An hour later, she finally got out of his bed. Not because she wanted to but because she had exactly sixteen minutes to get to work.
Eddie lay on his side, watching her get dressed. “Can you do that slower, please?”
She laughed, picking up a pillow and throwing it at him. “Because of you and your morning wood, I’m going to be late.” She pulled on her jeans and reached for her sweater on the floor. “Damn. I wore this last night...” She turned to Eddie’s closet. “I’m stealing your shirt,” she said, reaching for the smallest white button-down she could find and putting it on.
“You can keep it. It looks hotter on you,” Eddie said as she tucked it into her jeans.
It could come in handy for a striptease outfit sure to drive him wild later... Damn, the temptation to call in sick and dive back into bed with him was strong, but she had to go. She crawled onto the bed and kissed him, savoring the taste of him, committing it to memory for the long, busy day ahead. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“Not even a question,” he said, squeezing her ass in her jeans.
She got up and slid her feet into her shoes.
“Oh, I did mean to tell you something, but you didn’t really give me a chance last night before tearing my uniform to shreds,” he said, sounding slightly more serious, despite the joke.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about...but there were some boys on the trail last night, and they seemed to be giving Kaia a hard time.”
Her chest tightened, and her mama-bear instincts were on full alert. Funny, for years, she hadn’t really possessed a maternal instinct, but it hadn’t taken long to develop. “Which boys?”
“I don’t know their names. Just some junior-high and high-school kids. Kaia recognized them. She said it was nothing, but maybe it’s a conversation you want to have? Just to be sure,” he added.
Montana nodded as she returned to the bed and kissed him again. “Thank you for letting me know.” She checked her watch and groaned. “Please don’t make me go to work.”
Grabbing the front of the shirt, he pulled her in for another kiss. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”
She sighed and broke away from him, hurrying toward the door before she changed her mind and stayed. “Stay naked,” she said with a wink.
Four minutes late, she entered SnowTrek Tours, out of breath. “Sorry I’m late.”
Cassie waved a hand. “I thought for sure you’d be at least an hour more.” She eyed the outfit as Montana hung her jacket on a hook. “Cute shirt. Eddie’s?”
So much for fooling Cassie. “Maybe.”
“Thank him again for including Kaia last night. She was so happy when she got home. Almost like precamp Kaia,” Cassie said, opening the proofs of the new winter brochure as Montana took a seat next to her.
“Yeah, she had a great time.” She hesitated. “But there was one thing that happened that I want to talk to you and Tank about.”
Cassie immediately looked worried. “What is it?”
“Well, apparently there were some boys that were teasing her...harassing her a little.”
“Those little assholes!”
“Exactly.”
“It’s the same ones from camp and on her hockey team, I bet,” Cassie said, full-on annoyed. “They were being jerks to her at hockey practice last week, too.”
So, it was a problem. Montana had been hoping it was just a one-off, with Halloween and being hyped up on too much sugar. “Anyway, Eddie dealt with them.” She grinned. “Apparently, one of them had to run home to change his jeans after the other volunteers on the hike were through scaring them.”
Cassie’s smile was wide, and Montana appreciated the restraint not to say they all told her so. They’d all seen the connection between her and Eddie so much faster than she had. “Eddie’s incredible. Have I mentioned how happy I am that you two are dating?”
“About six hundred times already.” She paused, then brought the conversation back to Kaia. “Except, we thought maybe it’s a bigger deal. Maybe Kaia’s being bullied by these kids.”
“Bullied? Kaia? But she’s so awesome. Smart, confident, unique...” Cassie’s face fell. “Shit. Exactly the target for bullies.”
Unfortunately, Montana knew all about it. She’d been a target for bullies once she started attending a real school. She’d always been taller than all the kids, so nicknames like Amazon and Giant had been the start of it, then her body hadn’t developed as fast as the other girls in junior high, and she’d always worn her hair short, so they’d teased her about her sexuality.
The only thing that had prevented the bullying from turning into something Montana couldn’t handle was her sister. Unlike Montana, Dani was the popular girl in her grade and among her friends. She was petite and cute, and her body developed at the same rate as the other girls’. She was like the others—she liked makeup and hair-care products and boys and gossip. Dani fit in. And because no one wanted to be on Dani’s shit list, they weren’t too nasty to Montana. Always holding back the really insulting comments on the tip of their tongues or pretending to be joking when Dani caught the behavior.
After her sister died, things got a lot worse. Dani had always stuck up for her, but once Dani was gone, Montana was the odd one with the dead sister.
“Should we talk to Kaia about it together?” Cassie asked.
“Actually, I was wondering if you guys would mind if maybe I spoke to her first. I’ve been there, and I can definitely identify with what’s she’s going through, if it is in fact bullying.” Cassie had grown up cool and sporty and popular, and Tank—well, no one had ever dared to mess with him, so the two of them might be able to sympathize, but they couldn’t relate.
