A Season of You

by Emma Douglas

  “Almost?”

  “Well, there’s a chance that it might, I guess. Seems unlikely though. So if you need to get your paintings done, I think you need to be a little selfish. Besides, you’ll paint better if you’re not tired from working nights. Be able to get up and use all that good morning light.”

  “How do you know about morning light?”

  “TV,” he replied. “My mom likes art documentaries. They’re always talking about light.”

  “There are other ways I could free up my time,” Mina said. “Ditch the festival painting or—”

  “Do not finish that sentence if you are about to try and back out of what we talked about yesterday,” Will said. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

  “I—” How to explain?

  Before she could think of the words, let alone work out whether or not she was having second thoughts, Will pulled the car over with a screech of tires. He undid his seat belt and slid toward her. Then his mouth was on hers, kissing her breathless.

  When they finally broke free of each other, both breathing fast, he just slid back over and pulled back onto the road as though nothing had happened. “No second thoughts.”

  chapter twelve

  Maybe she wasn’t having second thoughts, but she was definitely having thoughts.

  The unsettling kind.

  With one kiss, Will had set her alight.

  Again.

  He hadn’t said much more as he’d driven her home. Simply walked her to her door and said good night. Then he’d made his view on the subject crystal clear with another of those shattering kisses.

  Her knees were wobbling as she opened the door and stepped through it, wondering if she should just get it over and done with and ask him in.

  Ask him to show her what came next.

  Because it seemed inevitable that there would be a next.

  It would be so easy to find out what that would be.

  All she had to do was reach out.

  Call him back.

  But it wasn’t that simple.

  The door closed behind her and she stood where she was, fighting against the sensation. She took two steps, reached for the handle. Pulled her hand back.

  God.

  She wanted.

  Yearned.

  And that was crazy.

  She pressed her hands against the door, the wood cool against skin that was suddenly so hot she was surprised she didn’t leave scorch marks. She lowered her forehead to that same cool wood and closed her eyes.

  Hoping for a moment that, like a child, if she couldn’t see a thing, it wasn’t really there.

  But she wasn’t a child. And that didn’t work when the thing she didn’t want to face was in her own head.

  Escaping her head now, where she’d been trying to keep it locked up. Tied down with chains of guilt and grief and denial.

  But apparently those chains weren’t strong enough. Or else her hormones had burned straight through them.

  She wanted Will Fraser.

  The knowledge beat through her. Pounding in her pulse, firing her skin. Lighting each nerve she’d been repressing to sudden burning life.

  She wanted him.

  Wanted his hands on her, his mouth hard on hers. Wanted to know what he felt like inside her.

  Lusted in fact.

  Crazy.

  She let her head thump gently against the door, still not sure she wasn’t going to fling it open and go running wildly into the night after him.

  She wanted Will and sex.

  The hot and fast and dirty kind.

  The grown-up kind.

  The complicated kind. That was what she didn’t want to think about. This kind of want led to other things. Things that could break her all over again.

  She was thinking about it anyway. And that was terrifying.

  Adam had been her first. Sex with him had been great after they’d figured out what they’d been doing. She’d loved him and wanted him and they’d burned up the sheets like any horny teens, but she wasn’t sure she remembered this.

  This sense of standing on the edge of a cliff and being willing to throw herself off it if it meant getting what she wanted.

  And she had no idea if she was going to be able to resist doing just that.

  * * *

  Saturday morning found Mina sitting at Faith’s kitchen table watching Faith pull what seemed like enough Thanksgiving leftovers to feed a small army out of the refrigerator, with suspicion. Breakfast, which had started off healthily with egg white omelets courtesy of Caleb, seemed to be degenerating. “Breakfast doesn’t come with dessert,” Mina protested as Faith started slicing into pies and pastries.

  “It does when we have all these pies to finish,” Faith said.

  “You could just throw them out.”

  Caleb made a small sound of protest. “Lou’s pies are too good to waste.”

