Shadows and Ash: Pulp Friction 2014 Finale

by Harner, Laura

  Finn shook his head with a smile. “I know you miss them. Being away from your family must be hard at this time of year. We could have gone to Atlanta, you know.”

  Cannon’s smile didn’t fade. “No. We need to be here, in our home for the holidays. The boys? I kind of blew it with them when they were little. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be a friend to them, but it’s too late for me to be a daddy.” He waved a hand to encompass the scene outside, where the snowball fight had wound to an end, the cheery decorated lounge, and the sideboard, once again full of Christmas cookies, a Crock-pot of mulled cider and another of rich hot chocolate. “This is our family. This is where we should be for the holidays.”

  Overwhelmed with emotion, Finn embraced Cannon. “I love you,” he said simply. “There were times I admit over the last year when I felt like there was no way things would work out, that too many difficulties kept us apart. It seemed sometimes as though the best thing I could do was to put you on a plane to Atlanta and say good-bye.”

  Cannon snorted. “Right, like you could just put me on a plane and expect me to stay away.”

  The faintest hint of remembered uncertainty struck Finn. “You couldn’t wait to run as far away from me as possible for a long time.”

  Cannon’s expression brightened even further. “That’s because I knew you would be important.”

  “You don’t say it easily, do you?”

  Lips like rumpled velvet caressed the skin along his jaw, and Cannon stretched up a little. “I love you. Is that what you want to hear?”

  They were pressed so tight together that Finn felt Cannon’s cell phone vibrate. “Do you want to get that?” Out in the hall, he heard the sound of the heavy front doors opening and closing, the laughter of the children and their parents as they stripped off their outerwear.

  Cannon shook his head. “It’s not work, and everyone else who’s important is here.”

  Finn hesitated a moment. “Are you sure? It might be your Atlanta gang?”

  Cannon smacked him sharply on the shoulder as their friends trooped through the door, exclaiming about the cookie display and the delicious scents of the warm beverages.

  “My gang…my family is here.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Wait until I tell everyone we know that the Mr. Smithe participated in a snowball fight.” Mick laughed as they stood in one of the corners of the great room. Hell, Mick didn’t care where they stood or that they didn’t sit, it was all good considering Rowe hadn’t hesitated at the door this time before entering.

  “Everyone we know is here.” When Rowe bent over and whispered in Mick’s ear, his pulse reached new heart-attack-inducing heights. “And when addressing me as Mr. Smithe, you will be naked and bent over something.”

  The words whispered in Mick’s ear surprised him, the nip and lick that followed them shocked the hell out of him. Rowen’s progression out of his safety zone pleased Mick. Of course, he’d take his Sugartree any way he could get him, but nipping at the edge of his ear in the lodge with people around…well, miracles really did happen this time of year. Yeah, sure they were tucked in the corner, but this tally mark was firmly planted in the win column.

  Not wanting to draw attention to Rowe’s actions, afraid that might make him self-conscious, Mick went back to their original topic. “Yes, but did they notice who chose your targets for you?”

  Rowen shrugged nonchalantly. “Kat and Maddie were overpowered.”

  “And you had wicked good aim. I think it was an unfair advantage for you to play.”

  “If we were using anything lethal, I would’ve excused myself, but since snow balls have yet to be deemed deadly force, I believe it was all rather fair.”

  Rowen completely ignored Mick’s droll look. “You ducked and rolled when I tried to nail you. I’m sorry, let me rephrase that, your tall lanky-ass body hunched down and fu—” Mick stopped and looked around for the kids before remembering they were safe and out of the room with Damon. He still lowered his voice and cleaned up his vocabulary—“hunched down and freaking somersaulted over the snow and behind a bush while still finding a way to wallop me between the eyes.”

  “Yes. Don’t cuss, here comes one of the children.” He nodded to the side door all the kids disappeared through earlier.

  “You can’t possibly know that and I didn’t…” Mick thought back to what he just said and slapped his forehead. “Shi…shoot, I didn’t mean to.”

  The door was slowly pushed open and Sam emerged from the hall, looked around the room, spotted something on the end table, retrieved the wireless game controller and left through the same door all in mere seconds.

  “How did…what the fu…um…”

  Rowen raised an eyebrow at Mick’s sudden stuttering problem. With a smug look on his face, he left the security of their corner and walked to one of the smaller couches on the outskirts of the great room, but a step closer than where they were standing.

  “Come on, Rowe, don’t you know by now that you can’t escape me?” He followed his boyfriend and sat next to him. “Seriously, how did you know Sam was there? Super-secret-agent-man hearing or something?”

  “I think…” Rowen tilted his head as if pondering his next words carefully, making Mick want to kick himself for bringing up Rowe’s past. “I think I stopped wanting to escape you the moment you claimed Filigree as ours.”

  Mick stared at his boyfriend, gobsmacked. “That’s two,” he muttered under his breath. Two times in a little over that many minutes that the stoic Rowen did something completely out of his nature—showing public displays of affection and revealing deep feelings.

  Sure, he had a whole room damn near in tears when he shared his history with them, but that wasn’t the same as this bit of information he divulged. This was more personal, more intimate, it was their beginning.

