Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection

by Crowne, K. C.

  I pulled on a blue plaid flannel shirt over my tight black t-shirt along with my favorite pair of worn-out jeans. Finally, I slid my wide feet into work boots, and I was ready to go.

  At 7:05, I drove my black GMC Sierra down to the resort and pulled into the lot. My brothers’ trucks were parked and abandoned in front. I hurried into The River Room, and all heads turned to stare at me.

  “Dax, you look like you just woke up,” my younger brother, Harley, laughed. My hair was still slightly wet from the shower. Reid and Bryce, my seventeen-year-old twin nephews, chuckled in unison like they often did.

  “Least I made it,” I retorted, giving each of them a playful glare. “I need some coffee.”

  “Thanks for coming early, Dax,” Brad commented, his sarcasm clear.

  “Yeah, yeah.” I put on my best smile as I poured myself a strong cup of coffee from the side coffee bar. “So, what’s got everyone all riled up so bright and early?” I asked, taking my seat at the long table.

  “We’re gonna be on the news!” Bryce exclaimed. Obviously, Brad had told the twins all the details.

  I nodded at them. “The news, eh?” I repeated, looking at Brad.

  “Yeah, the wedding is gonna be a publicized event,” Brad confirmed.

  “Great publicity for the resort,” Harley added.

  “Yep,” my brother Cole agreed.

  I looked from person to person. How are they all so awake so early? I wondered, drinking my hot coffee in gulps and trying to catch up to their level of alertness and excitement. I just wasn’t feeling it yet.

  I understood what an event of this magnitude meant for the resort. But I needed time to wake the hell up before I could wrap my mind around all of the possibilities. I’d stayed up too late the night before. Maybe drank one too many beers. The fog in my brain was barely lifting.

  I sat back in my seat and listened to Brad excitedly rant over the upcoming ceremony. Hosting a wedding of a prominent family meant I’d be in charge of publicizing it on the resort’s website and social media pages. It was bragging rights, for sure.

  “Their wedding planner, a woman by the name of Oakley Padin, will arrive first. This Thursday, in fact,” Brad informed the group. “The family wants her here a week prior to their arrival to get everything organized and set up to their liking. She’ll come with all of the details.”

  “Whoa, wait, this is happening in less than two weeks?” I asked incredulously.

  “The Stones’ son didn’t want a long engagement, so this is happening pretty fast,” Harley answered.

  I didn’t know much about Congresswoman Stone or her family other than what I’d caught on the news occasionally. And I’d have to look up this Oakley Padin person so I could write some eye-catching blogs and social media posts about the family and how they chose Hunter’s Mountain Ski Resort for their special day.

  “Dax, you’ll be working directly with the wedding planner,” Brad told me.

  I sat up straight in my chair. “Say what? I asked, shocked. “Me?”

  “Yes, you. I have a lot to work out with guest relations this week. And I need to make sure everything goes as planned. I can’t be stuck with the wedding planner. So, I’ll need you to help the Padin woman get everything ready.”

  I raised my eyebrow at Brad.

  Brad continued, ignoring my look. “Help with set up, ordering the flowers, planning the menu. Stuff like that. Whatever she needs.”

  “Why me?” I protested. “Why can’t Harley or Cole do it?” I waved my arm in their direction. “I’ve never planned a wedding before.”

  Brad always worked with the guests. I was the media man, not social coordinator. I saw the look Cole gave me, and I smiled at him.

  “No way,” Cole replied, shaking his head. He didn’t return my smile.

  I glanced at Harley.

  “I’ve got to plan and work the events,” Harley quickly informed me. “Plus, I got my regular activities goin’ on. You’re the only one who has the extra time.”

  I sighed. I was no wedding planner, but I didn’t really have a choice and reluctantly agreed.

  “Whatever you need,” I told them, frowning.

