by Liz Isaacson
“You’re right. I should’ve just left you to get a stiff back on the couch.” He started toward the steps and went up while Colton chuckled.
He’d almost reached the top when Colton called after him, “You know what you’re doing, Gray. Don’t forget to take that leap.”
“Whatever,” Gray muttered, because instant annoyance clouded his thoughts. He’d had the leap of faith talk with Wes, not Colton, and his oldest brother had obviously told Colton. So they were talking about him.
Great. Just great
Gray went into the spare bedroom where he was staying, removing his shoes and undressing, leaving his clothes on the floor where they fell. At least until morning, when he’d pick everything up, fold it, and place it in his suitcase.
But for now, he fell back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “Help me to know what to do,” he whispered. “With Hunter, with Elise, with myself. For Mom and Dad, and everyone who’ll be impacted by this potential relationship.”
Satisfied with his prayer and that the Lord would continue to direct him the way He always had, Gray closed his eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of Elise and what might happen when he showed up to fix her porch light the next day.
Chapter Six
Elise slept in during the winter months, which meant she didn’t get to the lodge until after the sun rose and had started to warm the day.
She congratulated herself on staying in her cabin alone for two nights in a row as she made the ten-minute walk to the lodge. “Morning, Graham,” she called as she passed the stable where he worked.
He lifted his hand in hello and called, “Hullo, Elise,” before getting right back to work. She knew why. No one wanted to be outside in the January chill, even if the sun was visible this morning. The clear weather almost made the air colder, in Elise’s opinion, and she ducked her chin into her scarf and kept up her pace to the lodge.
The scent of maple syrup and freshly baked bread filled the lodge, with the hint of cinnamon underneath. Elise unzipped her coat—not the cute black one from last night—and tried to make sense of the chatter coming from around the corner.
Sophia cooked during the week, and the lodge offered breakfast five days a week. Saturday, Celia came up to the lodge and prepared a big dinner, and Sunday was all about lunch. Elise hung up her coat and unwrapped her scarf, still unable to distinguish any voices she knew.
Since she took care of the grounds, and in the winter, there weren’t a lot of flower beds to cultivate or weed, she helped with the fire in the main room, checked the theater room downstairs, and helped with anything else guests needed or that Sophia, Annie, Bree, or Patsy needed.
“Morning, Elise,” Patsy said, but by the time Elise looked toward the mouth of the hallway, the other woman had already strode past.
“Morning,” Elise said anyway, taking a moment to smooth her hair down after removing her hat. Then she rounded the corner and went into the half of the kitchen where all the food prep happened. Glancing right, she saw the huge dining room table was half-full of guests, and she took in the three griddles on the counter.
“This looks amazing, Sophia,” she said, picking up a spatula and nudging it under a piece of French toast. Her mouth watered, and this toast was ready to flip. “Want me to flip this?” She looked at Sophia, who sometimes wanted complete control over her kitchen.
But today, she said, “Sure, thanks,” as she lifted bacon off a tray with a pair of tongs.
Elise did as she asked, making sure to tell Sophia how much she liked her French toast, because sometimes Sophia felt like everyone liked Celia’s cooking more than hers. It wasn’t a matter of liking the food better, as Elise had told her many times. Celia had more time to cook, and she only made two meals a week. Of course her meals were going to be a little more in-depth.
“When you’re done there,” Patsy said to Elise. “We have the snowshoe group doing their day-long trek, and I need some help with the sack lunches.”
“Sure thing,” Elise said, finishing with the last piece of French toast.
“All right, everyone,” Sophia said, but her voice wasn’t anywhere near loud enough to carry over the guest chatter in the dining area. She looked at Elise, who nodded just once. Sophia put her fingers in her mouth and whistled, and that got everyone to quiet down real quick.
The lodge had a speaker system that Patsy used from time to time, but honestly, the only time she needed it was for emergencies—or when the Whittaker family was at the lodge together. There was so many of them, and they tended to spread out, let their kids have free rein in the lodge, and shout everything they said.
