told her. “A chance to not think for a little while and simply enjoy a few hours of life outside our mission was a big deal. I know I’d have been glad for it.”

  “That’s kind of you.” She smiled. “I’m not an American, but we are your allies, so I think it’s okay if I thank you for your service.” She looked up at him. “I mean that.”