What they needed was a break.
They needed to clear their minds and take a break from clues that seemingly led nowhere.
And they needed some fresh air.
There was something to be said for seclusion, and Olivia had reveled in it for the past few months, but she suddenly had the urge to break out from the safe, warm bubble she and Isaac had created.
It was time for a change of scenery.
She put the glass down on the kitchen bench, and then walked to the windows, yanking back the curtains so that the entire room was suddenly flooded in natural light.
The day beyond the window was clear, the sky blue, the fields and hills glistening white, but the small trail that led from the back of Isaac’s yard to Briar’s Creek had recently been cleared, probably by deer or elk walking the trails and Olivia had an idea.
She gathered up her long hair and swept it over her shoulder as she turned to face Isaac, who was watching her with both fascination and intrigue.
“What does that look on your face mean?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. “I get scared when you get that look on your face.”
Olivia smiled. “It means, let’s get out of here. Let’s go for a walk.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“That’s not very specific.”
“Everywhere.” Isaac cocked one brow doubtfully, and Olivia shoved her hands on her hips. “Why do we need specifics? Come on,” she said, turning toward the door. She grabbed Isaac’s coat from the rack and tossed it to him. “Let’s get outside and play a little. Just an hour or so, I promise!”
Isaac grumbled and groaned while he slipped his arms into his coat. “I’d be just as happy to play right here. I’m sure we could come up with a few fun games to keep us occupied for an hour or so.”
“Ohhh, my man has a dirty mind, I see. But, sorry… you’re not getting out of it that easily. Come on. Let’s go for a walk. Walk with me a while and we’ll just see where life takes us.”
Isaac didn’t speak as he dragged on his boots and beanie. Whether she’d meant to or not, Olivia had just called him her man and those words filled his chest like a bellow expanding so big that he had to breathe around the small space that was left.
The back door closed behind them and Olivia took Isaac’s hand as they trudged along the driveway toward the trail at the back of the house.
A triumphant smile stretched Olivia’s lips, and Isaac took a deep breath when he looked at her. He had to fight back the urge to stop right there and kiss her. Dammit if Olivia didn’t have the most perfect lips. They were made for kissing. And he planned on doing that very thing, many, many times, once they were done with their walk and he had her back at his place.
Right where he wanted her.
But for now, she looked happy, and that made him happy.
It was a foreign feeling for him to consider someone else’s happiness. But he would do whatever it took to make Olivia Parker happy and if trudging through freezing cold snow in the middle of winter was what she wanted to do, then who was he to stand in her way.
Snow was melting, dripping from the hanging branches that lined the driveway, forming sloppy puddles on the ground. The clear sky and the early morning sun made the white fields blinding, and the meadows off in the distance were little more than a mirage of dazzling lights.
The trail toward Briar’s Creek was rocky and rough in places, and it was wet beneath their boots, but Isaac gripped Olivia’s fingers tightly, making sure she was steady as they wandered in the opposite direction from the house.
“You know…” Isaac broke the silence that surrounded them as he walked on. “My mother used to work at the Forrester Motel.”
Olivia paused slightly, but then hurried to keep up with Isaac’s longer strides. “She did? When? Why didn’t you mention it sooner?”
“Before I was born. And I didn’t mention it sooner because I literally just thought of it right now.”
“Is that what Mrs. Flannigan meant when she said your mother cleaned rooms with their daughter? She worked at The Forrester?”
Isaac’s shoulders lifted and then dropped. He didn’t answer her, but he didn’t really have to. The look on Olivia’s face told him that she was thinking the very same thing he was thinking.
She stopped walking, puffing slightly from the gentle incline and the thick snow.
“Mrs. Ackerman worked at the school, obviously, and also at the movie theater. Did she ever mention working at the motel? Do you think this has something to do with your mother? Maybe they worked together?”