Elise loved them, though she’d struggled to find her place among them for a while. Sometimes she still felt completely out of place when the family came to the lodge, but more often than not, she belonged to her friends and they belonged to her.
Sophia went over the food and invited the guests to come get a plate and start eating. A surge started then, but Elise turned her back on the activity in the dining area and moved over to the other counter, where Patsy was slicing the homemade bread for sandwiches.
“Did you make this?” Elise asked, admiring the bread.
“Sophia.” Patsy smiled at Elise and nodded to the jar of peanut butter. “I’ve put what we need on the cupboard there. I think there were six PB&Js.”
“On it,” Elise said, first finding the yellow paper with the number and type of sandwiches written on it, which Patsy had stuck to the cupboard door that concealed the lunch plates. She picked up a knife and laid out a couple of slices of bread. As she spread creamy peanut butter over one side, she glanced at Patsy.
“So…how was your night at the symphony?”
Patsy’s face relaxed into an expression of pure joy. “Amazing.” She placed a piece of cheddar cheese over the turkey she’d already put on her slice of bread. “I love live music, and concerts don’t come to Coral Canyon very often.”
“They will once they get that new music hall done,” Elise said.
“I hope so,” Patsy said, and she did look hopeful.
“And?” Elise prompted, but Patsy kept her head down. Too bad she’d recently cut off most of her hair and couldn’t hide behind it.
“And what?” Patsy finally asked.
“Oh, come on,” Elise said, glancing over her shoulder. Sophia was still plenty busy with the guests, not that Patsy wouldn’t be able to talk about the new man in her life in front of her roommate. In fact, Sophia probably knew more than Elise. “You and John?”
“He liked the symphony too.”
“No, Patsy.” Elise giggled and shook her head while she reached for the strawberry jam. “What did he say about your hair? Did he like it?”
Patsy lifted one shoulder in a shrug and sealed the bag with the turkey and cheese sandwich in it. She immediately started laying out more bread. “He didn’t mention it.”
“He didn’t mention it at all?” Elise lifted her eyebrows. Patsy had been so excited to get her hair done, something she claimed she didn’t do very often. Her hair had been blonde for as long as Elise had known her, but she’d gotten it colored to make it even blonder and brighter. And it now lay in a cute pixie cut that really accentuated Patsy’s delicate bone structure. She was a beautiful woman, only an inch or two taller than Elise, but she knew exactly how to keep the lodge running like a well-oiled machine.
“No,” Patsy said, and Elise thought she heard a sniff from the other woman. But when she looked, Patsy was busy spreading mayo and then mustard. Elise didn’t know what to say or do, and in the end, she went back to making peanut butter sandwiches.
“Well, he’s just…blind,” Elise said, because she tried very hard not to judge others or call names. “It’s so cute, Patsy. Really.”
“Thank you, Elise,” Patsy said, and she definitely heard a sniff this time. She put her knife down and slipped her arm around Patsy’s waist. Patsy paused in her activity too and leaned into Elise. “I think I’m going to break up
with him.”
“Over your hair?” Elise looked at her. “Not that I blame you. I—I just—you do what you think is right.”
“I bought a new dress, and he didn’t say anything about that either.” Patsy reached up and swiped at her eyes. “It’s stupid, I know, but I feel like he doesn’t even see me. Like, he’s happy to see me, and we get along great, but he doesn’t see me.”
“Maybe he just needs to be told,” Elise said. “Remember how Rose was telling us how she just started telling Liam, ‘Look, when I get home from the salon, I need you to tell me how amazing my hair looks, even if you don’t think it looks different.’ And he did.” She looked at Patsy, her eyebrows up. “Maybe?”
“Maybe,” Patsy said, reaching for the turkey again. “Or maybe I need to put myself back out there to find someone who’ll notice when I cut off ten inches of hair.”
“It is hard to miss,” Elise said, going back to her sandwich-making too.
