Chapter Nine
Jett would never understand women. He sure as hell hadn’t expected Autumn to make a reference to their relationship last night while standing in his kitchen. She had snagged his breath when he found her staring out the window into the night. She had only become more beautiful with age.
He waited for the ski team to come down after their final run of the day. The sun was setting, and an icy wind had picked up. He wanted to get indoors and off Autumn’s mountain so he could stop thinking about her. His mind hadn’t been on practice, and he was almost certain the kids had noticed.
When Autumn’s and his relationship ended years ago, she had agreed it was for the best. He had believed she was telling the truth because he needed to, and she had never lied to him. He might have believed anything said to him in order to stop the unbearable hurt of losing his brother. He couldn’t risk Autumn leaving too, so he pushed her far away.
Since then, she had practically ignored him, and he had given her the space she seemed to want. Her complete retreat from his life had only proved he had been right about the breakup.
He checked his stopwatch. Where was the team? Were they goofing off? He hoped not. He would can them all if they were. He had better things to do than freeze his butt off, standing still.
But after last night, just those few words falling from her lips about driving her away seemed to imply she was still upset at him. He didn’t understand how that could be. She had agreed, damn it. She had said he should get on with his life without her, that he wasn’t in the right space for a relationship.
It wasn’t every day his brother got shot, killed someone else in the process, and died in the arms of their oldest brother. And it wasn’t every day he lost a child of his own even if that child hadn’t been near ready to be born. He couldn’t handle a relationship back then. Hell, he hadn’t been much older than the kids on this ski team.
He wiped a hand over his face. He needed to focus. What happened all those years ago was in the past. He and Autumn were in the past. And as far as he was concerned, that was where they would stay.
He stole another glance at Autumn’s house. He hadn’t been able to stop doing that either. Jay Henry’s truck had been in the drive the whole two hours of practice today. Jett didn’t think it would actually take that long to fix the heat. If he were in there, he’d have her furnace working in no time. Was Jay trying to finally get Autumn to go out with him? Jett hoped not. Jay was a good guy, but Autumn needed a man who wasn’t afraid to look someone in the eye when they spoke.
He hadn’t seen her since the kitchen last night. He had woken early, but she had been long gone by the time he knocked on her door to tell her breakfast was ready.
He had hoped she would still be there, and maybe they could talk or smooth over what happened, but the beds had been made, and she had left a thank-you note. Polite as always.
Finally, the kids plowed in, expertly turning on their skis to stop. Some laughed. Others high-fived. Most were out of breath with flushed cheeks and giant smiles.
Once again, Quinn was the last one in. He was going to have to figure out what to do about that. He could take a run down with her and see where her hesitation was. She could need more body strength. The skiers with more strength often skied the fastest. Or it was her leg work.
But if she didn’t pick up speed, he might have to cut her. He would be doing Autumn a favor and saving her the money it cost to keep Quinn in the school. There had to be a free after-school activity she could get involved with at the high school. Quinn could always ski for fun. She was a good skier. But a professional career or a scholarship wouldn’t happen. No point in putting off the inevitable. It would kill him to cut her. Autumn would kill him too.
“Okay, guys. That’s it for today,” he said, drawing their attention his way. “Great job. You’re all doing good work. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
The kids popped off their skis and chatted in small groups. Quinn stood off to the side alone. A look of sadness or frustration masked her face. She resembled her mother at that age. Jett had seen that same expression on Autumn’s face. Oftentimes directed right at him. He could talk to Quinn tomorrow about her spot on the team.
He needed to get back to the ranch anyway. He had a late delivery coming, and he wanted to be there for it. He turned for his truck.
Quinn ran up alongside him. “Coach, I need some help with my edging. Can we take a run together?”
He hesitated. He couldn’t let this young woman down. He was going to have to find a way to help her. “You bet. But not today. I’m sorry about that. I have to return to work. Let’s practice on Saturday. I’ll check with your mom that we aren’t going to be in the way of any of her customers.” And it would give him a reason to talk to Autumn since he hadn’t been able to come up with one for the past two hours.