  Cole looked relieved, like a huge stone was lifted from his back. I got why Brad didn’t ask him to do it. He wasn’t a people person. But what about my sisters-in-law Angela and Lindsay? Either of them could handle it. Just as I was about to suggest one of them help the wedding planner, Lindsay looked right at me.

  “I’m photographing the event, including the setup. The family wants the entire affair caught on camera from start to finish,” she informed me.

  I looked at Angela.

  “Reid and Bryce have SATs coming up. It’s really bad timing,” she shrugged. “I’ll help as much as I can, though.”

  I guess I’m stuck with the lady.

  Little Abby – Brad and Angela’s four-year-old daughter – was watching my face closely, working it all out in my head. I just happened to look over at her and caught her intense gaze. I stuck out my tongue. She giggled, and I returned a smile, trying to lighten up.

  No way I was getting out of it, so I might as well just accept it. My mom, Mary Beth, smiled brightly at me and gave me a knowing nod when our eyes met before returning to feeding little Raini, Cole and Lindsay’s two-year-old.

  I sighed and scooped some eggs onto my plate as the restaurant’s Head Chef, Michael, laid out several large platters of breakfast foods. Ms. Everett, our eldest staff member and dear family friend, poured OJ into each of our glasses. I thanked her and guzzled down half of my glass in one gulp. She instantly refilled it for me, and I beamed up at her.

  After another hour of listening to Brad spew all the details, I was finally released to spend my last few days of freedom how I chose. I was dreading Thursday, that was for sure.

  Trying to take my mind off the situation for a while, I headed to the resort’s small fitness room for a workout.

  Oakley

  I hung up and jumped up and down with joy. I can’t believe it! I finally landed the big one!

  “The big one” being the wedding of none other than the infamous Jackson Stone and his fiancée, Bethany Lincoln. And I was chosen to be their wedding planner!

  I had applied for the position months ago and hadn’t heard a word. I hadn’t really expected to, if I was being real. I was an up and coming wedding planner with several big events under my belt, but none that rivaled what this would be. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I’d be chosen out of the hundreds of qualified candidates for a wedding of this magnitude.

  Jackson was the eldest son of Congresswoman Noel Stone. But that wasn’t what made him famous. Well, not entirely. Jackson and his fiancée were the stars of a reality TV show, an escapade of their high school-sweetheart-romance and long-term relationship. Their fans just loved them.

  Of course, making it all possible was Congresswoman Stone, who was a well-respected member of the community, as well as a glowing character herself. She’d always made sure that her family was in the spotlight and well-publicized over the years since she’d been in office.

  After staring into space for a moment, absorbed in a full-on daydream about the big event, I remembered that I needed to call Hailey ASAP.

  Hailey Voortman had been my best friend since pre-school. She wasn’t only my partner in crime, but she worked as my assistant as well. I couldn’t have made my business what it was without the help of Hailey; I owed her big time.

  Since I was a young girl, I’d been in love with the idea of marriage. I imagined myself as a radiant bride, a beautiful young woman wearing a graceful, white-laced wedding dress walking down the aisle, holding a pink bouquet of fresh flowers, a long silky train flowing behind me. I’d imagined my groom to be the most handsome man on Earth. Tall and muscular, a man who could sweep me off of my feet.

  Of course, the entire dream hadn’t yet come true. At twenty-eight years old, I remained unmarried. I’d learned to accept that I might not be wif
e-material after all. I was too driven, too ambitious. Men often couldn’t relate to an overly confident woman. In my experience, they were all looking for that damsel in distress who needed to be saved.

  Not me. I would never need to be saved by anyone but myself. A man too weak to accept me as I was absolutely wasn’t worth my time.

  Growing up, I’d watched my parents struggle. Not having money caused a lot of stress in my family, and I watched as my parents’ relationship slowly unhinged. One day, my mom packed her bags and walked out on my father and my sister and me.