  The left corner of Rowen’s mouth tipped up a smidge, enough for the elusive dimple in his cheek to peek out. “I’m not sure what you’re counting, and I’ve learned not to ask.”

  Mick snorted, then quickly covered his mouth, startled by the noise he produced. When the two dimples on Rowe’s other cheek also made an appearance, leaving an almost—so damn close!—complete smile in their wake, Mick upgraded his snort to a full out laugh. True it was a quick one as was the smile, but like the smile, it brightened the room and lightened Mick’s heart.

  “You hated Filigree and me back then.” Yeah, Mick unabashedly fished for more sweet thoughts from his taciturn lover.

  “No. I saw you as hope, something I wasn’t allowed to feel, didn’t deserve to engage in. Mountain Shadows was my punishment. My forced reclusion. A sentence I handed down to myself for the sins of my past. I didn’t have to stay in hiding, I could’ve cleared my bank accounts all within the first twenty-four hours I hit United States soil. With that kind of money, hiding is luxuriantly easy.

  “I convinced myself I couldn’t go that way because I’m a bad man—”

  “No. Don’t say that, don’t you ever say that again.” Mick wiped at his moist eyes, causing a tear to break free and roll down his cheek.

  “I was a bad man”—he raised his eyebrow in question and even though Mick hated it, he knew he had to acknowledge this as true—“and I needed to be punished. Solitary confinement seemed suitable. I think Finn and the previous owners helped me keep a shred of my sanity, never letting me go that final inch into my mind’s oblivion. But I never forgave myself, never escaped the voice that believed I deserved a lonely miserable life forever. Until you.”

  He cradled Mick’s face in his strong and steady hands and Mick couldn’t help but rub his cheek against the roughened palm.

  “You scared my demons. You made me feel the one thing that could save me…hope. With hope, I could have friends, family, life, and love.”

  Mick opened his mouth to say something, anything, but for once, words failed him because there was nothing to say.

  “Through you I opened myself up, stepped out of
that self-imposed prison, and embraced the real me. Don’t you see, Mick? You gave me the means to have my friends, my family here, you are my life and my love. You are my hope.”

  ****

  Scott turned to Robby. “Are you sure you’re sure?”

  “This is your decision, Scott. You have my support one hundred percent.”

  “No—this has to be our decision together. Maybe I should wait if you think—”

  “I’m sorry, you’re right, this is about both of us—and our children. It’s our decision—and I think it’s a brilliant idea. It’s the right thing to do for many reasons.”

  “And the kids? You don’t think I’m cheating them of their heritage or anything?”

  “It’s not as if they’re losing their home, and we still retain the majority. I think you came up with the perfect solution for everyone. Let’s see what the others think.”

  After kissing his lover, Scott stood and waited a moment for the others to notice him and grow quiet.

  “Forgive me, for taking over the party for a few minutes, but there’s something I’d like to say.” Scott cleared his throat, then continued. “Short and sweet, I promise.

  “A lesson Mick could learn,” Rowen said softly.

  Mick’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just make a joke? Because it might not have been much of one, but it was a joke. Or at least it was an attempt at a joke. Actually it wasn’t very funny, but it’s the effort that…mmmoun.” Rowen’s hand over Mick’s mouth muffled him to silence.

  “Continue,” Rowen said.

  Grinning, Scott nodded. “Okay. Uhm…a year ago, I was nearing the tail end of some intense rehab, after barely surviving a fire that killed nineteen men I considered brothers.” He paused to try to suck more air into his lungs. “I don’t know how I would have made it through without each of you. Charlie and Amos, despite your own…troubles, you leant a quiet strength, and helped to put Mountain Shadows back together. Finn, you were here to greet us on the first day—although I’m very glad you didn’t shoot Rob on sight—”

  “Me too,” Rob agreed, to much laughter.

  Scott waited for everyone to quiet again before he continued. “You were here for Pauline and DJ, too. You’re the rock this place is built on. Cannon you’ve managed to patch us up this past year. It wasn’t easy, especially with the vandalism and your experiences last year—I know for a while it seemed as if the nightmares from the past were just a little too real.”

  Cannon’s cheeks flushed and he nodded slowly. Finn gripped his lover’s hand.

  “I’m grateful you took a chance on Mountain Shadows and even more so that you and Finn seem to fit so well.”

  “Hear, hear,” shouted Mick as he raised his glass in a toast.

  Turning his attention to the curly-haired man, Scott continued. “Mick, you and Rowen may be the most unlikely duo I’ve ever come across. Rowe, I think of you as the protector of this land and the people here. You cared for us despite the demons of your own past. I think Mick arrived in your life exactly when he was needed though, because as you protect us, he seems to protect you—from getting lost in your own head. I know what that’s like.”

  Rowe met Scott’s gaze, and for a long moment, no one spoke. Then he gave a curt nod of acknowledgment before wrapping his arm around Mick’s chest to draw him closer. For once, Mick seemed at a loss of words, just gazed at his lover and the slight public display of affection.

  “Jilly, honey, you are the sister of our hearts,” Scott said, with a quick glance at Rob who nodded his agreement. “I’m so happy for you and Siggy and Maddie. If anyone deserves a bit of happiness it’s you. You’re finally free, sweetheart.”

