My Surly Valentine (Hope Peak Valentine’s Day)

Chapter 12

12

AXTON

H azel seems extremely relieved by my reaction. Luckily, she doesn’t notice that several people around us look a bit shocked as they stare at us.

“You’re not angry that Fern came here?” she whispers.

“Pfft. On a more important note, do you like champagne?”

Her look of absolute confusion is ridiculously cute. “It’s…okay.”

I take her hand under the table. “Anything you like, baby. What would you like to drink?”

“I like light, fruity white wines. But I’m fine with anything, really. You probably want red with dinner.”

The server comes over to tell us the specials, and I ask, “Carla, Hazel would like a light, fruity white wine. Could we have a bottle of that, please?”

She smiles and nods. “I’ll ask the experts behind the bar. Be right back.”

“You don’t have to drink that because of me…” Hazel is biting her lip again, looking so delicious that I want to take her back to the cabin this very second. But I’m going to have to drop a pile of information on her, and we’re going to need sustenance for that. She glances toward the window as we hear the helicopter engine kick in, then fade away.

Once we’ve ordered and Hazel has taken a few sips of wine, I reach out to take her hand again, on top of the table this time.

“Baby, I need you to know that if you had looked at that Fern guy with any amount of respect or care, I would have forced myself to be civil to him. But you looked at him with utter contempt.”

“I mean, I’m always polite enough, for Dad’s sake. But you know…the bare minimum.”

“Let me ask you this. Two weeks ago, when you were first thinking about coming up here to the mountain, how did you see your ideal future playing out?” My fingers squeeze hers gently. “The truth, please.”

She stares down at our clasped hands. “Honestly, my only focus was to get a job that was in the arts and paid a salary I could live on. I have some savings, but I wanted to keep those set aside to put toward a house someday. I figured once I’d saved up six months’ worth of expenses, I could get an apartment and escape my parents.”

“Did you see yourself marrying a guy who wears a suit every day, and sending her kids to a super snotty private school?”

Her head shakes vigorously. “Not at all.” Her perfect lips smile sweetly. “I just want to be comfortable. I’ve never felt that way in my parent’s home. To be honest, your cabin is the first place I’ve felt free. Like I’m not being judged and analyzed. Or studied, like a stupid experiment.”

Her voice lowers. “But your cabin, great as it is, isn’t big enough for two people. And I don’t want to invade your space. Maybe I could get a little apartment in Hope Peak, and just visit?—”

I cut her off with a kiss, pulling her against me. She sighs happily, her body relaxing as we move together, completely forgetting where we are for an entire minute. Then I gently pull back. “Hazel, I’m so sorry. I haven’t been completely honest with you. I’m not from around here.”

“No, you’re from Wolfe Mountain. Where is that?”

I can feel my face settling into its natural scowl. “Where – oh. Bookstore. Of course. You’ll get used to the small-town gossip eventually.”

Our meals arrive, distracting us for several minutes. Then Hazel asks tentatively, “So… Is there something else you haven’t been honest about?”

“I would never lie—” I set down my fork. “Okay, I lied to Fern. There’s no more snow coming.” I’m relieved when she grins. “But no lies to you. It’s just that we clicked so fast that I guess I…forgot to mention…I have another house. The cabin is just my in-between spot.”

Her beautiful blue eyes stare intently. “Your what?”

“My real house is further up the road from the cabin, at the top of a steep, winding hill. If I’m staying there for weeks at a time it’s okay if I get snowed in. But if I have to be able to come and go, like right now, when there are a lot of tourists in town for Valentine’s Day and I might have to help out with the search and rescue team, it’s easier to stay at the cabin.”

“Oh. And this house… That’s where your woodshop is?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s got more than one room?”

“Yes. In fact, there’s an office I almost never use. It might be a great spot for a certain young lady to settle in with her slush pile reading.”

“You can’t…I mean…just…you know.”

“Ask you to live with me? We’ve already lived on top of each other for a couple of days as strangers, and it’s worked out well. I figure with more space and more time, as long as things continue working out well, you might consider…staying with me?”

My palm lands on her knee, rubbing gently. “Of course, there might be complications. I can guarantee Fern is telling your father all about the creep you’re shacked up with out here in the sticks.”

Hazel smiles, all the stress clearing from her eyes. “How about we just enjoy our Valentine’s dinner and then see what happens?”

“Sounds good.”

Our meal is wonderful, but my sweet little angel doesn’t know that our actual “Valentine’s dinner” is going to be tomorrow night – on the fourteenth, as it should be.

I’m not a super traditional guy, but it’s time for me to pull out all the stops if I’m going to set up the perfect new life for my girl.