Isaac hadn’t even broken a sweat, and Olivia might have been embarrassed by how unfit she was if it was anyone else. But Isaac only smiled and pulled her along behind him, not caring how much she was panting, nor was he going to be the one to remind her that all this walking was her idea in the first place.
“Maybe?” he replied softly, considering the options. “Who knows?” He stopped walking and bent down, packing snow between his hands, tossing the tight ball gently from one hand to the other. “We moved out of town when I was just a few months old, so if she did, it would have to have been before I was born.”
“Why did you move away from Woodlake?” Olivia held out her hand and Isaac dropped the melting snowball into her pink fingers. She’d forgotten gloves but she didn’t mind the cold. It was oddly refreshing. “Your mother and grandfather were close, yes? Why would she move to a strange town, away from the only family she had, with a small baby, all on her own? Did your grandfather ever explain that to you?”
Isaac smacked the underside of Olivia’s palm, making the misshaped snowball fall to the ground. He smiled when she pouted, and then instantly regretted putting that look on her face.
“Sorry. I’ll make you another one later. Come on, we’re not too far now from the creek. It’ll be icy, but it’s nice this time of year.”
Olivia wiped her wet hand down the side of Isaac’s face and then laughed as she hurried on ahead of him, her feet making deep holes in the snow.
A thick cluster of tall trees was up ahead and the sun was temporarily shadowed by the gangly bare branches, but Olivia headed in that direction eager to see what was on the other side.
Isaac stood frozen for a beat, cold and now wet as well, but the sound of Olivia laughing was like a short, sharp punch to the ribs.
He shook his head and followed after her. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
“Perhaps we should call into the motel and see if they can shed any light on the situation. Maybe they can tell us if Mrs. Ackerman ever worked there?”
“Sure, great idea,” said Olivia, her cheeks flushed, her legs getting tired. She nodded, enjoying the way Isaac’s mind worked. “Brains and good looks! You’re not just a pretty face after all.”
“You trying to be funny?”
“Never.” Olivia poked out her tongue, turning back toward the trail. She started to run, slowly at first, just a jog, jumping puddles and rocks like she didn’t want to be caught. But it soon turned into something more, and Isaac knew better. He didn’t want to lose her in the snow, but she would never be able to outrun him.
So, he chased her, his long legs eating up the distance quickly, his dark eyes narrowed in on her fluffy pink coat and long blonde hair that flowed out behind her.
When he caught her, he pulled her down, spinning her over him so that her small body landed on his, and his back took the cushioned blow of landing in the powdery snow.
Olivia squealed and shrieked like a toddler being tickled for the very first time. She fought him, of course, she did, her legs and arms flailing around against his, and he might have panicked that he’d taken things too far if she wasn’t laughing so hysterically.
Happy tears bubbled in her eyes, her head thrown back in delight and Isaac swooped like a bird of prey, claiming her bare neck with his lips.
He kissed her throat, he kissed the small dip at the bottom of her neck, and he held her so tigh
tly there in the freezing cold snow that Olivia’s laughter stalled and her breath caught.
Isaac looked up at Olivia like he was just a man, holding a woman in his arms. A woman he longed for, a woman he wanted desperately.
A woman he loved?
Olivia didn’t know. She wasn’t sure if he felt that way about her. He was still guarded, blocking and bold in his words and choices. But she thought, just like the cold snow beneath his warm back, maybe the walls he’d purposely built around himself were slowly melting.
“Come to the festival with me tomorrow night,” she whispered. It was a statement, not a plea, not a question. But Olivia wasn’t past begging if that’s what it took.
Isaac’s hands stopped their leisurely descent over her backside. His fingers pressed into her hips, and then he was gone, rolling her off him so that now he was sitting on the powdery floor beside her, thick arms hunched over bent knees.
If words had filled the eerie silence where only deep breathing currently existed—In. Out. In. Out—she might have had some inkling as to what was going on inside Isaac’s head.
