Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
HUDSON
I drove the familiar path down winding back roads, surrounded by trees lit on fire with their orange and yellow and red leaves. I’d only been back in Havenbrook for three days, but I’d already fallen so easily right back into a rhythm that hadn’t ever quite left me.
I’d thought about traveling this path a thousand times while I’d been deployed. I loved flying my bird, loved the rush of returning to base with a mission complete, but I’d missed meandering through the back roads of Havenbrook in my beat-up truck, knowing exactly where I was going without even trying.
I’d missed home, plain and simple.
And more than that, I’d missed Kenna.
After she’d hightailed it out of my place yesterday like her ass was on fire, I figured I’d give her some time to get used to the idea that this attraction between us still burned as hot as a Mississippi summer, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Because there was no way I was stepping back. Not now that my memories of her taste had been refreshed and were currently taking up ninety-seven percent of my thinking ability.
“You’re really not gonna talk about this, huh?” Caleb said from the passenger’s seat, his gaze focused out the side window. Just because his attention was pointed elsewhere didn’t mean he wasn’t totally and completely in tune with every move I made.
Which meant there was only one way to play this. “Talk about what?”
As if he had all the time in the world, he turned his head and locked eyes with me, one eyebrow raised.
Yeah, so, I’d avoided all talk of Kenna since she’d left yesterday. Since the only thing that had saved us from fucking right there amidst all the piecrusts was Caleb interrupting. If my friend weren’t like a brother to me, I’d hate him a little bit for it. Okay, I still hated him a little bit for it, brother-bond or not.
I’d managed to distract and divert Caleb’s attention almost immediately yesterday and figured that was that. No talks to be had, no answers to come up with. I should’ve known better. Caleb was one of the most astute people I’d ever met—nothing got past him.
“I didn’t sleep with her,” I said.
“I didn’t ask if you did.”
I blew out a heavy sigh. “What do you wanna know? I’m not gonna give you a play-by-play.”
“Never asked you to. But considering how much I knew about Kenna before even meeting her, I figured you’d have a few things to say.” he shrugged. “Maybe not.”
Silence hung in the cab, which was nothing new with us. If Caleb said fifty words over a three-hour span, he was running his mouth. But today it wore on me, and I finally shook my head, gripping the steering wheel.
“I want her. Badly. And if I had any illusions that I’d somehow want her less while being here, those were all eviscerated yesterday in my momma’s kitchen just before you walked in.”
“And is Kenna on board with that?”
I barked out a laugh. “Not even a little bit. She runs from things that are risky, and I’m the biggest risk of all.”
He was quiet for long moments. That was it? He wasn’t going to impart some kind of magical wisdom that would show me exactly how I should proceed? True, he wasn’t much for talking, but when he did, I had learned to listen.
Finally, he said, “You know how we have to throttle down?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Maybe storming in full throttle isn’t your best bet with her.”
No, it probably wasn’t. But I didn’t have a lot of time to ease into things. I had two and a half weeks before I was due back on base, and I wanted to spend them with Kenna, not chasing her. I wanted every morning—and night and afternoon and all the hours in between—to be like yesterday. I wanted her in my arms and in my bed.
But she was hardheaded and tougher to crack than a macadamia nut. The only time I’d ever been able to talk her into something she had her mind set against was if I made a bet out of it.
By the time I pulled to a stop in front of my family’s cabin, I’d run through a dozen different possible scenarios with Kenna. The only trouble was, I had no clue which one was the right one.
“Honey, we’re home,” I said, shifting the truck into park.
Caleb stepped out, shutting the door behind him. “Nice place.” He didn’t lift his sunglasses, but he didn’t have to for me to know he was assessing everything about the location, just like he would on any mission. “It’s quiet. Private.” He turned around and lifted his chin toward the heavily forested area at the back of the property. “That yours too?”
I nodded as I walked toward him. “Some of it.”
“Any climbing trails back there?”
