8. Madison
Apounding on the door woke me up the next morning. I groaned and stretched my tired muscles. Nate had somehow convinced me to turn my life over to him for the next month. Yesterday, after coffee and a cinnamon roll, he’d waited while I layered on warm clothes and then led me out into the snow.
For the next hour, we worked together to craft the perfect snowman. I hadn’t made a snowman since I was a kid and it felt weird at first to do something so silly, but Nate made it fun. He claimed to be a snow architectural expert after having made many snow creations with his niece and nephew. I had to admit that our snowman turned out great, complete with stick arms and a scarf around its neck.
While I was admiring our creation, Nate had nailed me in the back with a snowball and then we were engaged in an intense battle that ended with us both covered in snow and out of breath. I dropped to the ground and flapped my arms and legs.
“What are you doing?” he’d asked with a laugh, towering over me.
“Making a snow angel.”
His expression softened as he watched me, eyes scanning every inch of my body. When I was done, he held out a hand to pull me up. My heart had raced the second our hands touched, even with our gloves on, and it only got worse when he kept ahold of my hand after I was on my feet. We stood with just inches between us, our chilled breaths merging into one hazy cloud that floated into the air.
Nate’s head had inched closer to mine and my lips had parted in anticipation of a kiss, but then he’d taken an abrupt step back and sent me inside to warm up while he cleared off my car and shoveled a path in the snow from the porch to the driveway.
When he was done, I invited him inside to warm up, but he declined and said he needed to go home. I had been disappointed, but not surprised. We had spent most of the day together and he needed to get back to his life. But he surprised me when he promised to be back the next morning.
I hadn’t taken him very seriously and hearing the pounding on my door confused me at first. But then I remembered his promise and I scrambled out of bed.
“Coming!” I blinked a few times to chase away the remnants of sleep as I stumbled down the hall. If I had been thinking more clearly, I would’ve thought to stop and pull on some pants and maybe brush out my hair.
Instead, I yanked open the door while wearing just a worn, oversize t-shirt while my long hair was still caught in deep tangles. Nate grinned when he took in my appearance.
“Good morning.”
“What time is it?” I blinked against the sunlight reflecting off the snow.
“Seven. I let you sleep in.” He looked at my bare legs. “You might want to put on some pants. It’s cold out here.”
I nodded. “Hence why I was planning to stay in here.”
“You can’t hide inside this cabin for a month. Put on your clothes and fix that nest on your head. I’ll wait.” His eyes slowly traveled back up to my face. “Or don’t. This look is kind of hot.”
“Give me a minute.” I slammed the door in his face before those hypnotizing eyes of his could pull me under a spell.
Ten minutes later, I opened the door to find him leaning against the porch railing, hands shoved into the pockets of his perfectly fitting jeans.
“Are we going to be outside again?” I asked, debating if I had put on enough layers. I was wearing my warmest coat, but I only had a sweater underneath.
“Maybe a little bit. Just bring your hat and gloves and you should be fine.”
I already had my gloves in my coat pocket, but I ducked back inside to grab a black beanie and then locked the door behind me. Nate walked to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door, holding out a hand to me.
“I feel like I should know where you are taking me before I agree to get in your truck.” My fingers grazed across his palm as I took his hand.
“First stop is breakfast. The rest you’ll find out later.”
“This almost feels like a date.”
He shrugged. “Maybe it is a date. You planning on kissing me at the end of our time together?”
“Only if you impress me, Sullivan.”
His eyes sparked with surprise. “Challenge accepted, angel.”
The breakfast spotended up not being Amelia’s café as I had initially assumed. Instead, Nate headed out of downtown on the highway, one hand resting comfortably on the steering wheel, the other tapping a rhythm on the gear shift in time with the song playing on the radio.
“Is this the oldies station?” I teased.
“You have a problem with classic rock?” His glare lacked any actual annoyance.
“Not at all. This is actually my favorite kind of music.” I watched out the window as we passed a pasture full of cattle. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course.”
“I hate most of the music I perform.” I had never admitted that to anyone. If the wrong person found out, my career could be ruined in an instant. “In fact, I don’t like singing or performing at all.”
Nate was quiet for a long moment before he asked, “Why do you do it then?”
“Because it’s expected of me.” I had tried quitting many times, but I was always guilted into recording just one more album or doing one more tour.
