Chapter 25
NOLAN
Alexa lagged behind on the hike up the hill—not a surprise—but she wasn’t as out of breath as Nolan had expected.
She’d confessed that she did yoga most days, plus Chase dragged her into the gym at least twice a week, always under protest, and she liked to swim as well.
Only in a pool, she clarified. Not in the ocean or the sea or a lake because there might be a shark lurking in the depths.
“I’m pretty sure sharks don’t live in lakes,” Nolan said as Juno bounded on ahead of them. “Don’t they need saltwater?”
“There are literally river sharks. And bull sharks can migrate between saltwater and freshwater.”
“Okay, so no rivers. How about a swimming hole?”
“Is it heated?” she asked suspiciously.
“It’s halfway up a mountain.”
“So? Haven’t you heard of wind turbines?”
“No, it isn’t heated.”
“Then I’m not going in it.” She steadied herself on Nolan’s arm as she clambered over the trunk of a valley oak that had fallen in the last big storm. “Have you ever considered moving some of these damn logs?”
“Considered it, but I don’t like to make the place too accessible.”
“I thought you said Antonella Cranston rode her horses around here?”
“Her horses can jump the logs, but folks on wheels don’t have that same ability. A couple of years ago, one of my trails got listed on a trail bike website, and I had to put up a fence along part of the boundary to stop the tourists. And then there’s the Hayes boys on their ATV…”
“How much farther do we have to walk?”
“About half a mile.”
“Ugh.”
“Do you want me to carry your backpack?”
“No.”
“What do you have in it anyway?”
When she said she wanted to bring a few essentials, he figured she’d toss snacks and sunscreen into a daypack, but she’d shown up ready for an expedition.
“Stuff.”
“An emotional support laptop?”
“I don’t need a lecture, okay?”
So that was a yes. “Not lecturing, just worried about your back.”
“I’m fine.” Then, five minutes later. “Are we nearly there yet?”
The clearing on the hill was Nolan’s favourite place in the world, and until recently, he’d never thought he’d be able to share it with his favourite girl.
But fate—and a bunch of cyber criminals—had stepped in, and now here they were.
The light hit just right, filtering through the leaves of the majestic oaks that ringed the scrubby grass.
At the far end, crystal-clear water tumbled over rocks into the swimming hole, not much more than a trickle at this time of year, but still a good example of Mother Nature’s beauty.
It was Grandpa Calder who’d taught him to identify the different species of oak and pine, Grandpa Calder who’d pointed out squirrels and rabbits and foxes, Grandpa Calder who’d given him hope that not every Calder man grew up to be a monster.
Nolan’s father had killed women for a hobby, and his Uncle David wasn’t much better.
Not content with beating on his wives, all three of them, David Calder had tried to fight Nolan for the vineyard he thought he was entitled to.
Luckily, a local attorney had agreed to help with the case pro bono, and Grandpa Calder had been smart as well as kind, so his will specified that David should receive two thousand bucks to pay for therapy and not a dollar more.
David had gone to prison soon after that.
Wife number three had been braver than her predecessors, and Nolan used some of the money Alexa stole from the Sykes family to rent the woman an apartment for six months after she found the courage to leave and press charges.
“Okay, we’re here. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It looks as if someone got busy with Photoshop.”
That was a compliment, right?
“I used to come up here with my grandpa.” Despite everything that had happened with the Calder side of the family, Nolan treasured those memories.
“We’d hunt for bugs, and collect rocks, and I’d climb trees.
I built a fort out of sticks right over there”—Nolan pointed toward a huge old live oak—“and a time or two, we camped here overnight to watch the stars.”
A group of mule deer would visit at sunrise, and Nolan recalled sitting in his makeshift fort, holding his breath as they came closer, closer, then scattered when a noise spooked them. He tried to block out the parts of the trip featuring his father.
“I’m sorry for that. Things were really tough back then, huh?”
“It was a good thing.”
“Oh.”
“And I didn’t have a bad childhood. Not until…
you know. I guess that’s why Dad’s betrayal hit so hard.
We had a nice house near the park in Spokane, my parents never fought, and all I cared about was baseball and impressing Shelley Frankel, in that order.
Dad worked a lot, but he was always around when it mattered, you know?
Then one night, the cops knocked on the door. ”
“Shelley Frankel?”
“Relax, her parents wouldn’t let her speak with me after Dad got arrested. Last I heard, she was living in Idaho with a rich husband and three kids.”
