Chapter Two – Haven
Chapter Two
HAVEN
I stood in the middle of the massive bathroom and did a three-sixty.
“Holy crap,” I whispered as I took in all the rich woods and soothing colors. From what I could tell, all the cabinets in the entire house were a dark shaker style. The bathtub was a huge soaker tub that sat in front of a large picture window. I was dying to know what the view looked like from that window.
The shower was also oversized and all glass. I removed Nate’s robe and laid it over the small bench in the room. I stepped inside the shower and laughed.
“What in the heck are all the knobs for?”
I pressed myself against the stone tile wall and turned one of them on. The rain shower came on. I adjusted it to hot and then started playing with the other ones. Water came from everywhere, so I quickly turned them off and kept the rain shower on. I hadn’t grabbed any soap or shampoo. All I really needed to do was rinse off with some hot water to get warm.
Closing my eyes, I dropped my head back and let the water run over my face and down my body. It felt so dang good.
A light knock on the bathroom door pulled me out of my trance.
“Yeah?” I called out.
“I put some clothes on the bed for you. It was the best I could find until yours are dry.”
“That’s perfect. Thank you, Nate.”
I paused to see if he said anything else. As I stared at the door, I frowned. Why was he being so nice to me? He was usually very standoffish and avoided me like the plague. Seeing me looking like a drowned rat probably made him feel sorry for me. And why did I have to have another flat when he came across me? It was just my luck, at least when it came to Nathan Shaw.
After getting good and plenty warm, I shut off the water and dried off. Using the towel Nate had given me earlier, I wrapped that around my head. I opened the bathroom door slightly to ensure Nate wasn’t still in the bedroom. He wasn’t, and he had shut the door when he left. A small part of me was disappointed.
“Stop that, Haven. He made it perfectly clear ages ago that you aren’t his type.”
I stepped out and looked around the guest room once again. It wasn’t anything over the top, with a simple queen-size bed with an iron bed frame sitting against the feature wall. Three large windows were at the top, most likely allowing light into the room. A small sofa sat to one side, and on the other side was a giant picture window, with a smaller window to the left and a glass door to the right. Above the picture window was another smaller window. The view from the room must be crazy nice. I peeked out to see a table and two chairs out back, but with the rain and the darkening sky, I couldn’t see anything else.
In the corner was a small antique writing desk with an oil lamp sitting on it. I smiled as I walked over to it. I ran my finger along the glass and smiled as I thought about the oil lamp my grandmother used to have on her writing desk. This lamp was a beautiful piece, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a family heirloom. Just like that, however, I was reminded that my father broke my grandmother’s lamp one night when he was angry with my mother.
I sighed and turned away from the desk. What must that be like to have things like this passed down through families. I chewed on my lower lip. I wouldn’t know. The only thing I had ever gotten was a small inheritance from my grandmother that I was going to use for the dog park. Unfortunately, my mother fell on hard times, and I had to use the money to get her mortgage payments caught up. My father came from a poor family who made their living either farming or mining. My father had left home when he was fourteen because his father was abusive. The apple hadn’t fallen far. I closed my eyes and forced myself not to go down that road. It had taken me years to learn to drown out what that man had done to me.
Turning, I saw the clothes Nate had put out for me: a Montana State T-shirt, black sweatpants, and an oversized sweatshirt with the Shaw Ranch logo. I picked up the sweatshirt and brought it up to my nose, taking in a deep breath as the smell of Nate filled my senses.
“Stop it, Haven,” I said, dropping it back to the bed. I was glad he brought the sweatshirt since I also put my bra in the dryer. After slipping on the T-shirt and the sweats, which I had to tie super tight to keep them from falling off, I put the sweatshirt on. He had even put a pair of wool socks out for me. I put them on and headed back into the bathroom. I towel-dried my hair and then glanced around for a blow dryer. I found one in a cabinet and was able to dry my hair. My curls would be out of control since I had no product or hair straightener in it, but it would have to do. I had long ago stopped trying to impress Nate Shaw. He wasn’t interested in me, and I would do good to remember that.
I opened the guest bedroom door and walked down the hall. To my right was a door leading outside. I walked past it and into the family room and abruptly stopped. Two things had my mouth hanging open.
One was the insanely beautiful room with rustic wood planks adorning the walls and the large beams on the ceiling.
Two, Nate stood in black sweatpants and a blue T-shirt, and his feet were bare of shoes or socks.
He’s barefoot. In sweats. Looking hot as hell.
