Irresistible Love at Silver Falls (Island County Series Book 7)

by Karice Bolton

  It wouldn’t be bad.

  It would probably be incredible.

  “This isn’t going to be a Netflix and Chill situation. Purely Netflix and snacks,” I muttered to myself, laying out an opened tray of food, more chips, dip, and wine.

  I glanced at my latest outfit, which looked eerily similar to my earlier attire of yoga pants and a sweatshirt, but this time I swapped to a pale pink version. I’d taken a quick shower after Kyle had left and not much had improved in terms of my mood.

  With every passing second, my anxiety went up and my ability to reason went out the window.

  Why did I call him back?

  Did I want to sleep with him?

  Hear his story?

  Start a friendship?

  Give him a piece of my mind?

  The list of possibilities was endless, and I hadn’t a clue about what I wanted to gain out of seeing him tonight, and I fully blamed one person.

  My beloved Aunt Hildie.

  I grabbed my phone and texted her a quick message.

  I can’t believe you sent me here knowing who owned the property.

  She quickly texted back.

  I honestly didn’t expect you to run into him.

  I twisted my mouth into a scowl, unsure I believed her.

  I wrote back.

  Well, I did.

  My aunt lived the entire fiasco with the rest of my family when Kyle never came back. I’d sulk at my cousins’ house as much as my own, so I was surprised that Aunt Hildie was so nonchalant about this entire ordeal.

  She wrote back.

  He has such a fascinating story, don’t you think?

  I groaned and texted a quick reply just as Kyle knocked on the door.

  I wouldn’t know.

  I set the phone down and made my way to the door to see Kyle looking sinfully attractive.

  “Miss me?” he asked, leaning against the door frame with a six-pack of some microbrew.

  “I thought about leaving tonight.”

  “And then you missed me?” He repeated and mischief glinted through his gaze.

  I held in a laugh.

  “Humility might look good on you,” I warned.

  “Wouldn’t know.” He shrugged, and I motioned him in. “In all honesty, traveling back tonight wouldn’t be a good idea considering all the slush that’s turned to ice.”

  He slid past me, and I became acutely aware of his body next to mine. An unexpected tingle spread through me as his hip bumped into me. I shut my eyes and closed the door.

  “I figured that. Plus, I’m exhausted.” I blinked my eyes open and turned to face him.

  “Was it the snowshoeing that wore you out?” he asked, glancing at the food tray and chips.

  “Partially that.” I nodded, walking past him to the kitchen.

  I grabbed a red kitchen towel from the counter and hung it through the handle on the dishwasher.

  “What’s the other part?” His voice held a tenderness that surprised me.

  “Behind my tough exterior, I’m actually a softy, and seeing you again has taken a mental toll.”

  “Tough exterior?” His brow arched over his heated gaze and I swallowed hard. “You’re as tenderhearted as they come, Brooke.”

  He set the six-pack on the counter.

  I shook my head. “Not so. Not any longer. Things have changed, Kyle. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  Kyle held my gaze and sadness crept along his expression. “I don’t believe it.”

  “I was sixteen when you left and seventeen when I realized you weren’t coming back.”

  He let out a slow, deep breath before pressing his lips together.

  “Keeping up this charade since you appeared on my doorstep has been exhausting.” I opened a bottle of beer and took a sip. “I don’t like being reminded about that time in my life. It made me sad and almost turned me into someone I was never meant to be. I just moved on by putting it out of my head.”

  His expression fell, and I glanced around the cabin to keep my mind off the emotions running through me.

  “What is driving me nuts is that after all these years, you still know me better than any of my friends.” I took in a breath. “And that’s infuriating.”

  “Why?” His voice lowered.

  “All this time, I thought I’d gotten over things. I’d moved on. I’ve created great friendships and a wonderful existence on Hound Island, but since running into you, I realized I was wrong.”

  He shook his head, unsure of what I was getting at.