“We don’t have anyone scheduled for Saturday. I probably shouldn’t have told you that. My mom will be mad I said something.”
“I won’t say anything.” He would keep the secret and allow Autumn to keep her pride. He wasn’t trying to rub her nose in anything, especially not last night when he’d said businesses made their own luck. But that stubborn woman would have to come to terms with her situation sooner or later. That miracle she had talked about wasn’t going to be anything more than a buyer for her property.
“Thanks, Coach. Mom’s pretty private.”
“I can respect that. Let’s say Saturday around eight.”
“In the morning?” Quinn’s eyes grew two sizes.
“If the sun was up at six, we’d be on the slope then. If you want to improve, you need to put in the time. In or out?”
She gnawed on her bottom lip for a second. “Yeah. I’m in. I’ll see you then. Thanks again, Coach.” Quinn trotted away.
He would have to rearrange some things Saturday morning and see if Gage could take out a group who wanted to ride horses on the snowed-over trail for the great photo ops this time of year. The group couldn’t get pushed off to Sunday because another snowstorm was due, which would cause too many safety issues.
Quinn revealing the ski area had no customers for Saturday stuck with him. Autumn needed someone on the slope every day. She needed the money to pay for more than just fixing the heat. Taxes would be due, and the price of the oil used to heat the place was always on the rise. That lift of hers broke on a regular basis. She should really give up and let someone take over. Taking a buyer sooner rather than later was in her best interest. He planned on being that buyer.
Jay Henry trudged out of the house with Autumn behind him. She was wrapped in the old coat that hung to her knees, and he loved seeing her in it for some reason. She and Jay were talking because Autumn tilted her head back and laughed, even though Jett only caught the ends of her tinkling laughter and nothing more. The wind had done him no favors and carried her voice away from him. His blood burned. Jay turned away from Autumn’s laughter and ducked his head.
Of course, he did. Look her in the eye, man. Or better yet—don’t. This newfound prickly feeling in his gut came out of nowhere. Autumn could talk to and spend time with whomever she liked. She was not his business. Autumn folded Jay into a hug. The feeling in his gut climbed into his diaphragm and stifled a breath. Jett took a step forward.
“Hey, Coach, can I talk to you a second?” Logan Everett approached him, carrying his skis over his shoulder.
The kid had an apprehensive look on his face as if he were debating with himself about talking to Jett. He could remember feeling that way at Logan’s age—old enough to make decisions on his own but still too young to trust those decisions. Having someone to bounce them off usually helped. Logan probably wanted to know what Jett thought about signing up for a race or two.
“Sure, what’s up?” He stole a quick glance at Autumn, who had let go of Jay. Thankfully. Jay turned his plumber’s van around in the driveway and honked a goodbye. Autumn turned without another wave and paused, looking in his direction now. He raised a hand, and she did the same but continued back into the house.
He glanced at his phone. He had about ten minutes before he needed to get to the ranch. Whatever Logan had to say, Jett hoped it wouldn’t take long.
“It’s kind of…well, I could use some advice.” Logan looked around.
This might be more than just asking about which race he should tackle. Except for Quinn, who was still making her way back to the house, they were alone now.
“You’re killing it on the slope, kid. You should be giving me advice.”
“It’s not about skiing.” Logan’s gaze dropped to his boots.
“Oh.” His phone vibrated in his hand. Paula, who worked for him in the afternoons, sent a text. The delivery of saddles had arrived, and she didn’t know where to put them.
“Hey, Logan, I really want to hear what this is all about, but I have to race back to the ranch. There’s something going on only I can handle. I’m sorry. Can you come to practice early tomorrow? We can talk then.”
“Yeah. Sure.” The smile slipped off the kid’s face.
“Thanks for understanding. You going to be okay till then?” He didn’t know the first thing about handling a teenager’s problems. He tried to think about how Gage would handle someone coming to him for advice. When in doubt, pretend to be his big brother.
“Yeah. Yeah. I can wait. See you tomorrow.” Logan hefted his skis onto his shoulder and trudged down the mountain.