“That’s the first thing we’re going to change, Madison.” He tugged on my hair to pull my attention back to him. “You’re going to start doing things because you want to do them, not because someone else expects you to do it.”
“So if I don’t want to spend the day with you…”
“Then I’ll turn this truck around and take you back to the cabin. Just say the word.”
I could tell that he meant it. He would respect my wishes even if it meant ruining whatever he had planned for us. “I was promised breakfast, Sullivan. You’re not getting out of this.”
“Alright then.” He gave a satisfied nod. “But only since it’s what you want to do.”
Eating breakfast wasn’t what I really wanted to do with Nate Sullivan. What I really wanted to do was reenact some of the things we had done together in my dreams last night. But I wasn’t sure how I could casually ask someone if he would bury his face between my thighs.
“I can see why everyone around here drives a truck.” The snowdrifts on either side of us were a couple of feet tall. “Do you like living somewhere with such brutal winters?”
“You get used to it.”
“That’s not an answer to my question.”
He laughed. “Damn. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”
“So?”
“No, I don’t like the winters in Crestwood. I love being outdoors– riding horses and working on the ranch. I like feeling the sun on my skin and taking long drives down the country roads with my windows down. But if I want to have those days, I’ve got to put up with these days.” He gestured to the cloudy sky and salt-worn road in front of us. “It’s days like these that remind me of those other days and how lucky I am to call this place home.”
He spoke about Crestwood so poetically that I started to see it through his eyes. I could almost picture the trees surrounding us covered in green leaves. I could almost believe the warm air coming from the vents in the dashboard was actually a summer breeze rushing through open windows.
“I might need to come back to Crestwood in the summer. You’ve made it sound pretty amazing.”
“You’re welcome anytime. If the cabin is booked, you can borrow my guest room on the ranch. My house should be finished by summer.” He made the offer so easily that I almost missed what he had just said. He had invited me to stay in his home.
“You’re building a house on the ranch?” I asked and he nodded. “Could I see it?”
“Right now?” He looked at me with a little bit of panic in his eyes.
I laughed and slapped his arm. “No, not right now. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too,” he muttered. This time when he glanced at me there was an unmistakable heat in his eyes.
“I, um, are we almost there?” The warm air I’d been enjoying earlier was now making it hard for me to breathe. Sweat collected on the back of my neck.
“See that wooden arch up there?” he said, pointing to the right of the highway.
“Yeah.”
“That’s the entrance to the Sullivan Ranch. That’s where I usually live and work.”
I leaned forward. “Really? Will you show me?”
“Later. We’ve got another stop first.” This time he pointed to the left, to another arch across the highway. “This is the guest ranch that my brother Chase runs.” He turned on his left signal.
“This is where we are going?” I asked excitedly. I had never been to a ranch and I was excited to see part of Nate’s life.
“They have a restaurant in the welcome lodge and their chef is fantastic. I called ahead to make sure we’d have a table.” He turned onto the dirt road.
“Lucky Charm Ranch?” I said, reading the engraving carved into the arch that was shaped like a giant horseshoe.
“My mom started this ranch. Her name was Penny, but my dad always called her Lucky. They were one of those ridiculously in love couples that makes everyone around them roll their eyes.” The wistful smile on his face was the first one I’d seen like that.
“Were one of those couples?” I asked softly.
“Mom died about twenty years ago. She had cancer and it was already far along when they found it.”
“I’m so sorry, Nate.”
He nodded. “Me too. Mom was incredible and I miss her every day. We all do.”
“This was her place?” I took in the large building in front of us that had been built to look like a giant log cabin. It had a rustic deck that spanned the length of it and large glass windows that reflected the trees surrounding us.
“It was a lot different back then, but this was one of the structures she had built. She would’ve loved everything that Chase and Lily have been doing to the ranch.” Nate pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine. “Stay put.”
Before I could ask why, he was out of the truck and circling toward my side. I should’ve known that Nate Sullivan was a man who opened car doors for women.
He helped me out of the truck and kept my hand gripped tight as we walked toward the lodge. The sidewalk had been shoveled and salted so there was minimal risk of me falling, but Nate wasn’t going to risk it. Neither of us was wearing gloves and it was the first time I had felt his warm skin against mine. His fingers had rough callouses that tickled my skin in a way that had me wondering what they would feel like stroking other parts of me. I nearly let out a moan.