But as it was, she was struggling to figure out what the expression on his face meant. Her heart beat out a fast rhythm, and Isaac’s mouth tightened with the newly composed song.
“I can’t,” he said in a whisper of words that were lost in the cold air. A breath of white disappeared into the hills that surrounded them and Isaac stared down at his hands. “I’m not ready for that.”
“For what?”
He turned his head and glanced at her. “For the festival. For everything that comes with it. You have to let me do this at my own pace,” he said, tilting his chin slightly. “Please, Olivia… you have to let me do this my way, or it will never work. It’s too much for me.”
Olivia inhaled the icy air. “But…”
“Look, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Ever since you mentioned going to Louisiana.” A bird flew overhead, the heavy sound of flapping wings making Isaac look up at the sky. “I’ve been thinking a lot about pushing myself farther out of my comfort zone. But I don’t know if I’m ready for that sort of thing. Not yet.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
“You could be waiting a long time.” Isaac suddenly swore, as if he was angry, though Olivia knew his anger was targeted at himself and not so much at her at all. “You deserve better.”
“I deserve to be happy, Isaac. You deserve to be happy. Everyone deserves that, and you make me happy. But we can’t stay holed up out here for the rest of our lives.” She took a deep breath, her eyes darting left then right. “I mean… I don’t really know what this is between us, or where it’s headed, but I want more than these hills and that creek down there to know that we’re together. Are we, Isaac?”
“Are we, what?
“Together?”
Isaac stared at his fingers, at the way they toyed with the worn hole in his jeans. He nodded his head and mumbled the word together a couple of times under his breath. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Am I enough though, Liv? Will I be enough down the track when you want to go on all these grand adventures, traveling the world and visiting places like goddamn Louisiana?”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what? Tell you the truth?”
“Don’t make decisions for me that you think are in my best interest. People have done that for me my entire life and I’m done with letting it happen. I want to live my own life. I want to see the world, and I want to make mistakes, and I want to dance in the rain if I feel like it! I want to climb mountains, and I want to swim in oceans that I’ve never seen. I want to be with you, and I want… I want you to meet my parents.”
Olivia wasn’t sure where the idea had suddenly come from, or why she’d chosen that exact moment to declare herself completely insane. But, hey? What could she do?
Isaac didn’t know what to say. He shook his head, like he didn’t understand. Snow fluttered around his face. “What do you mean? I already know your parents.”
Olivia stood suddenly, brushing down the back of her jeans. “Yes. I know that!” she shouted, her voice echoing around the paddock. “And you have the hide to call me a smart-ass!” Sunlight flickered in her eyes as she spun around. “You know they own the town bakery. And you know my sister works at the library. Conner was the year ahead of us at Woodlake Elementary, so whoop-de-do! But you haven’t officially met them, so you don’t really know them. And I’d like to introduce you to them as my boyfriend.”
Isaac’s eyes darted to Olivia’s face. “Boyfriend?”
“Well, uh, yeah…” Olivia felt like she was tripping over her words. She continued though before she lost her nerve, her voice falling to a whisper. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together lately. And we’ve, well… we’ve been doing other things too, and I just thought… anyway, I just thought… you know what, never mind. We can talk about it another time. We should probably get back before the weather turns. Come on, don’t worry about it. Let’s just go.”
Isaac stared at her, not knowing what to say.
And even if he knew the words he needed to say right there in that very moment, he wasn’t even sure he was brave enough to say them.
Boyfriend?
That word came with expectations that he wasn’t sure he could meet. He wanted to believe that he could be the man Olivia needed him to be. To explore and travel and venture out into the world like a man who wasn’t held back by chains shackled to a solid brick wall.
But everything inside him screamed otherwise.
His stomach was in knots, and he knew unraveling those knots would take time. Time he wasn’t certain he still had.
He stared at the mountains beyond Olivia’s shoulder. They looked enormous, bigger than they ever had before and as Isaac watched Olivia walk away from him, he couldn’t help but feel like he was shrinking.
