Mountain Cure (Stone Brothers Duet, #2)

by Jadin, Bethany

  “Oh my God, yes,” she says, closing her eyes with a blissful sigh. “My feet are always so damn cold. How did you guys know?”

  Colt laughs. “Because you wedge your feet between my calves at night, and they’re colder than Daisy’s paws after she’s been playing in the snow all day.”

  Addie grins, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. “Oh, shit. Oops.”

  I raise my eyes and look at Addie while pointing at my oldest brother. “Maybe he just doesn’t get to sleep beside you anymore, if he’s going to complain about it.”

  “I wasn’t fucking complaining,” Colt growls. “You could be dipped in dry ice and that wouldn’t keep me away.”

  She shakes her head with a grin before clapping her hands together. “Okay, my turn!”

  Addie hops up and practically skips over to the tree before diving onto all fours, searching through the brightly wrapped presents under it.

  When she stands up, she has three gifts piled in her arms. “Here we go, one for each of you, then let’s have breakfast.”

  She hands them out to us and points at Remi. “You first. Go for it.”

  He peels the paper away from his gift then opens the non-descript wooden box beneath. He lets out a low whistle of appreciation. “Damn, that’s a fine sight.”

  “It’s the first of twelve,” Addie explains. “One a month. I know you have your favorite, but I thought since we’re all trying new things lately...”

  Remi plucks the bottle of amber liquid from the box and holds it up for us as he reads the label. “Aged Kentucky bourbon. I know what I’m having tonight. Thanks, sweetheart.”

  He stands and gives Addie a kiss before cracking the top open and taking a big whiff. “Hell yeah, this is going to be nice.”

  “You next,” Addie says, turning to Colt.

  He examines his present from all angles then finally chooses an end and begins carefully separating the tape from the wrapping paper.

  Addie waits patiently, her hands clasped together with anticipation as she watches him, but Christ — my stomach is growling for food, and I’d like to open my own gift from Addie sometime before I die.

  “For godssake, it’s going to be Christmas next year before you’re done. Hurry the hell up,” I say, ready to rip the paper off his damn box, myself.

  If anything, Colt just goes slower and by the time he finally gets it unwrapped, Remi looks ready to brand him with a hot poker iron, too.

  “Oh, shit,” he says, his eyes roving over the box. “Is this what’s really in here?”

  Addie nods with a big grin. “Yes.”

  Colt retrieves a sleek, silver laptop from the box and opens it up. “Wow.”

  “It’ll connect to the Bluetooth in the truck and the mobile hotspot on your phone.”

  “We have Bluetooth in the truck?” Remi interjects.

  “Yes.” Colt rolls his eyes with a huff. “And now I won’t have to do all the emailing and orders on my phone. Sweet. This is amazing, Addie.”

  He sets the laptop to the side then grabs the bottom of Addie’s robe and tugs on it, pulling her off balance and she falls into his lap with a squeal of delight.

  He wraps a hand around the back of her head and brings her lips to his for a long, lingering kiss that quickly becomes more playful and passionate than a simple thank you.

  “Goddamn it,” I growl. “What does a guy have to do to get a fucking turn around here?”

  Addie untangles herself from Colt with a laugh and waves at me. “Sorry. Please, open yours.”

  I don’t take it nice and slow. I love presents, and I especially love that look of joy Addie has this morning. I shred the paper in seconds and rip open the box beneath.

  My eyes widen, and I take out a headset and a large tablet-looking device.

  “The headphones are wireless,” Addie tells me, “and I made sure they’re heavy duty enough to act as ear protection while you’re out in the shop listening to your books on your ereader.”

  She snatches up the tablet and powers it on before handing it back to me. “I already added a bunch of new audiobooks to your library, see? I downloaded them right onto the device, so you don’t need an internet connection up to stream them. Check it out.”

  I read off some of the titles. “Interstellar Mates. Captured by the Warriors. Their Galactic Bride.”

  Colt lets out a snort. “You got him romance books?”

  “Scifi Space Romance,” Addie corrects, pursing her lips and shooting him a shut-up look.

