Rushing In: A Small Town Family Romance

by Claire Kingsley

  Cara came back and stood next to me. “He is a cutie, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “So I know I haven’t gotten back to you about Sven.”

  “Sven?”

  “My massage therapist. I was going to set something up for you, but I actually found a better way to thank you.”

  “For picking up Gavin? You really don’t have to do anything. He’s my friend, I didn’t mind.”

  “Be that as it may, I’m working on a little surprise.”

  “Cara, you really don’t—”

  “I can’t wait,” she said, cutting me off. “You’re going to love it.”

  “On the count of three,” the man said into the megaphone. “One.” The crowd chanted along. “Two. Three!”

  It turned out there were three kinds of Tilikum pumpkin plungers. Men who stepped carefully, wincing at the cold, clearly ready for it to be over as soon as their toes hit the water. Men who waded in with more gusto, sucking in quick breaths as each bit of skin submerged beneath the water.

  And then there was Gavin.

  He let out a whoop and rushed into the river, splashing the men next to him. When he got closer to the center, he dove under, then popped back up and hollered again. He raked his hair out of his face, and his eyes were wide and bright, his smile huge.

  The crowd cheered from the riverbank. Gavin’s brothers shouted his name, calling out encouragement. Not that he seemed to need it. Two pumpkin plungers turned around and immediately ran out of the water. Another was right on their heels.

  “That’s it, Gav,” Logan shouted.

  Gavin jumped up and down a few times in the waist high water. Seconds ticked by, but the longer it went on, the more excited he seemed to get.

  Another plunger succumbed to the cold, hurrying out of the water into a waiting towel. Pretty soon it was a mass exodus, more and more men running for the riverbank.

  Finally, it was down to Gavin and two other men. One clutched his bony arms around himself while he shivered, his teeth chattering. The other was a burly man with a bald head, thick auburn beard, and the hairiest chest I’d ever seen.

  “Earl,” a woman called from the bank. “It’s not worth it. Get back up here or you’ll catch your death.”

  Earl—the bony one—seemed to agree. He came out of the river, shaking and dripping water from his swim trunks.

  “Who’s the one left with Gavin?” I asked.

  “Gerald McMillan,” Cara said. “He thought he could beat Gavin last year, too.”

  Gavin’s eyes met mine and he smiled through chattering teeth. He swung his arms back and forth across his chest, then shook out his hands. Gerald stood still, arms crossed over his barrel chest, like a big hairy tree trunk.

  Logan started chanting, “Ga-vin, Ga-vin, Ga-vin,” and some of the crowd picked it up. An answering chant for Gerald began down the riverbank.

  Gavin jumped, swung his arms, and shook out his hands again, all with that adorable smile of his. Gerald looked miserable, shivers beginning to overtake his big body.

  “You’ve got this, Gavin,” Logan yelled.

  “Crazy son of a bitch,” Levi said, just loud enough that I heard it.

  It occurred to me, standing on the riverbank on a chilly fall morning, that maybe I didn’t know Gavin as well as I’d thought I did. And maybe that had something to do with the fact that for most of the time I’d known him, he’d been hobbled by a broken leg. Because this Gavin, who seemed to be having the time of his life while he was probably giving himself hypothermia, was kind of insane.

  Hypothermia… Another body is found, but on closer inspection, it’s discovered that he’s still alive, just in a state of deep hypothermia. He’s rushed to the hospital and put on life support. If he survives, he might hold the key to finding the identity of the killer—

  “Look at him,” Ginny said, rousing me from my brief daydream. “It looks like he’s having fun out there.”

  “What? Oh, yeah it does. Did you know a body decomposes four times faster in water than on land?”

  She laughed. “Ew.”

  Gavin flashed Gerald a big grin, then dove back under the water. He came up still smiling and wiped his hair back off his face.

  With a full-body shudder, Gerald seemed to decide he’d had enough. He shook his head and hurried to the river’s edge.

