by Lily Thorn
“Oh. Sorry.” He was being an idiot. Cade gestured to the bed. “Here they are. Nice and dry.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you made me come out here on purpose,” she teased.
Emboldened by his bear’s desires, Cade gazed into her eyes. “What if I did?”
She didn’t seem to have an answer to that. Her eyes flicked down to his abs. She looked back up, blushing furiously.
So she wanted him, too.
Inside, his bear was roaring for him to cross the room and rip off her towel. His pulse pounded in his ears. He had taken a single step forward when there was a knock on his door.
“Cade?” His mother pushed the door open. “Can I talk to you for a—” She stopped abruptly, spotting Tess. “Oh, hello dear.”
Tess mumbled something, then ducked into the bathroom.
“Mom.” Cade ushered her back into the hall. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry, honey. Your door was open. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
“I’m fine. I promise. I’ll talk to you later.”
His mother regarded him. “You didn’t seem fine when you left our meeting, but we can talk later. Are you coming to dinner?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see.” He ran a hand through his hair. Why had his mother chosen now, of all possible times, to seek him out? He found it hard to care about dinner at the moment.
“Well, we’ll save a plate for you. Does your friend want any dinner?”
Cade gritted his teeth. “I’m sure she’s fine.”
“All right, all right. I’ll leave you two be. But there’s dinner for both of you if you want it.” Turning, his mother retreated down the hall.
Cade stepped back into his room, tamping down the urge to cover his face and slide to the floor with a groan.
Tess cracked open the bathroom door. “Is she gone?” she whispered.
“Yes.” Cade shut his door with a snap. “I’m really, really sorry about that.” He sighed. “Do you want to have dinner with my family? I have to offer. If I didn’t, my mom would probably flay me.”
“Your whole family will be there?” she asked.
“Yes, my parents and six brothers.”
She stared at him, openmouthed.
“Yeah, it’s a lot. To make it worse, they’re two sets of triplets, which they never let me forget.”
“You have six brothers?” she asked.
He nodded.
“No, how many do you really have?”
“Sometimes I wish it were fewer, but at least I’m the oldest. For several blissful years, they did what I said.”
She seemed fascinated. “What are their names?”
“Ethan, Jake, Logan, Dean, Adam, and Sawyer.”
“How do you even remember them all?”
He laughed. “Our father doesn’t, at least when he’s mad. He just yells all our names and expects the guilty party to come forward.”
To his immense disappointment, Tess reached for her clothes. “Is that effective?” As she retreated behind the bathroom door, Cade heard the towel drop.
“I guess. But we never could figure out why he bothered with all seven names when he usually just needed to yell Sawyer’s.”
That got a laugh out of her. She walked back into the room, dressed this time. Cade definitely preferred the wet, clinging clothes.
“I wish I could do dinner,” she said. “But I have to get home and edit these photos. If I don’t get them sent by midnight, they might go to print without me.”
“Can I take you home?” Cade asked, trying to ignore his bear’s distress at her imminent departure.
“You can walk me to my car, if you want,” she said, slinging her camera over her shoulder. “Actually, would you? I’m a bit afraid that it’s not going to start.”
“Of course.” Cade gathered her waders in his arms. “Lead the way.”
He followed her out of the lodge. As they turned onto the mountain road, he drew up alongside her. Cade found that he had to slow his pace to match hers, but he didn’t mind at all. Not when the early evening air was so crisp and clear and the last rays of sun hung over the mountain. He found it peaceful to walk with her.
“I can’t imagine having six brothers,” she said.
“How many siblings do you have?”
“None. It’s just me.”
“Wow.” Cade couldn’t even imagine. “Your house must have been pretty quiet.”
“Not really. My parents spent enough time screaming at each other, at least when my dad was home.” She fiddled with her camera strap. “Sorry. That’s probably more than you wanted to know.”
Tess pointed. “There’s my car,” she said abruptly. “Thanks for walking me back.”
“Don’t mention it.”
She hopped in, placing her camera lovingly in a padded bag on the passenger seat. “Let’s see if it’ll start,” she said, putting the key in the ignition. The engine coughed and sputtered. Cade frowned. He really didn’t want her to drive down the mountain in that.
“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” he asked. “I could even hitch you up to our truck and tow you into town.”
Tess turned the key again, and the engine wheezed to life. “It’s fine,” she called. She stepped on the gas pedal, but two of the wheels were caught in a deep rut, and the other two didn’t seem able to get them out.
“You’re stuck,” Cade said. “Let me give you a push.”
He shoved the car—it was pathetically easy—and she was moving.
“Thanks for everything,” she shouted over the clunking engine. “I’d stop to say goodbye, but I’m afraid my car would never start again.” She waved as she drifted down the mountain road.
Cade waved back until she swung around a curve and was gone from sight.
Deep within, his bear snarled at him.
“What was that for?” he asked. Then he buried his face in his hands. “I’m an idiot,” he muttered. He had never asked for her number, last name, or anything. How would he ever find her again?