  My brother just shakes his head with a chuckle.

  “Don’t worry,” she says, her gaze returning to me, “there’s all sorts of fight scenes and bloody battles and cool space weapons in these, too. There’s just... some steamy stuff, too. But I figured you wouldn’t mind that too much.”

  “Check it out,” I say, holding up the device to display one of the covers to my brothers. “Three dudes, one chick. You assholes can thank me for all the new positions later.”

  It's my turn to pull Addie into my arms. “I love all of it, dirty girl. Thank you.”

  “Maybe we can listen to some of them together?” she asks, resting that sexy ass of hers on my thighs, a devilish smile on her lips.

  “Hell yes,” I tell her, slipping my hand under the edge of her robe. “Maybe starting right fucking now. We can check out those steamy scenes you mentioned.”

  Addie laughs. “I thought we were supposed to be having breakfast next. Oh!” She straightens up suddenly. “That reminds me — I almost forgot!”

  She pushes off of me and pads over to the kitchen in her new fluffy slippers and reaches into the back of the fridge.

  “One more present,” she tells us over her shoulder.

  The package she comes back with looks like a giant turkey leg or a small ham wrapped in shiny green paper complete with a bow.

  She sits down on the hearth, and Daisy is beside her immediately, her nose going wild as she sniffs at the reindeer-themed wrapping paper. Addie pinches a piece of paper right at the center and offers it. “Right here, girl. Pull.”

  Daisy paws at it for a moment, her claws ripping through it before getting a mouthful of paper and tearing it off faster than I unwrapped my gift. It’s a short half second before she’s unveiled a massive bone.

  I swear I can see Daisy’s eyes light up as she accepts the offering daintily and carries it over to a wide, open spot on the floor. She circles twice before flopping down and settling in to begin nibbling on it.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” Remi asks.

  “I can’t claim total credit for the idea,” Addie replies. “Something Natalie said the other day about the beef they process, and that got me thinking. I called a vet in town, and they said raw beef bones, like that shank, are generally safe as long as you take them away before they get chewed down small enough to swallow. So, I asked Natalie if I could get some for Daisy, and she told me we could have as many as we wanted.”

  “Damn, why didn’t we think of that?” Colt muses, watching the golden retriever gnawing on the bone. “That is one happy dog,”

  I clear my throat and exchange a look with my brothers. “Speaking of Daisy,” I begin, “how do you feel about taking her for a walk after breakfast?”

  Addie tilts her head, looking at me quizzically. “Since when does Daisy need to be walked?”

  “Not on a leash... I mean, just, you know... walking. Down the road or something.” I squirm a little as Addie stares at me.

  Colt takes up the cause next. “I’m sure she’d love to have your company for a while. And you could get some fresh air.”

  Addie crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at us. “The air is just fine, right here. Are you guys trying to get rid of me?”

  “Dammit, woman,” Remi huffs. “Just bundle up and take that dog for a walk and stop asking so many damn questions.”

  “And try not to fall down any ravines while you’re out there this time,” I add. “That would seriously interfere with the res
t of our plans for the day.”

  When we’re done with breakfast, Addie dutifully gets dressed in warm clothes and pulls on her jacket, eyeing us suspiciously the whole time.

  Daisy bounds out the door and Addie follows her, heading down our long driveway. Colt watches them from the kitchen window, and as soon as they’re out of sight we jump into action.

  We work fast, dismantling and rearranging our beds, hustling back and forth from the workshop to the cabin to switch things out.

  It seems like no time at all before we hear a knock on the door and Addie’s voice calling out, “Can I come in yet? Daisy and I are done with our walk. Well, I am, anyway. She’s bounced off into the woods again.”

  “Just a sec,” Colt yells, grabbing an armful of pillows from where we stashed them on the couch.

  He tosses them at me, and I arrange them quickly while Remi straightens the comforters. For now, we’ll have to use two to cover all of us, but soon the giant, custom-made ones will arrive.

  Colt looks over his shoulder before he opens the door, checking that everything’s in place. He greets Addie and leads her inside, his hands over her eyes.

