CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tess
It took Tess thirteen hours to recuperate from the campout. One in a long, hot bath. One devouring an entire pizza. And eleven more in a deep sleep on a cushy mattress.
She spent the next morning puttering around her garden, happy to see that Faith had remembered to water and everything had survived. She pulled some errant weeds and harvested a few early cherry tomatoes.
After lunch, her phone rang. Caller ID gave no hint as to who it was, but she answered anyway.
“Hey, Tess. It’s Carter. You sleep as hard as I did last night?”
She shouldn’t be surprised at his call—he’d taken her number and said he would after all—but still! It wasn’t every day a professional basketball player called. “I did. Felt pretty good, huh?”
“Never have I been so grateful for a soft bed.” He chuckled. “Hey, so I’m in town one more night and wanted to see if we could make that date happen.”
Tess plopped onto her couch in shock. She’d thought for sure Carter was all talk, only flirting with her because she was the only woman on the mountain. Be cool, Walker. Be cool .
“Oh, well, actually, my friends are throwing me a birthday party tonight.” She winced and squeezed her eyes tight, thankful he couldn’t see her. So much for cool.
“Today’s your birthday? That’s awesome. A party sounds fun.”
The comment hung like bait at the end of a pole. He was fishing for an invite, though she couldn’t fathom why. The high-society parties in Boston he was surely used to, would make hers look like a child’s.
“Oh, well, I mean, it’s not a big deal. But if you want to come, you’re welcome to.”
She wasn’t sure what she wanted his answer to be. On one hand, it would be interesting to hang out with him in a “real life” setting. But on the other, how would he react to her small-town shindig?
“I’d love to. What time and where?”
She gave him the details, hung up, and started to stress.
Knowing of him, but not much about him, drove her to the internet.
She confirmed that he’d just signed with the Celtics the previous season.
And, according to one website, even though he wasn’t a starter, he still had a multi-million-dollar contract.
Holy crap. She thought maybe he’d exaggerated that.
The subject of money turned her thoughts to The Outpost. The idea of buying it was growing on her.
If she really wanted to get into the prepper business, it would be much easier to add emergency preparedness inventory to an existing store with an adjacent purpose than it would be to start from scratch.
Also, she already knew she could run The Outpost. She’d been doing it successfully for years, turning a healthy profit each year.
The routine of something she already excelled at, mixed with the added challenge of implementing her new ideas, seemed like a no-brainer. She just had to figure out a way to scrape together the down payment. And a way to talk Mr. Moody into taking it out of his portfolio and selling it to her.
Monday morning, she’d contact the bank and then call Moody. It crossed her mind that Carter probably had the kind of money she needed in his couch cushions. But asking for a loan was not an ideal way to start a relationship.
Wow, she was getting ahead of herself. A “relationship” was surely the last thing on Carter’s agenda. Judging from the photos that turned up in her internet search—image after image of him out on the town, rarely with the same woman twice—she shouldn’t read anything into his interest in her.
Still, that night, she put some extra time into her hair, makeup, and choice of outfit.
The party was at the recreation center of Alex’s cabins. Tess arrived early, and her friends, who’d been there for hours setting up and decorating, welcomed her with a chorus of Happy Birthday. Faith handed her a Paloma—her favorite cocktail—and they all caught up as the other guests trickled in.
Her gang was especially interested in the news that Carter McNair was coming and peppered Tess with questions she didn’t have answers for.
“Think he wants anything serious?” Faith asked.
“Boston is less than two hours away,” Juliet said. “You guys could totally make that work.”
“He’s tall,” Alex said. “And rich. Other than that, what’s his deal? How was he camping? Do you like him?”
He’d been okay on the campout. Not all that competent, and not great in an emergency, but she wouldn’t judge him solely on his lack of wilderness skills. As to whether she liked him… Sure, she liked him well enough.
“All that’s a little premature,” Tess said. “Let’s just get through the evening and see where we are. For all I know, he simply has another night to kill before heading home and wanted something to do.”
She changed the subject and gave them a quick rundown of how the week had gone.
“Sounds like every day was a fresh disaster,” Juliet said.
“That’s an understatement,” Tess said. “I’m going to suggest we nix the weeklong ones. Stick with what’s been working.”
“Speaking of all that,” Alex said. “Have you given any more thought to buying The Outpost?”
“Actually, yes,” Tess admitted. “I’m gonna go to the bank on Monday and inquire about a loan. If that works out, I’ll call Moody. Beg him to let me buy it.”