  “It tells me that I’ve built such thick walls around my heart that my closest friends don’t even know me.” I took a sip of beer. “It’s like I froze who I was when I was sixteen and then built some other caricature of myself to show everyone.” I pointed at him. “But you know the real me.”

  “I’m so sorry, Brooke.” He shoved his hands through his dark strands.

  I put my beer down. “But for some crazy reason I’m less angry about what happened then, and I’m more furious about how you make me feel now.”

  “And how’s that?” His voice lowered, and I pretended not to be unnerved by what the sound did to me.

  “Hopeful. Confused. Intrigued.” I smiled. “And like I mentioned, infuriated and exhausted.”

  “Would it help if I let you punch me?” Kyle grinned and took a few steps closer.

  “Why would I want to punch you?” I giggled.

  “I thought it might run in the family.”

  I narrowed my eyes on him. “Run in the family?”

  “You don’t know about your cousins?”

  “We’re talking about Jake and Chance?” I put my hand on my hip and shifted my weight.

  Kyle’s lip twitched into a smile, and I noticed a dimple in his right cheek. He never outgrew it. “Those are the two cousins I’m referring to.”

  “Don’t know a thing.” I shrugged.

  “Jake beat the shit out of me in college.” A smirk rested on his expression.

  “What?” I shook my head. “No way. They’d never do that.”

  “Yes. Way.” He took a sip of beer and moved closer to me. “Jake saw me on campus and came at me. We’d somehow managed to avoid each other until that point.”

  I knew they went to the same school, but my cousins never mentioned Kyle after that summer.

  “What do you mean he came at you?”

  “Full on lunge, tackling me to the ground. He landed a couple of hardcore punches. I got a shiner. Chance pulled Jake off, but then he came at me. By that time, a crowd had gathered and a few guys held Chance back.”

  My heart filled with love for my cousins. I never had brothers, but they were an amazing substitute, even without knowing this interesting bit of information. I couldn’t help but laugh as I thought about my Jake tackling Kyle, and for some strange reason I felt better.

  Lighter.

  “Why’d they do it?”

  “They were protecting you. They’d do anything for their little cousin. You’ve always been like their sister, and they were standing up for you the only way they knew how.”

  “I had no idea.” I breathed out. “They never mentioned it at all. I knew you all wound up at the same college, but they never said a word. I didn’t even know if you’d bumped into one another.”

  He rubbed the five o’clock shadow along his jawline and nodded. “I think it made them feel a lot better about everything that happened that summer. It took another year or so before we could utter actual sentences to each other.” He straightened his shoulders. “I deserved it.”

  I looked at Kyle over the beer bottle before I took another sip. “Probably. Yeah, I’d say you definitely deserved it. I just had no idea they were up to those kinds of shenanigans,” I said, unable to hide my grin.

  Kyle laughed and took my beer bottle from me, setting it on the counter.

  “So where do we take it from here?” His gaze searched mine as he traced his finger along my chin. My body nearly quiver
ed from his slight touch.

  “Start fresh? Possibly begin a friendship.” My goal was to sound breezy and light, but instead, I sounded breathy and wanting. “I’ve just about gotten over the shock of seeing you again and maybe once that wears off…”

  “Will you let me explain?” he asked softly.

  I nodded. “But not now. I’m not ready. I’m not even ready to be here with you… standing so close.”

  He smiled and took a step back, his fingers falling away from me. His gaze dropped to my lips, and I felt all the same emotions from years ago swirling through me, but I knew better. I just needed to get back to the safety of Hound Island.

  “I’ll wait as long as you need.” He dropped his hand and took a step back. “I’m not trying to force a friendship, and I know I don’t even deserve a chance to tell you what happened. I’m just hoping I can earn a chance, but you call the shots.”

  A flicker of shame darted through his gaze, and my stomach tightened at the realization that I was scared to hear what he had to say. I didn’t want to know what kept him away because I doubted there’d be any reason, in my eyes, that was good enough to keep him in my life after this weekend.