Cassie’s eyes were wide in disbelief but she nodded. “Of course, yeah. You should talk to her,” she said, but she continued to look at Montana with an odd expression.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just hard to envision anyone bullying you,” Cassie said.
Montana laughed wryly. “I wasn’t always this badass,” she said with a wink.
The day flew by, and as tempting as it was to head straight back to Eddie’s and fall back into bed, Montana had motherly responsibilities that took priority that evening.
“Any requests for dinner?” she asked Kaia when she picked her up from Tank and Cassie’s. “We’re eating out, obviously,” Montana said, hoping to get a smile out of her daughter.
It worked, and once again Montana was grateful for Eddie. Kaia seemed to really be coming around after the Haunted Trail, despite the incident with the boys.
“I’m cool with anything—uh, except the Snack Shack,” she added quickly.
The place where most of the teenagers hung out. Montana took it as the perfect segue into the conversation she wanted to have. “No problem, we can go to the diner instead.” The place where all the older crowd sat and drank too much coffee and talked about local news all day. No worry of running into the kids Kaia wanted to avoid over there.
“Perfect,” she said.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about something Eddie mentioned...”
“He told you about those dumbasses the other night, huh?” She didn’t seem upset, just slightly annoyed at the mention of said dumbasses.
Montana let the swear word slide as she nodded. “Yeah, he did. And I just wanted to ask you if that’s a recurring thing with those guys. Are they always...dumbasses?” Keep it casual. Light. She wanted Kaia to open up to her. Tell her what was going on. “Do they bully you at school?”
Kaia shrugged and gazed out the window.
Shit. She was losing her.
“I mean, I knew guys like that in school.” She paused. “In fact, I was bullied quite a bit by both guys and girls all throughout junior high and high school.”
Kai
a frowned as she looked at her in disbelief. “No way were you ever bullied.”
Montana laughed. “I love that I give that impression of being bully-proof, but it’s true. I was tall and awkward as a kid and into a lot of different things.”
Kaia turned in the passenger seat to face her, intrigued. “Like what?”
Wow, she was really going to come across as a dork, but if her daughter wanted to know the truth, she’d confess her deep, dark secret. “Well, for one, I had an obsession with aliens as a kid.”
Kaia’s mouth dropped. “You? Aliens? Like from outer space? Little green men with antennae and UFOs and stuff?”
“Yes! Stop judging,” Montana said turning onto Main Street. “I was totally into them as a kid.” She’d never told anyone about her fascination with extraterrestrials before now, and she’d have taken the memory of her geeky years to the grave if she wasn’t trying to help Kaia. “Anyway, the point is I was different. And kids don’t always like other kids who are different. Who speak their minds and are confident in their individuality.”
She waited for Kaia to confess that this was a problem for her, too. With those boys. But she just continued to stare at her. “So, you really thought aliens existed?”
“There’s more proof that they do than that they don’t...” She shook her head. “You’re missing my point. I’m trying to say that I get it. I understand what it’s like to be picked on.”
Realization dawned on Kaia’s face. “Oh...right. Yeah.”
“And I’m here if you want to talk about it. Anytime. You can tell me anything,” she said, reaching across and touching her daughter’s cheek. She hadn’t known it was possible to love someone as much as she loved her daughter. Being away from her for so long would always be her greatest regret. She’d thought she was doing the right thing at the time, for both their sakes, but now she saw the error in that. It was too late to change the past, but she had control over her future, and from now on, nothing would take her away from Kaia.
“Thanks, Mom, but I’d rather not talk about it right now, if that’s okay.”
Not right now, but not never. Montana would take it. “Okay... And you know, I’m happy to kick some dumbass ass if needed,” she said.
Kaia laughed and the sound warmed Montana’s heart. “I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Finally, it seemed they were getting the old Kaia back.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EDDIE’S ARMS WRAPPED tight around her, Montana had never felt so completely relaxed. As the latest action movie’s credits rolled on his television screen, he reached for the remote and turned it off. If asked, she’d never be able to recount the plot to anyone. There may have been more kissing than watching. And she wasn’t complaining.
“So...” he said slowly. “Your parents aren’t big on Halloween. What about other holidays? Christmas? Thanksgiving?”
Montana knew why Eddie was asking. Now that Kaia had spilled the beans about everything she’d been up to since arriving in town, how long would her parents hold off on making a trip to Wild River?
Her parents in Wild River—the thought made her stomach twist. There was so much they still didn’t know, and now they wouldn’t just be visiting with Tank and Kaia and Cassie and seeing her new life here firsthand, they’d be meeting her...boyfriend?
They hadn’t really labeled their relationship, but things were moving rather quickly between her and Eddie. Her feelings were growing all the time. Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away, so a visit at that time made sense—not that she’d be the one to suggest it. It wasn’t that she didn’t want them there. Life was just less complicated this way, but her ability to hold them off was coming to an end. “Um, let’s just say, this year, they will most likely make an effort to celebrate the holidays.”
He looked nervous. “You think they will visit?”
