Designing with the Mountain Man (Heroes of Apple Falls #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Steeler

With a thermos full of iced coffee and a bag full of snacks, I headed to my desk, ready to get my day started. I had a few jobs I was currently on, bouncing back and forth between each one, and working long into the night.

I liked it that way. So busy I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel, couldn’t do anything but work, eat, and sleep. With the occasional bonfire and beer on the weekend.

I needed the distraction, mostly.

Because I was still madly in love with a woman who was no longer in my life.

And it fucking hurt.

Every God damn day.

Probably why I landed the nickname Grumpy from the crew. Oh well. Go through what I did, and you’d be grumpy, too.

Heartache was no joke. I learned my lesson the hard way.

As I clicked through my email, I opened one from Lyric, a close friend of mine, who had a client needing a mural done.

I didn’t know any painters, nor could I think of one in town, but immediately an image of Marlowe popped into my head. She had a talent for drawing and painting. I bet she’d kick ass on a mural.

My sweet Mar…

Ugh, why did every damn thing have to remind me of her? Couldn’t my fucking heart stop it already?

Maybe my boss, Thane, would know someone. I walked over to his office and knocked on his slightly open door. “Hey, got a minute?”

“Always for you, Steeler. Come in, take a seat.”

“Thank you. Just a quick question for you.” I said, as I took a seat. “Lyric emailed me earlier about his client. They’re looking for someone to paint a mural on the wall of their child’s bedroom. Nothing too complicated. A rainbow in the sky, with some clouds. Any ideas?”

Thane sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward on his desk. “Hmm, I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about it. Maybe an artist of some sort? A painter?”

“Yeah, the problem is finding one. Especially around these small towns.”

“I know. My wife’s flower shop wouldn’t be able to help unless one woman knows how to paint.

We could always ask. There aren’t any other businesses I can think of around that might help.

I heard a new bakery is opening in town.

Hope it’s just as good as Ruby’s bakery, Appleridge Sweets.

No one can replace her apple cinnamon muffins. ” Thane grinned.

I should be excited. Should be ecstatic. Now I wouldn’t have to drive over to Appleridge to fix my sweet tooth cravings, cravings my ex used to fill for me with her amazing baking skills. Which was why, on the inside, I was freaking the fuck out.

Who was opening a bakery in town?

Was it Marlowe?

The thought caused my heart to skip several beats.

Is your sweet Mar back home?

The one woman I’d never stopped loving.

She left town to chase her dream of baking school with her best friend, Genevieve, exactly four years ago. Enough time for her to graduate and move home. But it couldn’t be. She would’ve told me, right?

It’s not like you’ve talked once in the four years she’s been gone…

“Oh, there is? Do you know who’s opening it?” I asked as I tugged at my beard, one of many nervous ticks of mine.

“Marlowe and Genevieve.” Lyric, my close friend, announced, walking in with a tray of coffees and a bag of muffins. The very ones Thane mentioned a minute ago. “Just heard through the apple gossip chain.” He clapped me on the shoulder and shot me a worried look.

Lyric knew exactly what Marlowe was to me.

I still loved her as much as the day I first saw her in tenth grade.

Yet, how could she not tell me she was back?

I had to see her. Now.

After hunting down every piece of information I could get my greedy little hands on about the bakery, I hopped in my truck and drove straight over there, my hands white knuckling the steering wheel the entire time.

Marlowe was back. She is back in town.

Why didn’t she tell me?

I thought maybe I should wait. Maybe I should take a second to think this crazy shit through. Maybe I should be patient and wait for her to come to me.

Yet none of it sat right with me. The only thing that did make sense was going to see her.

Lyric agreed, said I’d waited around long enough. It was time to claim my woman and this time I wasn’t letting her go, no matter what she said.

I never stopped loving her.

I never would and I never will.

I didn’t care what she said.

She would always be mine.

And it was about damn time I told her so.

When I pulled up to the bakery, a few trucks had parked in front, a guy on a ladder on the side. Painting and roofing were happening along with other upgrades, turning a rundown building into something bright and new.

I liked how Marlowe didn’t go for a new build and instead overtook a bakery that had closed years ago, one we frequented often as kids.

I remember when it closed during my senior year of high school, and it was as if the entire town went into mourning.

Since then, we traveled to Appleridge for their bakery, but now we might not have to.

Marlowe might not even be here for all I knew, but it was worth the chance. I wanted to pull her into my arms but also ask the heartbreaking question of why she didn’t tell me she returned home.

Did she not want to see me?

Before I could question myself to death, I parked my truck and walked up the freshly done stone path leading to the front door. The door was open, with a screen door latched between and as I got closer, I saw people mulling about inside.

And when I stepped up to the door, Marlowe walked into view and my knees buckled.

She looked the same, yet different.

She’d grown into herself, now all woman with delicious curves and an even more delicious ass.

Her breasts were fuller, and her long brown hair tumbled down her back longer than I remembered it being.

She wore tight black leggings and a petite white chef coat; the coat doing something to my insides, where all my fantasies hid.

Marlowe smiled and laughed with her best friend, Genevieve, her cheerful personality on full display. My sweet Mar, still as sweet as ever.

And still just as gorgeous as the day she left town, waving goodbye from her car as she drove off with Genevieve to chase their dreams together.

I inhaled deeply and opened the screen door.

Both of them looked up. But I was only focused on her.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.

“Forget to tell me you were back in town? Good thing the apple gossip chain is as strong as ever.” I crossed my arms and huffed, frustration and anger brimming beneath the surface. Resentment wafted off me as much as I tried to hide it.

“Steeler.” Marlowe breathed, and that was all it took.

All it took to confirm I was still madly in love with her.