  Siggy wrapped a protective arm around her as Jilly swiped a tear from her cheek.

  “Tell me you’re not getting ready to say good-bye, Scott McGregor,” she said, fixing him with a glare.

  “What? No…just listen. I know we said no gifts, but Rob and I have been talking, and this is something we both want to do. We’re meeting with our attorney right after the New Year, so you have until then to decide—

  “Decide what?” Finn asked, a crease forming between his expressive brows. “I’ve lived here a long time, you know my lease—”

  Rob stood and bumped Scott with his shoulder. “You’re really bad with surprises,” he said, laughing. He wrapped an arm around Scott’s waist and squeezed, lending him support.

  “We’re turning Mountain Shadows into a trust, to include the terms the original owners stipulated. Robby and I plan to retain fifty-one percent of the ownership—”

  “You are selling,” Jilly accused.

  “No, sweetheart, we’re not,” Robby said.

  “We want to share Mountain Shadows with those who love it as much as we do—with you. We want to divide the remaining shares among each couple here. Now the original terms stipulate that the owners must live on site,” Scott said, with a quick glance around the room, so each couple would have to choose which of the cabins to turn into a permanent residence. “Plus all the dark sky requirements and stewardship of the land…we have a lot to discuss in the next couple of weeks.” Scott took a deep breath. “We’d like to make sure we keep Mountain Shadows in the family…and for us”—he smiled up at Robby—“that means sharing with you.”

  ~~The End~~

  About Pulp Friction 2014

  Laura Harner ~ Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ T.A. Webb

  The Pulp Friction 2014 Collection. Four authors. Four Series. Twenty books. One fiery finale. Spend a year with an eclectic group of strangers brought together through circumstances, as they are tested by life, and emerge as more than friends.

  The strongest bonds are forged by fire, cooled in air, smoothed by water, grounded in earth.

  Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.

  Round One:

  Firestorm (Fighting Fire: 1)

  Cold Snap (In From the Cold: 1)

  Blown Away (Whispering Winds: 1)

  Higher Ground (Earthquake: 1)

  **Kismet and Cartwheels (Bonus Book)

  Round Two:

  Controlled Burn

  Cold Comfort

  Blown Kisses

  Moving Earth

  Round Three:

  Backburn

  Cold Feet

  Blow Hard

  **Taking Chances (Bonus Book)

  **Wicked Winds (Bonus Book)

  Tremors

  Round Four

  Flare-up

  Out In The Cold

  Blown Chance

  **Frankie’s Knight (Bonus Book)

  Aftershocks

  Round Five:

  Radiant Burn

  Cold Day in Hell

  Final Blow

  Terra Firma

  Mountain Shadows Campground

  Also Available

  Round One:

  Firestorm

  When a wildland fire lands Scott McGregor in the burn unit and sends his career up in smoke, a decade-old emergency contact card brings his former college lover, Robby Hammond, to his hospital bed. After six months of hospitals and rehab, Scott starts a new life as owner of the Mountain Shadows Campground. Maybe learning to run a bed and breakfast—not to mention dealing with the permanent residents—will keep him from making Robby the center of his universe. Again.

  Leaving San Francisco to take a part-time position as a law enforcement ranger makes no sense at this stage of his life, but after Scott’s critical burns, Robby moves to Flagstaff anyway—to take up residence at Mountain Shadows—which has nothing to do with his long-buried feelings for his ex. Despite the white-hot attraction that still burns between them, too much is at stake for Robby to take that chance. Again.

  Torn apart a dozen years ago by an unlimited ability to cause each other pain, each man believes the relationship door is firmly closed, but when life brings them back together, Scott is still the irresistible force to Robby’s
immovable object, and where there’s smoke…there’s fire.

  ~*~

  Cold Snap

  Professor of Literature Finn Lorensson is unashamedly a romantic. In his own words, he’s a white knight in search of a charming prince to save. In fact, he’s doing a good deed by stepping into the breach for his long-time friends and landlords at Mountain Shadows when a voice on the phone sends him tumbling headfirst into love/lust/fascination.

  Four months later, a self-absorbed Dr. Cannon Malloy shows up in the flesh and has the poor grace to not remember their conversation. That could be because he’s running from his past and too busy looking over his shoulder to appreciate what’s right in front of him.

  A winter storm and circumstance conspire to bring them together, but it’ll take more than a charming smile and a pure heart to bring this frog-prince in from the cold.

  ~*~

  Blown Away

  Rowen Smithe doesn’t do friends. They require time and effort, both better spent protecting the woods surrounding his Mountain Shadows home. Lights in the west, smoke patterns in the east, and now a shiny glint deep in the forest. Someone needed to do something.

  Mick Rutger rarely met a challenge he wouldn’t chase, but the drop-dead gorgeous man next door gives a whole new meaning to crazy when he spends hours in a tree just…watching? When his charming words have no effect, Mick has no choice if he wants to crack this nut. He follows the mysterious Rowe on a middle of the night hike, only to be caught before the chase can even begin.

  ~*~

  Higher Ground