A SEAL's Devotion (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 7)

by Cora Seton

  “That’s Alice.” Rose smiled. “Hannah Matheson rescued her a few years back. Now she and her husband raise a herd of them.”

  “Is she named after Alice Reed?”

  “I don’t think so.” Rose’s smile grew. “Alice is special.” She recounted the story of the way the bison had saved several people’s lives. “I figured she needed to star in a painting.”

  “I’ll take it.” He’d hang it in his tiny house.

  “Really?” Rose beamed at him. “Sales have been a little slow,” she admitted. “I sell a lot more engagement rings than paintings these days.”

  “I’m here for one of those, too.”

  “I thought so. I watch Base Camp,” she explained as she lifted the painting down off the wall and carried it to the counter. “Why don’t you take a look at these while I wrap this up?” She set the painting down, pulled a key ring from her pocket and unlocked a glass case. Taking out several trays of rings, she set them on the counter. “Are you proposing to someone? I haven’t seen any women on the episodes—except the usual ones.”

  “It’s a bit of a surprise,” he told her. “Can’t go into it.”

  “Intriguing. Don’t worry,” she added. “I can keep a secret.”

  He bent over the tray, taking his time. He wanted to find a special ring for Eve, one that suited her. Something elegant that fit an active, outdoorsy woman like her.

  Did that exist?

  One ring drew his gaze, the way the painting had. It held a single diamond but a rather spectacular one.

  “That’s an emerald-cut diamond. It really makes a statement, doesn’t it?” Rose said.

  “I like it.”

  “I always say, go with your gut.” Rose smiled a little. “Serves me well.”

  “Okay. Sold.”

  Rose came back over, popped the ring out of the tray and handed it to him. Anders took a closer look and nodded. “That’s the one.”

  Rose took it back, held it in the palm of her hand—

  And frowned.

  “There’s an obstacle,” she said. “Something you need to take care of first.”

  Anders cocked his head. Obstacle? His father? But—

  No, not his father, Anders realized.

  His own lies. If he wanted to marry Eve, he needed to come clean to her. He wished he didn’t have to, though. Eve had stated more than once she was an environmentalist. Just picturing her expression when she learned what his father did for a living—

  He wasn’t looking forward to that.

  “Sorry,” Rose said. “I… just get hunches about couples’ futures when I hold their engagement ring.”

  Oh yeah. He’d heard about that. “But I’ll be able to take care of it? The obstacle?” he pressed her.

  “That I can’t say.”

  “I need to get Anders something good,” Eve said. She was at the manor with the other women, cleaning the ballroom, both for Christmas Eve festivities and for the guests expected a few days later. Eve had offered to pitch in. She wanted a more thorough look at the manor than she’d gotten last time they’d come here. Armed with a dustcloth, she was getting up close and personal with every windowsill, fireplace mantel and decorative item in the large room.

  Anders was in town for the moment, and they’d agreed to meet up later. She knew she needed to let the camera crews get more footage of them together, but if she spent much more time with Anders, Clem might get some footage that wasn’t safe for prime-time television.

  He’d probably like that just fine.

  “Wrap yourself in some pretty lingerie and get Anders alone. I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” Avery suggested.

  Eve’s pulse sped up at the thought of it. She’d appreciate that, too, and it was exactly the kind of thing Clem would like to film…

  “I don’t know.”

  “Men are impossible,” Riley said. “How about a shovel?”

  “A shovel?” Eve and Avery said in unison.

  “He takes care of the horses, right?”

  “There’s got to be something between a shovel and sex,” Avery said.

  “One would hope,” Savannah said dryly. Hugely pregnant, she was supervising their cleaning efforts from one of the ornate sofas.

  “A saddle? Boots? A good pair of work gloves? God, men things are so boring,” Avery said.

  “Ask Boone,” Riley suggested.

  That was a good idea, Eve decided as her phone buzzed.

