by Sherry Lewis
Annie touched his shoulder gently. “I’m so sorry, Gary. I had no idea. Does she still live around here?”
He shook his head miserably. “No, but I stayed because I kept hoping she’d come back and give me a second chance. That won’t happen now unless she divorces her new husband.”
Annie felt her stomach knot in sympathy. “I don’t think all that news made it to the family grapevine.”
Gary tried to grin but managed just a shadow of his usual cocky smile. “I don’t tell my mother everything.”
Annie followed his lead and tried to add a little laughter to the moment, but her voice caught and the words came out thick with emotion. “See what holding everything inside gets you? I hope you’ll learn a lesson from this.”
“I probably won’t.”
They strolled for a few minutes without speaking before Gary broke the silence. “Think you’ll ever get married again?”
“I don’t know. What about you?”
“I think about it, but I’m not sure marriage is something I’m any good at.”
“It’s not one of my hidden talents,” Annie admitted. Dean’s voice sounded again, a little closer this time, and her step faltered. When she realized Gary was watching her, she gave up trying to be clever and nodded toward the trees. “Why hasn’t he ever been married?”
“Who? Dean?” Gary glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “Why are you asking me?”
“Fine.” Annie made a face at him, stopped beside a boulder nearly twice her size and leaned against it. “If you won’t gossip about your best friend, I’ll ask him myself. Did you know him when he had his accident?”
“I met him while he was still recovering, just before he moved here for good.” Gary perched on an outcropping on the boulder. “Tell me the truth, Annie. Why so curious? Tell me what’s really going on between you and Dean.”
Annie tried to regain the teasing note they’d enjoyed just a few seconds earlier. “Is that why you told me about Shannon? So you’d have something to hold over my head?”
“Not exactly. But if it works…”
“Well, you made a bad deal this time, cousin. There’s nothing to tell.”
Gary made a noise like a buzzer on a game show. “Wrong answer. Evading is acceptable but not encouraged. Outright lying earns you a fifty-point penalty.”
Annie smiled. “I’ll take the penalty.” She tilted her head and studied the stars through the branches overhead, but that brought back memories of that evening she’d shared with Dean on the porch. She closed her eyes for the length of a sigh and wondered why she didn’t just tell Gary the truth.
He knew Dean as well or better than anyone else, and he knew her. He might be able to help her understand the conflicting feelings that were raging inside of her.
She opened her eyes again and found Gary waiting, as if he’d read her thoughts and knew she was about to relent. “If you must know, I think I’m falling in love with him.”
The twin swags of Gary’s mustache twitched. “And…?”
Annie laughed uneasily. “Isn’t that enough? I’m not even divorced yet. I’m still working through the issues caused by Spence’s betrayal. I’ve lost the career I’ve worked my entire life to build. My daughter wants me to put my marriage back together, but there’s no way I can do that, even to make her happy. In a few months I’ll be single and living alone in a new state. This isn’t exactly the best time to be making big life decisions.” She let out a breath when she finished and felt her shoulders sag as if something heavy had been lifted from them.
Gary nodded slowly. “Nobody ever said you were standing in a comfortable spot.”
“No. No, they didn’t.”
“And I guess you do have a few things to work through.”
“I think that’s safe to say.”
He slid from the boulder and smoothed the legs of his jeans as the sound of approaching footsteps reached them through the trees. “I can’t tell you what to do, Annie. But I can tell you that love isn’t waiting around every corner. Dean’s a good man. One of the best you’ll ever find, bar none. He’s honest and he’s faithful and he’s as trustworthy as a person can be.”
The footsteps stopped and Annie knew that Dean had come up behind her. Every nerve was aware of him, every sense picked up his presence. She could smell his aftershave, feel the heat from his body and see his shadow on the boulder.
Gary brushed a kiss to her cheek and whispered, “Just don’t let fear keep you from going after a little happiness. Believe me, nursing regrets is no way to live.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ANNIE TURNED SLOWLY and found herself looking into Dean’s curious gaze. He tilted his head toward Gary’s rapidly retreating back. “What was all that about?”
“We were just talking about life decisions and regrets.”
Dean’s smile faded and his eyes filled with concern. “He has a few. But, then, I guess we all do.”
“Some more than others, I guess.” Annie brushed a lock of hair from her shoulder and tugged the hem of her sweatshirt over her hips. “Gary was advising me to avoid them.”
“Oh?” Dean’s brows rose and he took a step closer—close enough to hover over her. A tuft of hair peeked out over the open buttons of his shirt. The subtle scents of soap, aftershave and fresh air filled the space between them. He moved close enough to hover over her. “What does he think you’ll regret?”
“He thinks I’ll regret leaving here.”
“Is he right?”
“I won’t know for sure unless I leave, but he could be.”
Dean took her hand in his and pulled her closer. “So his advice is for you to stay?”
Annie nodded again and tried to shake off the almost mesmerizing pull he had on her. “Yes, but I don’t know that staying is the right answer. That’s the problem. I don’t know anything.” She hadn’t planned to tell him everything, but she found herself blurting, “Spence has asked me to come back to Holladay House.”