“Maybe. We haven’t discussed it yet, but if not Thanksgiving, definitely Christmas.” She snuggled closer to him. “Would you be ready to meet them? No pressure.” It was probably too soon, and she wouldn’t be offended if he said no.
But he nodded. “Yeah, of course. If you want me to. I know they will already have a lot of surprises to deal with.”
“That’s my fault, I know. I just can’t be honest with them. They’re far too judgmental, and they will never think I’ve made the right choice. Even if they see how well I’m doing here.”
“They don’t think you made the right decision being here? That’s crazy. Of course you did. Kaia’s here.”
“Kaia is the easy sell. Once they meet her in person, they’ll consider moving here themselves.” That she was sure of. So much so, it almost unnerved her. “It’s the BASE-jumping site that they will disapprove of. They will be pissed, actually.”
“Why? Everyone in town is obsessed with it, and it quite possibly saved SnowTrek Tours. I mean, it’s insane, and I’ll never do it, so please don’t ask,” he said, hugging her tighter, “but you’ve really accomplished a lot here.”
“They won’t see it that way. They want me to leave BASE jumping in the past. They’ll be annoyed that I’m even teaching others.” They’d think she hadn’t learned her lesson about extreme sports. They’d say she was enabling others to potentially get hurt.
“That protective, huh?”
“They weren’t always. We never really focused on holidays and traditions, but we were always traveling to exotic, cool places. Their philosophy was that every day was special, a new opportunity to try something amazing. My sister and I were fairly adventurous from a young age. I remember my first zip-lining experience through the rainforest when I was three years old. Later, we skied and hiked and surfed... But my sister’s death changed everything.”
“I get that.”
“I do, too, but that doesn’t make it any less irritating,” she said. “After Dani died, we stopped traveling and doing anything even slightly risky or dangerous. Life was suddenly such a contrast to what it had been before, and I felt lost without Dani and smothered by my parents.”
“So, you rebelled?”
“Something like that. I just wanted to start living again. I wanted to do all the things that I knew Dani would have wanted to. She was never afraid of anything, and I wanted to be just like her. My parents saw that in me, and it terrified them.” She paused. “Dani’s issues with drugs and alcohol aren’t something I’ve ever battled, but my parents are unable to accept that I can be an adrenaline junkie without looking for highs elsewhere.” She rested her head against Eddie’s chest and breathed in the smell of him. She loved being right there in his arms. She was strong and independent, but she liked the feeling of safety and security she found in his embrace.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you are incredible, and I think if they come here and see all the progress you’ve made with your healing and with Kaia—and they meet the handsome man you’re dating—they might start to realize they’re the ones who are wrong, and maybe they might start living their lives to the fullest again, too.”
Her eyes felt heavy as she listened to Eddie’s optimistic hope. “It’s a nice thought,” she said. Unfortunately, she knew her parents, and it would take erasing the tragedies of the past for them to see a different future.
But they didn’t need to approve of her new lifestyle. They just had to accept it.
* * *
IF HE COULD offer optimistic life advice to Montana, he needed to start applying that same philosophy to his own. Two months ago his life had changed, and he wasn’t sure where he was going anymore. Plans he’d set for himself had been derailed, and he’d lost all motivation to keep moving forward. His self-worth and happiness had always come from proving people wrong about him and succeeding when he was told repeatedly he wouldn’t.
But what was there left to prove?
He’d achieved his goal of becoming a state trooper, his application to
the drug division in Anchorage had been accepted, and he’d literally saved someone’s life. On the bucket list of police-career achievements, he’d unlocked them all.
It was time to acknowledge that he’d made it and, despite this setback, he’d continue making it.
After all, he was arguably the happiest he’d been in his life right now. Holding Montana in his arms, he felt complete. He didn’t need to prove anything to her. She wasn’t pushing him to return to work, but he knew she’d support his decision—whatever it was.
Being around her made him feel invincible.
He stroked her upper arm as they lay on his couch together, his emotions so strong and so on the surface, it was hard not to tell her how he was feeling. He was falling in love with her. In fact, he was already in love with her.
But it was too soon to say it. She’d think he was crazy. Maybe he was, but this thing with her was different than any other relationship he’d ever had in the past. They connected on levels he’d never expected. They were so different from one another, and neither of them fit the description of what they each thought they were looking for in a partner. On paper, anyway. But love wasn’t supposed to make sense.
She wanted him to meet her parents. That was encouraging. But what would they think about him? Would they see his disability as a weakness, an inability to give their daughter everything she longed for and deserved, or would they hope that being with him would give Montana a reason to slow down a little and take fewer risks?
Neither was ideal. He wanted them to like him, respect him, for who he was, and see how crazy about their daughter he was.
He breathed in the soft scent of her hair and savored the feel of her body pressed against his on the couch. She was breathing deep and easy, her chest rising and falling gently. She felt safe with him. She was safe with him.
But was safe something she craved without knowing it? Or would the security of a relationship with him bore her eventually?
A Sweet Alaskan Fall Page 20