  “Lou will make you pie anytime,” Mina said, patting his arm. “You don’t have to do this.” Caleb however was watching Faith with approval.

  “It’s the weekend. People eat pancakes and donuts and muffins and all sorts of crap for breakfast on the weekends,” Faith said. She put a bowl down in front of Mina that was full of pastry and fruit.

  “What’s this?”

  “I’m calling it Surprise Pie,” Faith said with a grin. She put down a jug of cream as well.

  Mina’s stomach rumbled despite herself. She hadn’t really tasted what she’d eaten at Thanksgiving, and the pie or pies smelled sweet and delicious.

  She poured cream and decided after the first bite that Faith might be onto something after all. Breakfast dessert was pretty damn good. Health be damned. Fat and sugar were awesome.

  “You know,” Faith said, “I wasn’t sure that you’d come over this morning.”

  “Why not?” Mina managed, mouth still half full of what was a surprisingly good mix of apple, strawberry, and lemon meringue.

  “Sam Unger mentioned that you and Will were down helping out with the festival prep,” Faith said.

  “Okay, that’s my cue to leave,” Caleb said. He picked up his own bowl of Surprise Pie and bent to drop a kiss on Faith’s cheek.

  “Can I come with you?” Mina asked.

  “That would only be delaying the inevitable,” Caleb said with a grin before leaving her alone with her sister.

  “So,” Faith prompted. “Is it true?”

  “Is it true that Will and I used paintbrushes in the same vicinity?” Mina said, trying for innocence. “Yes.”

  “Sam said you arrived together. And left together.” Faith wagged her spoon at Mina. “That’s statistically significant.”

  Mina sighed. Sometimes living in such a small community really sucked. Why couldn’t she live in a lighthouse on a proper deserted island? Where no one would be sticking their noses into her business every second? Though deserted islands probably lacked pie. “Sam has a big mouth.”

  Faith grinned. “So it’s true. I knew it.”

  “Knew what exactly?”

  “That you liked Will. So, tell me all about it.”

  “Nothing much to tell,” Mina said. “We hung out, is all.”

  “Well, that’s something to tell.”

  “If the next words out of your mouth are going to be something like ‘it’s about time,’ then don’t,” Mina said. “Do not get excited about this.”

  “I just want you to be happy,” Faith said. “Will’s a good guy.”

  “So you’ve told me. Several times.”

  Faith held up her hands in surrender. “Okay. Okay. I’ll back off. But if you feel the need to talk, I’m here.”

  “Thank you,” Mina said. “And actually, there is something else I wanted to tell you.” Having told Will about the art show, she might as well break the news to Faith. And Lou. In case the Lansing grapevine somehow got hold of that news as well and beat her to it.

  “There is?” Faith looked intrigued. “Go on—or actually no, can I tell you
a few things first? Harper Inc. stuff.” She pulled a face. “I know it’s the weekend but you’re here and the next few weeks are going to be really busy.”

  That was the understatement of the year. Mina thought about the number of paintings she needed to finish in the next four weeks and suddenly regretted eating so much Surprise Pie. “Sure, get your CEO on.” Her news could wait a few minutes longer.

  “Cool.” Faith launched into a summary of figures and profits and schedules that Mina only half followed. She was more than happy to let Faith run Harper Inc. and deal with Grey’s legacy. And the money. But Faith was scrupulous about involving her and Zach in any big decisions and in keeping them updated about what was going on.

  When Faith wound down, Mina nodded. She’d gotten the general gist. Things were good. Faith would send her copies of the reports and she could look at them in more detail when she had some time. “And what about your foundation project? Have you found a test subject yet?”

