by Melody Anne
“I’m sorry you found out this way,” he said. His tone was all business.
“Was this all a joke to you?” she asked. She was proud to keep the tears from her voice. She didn’t know how she wasn’t turning into a puddle, but somehow she was keeping it together. There would be time later to fall apart.
“Business is never a joke to me,” he told her.
“You aren’t going to even try to give me an explanation.” It wasn’t voiced as a question. They both knew he wasn’t.
“It wasn’t personal, Jenna,” he told her.
“This place is very personal to me,” she said. He seemed to not even hear her.
He moved across her room and began gathering the clothes he’d discarded the night before. The night before, when they couldn’t get inside each other fast enough. She wondered at how quickly things could change. Just a few short hours earlier she’d been crying out his name. Now he stood before her a complete stranger.
“Well, it seems you’ve fooled me again, Carter. If I were a smarter person I would have learned from the first time you took my virginity and then so coldly walked away. But this time you got to have a great time in the sack and you walk away with my inn,” she said with a humorless laugh.
“It wasn’t like that, Jenna. I wasn’t planning on sleeping with you again,” he said, seeming to get angry.
“You were just planning on taking my inheritance,” she said, the first tears starting to form. She tried to push them back, but she was afraid they were going to fall no matter what she did.
“It’s not personal,” he said again as he paced the room, not meeting her gaze. “I’ve wanted this land for a while to build a resort. You’re getting paid very well for it.”
“I didn’t want to sell it,” she yelled.
“The taxes were owed. The property needs—” He stopped. She didn’t need to hear his faulty reasoning.
“It was supposed to be mine. I was going to get it caught up,” she said. She didn’t owe him anything, but she was so angry.
“It doesn’t matter now, does it?” he said cruelly.
“No, I guess it doesn’t.”
He moved toward her as if he wanted to say more, but she didn’t want to hear anything else. It all made sense now—the surveyor she’d found, why Carter was back after being absent for ten years, why he’d been at her inn, why he’d bedded her. He wanted her compliant, and he’d certainly gotten that.
“You need to leave, Carter. You may have bought this out from under me, but I still get thirty days before you can kick me out into the snow,” she snapped.
“Jenna . . .” He paused and took a breath. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” he finished.
“Yes, it does, Carter. I guess I knew that from the moment you walked back into my life. It’s okay, though. I’m not that young teenager anymore. You won’t destroy me this time like you did back then. I will get back up and I won’t ever be fooled again,” she said.
She flung off the blanket, not even caring that she was naked. He’d licked and kissed every inch of her. She had nothing she could hide from him anymore. She heard his intake of breath but ignored it.
“I’m going to take a shower. When I come out I want you gone.”
The words were spoken so coldly, they left no room for him to argue. Jenna didn’t turn to face him again before she stepped into the bathroom and leaned heavily against the door.
She stood still for several minutes before she moved to the shower and turned it on. She didn’t feel anything as she climbed beneath the spray. She didn’t let herself go until she walked back out to her bedroom and looked at the bedding rumpled from their night of passion.
Only then did she sink to the floor and sob out her pain. It was over. All of it was over. Her dreams, her hopes, her love. All of it. Just . . . gone.
fifteen
Even after a week had passed, Carter still felt like hell. He sat in his office in California, the sunshine mocking him while life continued for the rest of the world. He shouldn’t miss Jenna, but he did. He shouldn’t miss the snow-covered ground of Sterling, but he did.
It was ridiculous. He’d walked away from Jenna and his life in the small town ten years before and had felt fewer regrets. Of course, back then he’d been in pain and angry. This time . . . this time was different.
He and Jenna had both grown up, and what they shared . . . Hell! He slammed his fist down on the desk. It didn’t matter. She was just one more girl in a long line of women. He didn’t need her and he didn’t give a damn if she was angry, if the entire town was ticked off at him.
He didn’t care that they didn’t want his resort. It would bring the community money, so he didn’t see the problem. So what if the Whitmans had plenty of their own? It would bring the shop owners new customers and maybe even give new businesses an opportunity to open. So why in the hell was everyone calling him? Why were they so damn upset? He was sure all of them had made some tough choices of their own in their lives.
Nonsense. This was all nonsense. That was all it was. He was fine. The town was fine. And Jenna was fine. Or she would be soon. She was just upset, but once she realized she was much better off without the property that would sink her into more debt than she could afford, she’d be thankful.
Hell, he thought with a cynical smile, she would probably be so appreciative she’d come and thank him properly. That thought had his body hard in an instant. He slammed his hand down on his desk again.
Dammit!
He didn’t need her. He had been fine for the past ten years and he was fine now. Just because he’d been with the woman for a week—a freaking week—didn’t mean he needed to make any changes. He could walk away from her as easily as he walked away from everyone else.
He’d had an objective—to purchase the inn. Seeing her, sleeping with her, had been nice, but it hadn’t meant anything. It was just two people satisfying each other. So what if it was better than anything he could ever remember? That had nothing to do with emotion. It was all physical.