  Even though I didn’t blame her for leaving, I wished she’d taken my little sister, Alice, and me with her. But she had no money. She’d been a housewife, staying home to care for Alice and me. She had no education nor any work skills. So we’d stayed with Dad. My mom visited as much as she could, but I missed having a mother figure around all of the time. I didn’t have anyone to talk “girl talk” with. Alice had been too young to be bothered much by her absence.

  Since we’d lived in a small ski town of Alta, Utah, I immersed myself in skiing in order to forget my family problems. I joined the high school ski team, and by the time I was a junior, I was captain of the team. I was determined that I would never need a man to take care of me. But since I barely achieved passing grades in high school because school wasn’t really my thing, I couldn’t get accepted anywhere but the local community college.

  So I skipped college altogether. Good thing I had a brilliant imagination along with motivation and passion. I was able to secure a loan to start my own business and had the determination to make it thrive.

  I was a people person, so I found it easy to book my first gig. A lot of my friends were getting married at that time, so I begged several of them to let me plan their weddings. I even did the first couple of weddings for free with the agreement that I could document the entire event for advertisements and my new website.

  My best friend, Hailey, was good with computers and had some programming and web developing under her belt. Thankfully, she took care of my website. Soon, my business boomed and I was able to move out of my childhood home.

  Soon after, I was booking bigger weddings and other events. I needed an assistant. Hailey agreed, and we’d been working together ever since. Since Hailey and I were both avid skiers, we started to pick up a lot of outdoor and ski resort weddings, helping in the planning of outdoor activities. Life had been good.

  And now this! This wedding would be the feather in my cap that I needed to catapult my business to the next level.

  I excitedly dialed Hailey’s number and impatiently waited for her to pick up.

  “Hello Oakley,” she answered on the third ring.

  “What took you so long to answer?” I didn’t try to hold back my impatience.

  “I was eating. What’s going on?” she asked, interested now.

  “I just got off the phone with Congresswoman Stone’s assistant! We got the gig!” I shouted into the phone.

  “Are you serious? No way.”

  “Yes, way!” I replied enthusiastically. “We need to be on location this Thursday.”

  “This Thursday?” Hailey asked. “Like in three days?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow, talk about short notice. But okay,” Hailey agreed. She sounded excited too. “Where are we going?”

  “To a ski resort in Colorado,” I told her.

  “Colorado!” Hailey exclaimed. “Why Colorado?”

  “Because Bethany’s elderly parents live near the resort and they can’t travel too far, I guess. Plus, some of her other family lives there.”

  “I see,” Hailey commented. “Sounds like we’re going to Colorado then! Cool!”

  We discussed arrangements before hanging up. I was still on cloud nine well into the late hours of the evening and couldn’t sleep.

  Hunter’s Mountain Ski Resort in Blue Haven, Colorado, was where the wedding would be taking place. I’d heard of lots of big-time ski resorts in Colorado, but I’d never heard of the place. Must be a smaller, family-operated resort.

  Odd, I thought. You’d think a family with all the money in the world would choose a big, fancy place. But who knew how fancy this place was? It was clearly enough for the Stones to have chosen it.

  I decided to get out of bed since I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon and look it up. I Googled the name of the resort and it popped up first in the search. That’s good, I thought. They’re big enough to have their own webpage.

  I clicked on the page and began sifting through the information and pictures. The resort was a cozy, picturesque, family-oriented place way up in the mountains. In fact, there was one road in and out. Seclusion at its finest.

  For me, I ‘d always looked forward to my events taking me to larger cities. Living in a small town for all of my life, I enjoyed getting away now and then and seeing more action. A nightlife. A reason to wear party clothes and hit the town.

  I’d thought about moving to the city, but I’d eventually regret it. I wasn’t an everyday, hustle and bustle kind of girl. I liked the quiet and coziness of a small town.

  The area surrounding the resort was beautiful. I could see why the bride and groom chose it. Pine trees and snow-covered mountain peaks loomed in every direction. From the pictures, I could see a blue, shimmering river in the valley below.