  “Yes.” Faith wriggled in her chair, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. “A singer Danny saw playing in a little club in Seattle when he was there. She’s going to come out in January and we’ll talk. See what we can do.” Excitement bubbled through Faith’s voice. She was funding a program to support female artists to get a start in the music industry, an idea she’d come up with during CloudFest the previous year. “It’s taken a while with Caleb moving here and everything else that’s been going on but I can’t wait.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be great,” Mina said. “Lucky girl, whoever she—”

  “Nessa. Her name’s Nessa Lewis. She has an amazing voice. Danny says she’s great onstage as well.” Faith grinned.

  “Well, Danny knows talent when he sees it,” Mina said. “And speaking of people just starting out in things, I got asked to do a gallery show. In L.A. Also in January.”

  “Oh my God!” Faith levitated from her chair to race around the table and envelop Mina in a hug. “That’s amazing.” She pulled back. “When did you find out?”

  “A little while ago.” Mina hedged.

  “So this is what you want? To be an artist?”

  “To see if I can be, yes,” Mina said. “But I want to do it on my own merits. Which is why I’m keeping it quiet. And I’m using Emmy’s name, not Harper. It’ll come out eventually but I’d rather that wasn’t until after this show. If the pieces sell there, then I’ll know it’s because of me, not Dad.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Faith said. “Have you told Lou yet? Or Zach?” Her voice cooled a little on the last word.

  Mina hid a sigh. Faith and Zach had fought last year and it was a bump in their ever-rocky brother-sister relationship that she didn’t seem to have gotten over yet. And Zach hadn’t helped by announcing he wasn’t coming home for Christmas because his band was touring. Faith hadn’t said much about it at the time, but Mina knew when her sister was pissed. “I’m going to tell Lou next time I see her. But I’ll leave Zach for awhile.” She doubted Zach would show up even if she did invite him. “That will help with keeping things quiet.”

  Faith’s lips pressed together briefly but then she nodded. “Your show, you get to do it your way,” she said, walking back to her chair. She ate a few more bites of pie. “Oh, and the lawyers working on the archive want to talk to me next week. Guess they’ve finally sorted out whatever was in that extra storage unit in Jersey.”

  Mina nodded. “I’m surprised they haven’t found another one by now.”

  Faith shrugged. “Maybe we’ve found them all. Or maybe we’ll be finding bits and pieces of Grey for the next twenty years.”

  “Knowing Dad, that seems more likely.” She didn’t envy Lou and Faith the job of trying to sort out Grey’s estate and set up an archive of his papers and the memorabilia of his thirty-odd year reign as one of the world’s biggest rock stars. She was happy to leave them to it. It wasn’t like they were going to unearth anything too crazy. Some fairly random things had been discovered. And some pretty cool ones too. But nothing that really impacted any of them.

  Grey had actually taken the time after he’d gotten his cancer diagnosis to make sure the basics were taken care of. He’d transferred control of Harper Inc. to the three of them before he’d died. They’d each already had trust funds with more than enough money to live on for life. And a lot of the assets like the houses and boats and cars had been owned by various companies that Harper Inc. owned. As were the rights to Grey’s own music and his shares of the Blacklight profits.

  But cleaning up everything else was taking a long time. Grey had owned properties all over the world and had never been shy about acquiring art or other toys he liked. Some of it he shipped home to Lansing. But, as they’d found out after he’d died and the lawyers started to dig into the paperwork, he’d also had a habit of renting storage lockers wherever he happened to be and stashing stuff when he left a city. He hadn’t been so good about coming back to collect it. “But I guess it wouldn’t be Dad if it was straightforward.”

  “No,” Faith agreed. “But that’s enough business. Time for more pie and you can tell me all about your show.”

  * * *

  Sunday night, Will watched the rain battering the windows of the bar and tried not to check the time on his phone. The bar was empty at nine thirty and he doubted anyone would give into a last minute whim for a drink at this hour.

  He’d spent the last hour cleaning the bar and there wasn’t anything left to clean.

  Which left him with nothing much to do but think about Mina. He hadn’t seen her yesterday. He’d wanted to give her time to paint, then by the time he’d called in the afternoon, she’d been at work. Unlike tonight, the bar had been packed and he’d crawled into bed after one a.m.