  Chapter Six

  All my leftover food from the weekend was spread out on the worktables for the employees at Aunt Hildie’s lavender farm. I left a day early and came back to work. I knew if I stayed at home taking a vacation day, I’d drive myself crazy thinking about what just happened.

  So, I decided to drive myself crazy while at work, but at least I was surrounded by bundles of dried lavender for our store and hanging sachets waiting to be shipped to a happy bride and groom in Arizona. I took in a deep breath and felt the aromas work their magic as Aunt Hildie and Chance wandered into the backroom.

  Today would be a calm day where Kyle North was nothing but a distant memory.

  “How was your weekend?” Chance asked wryly.

  It was ten in the morning, and he’d already spent most of his morning slicing and dicing at his restaurant.

  I flashed him a dirty look and Aunt Hildie chuckled.

  “About as a wonderful as one would expect when friends all bag out on a weekend getaway and an ex-boyfriend shows up at the door.” I clenched my jaw, reliving the experience.

  So much for Kyle being a distant memory.

  “What about the 9-1-1 call?” Chance teased. “Can’t forget about that.”

  “How do you know about my emergency call?” I shot up from my stool and glanced at Aunt Hildie, who looked far too amused, before returning my gaze to Chance’s.

  “Joel told me,” Chance said. “Or was it Kyle?” He put his index finger to his mouth and tapped his lips. “How could you ever think wrapping cling wrap around your waist was a good idea?”

  My cheeks blazed and I muttered a simple word. “Pinterest.”

  Aunt Hildie shuddered. “There’s a lot of good information on that site, but when the information is bad, it’s really rotten. I once had a customer who lit her bundle of lavender on fire because someone pinned about burning sage and suggested that lavender was a perfect substitute.” She pointed to one of the bundles over my head that barely fit in most people’s arms. It would go up like a torch.

  “I don’t know if it was completely Pinterest’s fault. I suspect some of the complications from my spa treatment had to do with having Kyle North show up at my doorstep. I literally felt my blood pressure soar.”

  “He got your blood pumping, huh?” Chance wiggled his brows, and if it hadn’t been for Kyle’s revelation over the weekend, I might have thumped him on the arm, but I had an eternal soft spot for my cousins.

  “Speaking of, he mentioned that you and Jake beat him up?”

  Chance’s expression fell and his eyes darted to his mom. “Jake threw the first punch.”

  Aunt Hildie gasped. “You two did no such thing.”

  My brows shot up in surprise. They usually told their mom everything.

  “In college.” Chance let out a sigh. “I’m sure we’d do it all over again.”

  I hid a smile and went back to counting out bars of soap.

  “You two knew that there were some things beyond Kyle’s control,” she muttered.

  I lifted my gaze to see them staring at one another.

  “Didn’t change what he did to my little cousin, and at that age, it’s all about testosterone. He’s lucky he only got a shiner.” Chance grabbed a plate of chips. “He knew he deserved it.”

  Aunt Hildie shook her head and turned her gaze to me. “Did it make things a little better finding out why he didn’t reach out?”

  “I didn’t find out.”

  Her brows furrowed. “I know he wanted to explain himself.”

  I let that comment slide as it became apparent who was setting up who.

  “I didn’t give him the chance.” I sat back down on the stool. “I’m not really sure it would matter. It’s all in the past. It won’t change things.”

  I looked over at my cousin who seemed to want to tell me something, but he thought better of it and kept eating.

  “It’s not about changing the past, Brooke. It’s about understanding the past.” She drew a breath. “You were devastated when Kyle didn’t come back. We all knew it. We all felt it. Your parents were so worried about you.”

  “All over a boy.” I let out a huff. “And I never let that happen again.”