  I clicked on the “About Us” button and looked at the family photo that took up most of the page. Wow! What a good-looking family, I thought. A big one too. It looked like the resort was run by four brothers and their mother. There was a link to a short bio for each family member. I clicked through each of the brothers and read.

  God, what hunks! I thought as I studied the pictures of the four brothers. Big, handsome, muscular mountain men! And real mountain men, not the imposter models that you see on Pinterest.

  I noted that the first two, Brad and Cole Hunter, were married with children. Harley Hunter was the next bio I read. A striking specimen of a man. Not married, it appeared, but not my type either.

  Next, I took a look at Dax Hunter. Now, this is a man! Strong. Built. Gorgeous. Just my type. I felt a tingle in my groin.

  Stop it, Oakley. I wasn’t going on a blind date! This was a job, a very serious job. In fact, the most important gig of my career. The press would be there! I nearly jumped up and down and squealed just thinking of what the publicity would do for my business!

  Again, a huge wave of excitement washed over me. I couldn’t wait. I needed this event to go perfectly, and I promised myself it would.

  Taking a notepad and pen out of my desk drawer, I clicked out of the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort website and opened the spreadsheet Congresswoman Stone’s secretary had sent me.

  Time to get serious.

  Dax

  Yesterday, my day had been filled with talking to reporters who’d called the resort for interviews. As soon as Brad had agreed to host the event, the Congresswoman’s office had released the date and location to the press.

  Today, I had an early morning meeting with the local news channel. They wanted an in-person interview and to get some shots of the venue and scenery. This wedding was turning out to be the wedding of the year. And we were hosting it.

  Apparently, I’d missed the popular TV show starring our bride and groom. The first reporter was appalled to hear that I didn’t know a thing about it. What’d she think I did all day? So, I began to lie and told the other reporters that I was, of course, a big fan.

  My phone rang well into the evening, and with the early morning meeting, I was pretty tired. But there was no time to rest. I had to get our own message out to our followers. This was a big deal for the resort, and I had to brag about it on social media. Plus, I needed to write a decent article for our blog. I was hoping to send one to the local newspapers as well. The more coverage, the better.

  My first task was to figure out who these people were. Lying to the reporters was one thing, but to write my posts, I had to know who I was writing
about. First, I watched an episode of Bethany and Jackson’s reality TV show. It was the stupidest shit I’d ever watched, but it gave me a glimpse of who they were and why the fans liked them so much. I’d be pretending real hard for the next couple of weeks, apparently. Next, I looked up Noel Stone and her husband, Peter, as well as Cooper, the groom’s younger brother. I made notes of likes and dislikes as well as personalities based on other articles on the family.

  But what about the wedding planner I was stuck working with? What was her name again? I had to glance at my notebook. Oakley Padin. I imagined her to be somewhat of a hag. A no-nonsense, knit-picking old woman who would be bossing me around all damn week. To tell you the truth, I was dreading her arrival.

  I decided I should include some details about her in my article. She must be a good wedding planner if the family chose her. I was sure they had tons of options. I Googled Oakley Padin Wedding Planning and the page popped up. The main page showed a lot of wedding pictures of brides. Walking down the aisles, cutting the cakes, dancing with the grooms. The guests were all smiles. They were nice pictures, really.

  I searched for the “About Us” button. All businesses should have one. The page loaded and I was shocked. The woman who stared at me was not only young, but hot as hell. She was wearing a dark business suit that was stylish and sexy. The suit hugged her luscious curves perfectly. Her intense, copper-colored hair was up in a stylish bun and radiant blue eyes stared back at me.

  Not my type at all, but still hotter than I’d seen in a long time. My usual good-time girl had teased blonde hair and wore miniskirts and halter tops that showed off big fake tits.

  As I read her information, her story intrigued me. She’d built her business from the ground up. That was impressive.

  There was something about this woman that struck a chord in me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but her image was burned into my brain.

  I can work with this, I thought.

  * * *