  Tired as he’d been, sleep hadn’t come quickly. Not with Mina filling his brain.

  He wanted to see her.

  Wanted to touch her.

  He reached for the phone.

  “Calling for pizza?” Stefan asked from the kitchen door.

  “I don’t need to call for pizza when I have you to make it for me,” Will said.

  “Tonight you’ll have to settle for leftover chili. I made too much.”

  “You didn’t make too much, we just didn’t have the usual crowd. So, how about we call it quits for the night?”

  Stefan lifted an eyebrow, wiping his hands on the dishcloth tucked into his belt. “You got somewhere better to be?”

  “Maybe,” Will admitted.

  “Mina?”

  “Maybe?”

  “You’re a terrible liar,” Stefan said, but he was smiling. He nodded at the phone. “Call your girl. I’ll put some chili in the freezer for you.”

  “She’s not exactly my girl yet.”

  “That just means you have to try harder.”

  “Thanks for the advice.” No point telling Stefan that he wasn’t sure that things were going to end well no matter how hard he tried.

  “Any time, little brother.” Stefan smirked at him and wandered back into the kitchen. Will grabbed the phone and headed to the front door, switching the open sign to closed before he dialed. The last thing he needed was some last-minute customer ruining his plans. Not that he actually had plans yet.

  “Hello?” Mina’s voice came through the phone.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Will?”

  “Were you expecting someone else?”

  That earned him a laugh. “No. Sorry. I’ve been painting. Wasn’t expecting a call.”

  “Painting at night? What happened to good light?” He was starting to get the idea that Mina wasn’t someone who understood the concept of taking things easy. She worked hard. Maybe too hard. She needed to learn to play a little.

  He’d be more than happy to help her with that.

  “Messing around with some ideas for tomorrow. And sometimes, it’s fun to try and capture the night.”

  Didn’t he know it. “We’re closing early. The rain is keeping everyone at home. So I was
wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out?”

  “Hang out? Is that like Netflix and chill?”

  “No. Not unless you want it to be.” He tried not to picture Mina naked on a couch.

  “Let’s start with hanging out,” Mina said. “Why don’t you come over? I’ll make you cocoa.”

  Cocoa? Never his favorite drink. Not unless it had a good splash of something alcoholic in it to jazz it up. But it was a start. “I love cocoa,” he said and headed back to the bar to find his coat and keys.

  chapter thirteen

  Mina opened the door before Will could knock. She’d watched him pull up through her bedroom window, wondering what exactly she was doing inviting him over at this hour. Most guys would interpret that in only one way.

  Though maybe Will wasn’t most guys.

  But to calm her nerves, she’d come up with an alternative plan. From the expression on Will’s face when he registered she was wearing a hat and carrying a coat, he hadn’t been expecting it.

  “Are we going somewhere?” he asked.

  She shrugged, ignored the little buzz of pleasure at the sight of him. “I’ve been cooped up inside most of the day. I thought maybe you could take me for a drive.”

  Will looked back over his shoulder toward Lulu. And at the rain currently drumming on her shiny blue roof. “It’s not exactly good sightseeing weather.”

  “I know the sights, I just need to get out.” She tilted her head at him. “I’m sure a car like that can handle a little rain.” She wasn’t sure actually. Grey had let her drive one of his classic cars once after she’d gotten her learner’s permit. Steering it had been like steering a whale. But she remembered the rumble and the thrill of putting her foot down and feeling the car respond.

  She liked cars. Even after Adam, she liked cars. Only now she felt kind of guilty about liking them. But it had been the driver, not the car that had killed him.

  And she didn’t want to think about Adam. She didn’t want to think much at all. She wanted the night and the road and the man standing in front of her. “Besides, the weather is heading out to sea. If we go around the other side of the island, it might have cleared up by now.”