  A cheer rose up from the crowd and Gavin raised his arms in the air. He high stepped out of the water and I opened his towel for him as he raced up the riverbank.

  “Holy shit, I’m fucking cold,” he said, his voice breathless—with cold, or excitement, it was hard to tell.

  I wrapped the towel around his shivering body and he grabbed it, holding it at the top of his chest. River water streamed off him, making little rivulets in the rocky dirt at our feet.

  The announcer stepped back on his rock and raised the megaphone. “And the winner is, once again, Gavin Bailey.”

  He walked over and ceremoniously crowned Gavin. The crowd cheered again while Gavin beamed, his cheeks flushed pink, his smile bright as the morning sun.

  I laughed, caught up in the moment, feeling light and free. He turned and met my eyes, that smile warming me from the inside.

  “That was fucking awesome,” he said. “But I need to get some clothes on.”

  “Let’s meet up at the coffee shop,” Grace said. “I’ve got a salted caramel mocha with your name on it.”

  “Yes.” He held out his hand and fist bumped her.

  We followed the crowd back up the trail, people congratulating Gavin as we went. He gave me a smile before veering off toward his truck. I’d driven here with Ginny, and he’d come separately. Which made sense, especially because we were just friends.

  But I was aware of that little piece of me that wished I were leaving with him.

  Or maybe it was a big piece.

  “So, coffee shop?” Ginny asked as we got into her car.

  “Yeah, let’s do it.”

  Of course I wanted to go to the coffee shop. Gavin was going to be there.

  28

  Skylar

  People crowded into the Steaming Mug. Ginny and I grabbed a table and put our coats over the backs of our chairs. A few of the other pumpkin plungers—now fully dressed, but still rubbing their arms to warm up—stood in line or waited near the counter sipping hot drinks. Asher and Grace came in, followed by Levi and Logan. Grace kissed Asher before going behind the counter to help the two baristas.

  The door flew open and in walked Gavin, dressed now, proudly wearing his ridiculous pumpkin crown. He seemed to be eating up the applause as he strode into the cafe, although as soon as his eyes landed on mine, he beelined for our table.

  “Your highness,” Ginny said. “We’re honored by your presence.”

  He pulled out a chair and sat, then adjusted the crown. “Greetings, lovely princesses.”

  “Are you the pumpkin king or the river king?” I asked.

  “I’m still cold, is what I am,” he said with a smile, then shivered dramatically.

  “Your lips are a little blue.” I wanted to lean over and kiss them, but I resisted the urge. “I can see why Gram calls you Otter.”

  “My brothers get to be badass animals like Bear and Wolf. Then I come along and she names me Otter.” He shook his head.

  “I think it’s cute. It fits you.”

  He smiled at me. “Thanks.”

  Grace brought Gavin’s drink to the table. He wrapped his hands around the warm mug and sighed.

  “Nice work today, Gav.” She patted him on the back.

  “Thanks, Grace. How’s baby Bailey?”

  She touched her stomach. “So far so good.”

  “Awesome.”

  “So Ginny, how do you like our town so far?” he asked.

  “This place is amazing. Grace, that reminds me, I found something.” She got out her phone and tapped the screen a few times while Grace sat down. “An engagement announcement for John Haven.”
>
  “Oh my god,” Grace said. “Let me guess, it’s not to Eliza Bailey.”

  “Nope.” Ginny handed Grace her phone. “He was engaged to Sarah Montgomery, granddaughter of Ernest Montgomery, one of the town’s founders.”

  Grace gazed at Ginny’s phone. “Maybe this means John Haven didn’t write those notes to Eliza.”

  “Or maybe he did,” Ginny said. “There’s no record of a marriage between John and Sarah. And John disappeared not long after he won that prize money in the race.”

  “So maybe John was engaged to Sarah, but secretly in love with Eliza,” Grace said, handing back Ginny’s phone.