  He leads her over to our big, new bed and lifts his hands. She does a double-take and stares in surprise. “Holy crap, where did this come from?”

  “You like it?” Colt asks.

  She walks around the massive bed, taking it in, and her eyes land on the headboard.

  “I’d know that craftsmanship anywhere,” she says, pointing at it. “Is this what you’ve been doing when you’ve disappeared outside every day for hours?”

  I give her a smile. “Maybe.”

  Remi joins her at the head of the bed. “It’s not done, so we’ll have to take it back out to the workshop for a few days — we didn’t have time to do the layers of finish yet. But we wanted to surprise you.”

  “Well, I’m definitely surprised,” she says with a huff of joyful laughter.

  “This big slab of wood is something we’ve been hanging onto for a while,” Colt tells her. “Remi’s the one who came up with the idea of what we should do with it, and as soon as he told us about it, we knew we wanted it to be a Christmas present — something for all of us.”

  “It’s amazing,” she says, running a hand across the grain of the wood. “I love it, guys. But how did you find a mattress this size? It looks way bigger than a king.”

  “It’s about two feet wider, yeah,” Remi confirms. “But this is just temporary.”

  “The framing platform is new — we built it. But right now it’s just two of our double mattresses on top, pushed together,” Colt explains. “But we’ve ordered a specialty mattress that will be about the same size. Custom orders take a couple weeks, so this will have to make do for a while.”

  She chokes out a laugh, her expression full of emotion. “Make do? This is awesome.”

  “Now you won’t have to choose which bed to sleep in each night,” I say.

  “Which is just... just amazing,” she says, her eyes shining. “Although, if I’m honest, I might miss you guys bickering with each other about it.”

  She trails her fingers along the edge of the bed, looking at it like it’s the best thing she’s ever laid eyes on.

  I move closer and take her by the hand. Her eyes meet mine, and I give her a devilish smile. “So, what do you say, dirty girl? Wanna test this bad boy out?”

  “Right now?” Addie raises her eyebrows with a grin. “You do remember we have a Christmas dinner to go to, right? And lots more gifts under that tree to open.”

  I pull her into my arms and hold her tight, my pulse racing at the thought of getting her naked, and my heart full at the knowledge that she’s ours.

  “We love you Adeline Spencer,” I say, sweeping my lips across hers. “And the only present we need is you.”

  Epilogue

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW warm it is up here.” Addie peels her scarf away from her neck.

  It’s the last day of December, but the weather has been fucking perfect. A thick sheet of snow is on the ground, and the temperature is right about freezing, but there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun is beating down on the white-blanketed terrain around us, reflecting the rays and making me sweat under my flannels.

  “One more,” I tell her, pointing at the last high ridge where big boulders escape the cover of snow.

  We left the snow mobiles behind a good couple hours ago, because Addie’s knee is pretty well healed and the rocky, steep pitch of the mountain as it climbs toward the peak is tough on the spindles and suspension.

  Besides, Addie wanted to reach Dante’s Peak on foot, and our woman gets what our woman wants.

  Addie’s become reinvigorated by the nearness of her goal, and our upward trudge turns into a scramble to be the first to crest the ridge and make it onto the wide plateau.

  I pick my path strategically as we make our way up the last few hundred yards, and I manage to get ahead of both of my brothers. I’m neck and neck with Addie as we climb over the boulders and onto the wide expanse of flat earth beyond.

  The terrain below us opens up into a panoramic view of Meadowbrook in the far distance below and the mountains that wrap around it, like land hugging the sea in a sheltered bay.

  It takes my breath away every fucking time I’m up here. I tear my gaze away from the view and turn to Addie, because she’s utterly silent.

  She’s standing with her hand over her mouth, drinking it in. The way the bright golden light of the sun shines overhead as it slowly moves across the sky to begin its descent in the west. How the long, winter rays highlight the color of the evergreens that peek through the blanket of frosty snow, turning the mountains the most gorgeous shades of icy green and blue tones. The picturesque town nestled in the valley, looking like a village gently placed inside a snow globe. The layers of mountain ridges that fade toward the horizon, each a slightly different hue.

