Her Unexpected Detour (Checkerberry Inn)

by Kyra Jacobs

  “So, what do you see?” asked Brent.

  “Sorry?”

  “Up in the clouds. What do you see?”

  Kayla brushed aside her melancholy thoughts and squinted up at the collection of cotton candy clouds overhead. The thick white puffs that hadn’t been there this morning drifted lazily between earth and sun, casting giant, intermittent shadows across the Michigan landscape. And with each shadow came what felt like a ten-degree drop in temperature. She snuck a quick peek at Brent as another shadow blanketed them, to make sure he wasn’t shivering again. Satisfied he was all right, she looked up once more.

  “Well, over there,” she said, pointing up and to her left. “That one kind of looks like an elephant. And the smaller one beside it? That sort of looks like a three-legged dog. Maybe the elephant stepped on him in some freak circus accident or something.” She grinned at the absurdity of her explanation and wished for a moment that Tommy were there. “So, what do you see?”

  “Clouds.”

  “What?” she laughed.

  “Clouds,” Brent said. “Just clouds.”

  “Oh, come on. Use your imagination.”

  He sighed. “Fine. Well, that one over there,” he said, pointing skyward, “kind of looks like the rabbit Bear dragged in a few weeks ago, back when we still had snow on the ground. Only, that rabbit wasn’t white anymore. More like—”

  “Okay.” She pulled his hand back down. “I get it. You can stop explaining now.”

  His fingers folded over hers, warm and gentle. “Is that what you get to do at your job? Use your imagination to come up with clever advertisements?”

  “You know, I never really thought about it like that. But, yeah, that’s part of it. There’s way more to it than just brainstorming, though.” She closed her eyes and pictured a typical day at Wayne Advertising. “I’ve got to work with our clients, understand who they are, what they want, what they need, who their competition is, what their market edge is. It’s more than just daydreaming and doodling, that’s for sure.”

  “It’s too bad Ruby doesn’t have someone like that to work with. She trusts Miles to figure out all this stuff for her, but he’s a numbers guy, not an idea guy.”

  Kayla thought back to the sketch Miles had shown her. Brent was right—his cousin definitely wasn’t a natural when it came to design work. She’d offered some tips, but there was so much more he could do with that ad. Better angles to take, images to add.

  Brent’s hand twisted inside hers. She glanced over to find him propped on one elbow staring down at her, the gap between them reduced to mere inches. The sight scattered her thoughts.

  “You know,” he said. “Mount Pleasant doesn’t have an overabundance of ad agencies. If you’re as good as you say you are—and I believe you, trust me I do—why not come up here and start your own company? Be your own boss?”

  “Brent…”

  “Look, I meant what I said inside. You deserve better, Kayla. To be among peers who respect and trust you. And where you can trust them.”

  Her own company? The thought had never even crossed her mind. Nor should it have—she didn’t have the financial backing necessary to run her own business. Or any staff willing to make the move with her. Or clients. No ad agency could survive for long without clients.

  “Brent, I appreciate—”

  “Wait. Don’t. Don’t tell me no, or why it won’t work.” He lowered his face to hers and brushed his lips across her near cheek. “Just…promise you’ll think about it, all right? You don’t have to go back to Wayne Advertising. Life’s too short to settle for less than you deserve.” His lips pressed feather-light onto her cheek. Her forehead. Her nose. “Please think about it?”

  His honest plea stirred something deep inside her. No one spoke to her heart like that, not in a long time. It made her feel alive. Empowered.

  Wanted.

  She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, then pulled his face toward hers. He kissed her, tentative at first. Unsure. But she tugged at his hair, urging him on. Slowly he rolled so that his body covered hers, somehow keeping his full weight off her while wrapping one arm beneath her and the other up through the back of her hair as well.

  “Promise you’ll think about it,” he whispered in between kisses. “Please, Kayla. Promise me.”