  “It’s very possible. The way this announcement is worded, it sounds like an arranged marriage,” Ginny said. “There are three mentions of the couple inheriting Ernest Montgomery’s estate. That got me curious, and here’s the interesting thing. Sarah never married or had children. After she died, some of the Montgomery estate was divided up between her extended family. But not all of it.”

  “What happened to the rest?” I asked.

  “That’s the big question,” Ginny said. “I don’t know. I found some mentions of a trust, but I think Ernest Montgomery really did do something with part of his wealth before he died.”

  “Are you saying you think the Montgomery treasure is real?” Gavin asked.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Ginny said with a satisfied smile.

  Grace looked skeptical, but Gavin’s eyes lit up.

  “Why do you think it’s real?” I asked.

  “I’ll admit, I don’t have a lot of hard evidence. It doesn’t help that I can’t find a copy of Ernest Montgomery’s will. It should be public record, but it might have been destroyed in the big Tilikum fire. But I did find a document that suggests he amended his will years after that engagement notice was in the paper. And based on the records that do still exist, there was a part of his fortune the Montgomery family didn’t inherit after he and Sarah both died.”

  My mind spun with the details, creating a story. This wasn’t the type of thing I wrote, but I couldn’t help it. It was how my mind worked.

  “Maybe John Haven didn’t want to marry Sarah Montgomery, he wanted to marry Eliza Bailey,” I said. “But their families insisted, so John and Eliza made a plan to run away together. Eliza left first, and John stayed behind to compete in the race, hoping to use the prize money to fund their escape. Only when John went looking for Eliza afterward, she wasn’t in their prearranged meeting place. And then John was robbed and murdered.”

  Everyone stared at me.

  “That’s good,” Gavin said, his tone enthusiastic. “Then maybe Ernest did hide a treasure, only the real treasure wasn’t gold, it was his granddaughter’s hand in marriage. But no one ever found it.”

  “Yes,” I said, grabbing Gavin’s arm in excitement. “And it included a piece of his estate as a dowry for Sarah. But the tragedy is, Ernest died before anyone found it, and Sarah spent the rest of her life alone.”

  “Wait,” Grace said. “The original owners of my house were Montgomerys. I looked up the real estate records to see if I could figure out who might have hidden Eliza’s mirror and the love notes, but it didn’t occur to me that the Montgomerys would have had anything to do with it. But if there’s a connection between John and Eliza, and Sarah Montgomery…”

  “Oh my god, this keeps getting better,” Ginny said, furiously typing notes in her phone. “There’s definitely something going on here.”

  “Have you been to the Haven House?” Grace asked.

  Ginny’s eyebrows drew together. “I took the tour, but why?”

  “What’s the Haven House?” I asked.

  “It’s like a little museum,” Grace said. “They claim it’s the oldest surviving house in town, and it’s set up with the original furnishings from the early 1900s.”

  Gavin rolled his eyes. “It’s the stupidest thing in Tilikum. They made us take field trips there when we were in elementary school.”

  “Why is it stupid?” I asked with a laugh.

  “Because everyone knows the Havens didn’t live there, but for some dumbass reason, they named it the Haven House.”

  “I was wondering because some people say Ernest Montgomery built that house,” Grace said.

  “I looked around, but I didn’t notice anything unusual,” Ginny said. “But if Ernest built it, that is interesting. Although if there’s any truth to local lore, he built half the town.”

  “True,” Grace said. “And I’m pretty sure the house he lived in burned down.”

  “I bet Harvey will find the treasure,” Gavin said. “And then the joke will be on everyone in town who called him crazy.”

  “I wish I could stay here indefinitely until I figure this out,” Ginny said. “It’s so fascinating. But I don’t think my boss is going to share my enthusiasm for a century-old mystery.”

  Grace glanced back at the counter. “I should probably go help the girls. Thanks for sharing your findings.”

  “You bet,” Ginny said with a smile.

  Grace got up and Logan peeled off from where he’d been standing with Asher. He sauntered to our table and flashed a smile at Ginny.

  “Hey. I was thinking about grabbing some breakfast over at Bigfoot. Want to join me?”

