by Stratton, M.
Her skin tightened as her dizzy brain tried to figure out where he was coming from. “I . . . I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never met anyone like you.” He picked up her hand, laced his fingers through hers and looked down at them together. “Since I came here, I’ve been slowly waking up. You’ve made me wake up. See things I haven’t wanted to see in a long time. Made me take a good, long, hard look at myself. For too many years I’d lost track of who I am. Just like you, I’d buried myself in work, but now it’s time to start living. I’m saying maybe we should do this together.”
She was trying to hide the fact that she was shaking. He was getting too close, making her feel things she’d never thought possible, and she wanted it to stop. Wiggling her fingers, she tried to free her hand from his. “I’m happy for you, Ethan. Really, this is great. Live your life.”
“Why don’t you live?” he asked roughly.
“What do you mean?” She became still and frowned. “Of course I live. Every damn day.”
“No, I think you exist.” His voice turned hard. “You take care of everyone else but yourself. You won’t let anyone get close to you. Oh, sure, everyone loves you and will do anything you ask, but you only ask for the resort or the guests. You never ask for yourself. What does Samantha want?”
They sat there in silence, eyes locked, neither one of them able to break contact.
“Tell me.” He growled and grabbed her upper arms. “Tell me what you want.”
“I don’t–”
“Stop!” He hauled her up and across his lap, crushing his velvety soft lips to hers. It had been too long since a man had kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
She wanted to fight him. She didn’t want this. He was making her feel too much. Since he’d first walked into her office, she’d known there was something different about him; she’d been drawn to him, even if she hadn’t admitted it to herself. She always seemed to be looking for him. He’d tended to her, like the delicate flower he’d talked about until she was ready to blossom for only him, and there was no stopping it. Instinctively, she grabbed onto his shoulders, her fingers digging in as she tried to figure out if she wanted to pull away or melt into his kiss, knowing there really was no decision to be made.
When his tongue teased her lips, she couldn’t hold out any longer and her lips parted on a sigh. He wasted no time deepening the kiss, his arm snaking around her waist to pull her closer to him. Their bodies pressed together, they forgot where they were until the sound of applause filled the afternoon.
Scooting off his lap, Sam would have tipped over if he hadn’t held on to her. Not looking at him, she squirmed out of his grip and quickly stood up, brushing the dirt off her butt before looking up into the happy faces of her guests, still clapping at the two of them. She didn’t think she’d ever been more mortified in her life. Every single guest, including the actors in the play, had seen her lose herself to Ethan, in public.
Fighting the urge to dunk her head in the cooler, she decided to get everyone ready to leave. “Okay, everyone, show’s over. Let’s pack it up and head back.”
“We’re still stopping for ice cream, right?” Patty smirked at her.
“Yes . . . yes, of course.” She had forgotten about the ice cream.
“Excellent. I wouldn’t want you to be the only one who got a sweet treat today.” Patty laughed, turned and walked back to the stage.
Sam bent down and picked up her things without looking at Ethan, trying to hide how much he affected her, and how embarrassed she was. “I’ll meet you at the vans.” She needed some distance to figure out what she was going to do. There was no denying the fact that she was attracted to him, but she still wasn’t 100 percent sure he didn’t have an alternative motive for being at her resort.
“Wait–”
“We’ll talk later. Make sure everyone is ready, please.” She walked away before he could say anything else. She didn’t know what had gotten into her. The guests had completely slipped her mind, and they were the ones who needed her, not her traitorous body, which was still humming from the feel of his against hers. She kept telling herself this over and over with each step.
Ethan shook his head and chuckled to himself when Sam pulled into the first property he’d ever bought. They stopped in front of the ice-cream parlor, which was one of the original stores that were a part of the small strip mall he had turned around for a nice profit.
He wasn’t surprised when she was the first one through the door ensuring the employees would know she was paying for everyone, all the while still keeping an eye on her guests and making sure no one was left behind. He made sure he was the last one in the ice-cream parlor, hoping he’d be able to talk to her, as soon as possible. He was going to make sure she wasn’t wriggling off the hook. She’d melted into him so sweetly and he wanted another taste of her.
When she only glanced at him briefly out of the corner of her eye, he knew getting her to open up again wasn’t going to be easy. A grin spread across his face when she ordered a vanilla cone. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. “Ahhh, it would seem I was right. Vanilla is your favorite.” He didn’t move when her head whipped around and her eyes locked with his.
Sam didn’t say anything to him. All she did was narrow her eyes before she spoke up. “Excuse me, can I change that to raspberry?”
“Sure thing, miss.”
“That doesn’t count,” he said.
“Sure it does. I only ordered vanilla because that’s the thought you put into my head. If I hadn’t been distracted, I would have looked at their selection and chosen something else.” She tipped her chin up, daring him to challenge her.
Grinning down at her, he couldn’t help but ask, “And why were you distracted?”