I tossed him a quick grin, knowing exactly where he was going with this. “Used to be. Not sure how they’ve fared since Kenna and I’ve been gone.” I lifted my eyebrows and jerked a thumb into my truck bed. “You wanna take a stab at it? I’ve got some tools in the back.”
“Thought you’d never ask.” Without another word, he grabbed his backpack from the truck bed and strode off toward the blanket of trees, a pair of loppers hanging at his side and a determined hitch to his gait.
I took quick stock of the exterior of the property, making a mental list of the items that were deteriorating or in need of repair. For the most part, the cabin was exactly how I remembered it, although it was a little worse for wear now. Momma and Lilah hadn’t spent much time there with the bakery keeping them busy all hours of the day.
While I’d been gone, I’d hired someone to take care of lawn maintenance, as well as a basic cleaning once a month to make sure no critters moved in to the cabin. But hiring people for upkeep on superficial things didn’t do much for the loose railing on the porch or the peeling exterior paint or the window screens that needed to be replaced.
I slid my key into the lock and opened the door, walking over the threshold and immediately sinking into memories made of quicksand. So much of my childhood had been spent here—with my family, of course, but also with Kenna. She’d been a near-constant fixture on our weekend trips to the cabin when we’d been young.
And then when we’d gotten older, we’d used it as our own personal getaway—a place to sneak off to and get up to all kinds of shit I hoped to God neither of our parents ever found out about.
I walked through the cabin, my eyes landing on every place I’d had Kenna’s lips on mine. In the kitchen, at the dining table, against the wall in the front entry. When I got to my bedroom, I was already half hard, but seeing the bed and remembering our last hours in it had me at full mast immediately.
Bracing my hands against the doorframe, I hung my head between my shoulders, closing my eyes and remembering what it’d been like to sink inside her for the first time—the true first time. When there wasn’t a bet or an ulterior motive between us.
We’d both agreed to lose our virginity together, and while it had blown my fucking mind being inside a woman for the first time—especially since that woman had been Kenna—it was nothing like it’d been when we’d slept together of our own volition. For no other reason than we’d been attracted to each other. We’d wanted and needed each other. We’d loved each other.
I hadn’t said the words back then—she’d stopped me before I could—but I’d felt them. A thousand times over, I’d felt them. Had for years prior to that weekend before I enlisted. Had for years after my enlistment too.
A rumbling motor pulled me out of my thoughts, and I strode to the living room to peer out the window. Edna’s old beater Jeep that she used for mail delivery was sputtering down the gravel driveway before the engine cut off and the car crawled to a stop right in front of the cabin.
I stepped outside and jogged down the porch steps toward the car. The windows were down, and Edna was either talking to herself or she had company.
“Hey, Edna, you all right?” I asked as I leaned down and braced my forearms on the Jeep’s doorframe.
“Well, hey, sugar,” she said, reaching out to pat my arm, but I couldn’t focus on that or the rest of the words that came out of her mouth because the person sitting in the other seat drew my attention immediately.
Kenna.
She wasn’t even looking at me. Instead, she glared daggers at Edna, though the older woman either didn’t notice or just didn’t care. I let my eyes roam over Kenna, from her hair carelessly pinned on top of her head, to the low dip of her undershirt and the way it hugged her breasts, to her well-worn and ripped jeans. I wanted them all gone—every last article of clothing off her body so I could worship her skin like I’d been dreaming about for too damn long.
I cleared my throat and kept my arms braced on the doorframe, hiding my inconvenient and obvious erection from Edna’s scrutinizing gaze. “Did you just stop to chat, or do y’all need some help?”
“This damn truck,” Edna said without any heat. But then she seemed to realize how it sounded and slammed her hand on the dashboard to illustrate her anger. Anger that was totally vacant from her stare as she met my eyes. “Always breakin’ down on me! Would you be a doll and give us a ride into town so I can grab Frank and get him to come out and look at this pile of junk again?”