“Oh, God,” I whispered under my breath. Why am I being punished this way? Why?
I walked farther into the room and stopped again when I saw Nate walk over to the wood pile.
“Holy. Shit.”
Nate looked up from where he was building a fire in the fireplace that I hadn’t even noticed. The back side of the room had floor-to-ceiling windows with sliding doors that led out back. A large sectional sofa faced the fire in the middle of the room. Above the fire was a large TV screen. When I turned to my left, I slowly shook my head. A rustic bar made from more large timbers of wood and a stunning black granite counter stood. Behind it were more cabinets, a lighter color than the rest of the cabinets in the house. They held different types of liquor. There was a sink, and as I walked closer, I asked, “Is that draft beer?”
Nate laughed. “Yeah. A request from my cousins when we were designing this area.”
Turning, I looked at a room made of three sides of glass that held wine inside of it. The wall with all of the wine had a black rod system that held all of the wine. It looked like it was made of reclaimed wood.
I looked at Nate. “This room should be in a magazine.”
He winked. “It was. Rose has a friend who works for an architecture firm in Boise, and he designed this whole room, and it was featured in some architecture magazine. They were here for days staging it and taking pictures.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Do you like wine?”
Nate shrugged. “I can drink it, but it’s not my go-to. That is.” He pointed to the draft beer, and I laughed. This easy conversation between us wasn’t normal, but I liked it. The intimacy of it. Maybe a little more than I should.
“Speaking of, would you like something to drink?”
“That would be nice.”
“I could make a hot toddy, or a simple glass of whiskey should do the trick.”
Smiling, I said, “Whiskey sounds good. I’ve never had it before.”
Nate paused and glanced over his shoulder. “What?”
“Nope,” I said as I popped my P while sliding onto the bar stool. There were two.
He laughed softly, and I ignored the slight tremor that went through my body at the sound.
He isn’t interested in you like that, Haven.
When he turned around and handed me the whiskey, I was again struck by how handsome Nate Shaw was. His brown hair looked like he had run his hand through it multiple times, and those eyes of his. Were they gray or silver? Maybe the lightest of blue. I just couldn’t tell. All I knew was I had never seen eyes that color before.
“Thank you,” I said as I took the whiskey glass and brought it to my nose. It was sweet and fragrant and had what I could only describe as a grassy or hay-like scent. I took a drink and started to cough.
“Holy shit!” I hit my chest. “That hit the back of my throat, and it burns!”
Nate laughed. “I’m not a fan of whiskey at all.”
“Why did you give it to me then?” I asked.
“You wanted something to warm you up.”
“A spiked pumpkin latte would have been better.”
Nate looked around and held up his hands. “I’m all out of pumpkin spice. Sorry.”
“Can I have a beer instead?”
He winked, and my heart felt like it somersaulted in my chest. I remembered the last time he winked at me like that. Senior year of high school in his parents’ barn where we almost…almost slept together until he stopped it. I knew why he stopped. He knew what my father had almost done to me and had stopped him when I was sixteen. Had he not shown up, he would have for sure raped me. I knew in the back of his mind I was—I am—damaged goods, and no man wanted that. I couldn’t honestly blame him, but sometimes, the way he looked at me…was confusing.
I pushed the memory away. It did little good to think about it. Besides, I had heard that Nate had a revolving door of women coming and going.
“Bottle or draft?”
“I’ll give the draft a try.”
Nate pulled out two glass mugs from a little refrigerator and filled them with the frothy beer. He handed one to me, and we held up the mugs and clinked.
“Here is to a good draft beer.”
I chuckled and took a sip. Turning in my seat, I looked over the room once again. “Nate, this is beautiful. I can’t even imagine your view with these windows.”
“It looks out toward the ranch, and I must say, it’s a killer view. So, I, um, heard through the grapevine that you were hoping to buy a house.”
Turning back to face him, I tried to hide the sadness on my face. “I was thinking about it, but I’ve soaked all my savings into this dog park, including the money I had saved up for a down payment on the house. I had an inheritance from my grandmother that was going to help with getting the dog park going, but life happened. It’s okay, though; my apartment is fine.”
“By the way, how is it you don’t have any dogs of your own, Haven? As much as you love them.”
“I can’t have one while I’m in an apartment. I mean, I guess I could. I would just feel so bad keeping it locked up in a small, one-bedroom apartment. I get my fair share of love from dogs, though, with my job.”
“How many can you fit on that bus?”
