“But you must promise not to tell anyone!” Amanda insisted, still hopping a bit. Ella pulled off her gloves and stuffed them in her coat pocket. She then removed the coat and hung it on the brass rack before turning to face her friend.
“You know, the best way to keep a secret is to not share it,” Ella reminded Amanda, her eyes twinkling. She knew full well Amanda would probably burst if she refused to listen.
“I can’t tell Chad, but I will absolutely die if I don’t tell someone! And I know I can trust you. You never tell secrets!”
“You’re keeping something from Chad? My, this is starting to sound interesting,” Ella said as she sat on the small couch, enjoying the warmth emanating from the fireplace. Instead of joining her friend on the sofa, Amanda stood before the fireplace and faced Ella. Both young women were dressed similarly, clad in denims, boots, and bulky pullover sweaters. Amanda’s prominent baby bump pushed out the front of her sweater.
Amanda’s hazel eyes swept over her friend’s face. Ella’s clear complexion was slightly flushed from the brisk November air, and it looked as if the only makeup she wore was a light pink gloss on her full lips. Blessed with naturally dark and curly lashes, there was no reason for Ella to wear mascara. Her hair fell just past her shoulders and flipped up at the ends. Naturally mousy brown, she had added blonde highlights that complimented her complexion. While she didn’t use an eyebrow pencil, her beautician shaped her brows, so they arched gracefully over her large blue-green eyes.
“I promised my cousin I wouldn’t tell Chad. Actually, I’m not supposed to tell anyone.” Amanda admitted, no longer hopping about excitedly.
“Okay, I won’t tell anyone,” Ella vowed, waiting to hear what her friend had to say.
“I’ve rented out one of the cabins for the rest of November.”
“I sure hope it isn’t mine! You knew I was coming to pick up the keys.” Ella frowned. “I didn’t think you normally did winter rentals.”
“No, it isn’t yours. I’ve rented out the Cooper Cabin. I already cleared it with them.”
“Then why do you say it’s some secret? Obviously the Coopers know.”
“The secret isn’t that I rented a cabin for November, but who I rented it to!”
“Okay, who is the renter?”
“Brady Gates!” Amanda excitedly exclaimed, then remained quiet, waiting for her friend’s reaction. Instead of showing any emotion, Ella just frowned.
“Brady Gates? Am I supposed to know who that is?”
“Oh, come on Ella, Brady Gates! You have to know who that is!” Amanda stomped one foot impatiently, waiting for her friend to show a proper response. Ella thought a moment and then shook her head.
“Sorry, I haven’t a clue.”
“Aw, come on Ella, everyone on this planet knows who Brady Gates is! He was voted sexiest man of the year! Twice!”
Ella shook her head. “Sorry, I never pay attention to that kinda stuff. Is he an actor or something?”
“No, he’s a rock star. A very hot rock star,” Amanda explained, staring dreamily into blank space.
“Is that anyway for a pregnant woman to behave?” Ella teased. Amanda just giggled and patted her extended belly.
“Oh, come on Ella, you have to know who he is.” Amanda began singing one of Brady’s songs, selecting one that was currently at the top of the charts. While a bit off key, Ella immediately recognized the tune.
“Oh, him. I hate his music,” Ella said, interrupting the song.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Sorry, hard rock is not my thing. You know that. I’m a country girl. But if it makes you feel any better, if you asked me to name my favorite country singers, I’d have a difficult time recalling who sang what. I never remember names. I just know what I like when I hear it.”
“I still can’t believe you didn’t know who he is. How can you be a writer and not know about this stuff?”
“What does writing historical romance have to do with knowing the names of current celebrities? They’re just people, Amanda. So why the big secret about this Brady guy renting one of the cabins?”
“According to my cousin, he needs to get away from his fans and the paparazzi. I can’t let anyone know he’s going to be up there, because I can’t risk someone bothering him. He’s continually hounded by women.”
“That poor guy!” Ella laughed sarcastically, and then added with sincerity, “Well your secret’s safe with me. How about those cabin keys now?” Ella stood up.