“I think Chase and Lily are going to join us for breakfast.”
“Chase is your brother, but who is Lily?”
“She’s the operations manager for the whole ranch business and she’s also dating my oldest brother. We all really like her. She’s great for Evan. I’ve never seen him smile the way he does with her.” Then Nate gave me one of his real smiles and damn near stopped my heart. “You should be prepared for both of them to make a lot of embarrassing assumptions about the two of us.”
“They know about me?” Had Nate been telling his family about me? If so, how much had he told them?
“Amelia told Lily she saw me talking to a woman in the café and I’m sure Harper has told Chase about the bookstore. My family is nosy as hell, especially when it comes to my dating life.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Fortunately for you, we aren’t dating and you’ll never have to see them again after a few weeks, so you can just tell them to go to hell.”
“I don’t think I will do that, but it’s good to know I have the option.”
He dropped my hand to open the door for me and it felt a little like losing a limb. Once we were inside, my fingers itched to be nestled between his and I wondered if I would look desperate if I reached for his hand. Nate didn’t even glance at me before snagging my hand and pulling me through the large foyer.
“This place is beautiful.” I had never seen anything quite like the rustic lodge. The walls were bright white while the floors were a deep chestnut brown. The lofted ceiling revealed thick beams the same color as the floors. Directly above us, a sparkling chandelier added an elegant touch that was just perfect.
“Wait until you see the rest of the ranch.” Nate smiled proudly. “Lily has done an amazing job.”
“You sure you don’t have a bit of a crush on your brother’s girlfriend?” I was attempting a joke but it came out sounding more like a jealous accusation.
“I think everyone has a little bit of a crush on Lily,” he said with a laugh. “But, no. Not in the way you are implying. She’s just a cool girl. You’ll see.”
I liked that Nate was able to speak so kindly about another woman without a hint of desire. He was one of those men who believed that women and men could be just friends without holding an expectation of something more. I wondered if that was how he saw me too.
He tugged me forward. “The restaurant is right over here.”
“Smells amazing,” I said, catching a whiff of sweetness on top of a hint of grease.
“Marla makes this amazing French toast and the bacon here is always extra crispy.”
“Careful, Sullivan. That kind of talk makes me warm and tingly in all the right places.”
His deep chuckle was becoming one of my favorite sounds. “What places are those?”
“My stomach, of course.” I mocked offense. “Why? Did you think I meant something else?”
Nate’s thumb brushed the back of my hand and now I really did have tingles in all the right places. He smirked as if he knew exactly how my body had responded to his touch. “You’re going to be the death of me, angel.”
“Nate!’
We both flinched and Nate tugged me slightly closer to him before turning toward the arched opening. “Hey, Lil.” His shoulders dropped an inch.
“This is her?” Lily ignored Nate as she peered at me over his shoulder. “Move so I can get a better look.”
“She’s not an exotic art piece, Lily. Stop being a weirdo.” Nate smiled through the scolding and turned to me. “I take back every nice thing I said about her.”
“No, you don’t.” I could tell that Nate enjoyed Lily’s forward personality. “Hi. I’m Madison.” I held out the hand that Nate wasn’t holding and the pretty woman staring at me smiled as she shook it.
“It’s great to meet you.” She winked at Nate. “She’s pretty. Out of your league.”
“You think I need to be told that?” He laughed and pulled me forward again. As we stepped into the restaurant, Lily came up beside me.
“So, Madison. What brings you to Crestwood?”
I should’ve prepared myself for this type of questioning. “Oh, you know. Just taking a little vacation.”
“I’m surprised you would come here this time of year. We usually only see tourists in the summer and fall. Unless you are here for the skiing? Some people like to stay down the mountain because the rental homes are cheaper.”
“Hey, Lil? Maybe you could save your interrogation until after we’ve had coffee?” Nate scanned the room and then nodded his head toward a table. “Looks like Chase already has a full pot waiting for us.”
The man sitting at the table we approached looked a lot like Nate. His hair was longer and had a little move wave, but they had the same bone structure and strong build. He stood and greeted us all with a smile.
“Hey, man.” He slapped Nate’s shoulder and then held out a hand to me. “Chase Sullivan. The good-looking brother.”
“And the humble one too,” I joked.
There was no denying that obscenely good genetics ran in the Sullivan family. Chase had a great, easy smile, but I found myself preferring the gentler ones I had to work to get from Nate.