  She reached up and traced the worry lines that had returned to his handsome face. A quiet desperation had replaced his prior calm. Kayla nodded, eager to ease his pain even if it might lead to more of her own. He kissed her then, his previously tentative demeanor gone. The kiss deepened and Brent’s body pressed down onto hers. Kayla arched up in response, wanting to be closer to him, needing to be. But was it the right thing to do? Could they truly make this work?

  She broke the kiss, gasping for air and searching for reason.

  A low groan escaped Brent as his forehead came to rest on her shoulder. “I know,” he said, his breathing ragged. “We shouldn’t.”

  But reason wasn’t what she needed—Brent was. She clung to him, savored his warmth, his strength. She hadn’t meant to fall for him, hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. But it had. And she was as helpless to protect her heart now as she was to resist his romantic intentions.

  “Yeah.” She turned her head and nipped at his earlobe. “But maybe this time we should.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Brent awoke to the sound of a woodpecker drilling into a nearby tree. He had no idea how long he’d been out, or when he’d drifted off, but was happy to find Kayla snuggled into his chest, eyes closed and mouth relaxed. She looked absolutely adorable like that.

  Hell, she looked absolutely adorable always.

  He lay there, savoring his time with her. Because, like it or not, the chance of her actually sticking around Mount Pleasant was slim. The thought rattled him to his core and drove anxiety like an arrow straight through his chest. If only he could convince her to stay, to give him a chance.

  Then again, after all he’d done to her on the picnic blanket after lunch, Brent thought with a grin, his odds may have already improved. He’d taken his time with her, exploring every inch of her body beneath the warm rays of the afternoon sun. Drove her crazy when he refused to give her a quick release. But judging by the way Kayla cried out his name when she finally came, he knew it was all worth it. And as she crested the ridge into ecstasy, he’d quickly followed.

  His own orgasm had ranked twelve on a ten-point scale, and he’d collapsed beside her on the blanket, waiting for his vision to return and his heart rate to come back down to earth. Now that it had, he found himself wondering why the hell he’d given up on women—and sex—for so long. He lifted the blanket and snuck a quick peek at the warm, naked body pressed against his.

  Hot damn. He lowered the blanket and shifted so as to not disturb her. Not yet, anyway. They had plenty of day left, and the rain clouds had passed them by. He wasn’t going to take her back to the inn until he’d employed every tactic he knew to convince her to stay, sexual or otherwise.

  The woodpecker started in again, louder this time, and Kayla’s lashes fluttered open. He watched as her eyes came into focus on his chest, and then her cheeks turned pink as the realization of her whereabouts set in. But he didn’t want her to be embarrassed. Not with him, not ever.

  Brent bent to kiss the top of her hair, which smelled of sunshine after basking in it for so long.

  Her gaze flickered to his, pink still tinting her soft cheeks. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” He kissed her forehead and savored the way her body felt like silk against him as she turned toward him. What felt even better was that she didn’t push him away.

  As his lips wandered along her jawline, she laced her fingers through his hair. Definitely a good sign. In one smooth motion, he rolled them both so that she was gently trapped beneath him once more. She sucked in a surprised breath, but still made no move to deny his advances.

  Brent smiled against her neck and continued with his lip exploration. Goo
sebumps rose on her skin as his mouth skimmed across her bare shoulder. Back to her neck. Down toward her left—

  “Um, Brent?”

  “Hmm?” Please say you want round two as much as me. Please?

  “I thought you said we were alone out here.”

  Brent froze. Hearing nothing, he lifted his head and scanned the woods surrounding them. No one there. Confused, he met her gaze. “We are. Why?”

  “I think I just heard Ruby.”

  Blood pounded in his ears. Ruby? Gah, that was the last person he wanted to be thinking about right now. And there was no way she’d be here, no way she would have even known where to find them. He had the Gator, and it was parked around back, out of sight.

  He’d just begun to shake his head when he heard Ruby himself. Only it wasn’t her in person, it was her on the two-way radio she insisted Brent keep on him while working away from the inn.

  “Brent? Brent, are you there?”