“What happen to your set? Did you lose them again?”
“I just put them in a very safe place. Exactly where, I can’t recall.”
“Are you really going to your cabin this time of the year?”
“Hey, if it’s good enough for your rock star, why not me?”
“Seriously, Ella, I hear they’re expecting a big storm.”
“Well, maybe you should worry more about your rock star renter than me. I know these mountains. Anyway, I need to finish my book and I keep letting the distractions get in the way. I figure without any Internet or television, I won’t wander away from my manuscript.”
“When are you planning to head up there?” Amanda asked as she walked over to her desk and started rummaging through a box of keys.
“I’ll be heading up in the morning.”
“I haven’t rented your cabin since September; that was the last time I had it cleaned.” Amanda found the set of keys she was looking for, and handed them to Ella.
“Remember, I was up there last month; it’s fine. In fact, I suspect I may have left my set of keys sitting on the kitchen counter, now that I think about it.”
“It’s too bad your cabin isn’t closer to the Coopers’; then you could check out Brady Gates and tell me how he looks in person.”
“Aren’t you going to meet him?”
“No. Remember, my cousin Kevin works for him.”
“Now that you mention it, I think I remember you telling me that before.”
“That was the concert I went to last year.”
“That’s right. So is Kevin picking up the keys for him?”
“No, Kevin instructed me to leave the keys under a rock outside the front door of the cabin. Brady is driving directly to the cabin, and when he leaves, he’ll leave the key where he found it. I went up yesterday and stocked the pantry and refrigerator with enough supplies for three weeks. There was already firewood, so that wasn’t an issue.”
“I didn’t know you did the full concierge service thing.” Ella tucked the cabin keys in her purse.
“Ha, ha,” Amanda said dryly. “Brady Gates is special.”
“I guess he is!” Ella laughed. “Do me a favor and don’t share your secret with anyone else. If this guy is as famous as you seem to think, the last thing I want is a bunch of stalkers crawling all over the mountain hunting for your guy. I’m looking forward to quiet.”
“How long are you planning to stay?”
“Through November,” Ella explained as she removed her jacket from the brass coat rack and slipped it on.
“You won’t be home for Thanksgiving?”
“I consider the cabin home. Anyway, Mom and Dad are spending the holiday with my sister in California. I intend to make myself a nice Cornish game hen, in lieu of a turkey.”
“Can’t you stick around? Maybe we could grab lunch.”
“I’d love to, but I need to pick up my groceries and finish packing. I imagine when I see you again in a few weeks that tummy of yours will be ready to pop!” Ella patted her friend’s belly.
“Oh, I have another three months,” Amanda groaned.
“Any other renters up on the mountain?” Ella asked as she reached for the doorknob.
“No. I imagine some of the owners might go up to their cabins for Thanksgiving, but none have called me yet to let me know—except you.”
The two old friends chatted a few minutes longer before saying their goodbyes. Ella opened the door to the cabin office and
stepped out onto the sidewalk. Greeted with a gust of frigid cold air, she hastily removed her gloves from the coat pocket and slipped them on her hands.
A few moments later, she climbed into her Suburban and headed for home. It was a forty-five minute drive from the village at Shipley Mountain to her condominium in Canyon City. It was one of the few condominiums in the area that allowed dogs the size of her Sam, who weighed in around sixty pounds. While Australian shepherds are normally high energy, Sam was her special needs dog that was unable to jump on the bed or into the Suburban without assistance.
Instead of going directly to her condominium to pack, she stopped at the grocery store. She considered briefly doing her shopping in the morning, before heading to the cabin, but didn’t want to leave Sam alone in the car while in the store. Before leaving that day, she’d tossed several ice chests in the back of the Suburban, to hold the food that needed refrigeration.