  “Oh,” Addie says quietly, almost under her breath. “Oh... wow.”

  Colt and Wes make it up behind us, and our oldest brother wraps his arm around her shoulders. “What do you think?”

  “It’s... it’s just stunning,” she says, her voice full of awe. “Absolutely gorgeous. Oh! Look at the resort. It’s just a little speck.”

  “As it should be,” I huff. “Up here, it’s just us and nature.”

  That smile of hers is contagious. “I finally made it.”

  “You sure did,” I say, smiling.

  “It only took three tries, falling down a ravine, and getting knocked unconscious.” She’s laughing at herself, but there’s a gleam of pride shining in her eyes.

  “It’s a tough hike, even for people who do this kind of shit all the time,” Colt tells her. “You did good, sweetheart.”

  “As long as you don’t fall down the side on the way back down,” Wes says. “I mean, we know how much you love falling into our arms, but you don’t have to do anything so dramatic to grab our attention this time.”

  Addie delivers a solid punch to his chest, a smirk on her lips. Wes feigns pain, rubbing the spot.

  It was a good hike, indeed, and now my adrenaline is up, and my pulse is racing, but not just because of the steep climb. I eye Colt’s coat pocket that he has zipped up tight.

  “How about now?” I ask in a whisper.

  He shoots a reprimanding glance at me and hisses. “Let the lady enjoy the scenery for a moment. Christ.”

  Wes removes his backpack and sets it on the ground. “Here you go, babe.”

  He reaches inside and offers Addie her new camera. She lights up like she forgot it was in there and immediately settles the strap around her neck. She steps away from us, contemplating the countryside before lifting the camera and snapping a few pictures. She walks a little further, her eyes searching the distance, then up comes the camera for a couple more snaps.

  I bounce back and forth like a boxer. “Goddamn it, I can’t wait any longer.”

  Colt rolls his eyes at me. “You ar
e such a fucking child.”

  Wes backhands his arm with a light slap. “Leave off it. You know he has no damn patience.”

  “Come on, Colt, don’t be an asshole.” I lift my chin at him, my eyes locked onto that front breast pocket of his coat. “You know you wanna do it now, too.”

  Our oldest brother shakes his head. “That isn’t the plan. We were going to do the sandwiches and everything – you know, the picnic.”

  “Fuck the sandwiches,” I whisper with a growl. “We can have the picnic after. I want to give Addie her gift.”

  “Dude,” Wes says to Colt. “Let’s just do it now. He won’t let up.”

  Colt sighs in the way he does when he’s relenting. “Okay, fine. But I get to do it.”

  I nod in triumph. “Then get to it, old man.”

  He gives me that fuck off look before calling out to Addie, “Hey, sweetheart, bring that fine ass back over here. We’ve got something for you.”

  Addie turns, an amused smile on her face. “Oh yeah? If it’s what I think it is, I’ve seen it, boys. All three of them. Impressive, yeah, but I think it could wait until we’re not in front of God and every woodland creature known to man.”

  That makes us laugh, and Colt shoots her a reprimanding look. “Smartass. Don’t tempt me to strip you down and get you all wet and ready right here, because I’ll fucking do it.”

  Wes waves her over. “This is an actual gift, we promise.”

  She walks over slowly, like we’re going to spring a jack-in-the-box at her. “You guys got me plenty for Christmas already.”

  Colt unzips his coat pocket and removes a small box. Addie’s caution slips from her face, her features transforming into curious anticipation.

  Wes and I step forward on either side of them, making a little circle out of the four of us.

  Our brother clears his throat, preparing himself, turning the box in his fingers. He lifts his eyes and looks at Addie, and when he speaks his voice has a catch in it. “This used to be our moms. We want you to have it now.”

  He opens the lid to reveal a little silver pendent. Well, not really silver. We couldn’t afford that back when we were barely old enough to drive. It’s just some inexpensive alloy. But it’s not the medium that mattered to us, it was the message.