  It was a text from Kevin, who was probably racing to clean his inbox before the holiday. An answer to the message she’d sent to him earlier: Would like to extend my stay in Maine through New Year’s. Is that okay?

  Fine.

  That was it? Fine? Kevin wasn’t particularly talkative, but that seemed terse even for him.

  Maybe it wasn’t fine at all. Maybe he’d guessed what she was planning—

  Eve snorted. Guessed that she planned to crash Base Camp and expose Hansen Oil on a reality television show? She doubted he had that much imagination.

  “Everything all right?” Savannah asked her from the couch.

  “Yes. Just work.” Eve pocketed the phone and kept cleaning.

  She cornered Boone later, before dinner, near the door to his tiny house. Worn out from her afternoon’s labors, her breath puffing white plumes in the frigid air, she was more than ready for one of Kai’s hearty dinners. It was amazing how quickly she was coming to feel at home here.

  “Boone, can I talk to you a minute?” she asked.

  “Sure thing. Come on in.”

  Inside, Eve stopped and stared. She’d seen the tiny houses on the show, of course, but hadn’t been in one yet.

  This one was wonderful.

  Riley and Boone kept a tidy home, with everything in its place. The wooden walls and furniture gleamed with care, and a tiny woodstove kept it toasty warm. The south-facing wall was all windows, and the view of the hillside and the manor perching atop the opposite rise of ground was beautiful.

  Boone waved her to a seat at a built-in table to one side of the kitchen. “What can I do for you?” He shucked off his coat.

  “I want to give Anders something for Christmas, but I don’t know what.”

  “Aside from an ‘I do’?” Boone quipped and winced. “Hell. Sorry. Not really funny, huh?”

  “It’s a little early for that, wouldn’t you say?” Eve joked back quickly, but his answer had unnerved her. It was far from fair to take up so much of Anders’s time when she knew she didn’t mean to stay. It wasn’t like she was unaware of the deadline he was facing. For the first time she realized the forbearance he was showing, taking things with her a step at a time when he must be desperate to find a wife.

  “It’s definitely too early. Forget I said anything. As far as a present for Anders goes, he’d be happy with anything that has to do with bison.”

  She wanted to forget about Anders’s impending marriage, she really did, but alone in this tiny house, away from the cameras for a moment, the situation was hard to ignore. “Do you have a backup bride lined up?”

  After a moment, Boone nodded once.

  “Can I… see her?”

  She didn’t think he’d go for it, and the silence between them stretched out uncomfortably until Boone pulled out his phone, tapped at it and turned it to face her.

  Eve took it from him and forced herself to look at the photograph featured on its screen. The woman was a pretty blonde. She looked serene, intelligent and forthright—a country girl who’d fit in a place like this.

  “What’s her name?”

  “Jane.”

  “Jane,” Eve echoed. Jane looked like a good match for Anders. And for Base Camp. Eve swallowed the ache that bloomed in her throat and tried to think sensibly. Even if she did think she could care for Anders deeply, maybe that was caused only by their circumstances. They were thrown together all the time, and she’d been lonely for so long—

  Eve let that sink in. She had been lonely. And afraid she’d never get a
nother chance at love. Even her own mother thought she was unlikely to settle down with anyone. Anders wouldn’t want her when he realized how she was using him, anyway.

  “Anders likes you,” Boone said as if he’d heard her thoughts.

  “Anders doesn’t know me.”

  Boone considered her. “Is there something in particular he should know?”

  Uh-oh. Eve searched for an answer. “My family is in Virginia.”

  “And family is important to you?”

  “Of course.”

  He nodded. “Anything else?”

  “I spent years overseas working for NGOs.” Eve wasn’t sure why she’d said that when she’d kept it from Anders, but she wanted Boone to know she had environmental chops, too. She could have belonged here at Base Camp if not for the circumstances she found herself in. For one moment, she wished she could simply explain everything to him. Maybe he’d take this problem off her hands and confront Hansen Oil himself. Americans would listen to Boone. He appeared in their living rooms every week—a known quantity. Unlike her.