  “Shit,” he muttered, and wiggled reluctantly out from the toasty cocoon he and Kayla shared. “Hang on a minute.”

  Kayla’s brows formed a worried V as she watched him pull on his boxer briefs. “Do you think she’s checking on us?”

  “No.” He carefully tugged his jeans up and over a fading erection. “But the last time I didn’t answer, she darned near called the National Guard.”

  Kayla giggled. “Well then, go answer that radio. I’ll, um, just keep your spot warm.”

  Hot damn.

  Brent hurried barefoot around the back of the house and snatched the radio from the hollowed out dash of the Gator. “Whatcha need, Ruby?”

  “Oh, Brent! I’m glad you answered. Is everything okay?”

  “Yep, everything is fine.” Or at least it would be, again, very shortly. He grimaced and squatted to adjust the furniture. Jeans just weren’t designed to accommodate hard-ons. “What’s up?”

  “I need you two to come help us back at the inn.”

  “What, now?” Brent cast a longing glance toward the side yard.

  “Yes, you have to come. Mr. Billings’s alpacas knocked down another section of fence.”

  “Okay, no problem. I’ll take a look at it in a bit and have it fixed before nightfall.” He squirmed in his over-tight jeans again. “First thing in the morning at the latest.”

  “You don’t understand—we don’t just need the fence fixed, we need your and Kayla’s help rounding the mindless beasts up. The entire herd is in our front yard, eating my daffodils!”

  Kayla and Miles handed the last two leads over to a thankful Mr. Billings, then started the trek back to the Checkerberry in what little sunlight was left. Who would have thought those darned alpacas could be so stubborn? They always looked so cute and sweet on television. But after spending the better part of the evening dragging them away from the flower beds she’d spent all week beautifying, well, now she understood why Brent referred to them as beasts.

  Brent.

  She squinted in his direction and spied him awash in the glow of a portable floodlight, still hard at work mending a broken section of fencing. He’d come back to their picnic spot after talking with Ruby, cursing and apologizing at the same time. Kayla had insisted it was fine, she’d be happy to help any way she could. Though as they finished getting dressed in silence, sexual tension between them simmering, she couldn’t help but feel the sting of disappointment.

  Why the interruption? Why then, when she’d finally allowed herself to relax? To live a little, as Tommy had said? Would she never be allowed to find happiness and keep it for more than a fleeting moment?

  Kayla had promised to consider Brent’s suggestion to leave Wayne Advertising—and all of Fort Wayne—behind. After spending the day with the real Brent, the one not hiding behind a mask of grief and bitterness, the idea was tempting. But how could she put her father through that? Of losing her, too? Besides, there’d be no one else to watch over him, to make sure he was taking care of himself. If only there were another way…

  “Hey, Miles? Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure, shoot.”

  “Do you think Brent would ever consider moving away from Mount Pleasant?”

  “No. At least, not while Ruby is alive and kicking.” Miles shot her a curious glance. “Why?”

  Kayla shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems like here he’s surrounded by all these reminders of the past. Losing his parents. And Nikki. It’s kind of…masochistic.”

  “To you and me? Yeah. But to Brent?” Miles shook his head. “Me, Ruby, Bear, and that farmhouse are all he’s got left. Family was always important to Brent; it came before everything else. He used to get teased by the other football players in college for going steady with Nikki instead of sleeping around like the other guys. They wanted endless one-night stands. Brent wanted a wife, a few kids, and a white picket fence.”

  “Did all that change when his parents died?”

  “No. I mean, sure, the poor guy was devastated. We all were. Ruby lost her son and daughter-in-law, I lost my favorite aunt and uncle. But he and Nikki had been tossing around the idea of tying the knot weeks before the plane crash. She seemed open to it until that fall.”

  “Did she go back to school or something?”

  Even in the waning daylight Kayla could see Miles’s features darken.

  “No. She was late. With her period. Admitted to Brent that she missed a pill or two.”