“Of course. Long as you don’t mind squishin’ together in the cab of my truck.”
“Oh, I’d have no problem at all snugglin’ up to you,” Edna said, her eyes alight with mischief.
“Edna!” Kenna hissed. “Why are you such a dirty old woman? My God.”
All I could do was laugh. The attention I’d been getting from the ladies of Havenbrook—from all walks and ages—was certainly something I wasn’t used to here. The last time I’d been home, I’d been only nineteen and wasn’t exactly on anyone’s radar. Seemed the lady folk in town had gotten thirstier since I’d been gone.
“Oh, come on,” Edna said. “Don’t ruin an old lady’s fun. Sittin’ next to all that muscle is the closest I’ll get to it. Earl may be packin’ in the nether regions, but he’s a green bean everywhere else.”
I barely covered up my snort with a cough at the same time Kenna said, “You’re the absolute worst. I hope you know that.”
Edna gave a definitive nod. “No disputin’ it. C’mon now, I’ve still gotta take care of that squirrel situation, so let’s get a move on. Go on. I’m gonna grab a couple things right quick.”
With obvious reluctance, Kenna slid out of the Jeep before slamming the door a little harder than necessary. I stepped back and studied her as she trudged toward me, her eyes focusing on everything but me. Or the cabin, now that I really paid attention.
Was this the first time she’d been out here too? My momma hadn’t ever mentioned Kenna coming to the place, but I’d assumed she had. It’d been nearly as much of her second home as it was mine.
I was so focused on Kenna that it took me a moment to realize a rumble of an engine had started again.
“Well, would you look at that?” Edna said. “Got it started back up. Must’ve overheated or something.” She locked eyes with me and gestured toward where Kenna stood, her mouth agape. “Would you mind bringin’ her on back into town? She doesn’t wanna be an accessory to breakin’ and enterin’. Again.” Without another word, she waved, then sped off down the dirt road that led to my cabin.
“You traitor!” Kenna yelled toward Edna’s retreating taillights. She huffed out a breath and crossed her arms, clearly not happy about being stuck out here.
My lips quirked at the corner. “I have one question.”
“What is it?” she asked, distrust burning in her narrowed eyes.
“‘ Again ’? You and Edna do a lot of breakin’ and enterin’, do you?”
She sighed and shook her head, dropping her arms to her sides. “I swear that woman didn’t get loved enough as a child or something. She needs attention all the time. She’s a senior-citizen replica of Nat.”
This time, I didn’t try to stifle my laugh. It rolled out of me as I remembered all the times Kenna and I’d had to go pick up her rebellious younger sister and keep her from getting into trouble—or bail her out of it after she was already knee-deep into it.
“How’s Nat doing? She still like that?”
Kenna shook her head. “Worse. Except now, I just get the details of her death-defyin’ antics after the fact.”
“Where’s she at now?”
“Where isn’t she? She’s got an apartment in Portland, but she’s rarely there. She’s a globe-trotter, like you.” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Yesterday, she was in Greece, according to her Snapchat.”
“Greece, huh? Wow. I think Momma mentioned she was a photographer.”
“Yep. Published and award-winning, if you can believe it.”
“Everyone has things they’re good at, I guess. I’m glad she found hers.”
“Yeah,” Kenna said, her voice hollow and flat. “Me too.”
In the span of thirty seconds, she’d done a 180 from the fiery, irritated Kenna I knew and loved to this sullen, unsure Kenna I’d never seen before. She wasn’t the kind of person to begrudge someone their successes—and definitely not one of her sisters—so it had to be something else.
I’d dig into that later. Right now, we were alone for the foreseeable future, and I wanted to work through some of those scenarios I’d thought of earlier.
“What’re your plans now that you’re stranded out here?” I stepped closer, dipping my head toward hers. Near enough for her breath to caress my face. We locked gazes, and there was no denying the heat burning in her eyes. I licked my lips, my eyes flicking down to her mouth. “’Cause I have a few ideas.”