  “You know what, I’d like that.” Ginny turned to me. “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. Go ahead.”

  “I’ve got her,” Gavin said.

  “Thanks.” Ginny smiled, then stood and gathered her things.

  Logan put a hand on the small of her back and led her outside.

  Gavin glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. “Have they been hanging out?”

  “A little, I think.”

  “Huh.”

  “I don’t know how much longer she’ll be in town, but I guess we’ll see what happens.”

  The cafe door opened again and my mom walked in, followed by my dad. Mom gave me a little wave and they both headed for our table.

  I waved back and Gavin turned to look. He seemed to startle, jumping a little and then straightening his back.

  “Hey, Chief,” he said quickly.

  “Hi, you two,” Mom said, her lips curling in a knowing smile.

  I tensed, waiting for her to say something awkward. I hadn’t admitted to her that I’d been sleeping with Gavin, but I had a feeling she knew. She always seemed to know those kinds of things.

  Fortunately for me, she didn’t say anything else. Just smiled and glanced over at my dad.

  “Congratulations,” Dad said with a nod.

  Gavin’s gaze swung to me, his eyes wide with alarm, then back to Dad. “What?”

  Dad gestured to the pumpkin crown. “The Pumpkin Plunge.”

  He took the crown off and looked at it, like he’d forgotten it was on his head. “Oh, right. Thanks.”

  “I remember the year your dad won,” Dad said. “Although I think Gerald made you hold out longer than anything Charlie had to contend with.”

  “That’s right, I remember that,” Mom said, putting her hand on Dad’s arm. “He looks so much like Charlie, don’t you think?”

  Dad looked at Gavin. “You really do. Spitting image of your father.”

  The levity in Gavin’s expression melted away and he glanced down at the table. “Yeah, that’s what Gram says.”

  “We should get in line to order,” Mom said, tugging on Dad’s arm.

  “Bye Mom… and Dad,” I said, stumbling over the phrase. Saying it that way felt so odd, like they were actually a couple.

  Gavin kept his eyes on the table as my parents walked away.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Wanna get out of here?”

  “Sure.”

  Gavin said things like I’ll be fine, or it’ll be fine all the time, and usually he meant it. But this time, I could tell he didn’t.

  I followed him out and we got in his truck. He turned on the eng
ine, but didn’t drive away.

  “I don’t remember them,” he said finally, his voice unusually quiet.

  “Your parents?”

  He nodded. “My brothers do, but I was only four. It feels like I never even met them.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I was an oops baby anyway. They didn’t mean to have more kids.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. You’d think they’d have figured out how it worked by then, but I guess not.” He cracked a smile. “Asher and Evan are only a year apart, and then they had the twins two years later. The last thing they needed was another kid. But along came Gavin.”

  “I’m sure they wanted you just as much as your brothers.”

  He shrugged.

  I reached over and clasped his hand. It was cold. “You’re still freezing.”

  He met my eyes. “You want to warm me up?”

  Just the suggestion sent a pleasant tingle of anticipation through my body. “One way to recover from prolonged exposure to cold is skin contact.”

  “I love skin contact.”

  “Me too.”

  He looked at me for a long moment, a subtle smile on his face. “Thanks, Sky.”

  “For what?”

  “Making me feel better.”

  “Already? I haven’t even taken my clothes off yet.”

  “You don’t even have to. But I want you to anyway, just so we’re clear.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

  That wasn’t a problem, because right now nothing sounded better than getting naked with Gavin Bailey.

  29

  Gavin

  Sky was right, I was still cold. The coffee helped, as did my hair finally drying. But I’d been in the water long enough that the chill had gone right to my bones. Usually I’d just take a hot shower after a dip in the frigid river. But getting naked with Skylar was going to be so much more fun.

  I was still riding the high of the plunge, the excitement of the challenge pulsing through me. Chief’s mention of my dad had pulled me down a little, but now that I was taking Sky back to my place, I was soaring again.