Chapter Four
THE MATTRESS SPRINGS groaned as Tess sat on her bed. Ignoring her throbbing head, she popped the memory card into her laptop. Watched by a lone elephant in the poster above her bed, Tess got to work. She was painfully aware that rent was due next week. If she even had half, that might placate her landlord, but that would only buy her a week or so. Her landlord wasn’t exactly the forgiving type.
On her screen, tiny thumbnails of her photos appeared. Tess smiled. They looked good even at this miniscule size, especially with that golden light and the imperious mountain peak. One of these had to be worth something to Gary.
She went through the photos one by one, culling those that weren’t quite right. The photo that would help her make rent was in here. She just had to find it.
Tess scrolled through the pictures three times before she realized she wasn’t paying attention. She sighed. It was that damned Cade. She could hardly believe any part of what had happened that afternoon. As embarrassing as it was to have needed rescuing, it was worse that a man so handsome had to see her be so clumsy and stupid. However, with the way his abs rippled—she hadn’t even known abs could do that—she hadn’t totally minded.
And he had been naked. Tess blushed at the memory. She wished she hadn’t stared at him so much. He’d probably wondered if she’d been concussed. She had no reason to stare at such a devastatingly handsome man—he was way out of her league. Cade would never have even noticed her if she hadn’t been such a klutz.
Enlarging one of her photos, Tess forced herself to focus. She needed to decide if this was the best composition, or if she needed to crop off the edges. Though she could sharpen her image and slightly bump up the contrast, that was all she dared to do. Gary hated when photographers relied too much on post-production, and he always sniffed any editing out.
Luckily for her, these photos were almost perfect. Tess wrinkled her nose. Something was defi
nitely still missing. But maybe Gary wouldn’t notice with the gorgeous lighting and stunning mountain.
Tess stared at the peak on her screen. Mount Bliss. Well, of course they called it that if men like Cade lived there. She hoped she hadn’t made too much of a fool out of herself. Had he noticed her staring at him? She couldn’t help it, though. When he put on that tight shirt, it had almost been worse than his nakedness. The shirt left nothing to the imagination, and just made her want to rip it off him.
Tess frowned. She really needed to concentrate. Earlier, she’d spent several minutes shivering under ice cold water in Cade’s shower, but apparently that hadn’t helped. Especially after that look he’d given her when she went to retrieve her clothes in just a towel.
Closing her eyes, Tess felt a dull throb between her legs. He had even taken a step toward her, before that knock on the door. What had he been planning to do?
“He was probably planning to hand you your clothes,” she muttered to herself. “Idiot. Get to work.”
Gazing at her screen, she tried several crops, shaving part of the photo off pixel by pixel. She couldn’t waste time thinking about Cade, no matter how tall or muscled or insanely handsome he was. It wasn’t like he would want her. He would want someone thin and pretty, if he didn’t have her already. But then why had he asked if the waders belonged to her boyfriend?
Tess blushed again, thinking of his warm hand enveloping hers. At his touch, she had felt a jolt run all the way up her spine and fizz through her limbs. She’d had to pull away before she did something to really embarrass herself, like ask him on a date or something. He was probably drowning in dates.
Somehow, she’d managed to narrow her favorite photos down to five. That would be enough for Gary. He only ever bought one shot at a time from her, when he bought anything. He also said that he hated indecisive photographers who sent him entire gigabytes of pictures. He’d told Tess that the day she sent him more than ten pictures, he’d know she’d lost the eye for photography.
She typed up a quick email, including her location and metadata for all her files, and sent it to Gary. Sitting back, Tess stared at the far wall. Cade had said he could find her a grizzly. If she could get one in the frame, with the picturesque Mount Bliss in the background… now that would be some photo.
But had Cade really meant it? She didn’t doubt he could find a grizzly every once in a while, but maybe he had offered the opportunity just to be nice. He couldn’t actually want to go tramping through the woods with her. And, knowing her luck, she’d probably fall off a cliff.
Pushing her laptop away, Tess lay back on her protesting mattress. She didn’t have time to think about grizzlies or hot, confusing men. She needed to get her life together. As soon as Gary bought one of her photos, she would figure out a plan for how to pay rent next month.
Her laptop dinged as a new email arrived. Tess grabbed her computer, her pulse pounding. Gary didn’t usually respond this fast. Not unless…
Hey Tess. Good photos. Not great. Have to pass. Sorry.
Gary
Her mouth went dry. Gary had to buy one of her photos. If he didn’t, she’d have no chance of making rent.
Fingers trembling, Tess punched his number into her phone.
He picked up on the first ring. “Hi, Tess.”
“Gary, please—”
“Don’t start with me, darlin’. I can’t buy every photo of yours that crosses my desk just because I used to buy your dad’s. And believe me, I turned him down plenty of times.”
She tried not to let her voice waver. “I lost my job to take those photos.”
“Tess…”
“I almost died to get those photos!”
“I’m sorry, Tess. We’re going in a different direction with the article. Your photos just don’t quite fit. You can try again next week.”
“But next week will be too late.”
There was a pause on the other end, a sure sign that Gary was flipping through a stack of proofs. “How forgiving is your boss?”