  “Which ones?” he asked.

  She gave him a rundown of some of her projects.

  “Sounds like you’d fit right in around here. Is there anything we’re involved in you find interesting?”

  “Renewable energy,” she said without hesitation. “Not the nuts and bolts of it. I’m not that practical, I’m afraid. The policy. I really think the United States should be doing everything it can to switch over its grid to renewables. It’s a huge task, and I don’t know why we’re not treating it like a moon shot.”

  “I hear you.” Boone folded his arms over his chest. “So you want to get the word out rather than build the grid yourself.”

  “Right. I’m like Renata—I enjoy working with film.”

  “Like Avery.”

  “Yes.”

  Boone was quiet a minute, and Eve fidgeted, worried he’d somehow seen through her.

  “I wish it wasn’t all up to people like us,” he said quietly. “I wish…” He shook his head. “If the oil companies could just see their way to making the change—they have so much money. So much infrastructure. If they invested in renewables—in a real way—we’d get it done so much faster, and the whole world would benefit.”

  “Hansen Oil.” Eve wanted to clap a hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud.

  “You’re right. A company like Hansen Oil could lead the way to a new America.”

  Boone had clearly thought about this before, and Eve wished there were more men like him around. Men who cared about the future so deeply they’d reroute their entire lives to fight for what was right.

  “You never call out companies like Hansen on the show,” she said tentatively. “You have a big platform, but you don’t use it.” She held her breath, hoping maybe he’d say he was ready to start and solve all her problems.

  “We can’t,” Boone said matter-of-factly. “At the end of the day this is a TV show, and the stations that run it rely on advertising profit. Companies like Hansen Oil aren’t going to run ads during Base Camp, of course, but they run ads during other shows the station carries. We have to walk a line between being informative and not being too controversial. We’re trying to encourage people to live like we do; we won’t get anywhere by bashing individual companies.”

  Eve deflated. He couldn’t get any clearer than that. She was on her own when it came to exposing Hansen Oil. Her only hope was that if she made her revelation exciting—and sexy—Clem would air it, no matter what it did to Base Camp’s brand as a whole.

  But when she took down Hansen Oil, she’d destroy her connection with Boone—and Anders.

  “I think you can get as much done by setting a good example as you can by calling out the bad guys,” Boone said.

  “I guess.”

  “I think you have a lot to offer Base Camp,” he went on. “Try to keep an open mind about staying, okay?”

  “Okay.” But Eve wondered if keeping an open mind was going to do anything other than break her heart.

  She found Avery in the kitchen a few minutes later and remembered she still needed to find that present. Boone had said Anders would like anything related to bison. How could she find something when she had no way to even get to a store?

  “I need help,” she said to Avery. “I want to get Anders something for Christmas, and I know of a book that would be perfect for him. Problem is, if I order it, it’ll never get here on time.”

  “I’m running errands in town later. Want me to see if I can find it there?”

  “Would you? You’re a lifesaver!” Eve gave her an impulsive hug.

  “No problem. Text me the title and author so I’ll have it with me.”

  Eve did so and hugged her again.

  “I’m so glad you two are getting along so well,” Avery said, hugging her back. “You fit right in here.”

  And Eve remembered with a sinking heart how unlikely it was she’d get to stay.

  “How about we take that ride today?” Anders asked the following morning. He was growing impatient with the way things were going. He liked spending time with Eve, but everywhere they went, someone else tagged along—usually a cameraperson. Boone had filled him in about his conversation with her the previous day. “I think she’s a bit more radical about her activism than we are. We might be boring her,” he’d summed up. Anders wanted to know more, and he was especially curious why she hadn’t told him about her overseas adventures earlier. He was sure he’d asked her what she’d done before she joined AltaVista.