She was annoyed with herself for misplacing the cabin keys, forcing her to take the trip up to the rental office to pick up a spare. She and Amanda had grown up together, and both their families owned cabins on Shipley Mountain. After Amanda married, she and her husband moved up to the village of Shipley, where Amanda’s husband worked for the local fire department. Amanda got her real estate license and eventually started a vacation rental business, catering to summer visitors. Many of the cabin owners took advantage of the opportunity to earn a little additional income from their vacation homes.
Ella forgot the rule about never shopping when hungry, so she ended up purchasing far more groceries than were necessary for just one person. She stocked up on all her favorite holiday foods and indulged in the gourmet food section. It wasn’t until she was loading the groceries from the shopping cart to the back of the Suburban that she began to question the wisdom of her purchase. She filled the ice chests with perishables, and placed the other items in the back of the car. She wondered briefly where she would put her luggage and Sam, yet wasn’t overly concerned, considering the size of the vehicle.
When she returned to her condominium the first order of business was taking Sam for a walk. She intended to leave the groceries in her car, as the evenings had been in the low forties and the perishables were on ice. Sam was happy to see her mistress, and as was her custom, she didn’t jump on Ella, but pushed the woman’s denim covered thighs with a wet nose and gave little nibbles while letting out a howl or two, scolding Ella for being gone so long.
Ella gave Sam’s furry back a rough brushing with her hand, and grabbed the leash from a hook by the front door. After slipping the collar around the dog’s neck, the two stepped outside to take a walk.
When they returned twenty minutes later, Ella fed Sam and then made herself a sandwich before packing for her trip. She no longer left personal items at the cabin, since it was periodically used as a rental. Long ago, she made a packing list for the cabin, which she always referred to when going for a visit.
One item on the list was portable typewriter, and another, typing paper. When going to the cabin to write, Ella always took along an old portable typewriter and typing paper. The typewriter once belonged to her grandfather. So far, she had never had to use them at the cabin. But she wanted to be prepared, just in case the electricity went out and she couldn’t use her laptop.
In her bathroom, she gathered up the items that she needed to pack. One was her packet of birth control pills. She held the package in her hand briefly and looked at it with a frown. In some ways, she thought it was foolish to keep taking the pill, as it had been almost a month since she’d broken up with her boyfriend, and she hadn’t had sex since then.
“What I need more than these are my vibrator,” Ella said aloud and let out a dry, sardonic laugh. Unlike many of her friends, she had never indulged in casual sex. As a precaution she grabbed a box of tampons. She knew she wouldn’t need them as she just finished her period and the pill kept her regular, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to take them along.
When she finished packing she took a shower and slipped on her robe. Sitting on her living room couch with Sam by her feet on the floor, she grabbed her laptop from the coffee table. Balancing the computer on her lap, she turned it on.
Remembering what Amanda had said about the rock star, Ella decided to Google Brady Gates, curious to see if she would recognize him. A few clicks later, Ella landed on Brady’s Wikipedia page. She stared at his picture, and wrinkled her nose a bit.
In the photograph, he was shirtless and wore white and black makeup on his chest and face. His features, contorted in an unattractive snarl and he held an electric guitar in his hands. The picture was obviously taken at a concert. Ella cringed at the sight.
“Yuck,” she said aloud. Curious about the man, she did a second search, this one for images of Brady Gates. She scrolled through the photographs.
Ella conceded that without the unattractive makeup he was a handsome guy. The color of his eyes was quite startling, causing Ella to linger a bit over one picture. By the number of photographs of Brady with different women on his arm, he was obviously a player. While she was never good at remembering the names of movie stars, she recognized a number of notable female celebs, each holding possessively onto his arm.
According to his bio, he had never been married, and from what she could see, he didn’t have a steady girlfriend. Yet, by the photographs, it was obvious he enjoyed an active social life.
“Oh, you poor baby,” Ella said sarcastically when she recalled what Amanda had said about Brady needing to get away. “All those demanding women must really put a toll on you!” She laughed again and then closed the webpage, surfing to other topics that she found more interesting. Celebrity fodder never held Ella’s interest for long. She found it all very boring.