He pulled out a chair for me and then slid into the one next to mine. Chase was across from me with Lily across from Nate.
“I’m excited for you to see the ranch,” Lily said. “We could use another woman’s input. You’ll see pretty quickly that this place is swarming with men.”
“No need for her to see that.” Nate had already grabbed the coffee pot to fill the mug in front of me.
Lily rolled her eyes. “You brought her to a ranch and expect her not to see any cowboys? You Sullivan men really are all a bunch of idiots.”
Nate filled the rest of the mugs and then leaned back in his chair, picking up his with his right hand while sliding his left arm around the back of my chair. Chase noted the move with a quirk of his lips.
“Lily’s a little crabby because her Sullivan man is still in recovery.” Chase grunted when Lily’s elbow landed solidly between his ribs.
“Recovery from what?” I didn’t recall Nate mentioning any of his brothers being injured.
“He’s been castrated.” Chase shifted quickly in his seat to avoid another elbow.
I laughed awkwardly. “That sounds…painful.”
“It wasn’t. He was given plenty of drugs and now he’s recovering nicely.” Lily reached for her coffee. “Let’s not forget that the vasectomy was Evan’s idea, not mine.”
“Except if you had told him you wanted to birth his children, there’s no way he would’ve let a doctor snip him.” Chase winced and shifted in his seat.
“That is bullshit. Evan told me months ago that he doesn’t want more kids. This was his decision.” She gave me a conspiratorial smile. “Not that I’m opposed to a man finally taking some responsibility in the birth control department.”
“This has been a great way to introduce Madison to the family, but maybe we could talk about something other than Evan’s balls?” Nate suggested.
Lily laughed and nodded. “I’m sure he would appreciate that too. Madison, what do you think of Crestwood so far?”
“It’s great. I love the small-town feel. Everyone is so kind and friendly.”
“Friendly?” Chase was smirking again as he looked between me and Nate. “I can see that.”
Nate was glaring at his brother as the waitress approached to take our orders. I went with the French toast and crispy bacon and Nate ordered the same. Chase went with biscuits and gravy and Lily ordered the eggs Benedict.
Our conversation turned to the guest ranch and all the work Chase and Lily had been doing over the last few months. They both spoke with so much excitement that it was clear they loved the ranch and the work they were doing. I couldn’t help but be jealous of them. I hadn’t felt that way about anything in a long time. If ever.
When the meal was over, Chase waved away my attempt to pay. He insisted that it was on the house and Nate had handled a generous tip for the waitress. Lily loped her arm through mine and started the tour. She pointed out every detail, from the local artwork she had added to the lounge room in the lodge to the foundation work that the guys had done for the event room they were adding onto the back of the building.
“We’ll be hosting our first wedding here next winter,” she said proudly.
“Is it hosting if it’s your own wedding,” Nate teased.
“You’re getting married?” Somehow I had missed the beautiful ring sparkling on her left hand. “Congratulations.”
“You should be congratulating them,” Lily said, hooking a thumb over our shoulders to where Chase and Nate were following close behind us. “They are the ones who will get to have me be part of their family.”
I had known her for less than an hour, but I already understood why Nate had been so sure I would like Lily Jameson. She was smart and witty and had no problem putting the Sullivan men in their place. Lily had the kind of confidence that I envied.
“We are lucky indeed,” Chase said, swatting Lily’s ponytail. “Especially Nate. He’s found himself his own outsider to woo and trap here in Crestwood. Evan will be proud.”
“Evan did not trap me here,” she snapped. Then she smiled at me. “But he did woo me a little bit.”
“You aren’t from the area?” I asked, ignoring Chase’s pointed comment about Nate wooing me.
Lily shook her head and held open the door that led to the back deck. “I moved here from Denver. I was actually roommates with Harper in college. They needed some help with their books a few months back and I agreed to help out. After charming Evan into not throwing me off his ranch, he fell madly in love with me and now I have no intention of ever leaving.” Her smile was one of the happiest I had ever seen. “How about you, Madison? Where are you from?”
“Nashville, most recently. I’ve lived a few different places, though.” I actually had homes in four different states. My primary home was out in Los Angeles because that was where I spent most of my time when I was filming. But I also had a condo in New York for when I had business on the east coast and I’d recently bought a place in Nashville to be closer to my recording studio. I also owned my parents’ home in Alabama, but I hadn’t been back there in years.