“Gary.” Her traitorous voice broke on her. “You were my dad’s best friend. You can’t help me out a little?”
“I couldn’t afford to hire you even if we had any staff positions open.” There was another pause, but this time it felt like it was filled with pity instead of proofs. “Try me in six months, darlin’. I’ll see what I can do.”
She couldn’t ask for more than that. “Thanks, Gary.” Then she hung up, before he could call her darlin’ again.
Tess fell back, pulling her pillow over her head. How was she going to make rent?
She dug her fingers into her pillowcase. Though she didn’t have money, she did have something of value. Sliding the pillow off her face, she looked at the black case in the corner of her room. It held all her father’s gear: camera bodies, lenses, flashes, and other assorted equipment.
He had never made much money. Everything he had had either gone toward Tess or photography—his two great loves. Even just a few pieces of his gear could go far—rent for a year, or a trip to Africa…
Tess rolled over, balling her fists. She could never sell her father’s gear. Never. Not even for Africa. It was all she had left of him. Besides, her dream was more than just to take some pretty shots in Africa—it was to take them with her father’s gear. She hoped it would feel like he was with her again.
Hot tears formed in her eyes. It had been so long. Seven years. She had to work harder to call up memories of him. The way his forehead creased when he was lining up a shot, his bellowing laugh, the way he ruffled her hair. She never wanted to forget those things.
But it was getting harder to remember.
She would never sell his gear. She would find another job, find another way to make rent and to get herself to Africa.
Tess sat up, filled with new resolve. Enough to make her stand up, walk out the door, and drive all the way to Big Meadows.
She sat in her mother’s driveway, waiting for her nerves to settle. She really, really didn’t want to do this. But Africa was worth it.
Ignoring the dread in the pit of her stomach, Tess got out of her car and walked up the overgrown path to the front door. She tried not to look too long at the little yellow double wide. Though it appeared to be adorable from the outside, it had ruined the color yellow for her.
Squaring her shoulders, Tess rang the bell.
She could hear the scrape of a chair inside. Her mother never took more than ten seconds to open the door. The doorbell meant the possibility of gossip, and that was something that Kim Holt wouldn’t dream of passing up.
The door snapped open. Her mother’s face fell.
“Please, try to contain your excitement,” Tess said. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” her mother said. Before she closed the door, she peered over Tess’s shoulder.
“Are you expecting someone?”
Reluctantly, her mother closed the door. “Nancy thinks the UPS man has a crush on her, and she was expecting a delivery today. But it must not have arrived, because she’d definitely have told me if he made another pass at her.” She sighed dramatically. “Maybe she’ll have something to tell me tomorrow.”
“I hope she’ll have some exciting news.” Tess had tried to sound enthusiastic, but her mother eyed her warily.
“Why are you here, Tess?”
“I just wanted to say hello.”
“And I’m the Queen of England. You’re just like your father, you know. You never show up here until you need something.”
Tess felt her throat tighten. Ever since her father had died, it seemed that her mother needed someone to take out her hostility on. Lately, every conversation they had tended to devolve into an argument.
“I’ve had a really bad day, Mom. I just lost my job.”
“You what?” Kim’s eyes flashed.
Tess looked at the floor. Why had she even bothered to come here? Most mothers would probably give their children at least a hug upon hearing such news, but
not hers.
“How did you lose your job?” her mother asked.
“I had to leave early.” Tess gazed at the far wall, which was taken up by a huge glass case full of porcelain dolls that could only be looked at, never played with. They stared back at her with mocking eyes. When Tess had been growing up, they could always afford another doll, but never so much as a roll of film for her.
“You were taking some more useless pictures, weren’t you.” Her mother pursed her lips.
“I can’t help it. That’s all I want to do. I can’t stand all the filing, scheduling, and washing Mr. Henderson’s nine coffee mugs.”
“We all have to do shit we don’t like here in the real world.”
“I know that, so please stop lecturing me. I’ll find another crappy job.” Tess let out a breath. She couldn’t raise her voice. The second she did, her mom would get louder, and soon they’d be in a screaming match. “I was wondering if I could move in for a month or two. That’s all. I just need to get back on my feet.”
“What you need is to sell that idiotic camera gear and get an actual career. Or would you rather end up a failure like your father?”
“He wasn’t a failure!” Great. Now she was shouting.
Her mother merely scoffed. “He could take a pretty picture or two. But that’s not a success. He never had money, Tess. And you won’t either if you follow in his footsteps.”
“I’m just going to be short this one month. You won’t help me even for a month?” Tess hated the words that were coming out of her mouth. The last thing she wanted to do was live under the disapproving eyes of her mother and her dolls every single day. But what other choice did she have?
Her mother crossed her arms. “You need to find something that makes money, because you aren’t getting any from me.”
Tess could feel the tears forming. “You really want me to sell Dad’s gear?”
“What good is it, anyway? You should sell it all before you end up wasting your life behind a shutter like he did, not caring about anything or anyone except his precious gear.”
Tess glared at her mother. “He cared about me.”
“You can keep telling yourself that, but it doesn’t make it true.”