Still, the satisfaction he normally felt at the close of a deal wasn’t there. He didn’t want to break out a bottle of scotch and toast to another victory. He felt sleazy and deceptive and he didn’t like it.
His staff was avoiding him since he’d been growling at all of them, snapping out unreasonable requests and making his employees just as miserable as he was. He’d kept them the night before until midnight at a meeting that could have waited. He was being a monster and he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
It was all Jenna’s fault. She’d somehow gotten into his head. Soon, that would pass, too. Even when she was grateful to him and wanted to thank him, he wouldn’t let her. He wouldn’t see her again. That was the safest and smartest bet.
He was pissed all over again. Carter never ran from anything, let alone a petite brunette with far too much sass. But he reasoned with himself that he wasn’t running. He was just avoiding messy entanglements.
Hanging his head, he cursed at the headache that was brewing. He didn’t get headaches. He didn’t allow himself to become so stressed they would come on. But he was getting a hell of one at the moment.
Pushing his buzzer, he demanded Advil from his secretary, then hung up. She was there in less than a minute with the pills and a bottle of water. She didn’t say a word as she set them down before she scurried from the room.
Just after he slammed down the pills, his phone rang. He thought about ignoring it, but he was expecting a call from a business partner.
“Nicholson,” he snapped into the line.
There was a pause that annoyed him. He was about to hang up when a voice he very much recognized came through the line.
“Carter?” Bethel said.
“Bethel?” he replied.
“Yes, it’s me. Is this Carter?” she repeated, her voice coming out a bit stronger, but still shaky.
“Yes.” Why in the world was she calling? Probably to add to the list of peo
ple bitching at him about the damn resort that would bring so much good for their town.
“I hate to give bad news over the phone but I thought you’d want to know that Jenna’s been in an accident.”
His blood ran cold as he waited for her to go on. She didn’t. He found his throat closing up and panic invading him. Be calm, he told himself. It was most likely nothing.
“What happened?” he asked.
“It’s bad, Carter. She might not make it.”
The phone dropped from his fingers as his entire body went rigid. He thought he might have heard Bethel’s voice through the dropped receiver, but he wasn’t listening anymore. He had to get to Montana. Now.
Storming from his office, he issued the order to his secretary to have his plane fueled up. He was taking the company jet this time. His nerves were too fried for him to pilot the plane himself.
Please make it was his only thought as he cursed being so far away from her. His earlier conviction of not seeing her again washed away just that quickly.
sixteen
The flight from Southern California to Sterling had to be the longest three hours of his life. Carter snapped at the captain a few times, telling him he needed to pick up the pace. To the captain’s credit, he didn’t reply.
Carter paced the luxurious jet as he threw down only one scotch. He couldn’t be drunk when he arrived, though he was sure it’d help his trembling limbs. He’d walked out on her again when he’d really wanted to stay. He’d told himself he didn’t need her, but he’d been a fool.
All it had taken was one phone call and he was a mess. On the way to the airport he’d called his business manager and had him begin the paperwork to transfer the inn and property back to Jenna free and clear.
He didn’t want it. What a foolish and stupid move it had been. He didn’t even blink at the millions he was out. He’d give it all up for her. That thought had him slamming backward onto the couch in the private jet.
He loved her. Truly loved her. He’d loved her from the first moment he’d spotted her twelve years earlier, and his love hadn’t dimmed one bit. He’d been able to push it back, had ignored the pangs of his heart, but seeing her again had made it all come out in full force. And now, just as he was realizing it, he was going to lose her.
Like hell he was! He could afford the best doctors on the planet. He didn’t care what it took, he’d make sure she was okay. He would make sure the two of them had a future. Walking away from her had taken everything he had. He wasn’t going to be that foolish again.
The jet finally landed and Carter rushed to the awaiting vehicle. The roads still weren’t perfect, but he didn’t care. He slammed the car into drive just as the snow started coming down hard. He’d been lucky to get the jet on the ground before the storm started. His pilot would be stuck for a while.
His SUV slid a few times and nearly went off the road, but Carter was oblivious to it all. His windshield wipers were on high and he was moving quickly through the town to reach the hospital on the outskirts.
Michael’s brother worked there, so he was confident in the staff, but still, it wasn’t a big place, and he was sure he’d have to get her somewhere in a big city. He didn’t care about the weather. He would take her on a damn dogsled if he needed to.
Skidding to a stop in the parking lot, Carter almost hit a parked ambulance, managing to stop just a few inches short of the vehicle. He barely got his door shut before he was rushing to the hospital entrance, sliding a bit as he rounded a corner.
“I need to see Jenna Pine,” he demanded of the young nurse sitting behind the desk chewing bubble gum. Was she even old enough to practice medicine? He didn’t think so. It just amped up his determination to get Jenna moved that much faster.
She smiled at him, that dreamy smile he often got from women.
“Jenna Pine!” he yelled.