  Kayla could picture it—Nikki panicking. Heck, who wouldn’t? Kayla had never had that experience, but a good friend of hers in college had. It was the longest two weeks of her friend’s life. Thankfully, it’d been a false alarm. But had the answer been so easy for Brent and Nikki? She swallowed hard and worked to keep her voice steady.

  “So, what happened?”

  Miles glanced in Brent’s direction. “Nikki freaked out. Said she wasn’t ready to be a mom and insisted they should ‘take care of’ the situation. Brent begged her not to end the pregnancy, promised to marry her and be the best husband and father he could be. At first she agreed. The prospect of starting to rebuild his life brought color back to Brent’s cheeks, gave him something to actually look forward to. Ruby went with him to go ring shopping and offered to pay for the whole wedding. We were all so damned happy for them.

  “But when he got down on one knee and officially proposed, she said she couldn’t marry him. Admitted that she’d been seeing someone else behind his back for weeks. Blamed it all on Brent, that she’d needed a break from his depression.”

  “Oh God,” said Kayla.

  “Yeah, it was awful. Worst part was, Brent was so desperate not to lose her and the baby that he swore he was willing to overlook her cheating. Said he’d forgive her and put it all behind them. But Nikki still turned him down, said she just didn’t love Brent enough to marry him.” Miles shook his head, hands balled into fists. “After all he’d been through.”

  Kayla felt her own anger rise. How could Nikki cheat on Brent like that? Sleeping around with some other guy while Brent was trying to dig his way out of what had to be pure hell?

  A new thought stopped her in her tracks. “But wait—what about the baby?”

  “After Nikki turned down his proposal, Brent kept trying to reach out to her. Begged her to go through with the pregnancy, offered to raise the child on his own. But she wouldn’t budge. As a last resort he went to her parents’ house, hoping they could help talk some sense into her. But when he arrived, they said they didn’t know about the baby, Nikki had never told them. Even worse, she was on her way to the airport with the guy she’d hooked up with. They were headed to California, where he was hoping to break into the big time with his band.”

  Kayla grimaced. “Let me guess—he went after her.”

  “Yep. Caught them as they were getting ready to pass through security. Needless to say, things didn’t go well. The new guy told Brent to take a hike, Brent took a swing at him and busted his lip. Nikki screamed and jumped in between them. Told Brent it was too late, s
he’d taken care of the situation and to just leave her alone already. Then she and her asshole boyfriend hurried off to catch their plane. And Brent? Well, he went home and buried his head in the sand. For the next eight years.”

  “Poor Brent.”

  In that moment, everything became crystal clear. Why Brent had tried so hard to keep her at arm’s length, why he’d been so gruff with her at times. They were defense mechanisms, designed to protect his heart. Much like the ones Kayla placed in her own emotional arsenal after her mother died. Ones she wore like a coat of armor still…

  “Yep, those were dark times.” Miles threw his arm over her shoulders and guided them forward once more. “And then you showed up.”

  “Me? What did I do?”

  “I don’t know.” He reached over and gave the tag on her shirt collar a small tug. “But by the looks of things, whatever it is? Keep doing it.”

  Kayla went to tuck her tag back in, then realized why Miles had such an easy time tugging on it—in her haste to get dressed, she’d pulled it on inside out. Stupid borrowed shirt. Her cheeks warmed, but she was too distracted by the weight of Miles’s words to crumble with embarrassment.

  “So this…this change in him over the past few days? You really think I have something to do with it?”

  “You have everything to do with it,” said Miles, his voice smooth and sure. “So thank you, for bringing my cousin back to life.”

  They continued on in amicable silence. Miles kept his arm around her shoulder, a gesture that both warded off the chill and made her feel like…well, like family. A family she had somehow stumbled into, one she needed more than she ever could have imagined.

  And just like that, Kayla knew what she had to do.

  “You get it all fixed there, son?”

  Brent wiped an arm across his sweaty forehead then gave Mr. Billings a nod. “Yeah, that should do it. I know I’m not the one who installed the fencing around their pen, but maybe I could come over tomorrow, see how they keep getting loose and find a more permanent fix?”