“Even Graham noticed,” Patsy said, cocking one eyebrow at Elise. “And that man doesn’t notice much.”
Elise giggled as she finished another sandwich. “You’re right about that.”
“Excuse me, ladies. Elise?”
She jerked her head up, the sound of that delicious voice so out of place in the lodge. Yet Gray Hammond stood there, holding his cowboy hat in his hand, the silver in his beard extending up into his sideburns and his hair.
She dropped the knife and wiped her hands down the front of her jeans, forgetting she didn’t wear an apron. “Gray.”
Patsy was staring at Gray too, and he smiled at the pair of them while he put his hat back on.
“Did you get breakfast?” Sophia asked, stepping in front of Patsy and Elise. “You go around the other side, sir. There’s plenty.”
Elise took a step to the right to see him better, wondering what he’d tell her. She didn’t think French toast, sugary syrup, and bacon were quite the fitness foods Gray was used to, though she couldn’t wait for her plate full of carbs, sugar, and fat.
“No, thank you, ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat. “I’m not a guest here. I’m just here to see Elise.”
“Oh.” Sophia twisted to look at Elise, who smiled nervously at her friends. She wasn’t sure why. She’d been out with a few other men. First dates…fine, maybe her friends’ surprised stares were warranted.
But Gray was a man among men, and every cell in Elise’s body knew it.
“Go on, then,” Patsy said.
“You needed help with the sandwiches.” She glanced at Patsy and then Gray. “I’ll be done in a few minutes. You want to wait? You really can eat. I’m going to, after this.”
“I’ll wait for you then.” He fell back a step and then retook it. “Unless you need help in here?”
“Sure,” Patsy said, gesturing him forward. “I’ll always put a strong cowboy to work.” She gave him a smile that only spoke of professionalism and guided him to the cardboard boxes they used for lunches on their hikes and day-trips. She taught him how to fold them and then told him to put a sandwich in each one, a cookie, a bag of chips, and a napkin pack.
He repeated it all to her and got to work. Elise had a very hard time focusing on peanut butter and jelly after that, especially when Gray said, “Shoot,” and something fell on the floor.
She looked over to find a jumble of boxes on the counter, none of them made quite right. On the floor lay the box of napkin packages and a turkey sandwich. He looked at Patsy like he didn’t know how to pick something up off the floor.
“It’s in a bag,” Patsy said. “Just pick it up.” She glanced at Elise. “Elise.”
That was all Patsy needed to say, and Elise put down her peanut butter knife and moved down the counter to the deformed boxes. “Oh, okay. You put the bottom flap in first, and it has to go in second.” She pulled on one corner of the box, and the whole thing collapsed. She quickly propped it open again, putting the correct flap in first, and then the second. “See?”
“I actually do not see,” he said. “But maybe if you do that, I can do everything else.” He seemed flustered, and Elise found him utterly adorable. He went down to the tray of sandwiches and brought it back while she fixed another box.
“How can a super-smart lawyer like you not know how to make a box?” she teased.
“Believe it or not, we didn’t learn this in law school.”
“You have a son.”
“He makes his own lunch,” Gray said, sliding her a look out of the corner of his eye.
“Ah, I see.” She fixed another box and set it on the counter for him. With that off his task list, he was able to put in the cookies, chips, and sandwiches. “You’re here early.”
“It’s almost nine-thirty,” he said. “I ran, showered, ate breakfast, and drove up here.”
“What in the world?” She paused and looked at him. “What time did you get up?”
“Five-thirty.” He looked at her like that was a completely normal time to get up.
“I have never gotten up at five-thirty in my life.” She shook her head, marveling at him. “Okay, that was a lie. In the summer, I get up really early to work in the cool morning hours.”
“So you’re like a bear,” he said.