The annual Woodlake Winter Festival was in full swing. It was the one date on the Woodlake calendar that brought folks out from far and wide, no matter how busy they were, no matter what else they had on. It was bigger than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter all combined.
It was one night where the entire town came together, eating corn dogs and cotton candy, washing it all down with cold beer and warm cider—an evening of parades, fireworks, and of course, the annual town Pumpkin Toss, which was always the highlight of the entire event.
The idea had come to light a few years back, and Olivia simply couldn’t understand how it was that fully grown men found tossing rotting pumpkins at the trunk of a hundred-year-old Douglas fir, entertaining in any way.
Though, given that the idea had surfaced on a lazy November afternoon when Kyle Mason obviously had far too much time on his hands, and most likely too many beers under his belt—she shouldn’t have been overly surprised. How Kyle had convinced Mayor Dell to go along with the whole ridiculous notion was still anyone’s guess.
The mayor himself had not long closed off both ends of Main Street and now Sheriff Mason was busy marking off an area to keep the children back a safe distance from the fireworks.
Spirits were high, almost as high as the stack of fat, round pumpkins piled up beside the gazebo, and it appeared that everyone in town was enjoying themselves immensely.
With the exception of Harriet Clay, or so it seemed.
Her wrinkled face was wound tight as a drum while she screamed orders at Mayor Dell as he set up the stage for the country music band they’d hired for the evening, insisting that ‘success is in the details. The details! Rough enough is not good enough, you damn fool!’
Apparently poor Clarence was doing it all wrong, and Harriett was more than willing to point out the error of his ways.
Despite the arctic blast of cold night air and the gentle dusting of snow that had fallen earlier that afternoon, the streets of Woodlake were now bursting at the seams. Men, women, and children were all rugged up in thick coats and hats, scarves, beanies, and
waterproof boots, as they wandered through the artisan stalls, doing some last minute Christmas shopping, or just taking in the atmosphere.
The white lights strewn across the street swayed in the breeze that blew across the square—it was cold but it was bearable—and a brass band played Christmas carols from up on the stage, a beautiful choir of sounds that rang out sweetly across the entire town.
Olivia had met up with Tate and Conner at Chaser’s about an hour before. They were on their third beer, and as it was she had a nice little buzz going on. She wasn’t exactly tipsy, but the troubles of the past few days had been swept beneath the carpet, pushed back behind a kaleidoscope of other things she didn’t want to think about right then and there in that very moment.
She was having fun, and everything else could just stay a blur for a while longer.
Isaac hadn’t said much after the whole boyfriend debacle. They’d simply carried on like Olivia hadn’t just made a complete and utter fool out of herself, and he’d stayed pretty quiet until they’d got all the way back to the house.
Picking at the wet label on the bottle, Olivia sat back in the booth and watched warily as Tate sat forward, her arms folded on the sticky table.
“So, come clean. What’s going on with you and mountain man? You blush every time I ask about him. And you change the subject every time his name’s brought up in conversation. And don’t even get me started on how often you’re in the hardware store lately. No one could possibly use that many nails. Spill the beans!”
Connor leveled his wife with a stern look. “Tate, stop. If Olivia wants us to know about her love life, then I’m sure she’ll tell us about it when she’s good and ready.”
Olivia laughed, took another quick swig of beer. “Who said anything about a love life?”
Connor sat back and grinned. “Well, come on, we’re not idiots, Liv. You have been a bit secretive lately.”
Olivia’s face went hot, and the bottle wobbled in her hand. “I’ve been busy, renovating.” She tried to keep her tone even, but the conversation was headed down a path she wasn’t sure she was ready to walk. Though, as crazy as it sounded, she had actually missed her sister since she’d moved out to Briar’s Creek. Tate was overbearing sometimes, but she was Olivia’s best friend, and talking about boys was something they hadn’t done in a very long time.
The Winter Before Page 18