Dean’s eyes darkened. “Is that what you want to do?”
“Yes and no. Holladay House was the project of my heart, my only real success besides Nessa. I poured my whole self into the restaurant, and Spence walked away with everything.” She shook her head quickly and added, “I don’t mean to imply that Spence didn’t work hard. He did, and he still does. Maybe too hard at times. But at least he has something to show for his efforts.”
She pulled her hand away from Dean’s and turned partially away. “The thought of working with him again isn’t very appealing, but at least I could stay with Nessa.” She turned back quickly. “But if I go…” She averted her gaze from the flash of pain in his eyes. “I’ve tried being logical about this, but that’s not working so well. I don’t think I’m ready to make any big decisions right now.”
Dean reached for her again and she went to him eagerly. “I would never push you,” he said gently. “You have to do what you think is best. But before you make any decisions, you deserve to know exactly how I feel.”
He was right—even if it made her decision harder. “How do you feel?” she whispered.
Dean’s expression softened and the veil over his eyes dropped completely. “I’m in love with you.” He moved closer and the air seemed to leave Annie’s lungs. She tried to catch a breath, but he was too close, his eyes too dark, his expression too intense. He moved his hand up her arm with agonizing slowness. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I want you to stay and run the Eagle’s Nest with me.”
“I want that, too, when I’m standing with you at a moment like this. But if I did stay, I’d be walking into the same situation I had with Spence, and that frightens me. I applied to the institute because I want—no, I need to succeed or fail on my own.”
Dean pulled her closer. “We could work all that out if you stayed.”
“But the Eagle’s Nest is only open in the summers. It would never support both of us, and I’d get bored to death working four or five months out of the year.�
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“So we’d open in the fall for hunters, and in the winter for snowmobilers. The Eagle’s Nest can be anything we want it to be.”
Annie knew what a risk he was taking and how hard it was for him to make this offer. The touch of his hand and the expression in his eyes were almost enough to sway her. But Annie couldn’t think of anything more dangerous than letting moonlight and romance affect her decision.
Dean moved closer and she knew he was going to kiss her. She told herself to turn and walk away before they did something they’d both regret, but she couldn’t make her feet move. “Don’t, Dean.” But it was only a token protest, and they both knew it.
He ran his hands gently along her shoulders. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t do this.” She tried to remember every logical reason why she didn’t want him to cloud her judgment, but she couldn’t summon any of them while he grazed her forehead with his lips. “I can’t think when you do that. I’m not going to make a decision…”
The rest of her objections were cut off as his lips covered hers. Every cell in Annie’s body wanted to resist, but the emotions swirling through her had all the power. She knew she should pull away, but didn’t move.
A soft moan caught in her throat as his tongue grazed the opening between her lips and when he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him, she wanted even more. Heat radiated from the center of her belly and she could have sworn the earth crumbled beneath her feet.
She was riding the clouds with him. Nothing else mattered. No one else existed. She slipped her arms around his neck and worked her fingers into his hair. His tongue probed her mouth gently, giving and taking at the same time. Her hands fell to his shoulders and she gripped them tightly. If one shoulder was damaged, she never would have known it. Muscles bunched beneath the skin, and the solid wall of his chest and back made her feel safe and in imminent danger at the same time.
As his fingers tangled in her hair, she gave in to the sheer luxury of being desired. His hands cupped her head and held her, as if he was afraid she’d pull away. All of her fears evaporated in the intensity of the moment and she clung to him with a fierceness that surprised her.
Too soon, he stilled, released her and stepped away.
She blinked open her eyes, too stunned even to be hurt. He was staring at something just over her shoulder, and the expression on his face chilled her to the core. Annie turned to see what he was looking at…just in time to see horror flash across Nessa’s face as she pivoted away and tore off up the path toward the lodge.
All the weight came crashing back to Annie’s shoulders, but she couldn’t make herself move to follow. “How much did she see?”
Dean shook his head. “I don’t know. I just opened my eyes and she was there.”
Annie thought she might be sick. She was torn between the desire to stay and the need to go. The fear that Dean would misread her decision if she followed Nessa, that Nessa would jump to the wrong conclusion if she didn’t.
“She’s still too upset over the divorce,” Annie finally whispered. “I’m sorry, but I can’t ignore this.”
Dean waved her toward the lodge. “No, you can’t. Go to her, Annie. She needs you.”
Annie brushed a quick kiss to his cheek, wishing she could stay but so grateful for his understanding her heart ached. She ran along the path, searching the shadows in case Nessa had veered off the trail at some point. She had no idea how she’d explain what her daughter had just seen, but she had to try.
She dashed into the clearing and caught a glimpse of Nessa running toward the stables as if her life were in danger. Annie turned to follow just as Nessa raced in through the open doors—straight into Tyler’s arms.
Annie ground to a halt and watched, numb with disbelief as Tyler wrapped his arms around Nessa and brushed a kiss to the top of her head. Obviously, this wasn’t their first embrace, and half of Annie’s heart shrieked in protest. The other recognized the intensity of feeling behind what she was witnessing.