Chapter Three
Brady failed to notice the Suburban waiting to pull up to the fuel pump when he stepped on the gas and cut the larger vehicle off. He heard the screech of tires and the horn honk that followed. Glancing up into the rearview mirror he saw the angry face of the other driver. Instead of feeling guilt, he was relieved she hadn’t run into Kevin’s Jeep. He wasn’t concerned over hurting someone else’s property—he could easily pay for that—but an accident would bring unwanted attention to himself and possibly interfere with his plans.
Brady shrugged disinterestedly over the near collision. In his youth he’d been a reckless driver, and during the last five years, he had driven rarely, usually leaving that task to an employee. Silently, he reminded himself to be more careful; he wanted to reach the cabin without incident.
He’d left the hotel about six hours earlier at 2 a.m. The night before, Kevin had filled up the gas tank and put Brady’s luggage in the car. In the back of the Jeep Kevin added a case of wine and a case of imported beer. Brady didn’t ask for the booze, but Kevin couldn’t imagine going to a remote cabin without it.
One of Kevin’s purchases was a blond wig, similar in style and color to his own hair. Brady had used the adjoining door to enter Kevin’s room. He slipped on the wig, a pair of sunglasses and the clothes Kevin had been wearing a few hours earlier. Exiting through Kevin’s hotel room door, he hastily made his way to the parking garage, careful to avoid getting too close to anyone Kevin knew. If someone saw him from afar, they would assume Brady was the assistant. Brady didn’t stop to consider that someone might think it odd he was wearing sunglasses at two in the morning.
The wig and sunglasses had been removed when he was safely away from the hotel. He’d been on the desolate highway for several hours, passing just a few vehicles. According to the map, it was less than an hour to Shipley, and from there, another ten or fifteen minutes to the cabin. He had just pulled into Canyon City, and according to the map, it was the last town he’d be going through until reaching the mountain village.
Turning the ignition off, he slipped the sunglasses back on and glanced up into the rearview mirror and noticed the Suburban was parked behind him, waiting for a turn at the pump. He didn’t se
e the driver; she had obviously gotten out of the car.
Without giving her a second thought, Brady opened the car door and exited the vehicle. According to the sign on the pump he needed to go into the gas station and pay the teller before he could pump the gas. Shutting the car door behind him, he turned abruptly and ran into the driver of the Suburban.
The two stood silently in the parking lot for a brief moment. Brady inwardly groaned, certain this woman would recognize him and start making a scene. He was in no mood for another adoring fan. He hoped the sunglasses would help conceal his identity.
Instead of the accolades he expected, the woman shot him a look of disgust and mumbled something under her breath before walking around him and making her way to the minimart section of the gas station.
Did she just call me an ass? Brady silently asked himself. He frowned and followed her into the building. They were the only two people in the station, save for the teller, who was an elderly man sitting on a stool behind the counter, reading a newspaper. The man glanced up briefly, and then went back to reading.
The woman didn’t go immediately to the teller, but went to the self-serve refreshment section and poured herself a hot cup of coffee. That’s a good idea. Brady thought. He could use some caffeine.
Instead of paying for his gas, he walked toward the woman. She glanced up and he again waited for her to recognize him. Had the station been full of people, he would have avoided her attention, but since they were virtually alone, he thought it would be amusing to watch her recognize him and witness her blush of embarrassment for calling him an ass. He imagined she’d be offering to pour his coffee while making up some lame excuse for her earlier comment.
Ella glanced up and watched the man from the Jeep approach. She wondered briefly why he was practically smirking. It was obvious he wasn’t contrite for cutting off the Suburban. He just stood there a moment, staring at her. She didn’t know if he was trying to figure out what to say or was simply waiting for her to get out of his way. The notion occurred to Ella that he half expected her to hand him her cup of coffee. She told herself she should be grateful he wasn’t shoving her out of his way or snatching the cup from her hand. Silently, Ella’s gaze swept over the arrogant stranger and then she walked past him, without looking back or making a comment.
While Snowbound (Sensual Romance Series) Page 2