Why was he being so nice to me? He never seemed the least bit interested in what I did. He hadn’t said anything negative or cracked a bad joke or anything. I was honestly surprised he had even stopped to help me. No, wait, was that fair of me? No, it wasn’t, and I instantly felt guilty for thinking it.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Nate asked with a raised brow.
I shrugged one shoulder, took a sip of the beer, and then said, “I’m just confused about why you’re being so nice to me, even asking about my job.”
A look of hurt crossed his face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. “What do you mean?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “You’re not cracking any jokes about my job or poking fun at me. That’s not like you.”
“You act as if I’m mean to you constantly.”
“You are, Nate. You normally do whatever you can to avoid me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, obviously uncomfortable with my directness. “I’m not trying to be mean to you, Haven.”
“To answer your question,” I said, looking down at the beer. “We can fit sixteen on the bus.”
“Sixteen! And you’re taking them out there on your own?”
“Owen helps sometimes.”
A look passed over Nate’s face, but I couldn’t read it.
“Sophia said you guys went out, like on a date or, umm, just to hang out. Was that before he started working with you?”
I nearly spit out the beer in my mouth. “No! We’ve gone out to dinner a few times, and he’s asked me out on a date, but I told him it was best to keep the relationship strictly friends. He agreed since we work together.”
“What does he do for you, I mean, the dogs?”
“Owen drives the bus and helps in the beginning sometimes with the poop bags.”
“Poop bags?” Nate asked with raised brows.
“Yeah, they all go potty before our hike.”
All he did was nod.
“Ted comes sometimes as well.”
Nate’s jaw clenched, and he turned away to clear his throat.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, curious why he had reacted that way to Ted’s name.
I waited for him to say more but changed the subject when he didn’t.
“So, care to take me on a tour?”
He smiled. “Sure. You’ve seen down here. There is a half bath right out here.”
I left my beer and followed him through the family room to peek into a nicely decorated half bath. There was a rustic cabinet that held a copper bowl sink. The room was painted a light shade of green with only a few decorations. It was simple, and I liked it.
“You said Rose did all of the decorating?” I asked as I followed him up the steps to the main floor.
“She did a lot of it. My mother and Lily had a hand in it as well.”
We walked back up the steps, and Nate walked into a room. “Another guest bedroom. This one is smaller and doesn’t have as nice of a bath as the one downstairs.”
The room was simple, with finished-out walls and no wood. The feel of the room was a bit more modern, with light taupe walls and carpet on the floor. It was the first room I had seen carpet in. The bathroom was also contemporary, with more of a streamlined look to the cabinets. There was nothing rustic about this bathroom at all. There was also a pretty decent-sized shower and no bathtub.
“This has a very modern feel to it.”
“This would be Rose. She wanted to do something completely different for those guests who might want a different feel than the rest of the house. I have to say, it is my least favorite room.”
I smiled and followed him out of the bedroom and through the hallway to the front doorway. The hallway was like a passage from one side of the house to other, with the family room open below. A beautiful wrought-iron railing ran along the one side of the hallway until we reached the other side of the house where the kitchen was. We walked into the kitchen, and I got a better look at everything. Dark rustic cabinets with beautiful black finishes made the room feel like I had stepped into the past. Large rock columns flanked the sides of the sizeable six-burner stove. A built-in microwave with a coffee station was to the right of the stove. The backsplash behind the stove was a large slate of stone framed with a large wooden beam. It was beautiful.
“Wow, the kitchen is beautiful.”
Nate smiled. “Thanks.”
The island held the sink and was surrounded by a stunning slab of granite. It was off-white with brilliant golds and browns. In front of the island, a wooden table seated four. The rock column under the table matched the other two near the stove. Tall wooden chairs with leather seats sat around the eat-in table.
Another large rock column separated the kitchen from the formal dining area. In a small nook, a beautiful wood table sat. The legs were large, stump-looking pieces of wood. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The windows faced the front of the house, but I still couldn’t see anything with the rain and darkness outside.
“This table is stunning,” I said as I walked around it.
Nate smiled as he looked at the table. “My father and I made it. I bought the chairs for it, but we made the table. It’s one of my favorite things in the house.”
I looked at him and grinned. “I can see why. I bet it’s heavy.”
“You have no idea.” He turned and pointed to the living room. “And the living room, of course. I like how open this all is. The sliding doors can open all the way, leading to a balcony. That looks down into the backyard. The covered patio outside of the family room is under that balcony.”