Her smile turned into a frown as she looked down at her papers. The hospital wasn’t that big, he wanted to spit out, but instead he waited, his fingers tapping on the counter.
“She’s down the hall to the right, room one-twelve,” the girl finally grumbled.
Carter took off down the hallway, glancing at the rooms. He didn’t slow until he was right in front of the door. Then he stopped and took a breath. He wasn’t sure what he was going to see on the other side. Was she going to have a thousand tubes coming out of her? Would she be covered in casts? He was surprised when he found himself afraid.
Carter was never afraid. It was an unusual feeling that he didn’t care for at all. Not allowing himself to wait any longer, he pushed the door open. He didn’t know what to think when laughter greeted him.
What the hell?
It took several moments for his eyes to adjust to the scene before him. Jenna was indeed in the hospital bed, but it looked like she wasn’t hooked up to a single machine, and the only bandage he could see was one on her right arm, and it wasn’t that big. She wasn’t smiling as she turned toward him, her eyes wide and shocked, but she didn’t seem to be injured at all.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his head turning from her to the three women sitting on the couch by the window, all with grins on their faces.
“What are you doing here?” Jenna finally gasped.
His attention snapped back to her. He stepped to her bed and laid his hand on her head. Her temperature felt normal. He was confused, another feeling Carter wasn’t familiar with.
“You’re dying,” he said.
Her eyes widened even more. “Um, I don’t think so,” she said slowly as a shiver traveled down her arm that he didn’t fail to notice.
He dropped down into the chair beside her bed, his hand gripping hers. The terror of the past few hours had caught up with him and he was suddenly exhausted.
“Carter, why are you here?” she asked again, tugging against his hold.
He didn’t release her. He couldn’t. Relief was flooding through him as he glanced over at Bethel, who didn’t appear the least bit guilty about her deception. He should be upset with her, but he wasn’t. He was . . . grateful. Suddenly his lips turned up and he smiled at the woman, who grinned back at him.
“Let’s allow these two to speak in private,” Bethel said to Eileen and Maggie.
The three women scooted out of the room much quicker than he would have thought their age would allow. He turned back to Jenna as the door closed.
“I got a phone call that you were hurt,” he told her.
She sighed as she tugged again on her hand. Getting nowhere, she gave up, which was good. He didn’t know what had happened, and he didn’t want her using too much energy, but he wasn’t willing to let her go, not after the hell he’d put himself through over the last few hours—heck, the last week.
“I tumbled down the stairs of the inn and twisted my ankle and cut my arm. That’s all. It’s not life-or-death,” she said with a huff. “You didn’t need to come out of some sense of guilt,” she added sadly.
He knew he had to get this straightened out really fast.
“I’m not here because of guilt,” he told her, his breathing picking up as he felt his skin heat. He was nervous.
“Well, it doesn’t matter why you’re here, Carter. You can leave now. I’m just fine,” she said.
He could tell by her glistening eyes that she was barely holding on to her emotions. She did care. He knew it. She was just trying to put on a strong front. He understood that, too.
“I love you, Jenna. I know I screwed all of this up, and I know I walked away from you again, but I thought that was what I wanted. When I got that phone call, my world started spinning out of control. I’ve managed to get by without you all these years because I knew you were safe. I figured you were better off without me and I tried telling myself I didn’t need anyone. I’ve never loved another person as much as I love you, and I’ve never given my heart to another woman. You’re the only one for me and I just pray I haven’t screwed it up so badly that you won’t be able to find forgiven
ess in your heart.”
He held his breath as tears began streaking down her face. His heart thundered and he gripped her fingers too tightly. But he didn’t want to lose her again.
“I’m transferring the property back to you. I don’t want it. I just want you, always just you,” he finished.
Her trembling lips turned up the slightest bit, as if she were in disbelief.
“Carter, you’re just freaked out right now,” she began.
He leaned forward and softly kissed her mouth. She held still for only a moment before she kissed him back, her salty tears mingling with their kiss.
When he pulled back, he saw love shining in her eyes, and it took his breath away. She was his; she was truly his. The joy filtering through him was without compare.
“Are you sure?” she questioned.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” he confessed.
“I love you, too,” she said, sniffling as she looked at him with adoration.
“Then forgive me and be with me forever,” he commanded.
She chuckled before lifting her free hand and running it through his hair. They gazed at each other for a while before he heard clapping. He turned to see the three meddlers standing in the doorway.
“I told you that call would do the trick. These two have always been in love,” Bethel said in a loud whisper.
“Yeah, you were right,” Eileen agreed.
“Thank you, Bethel,” Carter told the woman. “Now go away so I can reunite with my love.”
He sent a wink to the three women that made them blush before they scampered away.
He turned back to Jenna, who was beaming.
“Forever,” she said. It was a promise.
“That’s not long enough,” he told her. Then he leaned in and kissed her again. It was the first kiss of the rest of their lives together, and it was perfect.
epilogue