“That’s amazing,” Faith said. “I know everything will work out for you.”
“We’ll see.”
Most of the other guests had arrived, and they split up to mingle. The party was a low-key affair—family, friends, and a few coworkers.
Tess was chatting with Coach Reed, her high school basketball coach, and Juliet and Maddie’s dad, when Max walked in, Logan at his side. She did a double-take.
Max had texted earlier asking if it was okay to bring a friend. She’d said yes, thinking, perhaps hoping, he’d meant a woman.
Behind his back, she and her friends had secretly—yet lovingly—decided that a woman might be what Max needed to nudge him out of the funk he’d fallen into. It had been almost seven months since Jenny passed, which seemed like a respectable amount of time before dating again.
Tess excused herself from Coach and went to greet them.
“Hey,” Logan said. “Happy birthday. Thanks for letting me party crash.”
“Oh, no problem,” Tess said. “Can’t say I’m not surprised though. Didn’t think you’d still be in town.”
“Actually, he’s gonna stay for a while,” Max said, hugging Tess and wishing her happy birthday. “He’s volunteered to help me out at the inn.”
“Doing what?” Tess asked.
“Assist with the renovations,” Logan said. “In exchange, I get free room and board.”
Tess had wondered what Logan did for a living. Especially after he’d acted so cagey when she’d asked on the campout. A drifter, working odd jobs for a place to stay, wouldn’t have been her first guess, but okay.
Faith and Alex had closed in behind Tess and heard the comment.
“That’s fantastic,” Faith said.
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “I needed something to give me a shove. Turns out it’s him.”
Nick and Brody approached and greeted Logan with bro hugs—part handshake, part side hug, part Heimlich maneuver. Clearly, this wasn’t their first time meeting.
“How do you guys know each other?” Tess asked.
“Sorry, that’s top secret,” Nick said. “We’d tell you, but then we’d have to kill you.”
“You’re so weird.” Tess shook her head.
“We hung out last night watching the Sox get their asses handed to them,” Brody said.
“Great, now I gotta off my sister. Thanks a lot, Brody.”
Tess ignored her brother. Just as she was about to ask Logan if he’d recuperated from the campout, Carter made his entrance.
At six-seven, he was hard to miss, and all eyes shifted, surely wondering who he was and why he was here.
“Hey,” Nick said, forgetting all about his deadly mission. “Isn’t that Carter McNair? The guy the Celtics signed last season?”
Tess thought she heard a groan from Logan, but couldn’t be sure. “Yes,” she hissed. “Don’t embarrass me.”
Carter made a beeline for Tess, smiling and handing her a small wrapped present.
“Oh, wow. A gift wasn’t necessary,” Tess protested. How had he found something on such short notice anyway?
“It’s easy when money’s no issue.”
It was a cocky, kind of tacky, thing to say, but Tess supposed he was right.
When it came time to officially open presents, Tess was surprised to see Logan had also brought a gift.
“I’m too old for this,” Tess said, as Faith made her sit in a seat of honor. “I feel like I’m eight again.”
“Relax,” Faith said. “There are only a few.”
Embarrassed, Tess quickly tore into the gifts from her parents and friends—a pretty sweater from her mom, a baseball cap that read “Let’s assume I’m right—It’ll save time” from Alex, and a book about getting people to do what you wanted from Faith.
When she picked up Carter’s gift, he moved to the front of the group. Pulling back the paper, she saw it was a jewelry box.
Her mouth fell into an O when she opened the long black velvet box to reveal a diamond bracelet. These could not possibly be real diamonds. Right? She shot him a questioning glance, and he smiled.
“Never met a girl who doesn’t like diamonds,” Carter said. Well, that answered that.
“Geez, Carter,” Tess said, gliding her fingers along the bracelet. “You didn’t have to do that. It’s too much.”
“Consider it a thank you for keeping me alive all week.” Carter winked.
“Well, thank you.” Tess didn’t know what to do. Should she put it on? It was a little gaudy. Not really her style. But of course, she wouldn’t say that. She’d talk to him in private later and let him know she couldn’t accept it.
Logan’s was next, and she felt sorry for him. Diamonds were a tough act to follow.
It was obviously a CD, and when she got it open and figured out what it was, a smile spread across her lips.
“A mixtape on CD?” she said. “Full of eighties songs! I love it. Let’s play it right now.”
She stood, walked to the sound system in the corner, inserted the CD, and pushed “Play.” A Guns N’ Roses song started. She raised her hands above her head and swung her hips. “Now it’s a party.”