“Oh really? Where?” Lily was just being her usual friendly self, but I was instantly uncomfortable.
“Um, well a lot of places. I was born in Alabama.” I tucked my hair behind my ears, resorting to my favorite nervous gesture.
“Madi?” Lily lowered her voice so that even the guys couldn’t hear us as we took the steps down to the stone path leading onto the ranch. “I know who you are.”
“What?” My heart thudded and my steps faltered enough that Nate lunged forward to grab my arm.
“You alright, angel?” he asked, letting that term of endearment slip for the first time in front of his family.
“I’m fine.” I spared just a quick glance at him and it was enough for him to see the shock in my eyes.
“She’s fine.” Lily swatted his hand away from my arm and replaced it with hers. “Now stay back and let the girls chat.”
Nate kept his eyes on me and I gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine,” I repeated.
“Let’s head toward the stables. One of our carriages should be available.” Lily yanked me forward and lowered her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Evan’s daughter is kind of your biggest fan, so I’ve seen your face plastered on her bedroom wall. I take it you’re trying to keep a low profile in Crestwood and I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thank you.” I believed her. Lily was someone I could trust with my secret, just like Nate.
“Does he know?” she asked.
I nodded. “He figured it out right away for the same reason as you. Do you think Chase knows? Or Harper?”
“Harper doesn’t or she already would’ve told me. Chase pays zero attention to anything happening outside of Crestwood so your identity wouldn’t mean anything to him even if he did know.” Lily squeezed my arm. “Your secret is safe with us.”
It turned out that the carriage had just left with some of the ranch guests, so we continued our tour of the ranch instead. Lily showed me stables that held beautiful horses. In the nicer weather, they offered riding lessons on the ranch and took people out for long rides over the land. In the winter, the horses didn’t get as much activity. A few of them were used for the horse-drawn carriage rides, but most of them spent their winters relaxing.
“We are building an indoor arena on the other side of the big pond,” Lily said. “Then we’ll be able to utilize the horses in all seasons.”
She had a plan for everything. As she listed the dozens of projects they would be implementing in the next few months, Chase filled in the details. A lot of the work was being done by the Sullivan men and it was impressive to see what they were able to accomplish as a family.
The highlight of the tour for me was the Airstream village. Two dozen of the shiny structures were arranged around multiple campfires. Each Airstream had a different brightly colored door with white lights strung between them that sparkled off the snowy backdrop. A couple of families were relaxing in front of roaring fires.
“This is where we put the families. These Airstreams are a little larger than the ones back that way,” Lily explained.
“That’s where we put the couples. Small Airstreams that are better reinforced in case of some wild nights.” Chase looked at Nate and then at me. “Want me to book you one for a few nights?”
“Actually, yes.” I laughed at the shocked expression on everyone’s faces. “I don’t need one of the reinforced ones, but I’d love to stay on this ranch. It’s so inviting, even buried in all this snow.”
“You haven’t seen the hot tubs yet.” Lily threw an arm around my shoulders. “I think I’ve got the perfect Airstream for you.”
We ended the tour at a recently flattened section of land where they would be adding guest cottages over the next year. These would offer multi-bedroom lodging and kitchenettes.
“We’ve got some great trails for hiking most of the year and then cross-country skiing in the snow.” Lily kept waving her arm in different directions as she laid out the plans. “These cottages should help us book even more weddings, too. We’ll have an extra nice one for a honeymoon suite and then enough other ones to host wedding guests.”
“I love all of it. It sounds like a lot of work.” I took a deep breath of the cool mountain air and felt it deep in my bones. “I can see why you decided to stay here, Lily.”
Nate and Chase had wandered away to survey a drainage system that had recently been dug. They were engaged in an intense debate about something and I was completely enraptured by Nate’s fierce focus. His strong jaw was even more defined as it clenched at something that Chase said.
“I love Crestwood,” Lily said. “But that’s not the only reason I stayed.”
Nate looked over and caught me staring. The tension in his face was immediately chased away by one of his perfect smiles.
“That,” Lily said. “That’s why I stayed.”
“For Nate?” I gasped.
Lily laughed. “No. I stayed because I found a man who smiled at me like that. You might have come here for an escape from your life just like I did, but you also might find that you had to come to Crestwood to finally start living your life. Just like I did.”