  Eve was an enigma. He knew she’d gone along with Clem’s demand only in order to have a place to lie low over Christmas, so he couldn’t fault her for making the most of her time. If she was as interested in film and editing as she appeared to be, of course she’d want to hang out with Avery and Renata. It stung a little, though.

  On the other hand, when they were together, he would swear she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He couldn’t help remembering what Rose had said when he bought the engagement ring. There was some impediment to them moving forward. Was it her hurry to learn as much as she could from the other women before it was time to leave?

  Hadn’t he made it clear enough he didn’t want her to leave?

  Maybe not. There was always something getting in the way of them spending time together. It was as if everyone had forgotten he had to convince her to marry him in short order.

  “Okay,” Eve said, glancing outside. It was a sunny morning, but Anders already knew it was cold, with a sharp wind that got in between the layers of your winter clothes.

  “You need to wear pants, and dress as warm as you possibly can. I’m sure Avery can help.”

  “Already on it,” Avery announced, passing by.

  Forty-five minutes later, they were walking their horses through Westfield’s far pastures. Despite her protestations, Eve remembered the basics, and while she was tentative with her mount, she was doing better than Anders had expected. Better yet, they’d shaken the camera crews. Clem had been pissed, but none of the cameramen rode well, and they claimed the cold was bad for their equipment. Despite all of Clem’s threats, he hadn’t been able to make them budge.

  Anders took a deep breath and let out some of the tension that dogged him these days.

  “Freedom,” he said.

  Eve grinned. “I’ve been here only a few days, and I know exactly what you mean. It must get old being filmed all the time.”

  “It’s for a good cause.”

  “Westfield Ranch is beautiful. No wonder you guys built Base Camp here.” She surveyed the terrain.

  He knew what she meant. The fields were covered with snow, and the sky was leaden, but the mountains in the distance were mysterious and beautiful, and the bison were always interesting to watch. Sometimes Anders wondered if the creatures were humoring them, allowing them to fence them in and dictate where to feed or roam. That when they decided they’d have enough, they’d
simply take off.

  “I don’t think Boone and the others had a lot of choice when it came to location, but they were happy to build here where they grew up. I like it just fine, too.”

  “I can see why.”

  “Eve.” Anders hesitated, but he knew he needed to press on. “What do you really think of Base Camp? Could you ever see it as your home?”

  Her horse sidestepped, and she concentrated on steadying him. “I… think so,” she said carefully. “I guess I figured if I settled down, it would be in Virginia. I have a good job there, and my family all lives there.”

  “But…” he prompted her when she stopped.

  “But this is pretty interesting, I have to admit.”

  “What grabs you the most about Base Camp?” He wanted to understand how she saw things.

  “The community. Your dedication to finding local answers to global problems. The fact that all of you are even willing to try.”

  He nodded. “I like that, too.”

  “It’s more than that, though. It’s… purpose. Everyone here has a purpose. I think that’s both a positive and a negative for me.”

  Anders urged his horse forward a few paces, moving closer to Eve. Now they were getting somewhere. “Negative in what way?”

  “In that I don’t have a purpose here.”

  Hell. If there was one thing Anders knew, it was that people needed reasons to do the things they did. He had to find her a reason to stay here—fast. Given what Boone said, she might be afraid she wouldn’t have a platform for her causes if she stayed here. If she’d worked for NGOs in the past, she probably wanted to get things done. Work on policy, like she’d told Boone, rather than simply be an example that other people could follow.

  “How about we keep going?”

  “Sure.” As they rode on, Anders turned the problem over in his mind. Where would Eve fit in here if she stayed? She liked details. Images. Video. It seemed to him her budding friendships with Avery and Renata said a lot. Both women liked working with film, too. Could they put those skills to a purpose together? Make documentaries of specific skills used at Base Camp to teach other people about sustainable living or something to that effect?

  Before he could ask if she’d like that, his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Johannes. Anders considered not answering it, but his father hadn’t seemed himself the other day.