She bent at the waist and gripped her knees, trying to catch her breath and thinking frantically. Nessa was too young to be involved in a serious relationship. Too young. Yet with everything that was going on in Annie’s heart, how could she tell her daughter to ignore the whispers in her own?
She stood there for several minutes while Nessa talked and Tyler listened. When he slipped his arm around her waist and led her out of the stables toward the lodge, Annie pulled back into the shadow of a pine tree. Their moment was so tender, so real, it brought tears to her eyes, and she was even less certain what to say to Nessa now than she’d been five minutes earlier.
Not so long ago, Nessa had come to Annie over every problem. Now she was turning to someone else and Annie was the problem. It seemed the harder Annie tried, the worse things became.
AT A LITTLE AFTER ELEVEN o’clock that night, Annie tapped softly on Nessa’s door. She’d put off talking to her daughter long enough. Sooner or later, she’d have to address the kiss Nessa had seen, and the embrace she’d witnessed between Nessa and Tyler. The discussion wouldn’t get easier with time.
When Nessa didn’t answer, Annie knocked a second time. When her third knock still didn’t produce results, Annie turned the doorknob and let herself into the room. At first she thought Nessa was asleep already, but as she turned to go the undisturbed silence hit her. There was no sound of breathing, no rustle of covers as Nessa moved in her sleep. In fact, there was no sound at all.
Heart pounding, Annie turned on the light just to prove herself right. Nessa’s bed hadn’t even been touched, and that sent a different kind of uneasiness through Annie. She hurried down the outside stairs through the rising wind. But it didn’t surprise her to find the bathroom stalls and showers empty.
The tender embrace she’d witnessed between Nessa and Tyler came rushing back to haunt her, along with a deep pang of guilt that she’d inadvertently pushed Nessa too far by kissing Dean. She raced back upstairs, telling herself with every step that she shouldn’t jump to conclusions. But her insistent knock on Tyler’s door didn’t get any response, either.
That still didn’t mean the worst, she told herself. She should be relieved the kids weren’t in one of their bedrooms. It meant they could be anywhere, doing something perfectly harmless. They could be in the kitchen having a midnight snack. Sitting on the porch in the swing. Or walking in the woods.
That possibility didn’t make Annie feel a whole lot better.
She considered knocking on Dean’s door or Gary’s, but she didn’t want to seem foolish or worry anyone else unless she had to. Instead, she hurried down the stairs and checked the front porch, then felt her way through the darkened great room into the kitchen. But it was empty, too.
The wind sighed through the rafters and made Annie even more nervous. Tugging the edges of her robe together, she grabbed a flashlight from the pantry and let herself out the back door. She walked carefully across the uneven ground, doing her best to avoid stepping on any sharp pebbles in her thin slippers.
She could have turned back for shoes, but what if she was too late? What if…
A strong gust of wind made her shiver—or maybe it was just the possibility that Nessa could be getting ready to set the course of her future now before she was even old enough to know what she wanted. Remembering what Dean had told her about Carol only made Annie more nervous. She couldn’t let Nessa make that kind of mistake.
After what felt like an hour, she reached the stable door, lifted the latch and let herself inside. She stopped on the threshold and trained her light on the hay-strewn floors and wooden stalls.
The scents of dirt and straw mixed with the earthy aroma of horses, tearing a sneeze from her. She froze, listening intently for hurried footsteps or startled whispers. But the only thing she could hear were the snuffs and snorts of horses, who didn’t appreciate a midnight visitor.
She walked inside and closed the door behind her. After a few minutes, her eyes began to adjust to th
e darkness and her ears grew attuned to the animal sounds. Just over the scuffling of hooves, she heard the soft hum of voices coming from a little distance away.
Annie listened carefully, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She moved toward the sound, steeling herself for the worst and praying for the best. The voices grew steadily stronger as she walked, and by the time she reached the door to the paddock, she could make out bits and pieces of conversation.
“What would I do if I stayed?” Tyler’s voice rose loud enough for Annie to hear him easily. “After the tourists are gone, there’s not going to be much to do in a town like Whistle River—except, maybe, ride cows.”
“That sounds like fun,” Nessa said. “Better than hanging out at the mall.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
“I’m serious. I’d ride cows if you did.”
The conversation sounded innocent enough, Annie supposed. But just to be sure, she inched closer and tried to see through a chink in the boards. The hole was too small to let her see more than a faint glow that must have been coming from a flashlight.
Tyler laughed and their voices dropped again. Someone moved, and suddenly Annie could see Tyler standing a little apart from Nessa. She sighed softly with relief and told herself there really wasn’t anything to worry about. It was late and both kids should come back to the lodge, but at least they weren’t in the middle of a tryst.
While she tried to decide how to call them back into the lodge without appearing to spy on them, the wind gusted and a piece of dirt flew through the chink into her eye. Gasping sharply, Annie stepped back into the wall behind her and set metal tools clanging.