“I had a shitty childhood, but at least my bug hunting involved code and not creepy-crawlies. Are there snakes around here?”
“Yeah, but they mostly keep to themselves.”
“Venomous ones?”
“Only the rattlesnakes.”
“How long until we can head back to civilisation?”
“A while. Don’t you want cake?”
There was a splash as Juno jumped into the water, followed by the angry weep-weep-weep call of a pair of scrub jays unhappy at the disturbance.
Nolan ambled over to the swimming hole, stepped hurriedly back as Juno jumped out and shook, then propped two bottles of club soda and one of Chardonnay in the cool water.
The wine had been a gift from a friend, and Nolan appreciated the chance to sample someone else’s product.
“You want to swim before we eat?” he asked Alexa. The hike might not have left her breathless, but the sheen of sweat on her forehead showed she’d put in some effort.
“Heartbreakingly, I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
“Neither did I.”
“So you’re not going swimming?”
“Oh, I am.” Nolan smiled and peeled off his T-shirt.
“What are you going to do? Wear wet underwear all day?”
“Nope.” He toed off his shoes and shucked his pants, and then she realised. It was time. Time for her to take the next step in their relationship in a non-romantic setting.
“No! No, no, no, no, no.”
“What’s the problem? You spent weeks getting acquainted with my dick. You even built an algorithm to recognise it.”
“Yes, but not like this. Not in the freaking flesh.”
Nolan leaned in close and kissed her forehead. “Nobody’s forcing you to watch, baby.”
But she did watch.
A year or so ago, Nolan had gone to visit the Cranstons and found Antonella pinning flags to the arena fence.
She’d explained how she desensitised her horses by introducing them to scary things in a safe environment so they didn’t spook when they saw them in the wild.
Obviously, Alexa wasn’t a horse, but he figured it was a sensible approach to take—let her get used to seeing his ass outside the bedroom, and she’d be less likely to panic when the clothing came off at home.
And he wasn’t lying anyway—he often came up here to skinny-dip in the swimming hole.
Yeah, he had a pool down at the house, but there was something freeing about floating around in nature.
He jumped into the cool water and came up gasping, then turned to wave.
Alexa quickly averted her gaze, and Nolan chuckled to himself as he sculled across the pool on his back beneath a blue sky and puffy clouds.
Someday, he’d convince her to get in the pool.
Preferably naked, but he’d take a bikini or even a one-piece.
She retreated to the shade of a valley oak with the laptop perched on her knees, and Juno went to lie beside her, stretched out with her head resting beside Alexa’s feet.
Nolan was both pleased and relieved that she’d learned to tolerate the dog.
In Virginia, she’d freaked out if one of the neighbourhood mutts put so much as a toe into the yard, so this was a big step forward.
And another barrier to a life together removed.
Nolan could never give up his loyal pet, not even for Alexa Stone.
He let his body float as he rested his folded arms on a flat rock at the side of the pool and watched his two favourite girls.
Wires snaked across the ground from the laptop, connected to…
Damn, she’d schlepped a solar panel halfway up a fucking mountain?
She glanced across, caught his eye, and smiled.
Then realised what she’d done and quickly scowled.
“You’re allowed to enjoy the view,” he called.
“I’d rather enjoy chocolate cake and a glass of vino.”
“Do I look like a waiter?”
“Chase went to a sushi place where the waiters wore aprons and nothing else, and dinner was served from a naked ass. So…” She shrugged.
“We’re all out of sushi.” But Nolan reached for the backpack he’d left in the shade of a boulder and retrieved the two wine glasses he’d carefully wrapped in dish towels. He could have gone with plastic, but Alexa deserved the best. He poured a generous glassful for her and set it on a rock.
This time, she didn’t hide her smile.
“You can bring it.”
Okay, this was progress. And Nolan had nothing to be ashamed of.
He had a work body, not a gym body, but the vineyard kept him in good shape.
He climbed out of the water, shook droplets out of his hair, and picked his way barefoot across the stony ground, sticking to the grassiest areas and wishing he’d brought a pair of flip-flops.
Alexa didn’t take her eyes off him as he crossed the clearing. Mostly, she focused on his face, but once or twice her gaze dropped. The cold water had kept things well-shrivelled, but when she subconsciously bit her bottom lip, he felt himself begin to harden. Shit.