“Beautiful,” I replied, looking at the tan sofa covered in decorative pillows. Two oversized leather chairs sat on either side, facing a large rock fireplace. The rustic wood mantel matched the same wood used for the dining room table legs. There wasn’t a TV in this room, which I thought was odd. Didn’t guys love giant TVs?
“What if you want to watch football and you’re cooking?” I asked.
Nate looked confused, and when he scrunched up his face, he looked adorable. “What?”
I pointed to the fireplace and around the living room. “No TV.”
He laughed. “This is more of a formal living room. I watch TV downstairs or in my room.”
“Oh,” I said, sounding a little too breathy after his mention of his bedroom.
He turned and walked down the hall.
“Here is another half bath,” he said, opening the door to a simple bathroom. It contained a pedestal sink and toilet. The color was the same as the half bath downstairs. “The laundry room, and if you go up these steps, it’s my bedroom.”
He started up the steps, and for half a second, I almost didn’t follow him. Did I want to see his bedroom? A place where he has most likely brought countless women. Ultimately, my curiosity about his private space won out, and I quickly caught up with him.
“This space is over the three-car garage and a bit more private than the rest of the house. I honestly couldn’t decide if I wanted this to be my bedroom or the guest bedroom you used earlier.”
I suddenly remembered my car. “Speaking of garages, what about my car? I almost forgot to ask.”
“Already called Hank and he was going to pick it up for you. I asked him to bring it here; I figured you would want that.”
“Yes, thank you for that.”
He smiled and walked into a large bedroom. The walls were covered in what looked like the same reclaimed wood on the outside of the house, at least what I could make of it in the pouring rain. On one wall there was a giant rustic wrought-iron bed with a cedar trunk at the base of it.
“That trunk is beautiful.”
“Thanks,” he said as he walked over and opened it. Inside were covers and sheets. “Found it at an estate sale a few years back and grabbed it. Figured I would use it someday, and turns out it is the perfect fit for this room.”
I nodded. On the wall opposite the bed was a large-screen TV with a fireplace under it. An oversized leather chair with an ottoman sat to the side, and I couldn’t help but picture how nice it would be to curl up in that chair and get lost in a book with a roaring fire.
When I turned to look at the rest of the room, Nate stood with his fists clenched and his jaw tight. Was he uncomfortable having me in his room? Hopefully he didn’t think I thought something would happen. Pulling my gaze off him, I returned my gaze to the bed. A strange ache filled my chest as I again wondered how many women he had brought back here and slept with in that very bed.
There was a large dresser against one wall, and the fourth wall was nothing but floor-to-ceiling windows with a French door that led out to what I was guessing was another balcony.
“This room is like out of a magazine, Nate.”
“I like it,” he said as he moved toward a door. Opening it, we walked into a huge walk-in closet with hardly anything. One side had some clothes hung up, but the other side was empty. I wasn’t even sure I had enough clothes to fill a quarter of the space in this closet. Walking through, we entered the bathroom.
“Oh, wow,” I softly said, turning around to take it all in. Against one wall were two tall cabinets that were floor to ceiling. In the middle of those sat a long counter with two sinks that seemed to hover between the two larger cabinets. The wood was the same color as the kitchen, but they didn’t have the same rustic finish. They were mounted off the floor and gave a very spa-like feeling.
Directly across from the sinks sat a large soak-in tub. Next to it was another sizeable walk-in shower encased in glass. The shower tile matched what was behind the sinks: small square tiles in different shades of gray and white. And the best part? The floor of the shower was large river rocks.
“Wow. I have no words to describe this bathroom other than…wow.”
“Thanks,” he replied with a soft laugh.
We stood awkwardly before Nate cleared his throat and asked, “Should we head back to the family room? Beer is probably getting warm.”
“Yeah, we probably should.” I nodded as I quickly exited the bathroom and bedroom and headed back down the steps. I knew that Nate was wealthy, or that his family was. But I hadn’t realized just how wealthy.
I walked into the laundry and checked my clothes. They were almost dry, thank goodness. When I turned around, Nate was standing there. He didn’t seem as tense as he was when we were upstairs, and I was glad. I wasn’t sure what in the heck was wrong with him.
“They’re almost dry,” I said, barely saying it loud enough for anyone to hear.
He gave a single nod, smiled, and walked away.
I closed my eyes and prayed Hank would get here soon. I just needed my car, a new tire, and a quick escape from Nate Shaw’s house.