“Okay, never compare a woman to a bear again,” she said, nudging him with her hip. “I mean, honestly, Gray. First I’m an eleven-year-old boy and now I’m a bear?” She was only half-kidding, so when she looked at him, she knew he saw a hint of irritation in her expression. She certainly felt it roaring through her veins.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just meant you sleep more in the winter. You know, like a bear hibernates.”
“I think hibernation is different than sleeping past five-thirty.” She fixed another box and set it up for him. “How many, Patsy?” Gray had just been making boxes blindly, but Elise didn’t see the point unless they needed them. Storing flat boxes was so much easier than built ones.
“Thirteen,” she said, and Elise did a quick count.
“One more.” Elise fixed the last box and popped the other three back to their flat state. “Okay, where are you?” Her stomach growled, and she wanted this project done so she could eat breakfast.
“Chips,” he said, dropping another cookie into the box she’d just made.
She stepped around him to get the bag of fun-sized chips and began distributing them into the boxes. He put his hand on hers, stilling time as she looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Elise,” he said. “I didn’t mean to indicate you were a bear.” He swallowed, his eyes full of sorrow. “You’re not mad, are you?”
How could she possibly stay mad at him? Not when he looked so remorseful and had apologized so sincerely?
She shook her head. “It’s okay.”
“Once we eat, can we go get your porch light fixed? What else do you have to do today? Maybe I could help.” He looked at the lunch boxes. “As long as it doesn’t require making a box or anything with flaps.”
Elise giggled, her irritation completely gone in only a few seconds. “We’ll check on the sidewalks, because the wind up here likes to blow snow around,” she said. “And I take care of the check-in area to make sure it’s clean and ready for guests. In the winter, we check-in at the office, so there’s signs we put up. I build a fire in the living room. Stuff like that.”
“So stuff I can help with,” he said.
“Do you know how to make a fire?”
“I was a Boy Scout.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” she teased.
He simply smiled and shook his head.
“What?” she asked. “You couldn’t make a box out of a template that literally has folds in it.”
“Okay,” he said, and Elise thought he might be getting irritated with her.
“It’s actually kind of refreshing.”
“What is?”
“That you’re not perfect.”
“I can assure you that I’m not.”
“It’s just that C
olton once said that you were all polished and proper. Buttoned up right, I think he said.” Elise watched him, and a hint of darkness definitely entered his eyes. “And he’s right, Gray. You are perfect, and polished, and proper.”
“And you don’t like that?”
“I like it,” she said quietly, quickly dropping her eyes when he moved his toward her. “I’m just saying that to see you fumble with the boxes was kind of nice.” It meant he was human, and not superhuman, and maybe he’d be okay with being with another regular human…like her.
“I’ll make sure Colton doesn’t tell you anything else about me,” he said, and Elise burst out laughing.
“That’s what you got out of what I said?”
“One of the things.” Gray smiled at her and picked up the napkin packs.
“After all of that, we can go back to my house to do the porch light.” She linked her arm through his and let him finish up the lunch boxes. “Thank you for coming to help me with it.”
“Everything went okay last night?”
“I’m still alive,” she said, though she hadn’t liked going into the cabin alone, and she’d almost asked him to come check under her bed and in the closet. But he’d seemed rooted to the spot on her front porch, and Elise didn’t need to reveal any more of her weaknesses to him. So she’d hugged him and kissed his cheek and sent him on his way.
Her lips vibrated with the memory, and she stepped away from him. “The lunches are done, Patsy.”
“Thank you, Elise,” she said. “Leave them there, and when the group comes down, they can take one as they go out the back door.”
“Who’s eating?” Sophia asked. “The guests are done, and I can start to box up if y’all aren’t hungry.”
“I’m hungry,” Elise said, turning toward her. “And did you meet Gray? I don’t think I even introduced him.” She looked back at where he stood with the lunches, foolishness filling her. “Gray, these are my friends and co-workers, Pasty Foxhill and Sophia Cooke. Guys, this is Gray Hammond. He’s Colton’s brother.”
Elise beamed at him, though a flicker of discomfort moved through her. He’s Colton’s brother.