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, let’s see . . .” She started ticking items off on her fingers. “I run a guest resort for the terminally ill. We’ve been in the city for hours, away from said resort, and now everyone wanted to stop for ice cream. I need to make sure we are back at a specified time since some of the guests need to take medication. I need to make sure everyone is settled in and everything is set up for tomorrow. Then once that is done, I need to go over the financial statements for last month. Then maybe I can curl up and read for fifteen minutes before I have to go bed. And that, Mr. McGregor, is if I haven’t forgotten anything or if there isn’t a new emergency waiting for me when we get back.”
“You did forget one thing,” he baited her.
“Really, and what is that?” She crossed her arms across her chest and moved away from him, resting against the counter.
Following her retreat, he leaned in and rested a hand on the counter next to her hip. “The kiss we shared.”
“Oh, that.” She waved her hand to the side.
“Yes, that, Ms. Truman.” He slowly moved in closer, his voice getting quieter with each word, not breaking eye contact. “That completely amazing, ‘touched your soul’ kiss we shared in the park.” He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent as he nuzzled her neck. “The kiss I can’t get out of my head.” He sighed against the curve of her shoulder. “The kiss I can’t wait to repeat.”
She shivered. He didn’t pull away as he waited for her next move.
“I can’t . . .” she spoke so quietly he had to strain to hear her, even though her lips were only an inch from his ear.
“Yes, we can.” He tried to put all the conviction he had behind those three little words. There was something about her that pulled at him. Made him want to be the man he was meant to be before his parents were killed and everything changed. “Don’t shut me out. Let me be there for you.”
When her head tipped toward his, he hoped his words and actions were getting through to her. He may not know what was going to happen, where he was going to end up, but at that moment, he wanted to be with her, to help her. He didn’t want to believe she was scamming people, but he was also going to make sure if she was, she’d never see what was com
ing and he’d take her down.
“I can’t deal with this right now.” Her soft voice shook in his ear.
“Ma’am?” A young voice called from across the counter. “Your ice cream . . .”
“Yes, sorry.”
As soon as she pulled away from him, he felt the loss of her. He knew it was time to retreat and reevaluate his plan. The odds of her running a scam were so low, and the odds of him being attracted to her were sky-high. When she walked over to the cash register, he turned and walked back out to the vehicles to make sure everything was ready as soon as they were all finished with their treats.
For a man who had spent so many years alone, not worrying about anyone else, he was going out of his way to make sure others were happy. He climbed up in the van’s driver’s seat and sat there in complete silence. Typically, the vans were filled with talk and laughter, everyone making the most of what little time they had left. The quiet was so different. With no chatter to take his mind off everything, he didn’t like how his thoughts started racing about Evan, the resort, and what he wanted for his future. That was something he hadn’t considered in years. His plan had always been to make as much money as possible and never get involved with anyone. It seemed everything was changing. He still checked his email every day, but he wasn’t tracking the trends anymore, or actively pursuing any developments. Granted, he couldn’t spend all the money he had, even if he tried, but that didn’t make the thrill of the chase any less.
His breath hitched. Could that be it? Samantha was so different from any other woman he’d been around. Maybe something as simple as the fact that she wasn’t falling at his feet to be his girlfriend was what was making her so attractive. Maybe after he had her, all these feelings he was having would go away.
With that thought in mind, he had to decide if he was going to continue on the track he was on, or if he was going to step back and let things stand.
Day 18
Ethan–
Tonight was campfire night. We all sat around and told stories that meant something to us. I told the story about the time our parents took us camping, or tried to anyway. After one night, we ended up in a room at the closest motel. Mom said she wasn’t made to sleep on the ground with the bugs. Remember how from then on, every time we stayed at a motel, we called it camping?
Evan
The next day, Sam was too busy to think about the kiss from the day before or what it meant. She was in the main kitchen making sure they had everything they needed for the campfire. Every few weeks, depending on what was going on and the amount of guests they had, they would plan a campfire where everyone would sit around and tell stories that held significance to them, about growing up, family or the people who meant something to them. They could talk about whatever was on their mind that day, what they wanted to share. She made sure each story was recorded and preserved for the future. She never knew which relatives would want something from their loved one after they’d passed. Sam kept these precious stories safe for the future.
She liked to think it wasn’t only for the family members. It was also for the future of the human race. In the past, people would write letters to each other, something that documented what people were feeling or what experiences they had. With technology came the lack of personalization and historical facts. Maybe one day, these stories would tell a future generation what life was like.
Arranging everything on the trays, she placed them on the cart and went to her office to check on the waiting list. It was a sad fact that the list was always changing. Either people wanted to come, or they didn’t make it long enough to stay. Once she’d updated her information, she closed down her computer for the night and went to set everything up around the fire.
