Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
W illow blew a blonde curl out of her face as she dragged another crate toward the door.
Of all the stupid excuses she could have come up with, she’d opted for grueling manual labor.
Way to go, Willow.
She straightened and looked around. It was worth it, though. She could see why Bailey and Drew were so obsessed with their plans. It was pretty cool to watch this old place come back to life—one dusty floorboard at a time.
“Looking good, huh?” Dallas crossed his arms and perused the cabin with a look of pride that echoed what she was feeling. “It’s kinda nice to be working with my hands.”
Willow pretended to be confused. “You don’t get to do much manual labor sitting in that big fancy office of yours?”
“Not as much as you’d think,” he shot back.
“Shocking.”
“Right?”
“Well, I work with my hands all the time, but not like this.” She nodded with satisfaction as she surveyed their work. She adopted a silly old-man accent. “You done good, kid.”
“Kid?” He ruffled her hair like she was twelve. “Who you calling kid?”
She swatted him away, and he laughed. Then he headed toward the pile of debris they’d collected by the door. “Guess I’ll start taking some of the bigger pieces down the hill.”
He hoisted the bedframe, and when he turned, one corner hit the wall. “Shoot.”
“Don’t worry about it. Drew’s going to do a major overhaul in here anyway.” She shooed him off. “I’ll pick up the rest.”
Once she was alone, Willow scanned the room, trying to figure out what to do next. What would be most helpful for Bailey and Drew?
She squinted, trying to see the room through their eyes, all the potential Bailey was always talking about. And to Willow’s surprise—she saw it.
Once it was cleaned up with new walls, a fresh coat of paint, a luxurious bed and some curtains, maybe a cozy rug in front of the fire…
She smiled as the picture came to life. Bailey wanted to string fairy lights across the ceiling for a warm, romantic glow. Between that and the views of a starry sky on the deck Drew was going to build, there was no doubt this place would be an idyllic romantic hideaway.
She was also going to suggest a hot tub outside or maybe one of those old-fashioned baths. That’d look cool.
Picturing a pair of newlyweds in this space, she wondered what else they could do.
Although the bed would no doubt get the most time and attention—her cheeks flushed with heat—she imagined they’d also want to enjoy spending time together doing fun things like…
playing Scrabble, snuggling up and reading books… or dancing!
Bailey could set up a record player in the corner and find some old jazz albums or something.
As if music were really playing, Willow swayed in place, humming an old-time Ella Fitzgerald tune under her breath.
Grandma adored Ella and was always playing her music.
The songstress had a silky-smooth voice, which always paired so beautifully with…
Willow couldn’t remember his name, but the guy with the gravelly voice.
One of their duets—“Cheek to Cheek”—played in her mind while the romantic scene came to life in her imagination.
The way the wooden boards would creak beneath her bare feet as she swayed in her lover’s arms. She’d be wearing a flimsy silk negligee—something new for the honeymoon.
And he’d be holding her against his chest, his arm curled around her waist. His dark gaze would soften as he gazed down at her, and his lips would curve into a fleeting smile before he closed the space between them and…
And Eric would kiss her, his strong arms wrapping even more her tightly around her as he lifted her off her feet and?—
Willow’s gasp cut through the air.
She clapped a hand over her mouth.
What was she thinking?
She couldn’t be daydreaming about Eric kissing her? Of dancing with him? Of…
For the love of Pete. She could not be imagining the two of them in the freakin’ honeymoon suite!
She was losing her mind.
That was the only explanation.
In an attempt to shake off the unsettling hallucination she’d been caught in, Willow burst into action with a vengeance, dragging some more rotted firewood over to the door to be cleared, cleaning up old newspapers and an empty suitcase that was surely a hundred years old.
She checked for initials but didn’t see anything more than a broken hinge…
and the latch was busted as well. Throwing it into the pile of trash, she shook her head, muttering under her breath.
Of all the men to fantasize about.
Nope. No more.
Eric Spencer was off-limits.
There were plenty of nice men out there. Nice, single men who were not trying to destroy her family.
She straightened in the middle of clearing the far corner. So what was she waiting for? Sure, she worked a lot, but she could take some time off if she wanted.
Bailey and Brandon would be all for her getting a life of her own. Most women her age dated, right?
So why wasn’t she?
She narrowed her eyes as she tried to scrounge up a list of guys she might be interested in. It was…not easy.
It wasn’t like there were no single guys in her life. There were. They just…didn’t make her pulse race, let alone inspire fantasies.
Maybe she was meeting the wrong guys.
Dallas’s earlier question came back to her. “And what about you? What do you need?”
Just like earlier, her heart seemed to skip a beat. No one asked her that. Heck, she never even asked herself that—at least not when it came to love and romance.
She’d been content with her life. With forging a career in the kitchen and being a good daughter, sister, and friend.
Unlike a lot of her friends, she’d just…
Never really thought about it.
But now that question seemed to stir something inside her. Or…no. Maybe it wasn’t just the question. If she were being honest, she’d been fantasizing and daydreaming for a while now. Ever since she’d found the hidden treasure in No Man’s Land.
She bent down to continue her work.
But it wasn’t about Eric , necessarily. It was just the romance and the mystery of it all.
“Exactly,” she muttered. As she said it, she picked up the broken chair, ready for the pile, and accidentally dropped it on the floor.
It landed with a sharp thump…and the floor beneath it moved.
She blinked in surprise, shoving the chair out of the way and pressing the toe of her trail sneaker onto the board.
It moved again, and this time… Her jaw dropped as the floorboard gave way to reveal a small space that…was not empty.
She dropped to her knees, her insides starting to buzz with excitement. No way! It looked like a small leather pouch.
A little squeal escaped her, and she started to reach for it when a rustling of footsteps made her pause.
“You ready to wrap it up soon?” Dallas’s voice came from outside and Willow whipped around, quickly covering the shifting board by sitting on it.
As soon as he appeared in the doorway, he let out a laugh. “What are you doing down there?”
Blowing a curl off her face, she beamed up at him with an innocent smile. “Taking a small breather.”
“I think I can find you a nicer place to rest than this dust trap.” He waved a hand in front of his face as if clearing a cobweb, then grabbed another armload of stuff. “Come on, Tink. I’m starving. Let’s go grab some chow.”
Willow froze.
Now? He wanted to eat right now?
A whine grew within her, and it was taking everything to keep her mouth shut and not spill the beans on what she’d just found.
But something held her back.
Dallas arched a brow, and she nodded. “Sure. Chow’s a great idea.”
She waited until he’d turned before jumping to her feet and sliding the floorboard into place, taking a mental note of exactly how far away it was from the broken chair.
Dashing after her brother, she cleared the doorway enough to shut the door behind her, then grabbed a handful of things to carry.
“I should probably get back to work anyway.” She negotiated the step down onto the trail and walked behind her brother. “But I’ll make you some lunch first.”
“Back to work?” Dallas glanced over his shoulder with a grin. “Haven’t you just spent the last couple of hours working?”
She shrugged and smiled back at him, relieved when he turned around and kept walking. Her heart was racing in her chest, and a giddy laugh bubbled within her.
There was no way she’d just found another hidden treasure…
Had she?
The leather pouch came to life in her mind’s eye, and she couldn’t help imagining what secrets it held.
It was impossible to squash her grin. She let it bloom on her face, hoping Dallas wouldn’t turn around and notice.
She had to find out what was in that thing…which meant she had to come back alone and unearth that pouch just as soon as she could slip away unnoticed.