  “He wasn’t just a boy. He was your first love.” The kindness floating through Aunt Hildie’s expression was almost more than I could take. “And because of him, you’ve never let yourself love again.”

  Chance tossed his empty paper plate in the trash, walked over slowly, and rubbed my shoulders. “You don’t always have to pretend you don’t care. We’re family. It’s one thing to hide emotions from the world, but you don’t have to keep that wall up around us.”

  “I don’t do that,” I scoffed and his brow raised. “Well, maybe a little.”

  Aunt Hildie cleared her throat and walked over to the food table. “I don’t want you to think I set you up. I wouldn’t do that. I just knew Chance and Maddie had loved it at Kyle’s, and I thought if you bumped into Kyle with a group of girls surrounding you, it might not be a big deal. I never thought you’d be there by yourself. I’m sorry for putting you in that position.”

  “It was probably good for me.” I nodded. “I came to Hound Island to escape, and instead I feel like I’m slowly finding my way back to who I am. The run-in got me thinking about things a little harder…”

  My pulse pounded a little more erratically and Chance dropped his hands.

  “About my offer?” Aunt Hildie asked, smiling.

  I nodded.

  “Well, we’re in short supply here with all the products we continue to sell out of.” Aunt Hildie put her plate of chips and a sandwich on the table and sat down. “Opening up a second farm would really be a dream of mine and your uncle’s. He always dreamed of expansion, while I dreamed of keeping food on the table. I never expected to get to both so quickly.”

  Aunt Hildie lost her husband many years ago, but a part of him would always remain on the farm and in everything Aunt Hildie and her sons did.

  “I’m sure it’s dad helping out from above.” Chance nodded. “But I wouldn’t call over a decade, quickly.”

  “Well, the Harlens are nothing if not persistent.”

  Chance laughed. “Well, I’ve got to head back to the restaurant. You two try not to wear yourselves out scheming.”

  “We would never do such a thing,” I called after my cousin.

  Aunt Hildie reached over the table and squeezed my hand.

  “Whenever I think about coming to work, it’s like my sanctuary.” I smiled and sighed.

  “It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it?” She beamed. “It will be sad to lose you onsite, but I think it makes the most sense. You’re young. You have more than enough experience and it’s something we need desperately. It will take a few years to get the lavender where we n
eed it, and I just can’t imagine trusting anyone else.”

  “Have you found any properties you like?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I have my eye on a few.”

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slid it out to see a text from Kyle.

  I’ll be headed to Silver Falls on Friday for a day hike. Would you be interested?

  “What is it, dear?” Aunt Hildie asked.

  My eyes lifted to hers. “It’s Kyle asking if I want to go hiking on Friday.” I already began texting back no, for no other reason than we had three large tours set up for the gardens, and I was the one who led the groups around.

  “Well, that will be fun, won’t it?” she asked matter-of-factly.

  “I just told him no. Friday is a big day for the gardens. It’s the first Friday of spring, officially.”

  “Oh, bother. I can handle that. You go hike the falls.”

  My brow quirked to match my lip. “I didn’t tell you it was at the falls.”

  Aunt Hildie’s cheeks turned about fifteen shades of red in less than a second. “Well, I just assumed…”

  “You lie as horribly as I do.” I cocked my head and she let out a sigh.

  “Well, when he saw that you’d left a day early, he called to make sure you made it back to Hound Island since the road conditions weren’t good. He happened to mention Friday.” She smacked her hands together and let out a deep breath. “There. I said it all and I feel like a free woman. Secrets are bad for the soul.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “I don’t know that I should go.”

  “You don’t think you’ll be able to forgive him?”

  “It’s not that. I forgave him a long time ago, so I didn’t hold onto the anger, but I can’t just forget.” I pressed my lips together and looked into my aunt’s sparkly blue eyes. “The problem is that I could see myself falling for him all over again and this time, I don’t know that I’d be able to recover.”

  “Whatever makes you think you recovered the first time?”