It hadn’t been hard to stay away from Ethan. She’d been so busy; but last night, while she laid in bed alone staring up at the ceiling, she longed for another kiss. Strange how something so simple, that some people did every day, and often, meant so much to her. Before her parents had gotten so sick, she’d been in a relationship, one which hadn’t been strong enough to support her and understand her need to be there for her parents. Afterwards, the grief had been too much and then she’d started Last Resort. There hadn’t been any time for romance, and in the long run, that worked for her.
If she was being honest with herself, she knew Ethan wasn’t going to stay at the ranch forever. Why would he? He had his business to run and Last Chance was vastly different from where he spent all of his time, not to mention the difference in the types of people. She knew it would be better if she forgot any romantic fantasies she may have started to imagine between them.
Walking back into the kitchen, she frowned when her cart, which held everything for the campfire, was missing. Looking around, she told herself she wasn’t going crazy; she had left it right there. She glanced out the window and saw Ethan taking the cart up to the site, his broad shoulders filling the light jacket he had on. It was going to be a chilly night, which worked out perfectly. She hated to admit it, but she’d gotten used to Ethan doing a little something for her each and every day. He was taking it seriously, the fact that he thought she needed someone to make her life easier. It didn’t make getting used to the knowledge he’d be leaving her any easier, though. Making sure she didn’t forget anything, she closed the door behind her and enjoyed the crisp air as she walked up the path to the campfire.
The fire had already been lit and a pile of wood lay nearby, the smoky smell already permeating the air as the flames flickered as dusk fell. The guests started arriving and soon enough, everyone had a seat. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but Ethan was sitting next to her, a serious expression on his face as he nodded to her. They still hadn’t spoken a word.
She tried to block out his presence next to her, but it was impossible. His scent was all around her and the heat from his body reached out toward hers, teasing her to move closer. It took all her strength to ignore his pull.
They always spent time cooking hot dogs over the open flame, and of course, s’mores. Depending on the guest’s talents, sometimes they’d sing, other times they might tell ghost stories, but there would always be laughter before things turned serious and they started videotaping the personal stories.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” said Patty, “was telling my daughter I had cancer, and when things got too bad, I was coming here. See I couldn’t have kids. We adopted Erika when she was a baby and she was by far, the best thing that ever happened to me. She was the constant in my life. Her father and I split when she was two, so it was just the two of us against the world. Music and books had always been deep in my soul and I wanted to make sure she had the same love as I did for my two passions, and she did. We always had music on and I’d encourage her to sing. She has an amazing voice. She’s my angel. There’s an old Helen Reddy song, “You and Me Against the World,” that was us. We traveled the world together, both in books and in real life. We’d always try to find the best Chinese restaurant wherever we went.” She laughed. “And some of them, oh my, they were so terrible. But this one place, The Makaha, we found that one when we went to Boston, I’m still thinking about that food.” She paused for a moment. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I miss the rest of my family something fierce, my sister, Barb, and her husband, Sten, but I know they’re helping my baby girl. I was able to say everything I needed to them, how much I loved them and would always be with them. My daughter has her own personal guardian angel looking over her once I’m gone. There’s no way anyone is going to hurt my baby girl, not if I have anything to say about it.”
Sam took a tissue out of her pocket and wiped at her eyes. Patty had told the same story at every campfire she’d been to since she arrived. She missed her daughter so badly and wanted to hang on to that love for as long as possible.
Thomas McClain, or Tommy to his friends here, was next. He had colon cancer and was fading fast. This was going to be his last campfire. “Kids, the best and worst thing that could
ever happen to you. The best, that’s the easy stuff, to love them unconditionally, that easy. The worst part, the hard part is knowing you’re going to fail them. Some way, somehow you’re not going to be good enough for them. All I could do is try the best I could.” He shook his head and laughed humorlessly. “You know my kid, he got me sober. When I think back to what I put him through when he was so young, it kills me. When I was drinking so bad, I’d black out on him, but that kid, Derrick, is stronger than I ever was. I used to take him on gigs. I remember he loved them. Sat there like a good boy, all quiet so as to not cause trouble for me, and he really listened. You know, I’d like to think that’s what makes him such a great narrator, by listening through life he can make the voices from the books come alive when he records them. I’d like to think I’m the reason he’s pursuing his dreams, so that even when I’m gone, a bit of me still remains.”
“Up to this point I have never let the Hodgkin’s disease slow me down,” Edward Willbanks said. “Being in the Navy, especially in Vietnam, I always worked hard and played hard. Those damn doctor’s didn’t give me much of a chance, but I showed them. Coming up on ten years since I was first diagnosed. My wife and two girls are so important to me. No matter how hard or long I worked before I was diagnosed, to how crappy I felt after the chemo treatments, I always made time for my girls. But after they told me about the Hodgkin’s, I knew I had to fight. Tabitha was only six, and I wanted to make more memories with them. In a way, I fought so hard because of them, because of my love of them.”