The boy looked defeated. If he had a problem at home, Jett was the last person who could help him. But then maybe he should be the first person to do it. If Markus Everett wasn’t there for his kid, someone should be.
“Hey, Logan.”
The kid turned back.
“Give me five minutes, and we can talk.” He pulled his phone back out.
“Great. Thanks.” The smile reformed on his young face.
Yeah, Gage would have put down whatever he was doing and listened. Jett had seen it a million times when they were teens and one of them wanted to talk. Gage always felt like he had to be the man of the house after their dad died. His brother always got it right. Jett sent a text to Paula with instructions, then dialed Lock.
“What’s up?” Lock said with what seemed to be a mouthful of food. What else was new? Lock was always eating.
“The new saddles are at the ranch. Where are you?” He glanced back toward Autumn’s house, but she was nowhere in sight now. The sun dipped into the treetops, and the temperature fell with it. The moon would be full tonight. A clear crisp night for a horseback ride.
“Not at the ranch.” More chomping.
“Can you get there? I’ve got to help out a ski student for a little while. I told Paula to put the new saddles in the tack room and wrap them in fleece, but she wasn’t sure she could handle them all. And the tack room door seems to be stuck again.”
“I’ll text her to leave them right outside the door. I’ll take care of it when I get back. I’ll fix the door too.”
“I just spent a fortune on those saddles. Is there a reason why you can’t get back to the ranch now and take care of it?”
“Can’t, big bro. I’ll be home in an hour. Or call Kace and see if he’ll do it. I think he’s home with Tara and Royce.”
“Where are you again?”
“Out.” Lock ended the call.
Jett stared at the screen. His brother could send his blood pressure right over the mountaintop. When Lock decided he didn’t want to tell what he was up to, he wasn’t talking and nothing would drag it out of him. He could be with a woman, at the diner having a late lunch, or he could have driven three hours away to get a view of the snow on another mountain because he saw a post on social media about it. Lockwood only heard his own drum beating in that head of his.
Jett sent a quick text to Kace and shoved his phone in his pocket. “Okay, Logan. Do you want to talk here, or do you want to come back to the ranch and get something hot to drink?” He was ready for something hot after being outside for hours. And he was starving. His mother might have prepped a dinner for the family to share. He hoped, anyway. The ranch didn’t offer dinner to the guests, but the Rykers still needed to eat.
“I don’t want anyone to hear us.”
“That sun is about to say good night. I don’t know about you, but I’m cold through my bones about now and could use some soup or a hot coffee. How about if I drive us next door, and I promise no one will bother us.”
“Well, if you think it will be private.” Logan checked his phone.
An expensive foreign car drove up Autumn’s drive and blocked in his truck. The car was sweet to look at but mostly impractical here on the base of the mountain or on his ranch. He could appreciate a nice vehicle, especially with a race car driver for a brother, but Jett preferred his worn and weathered pickup.
He motioned for Logan to follow him, but Logan stood still. “You okay?”
“That’s my dad.” Logan’s face matched the snow.
“We can talk another time.” He didn’t have to be a genius to figure out the kid didn’t want to have any discussion in front of his father and most likely hadn’t known Markus would show up here.
Markus slid from the shiny sedan. The black paint glistened in the remaining rays of the sun. Markus was tall, like him, but slender because he preferred running and skiing to anything involving weights. Markus’s wavy light-brown hair was always slicked into place. Jett often wanted to rough it up a bit just to see if it moved when touched and because it would probably drive the pretentious Markus with his wire-rimmed glasses crazy.
“Logan,” Markus called, waving his hand, but didn’t move from his spot beside the vehicle. “There you are. I was looking all over town for you.”
“Where else would I be?” Logan said under his breath.
Together they walked over to Markus and his shiny car that matched his shiny shoes. Maybe those expensive, useless-in-the-snow shoes were the reason why Markus had stayed put. The suit was a giveaway too. He would get those suit pants wet from the snow.
“Hello, Jett. Nice to see you.” Markus gave a curt nod with a stiff lip.
“Markus.” He turned to Logan. “Great practice today. Don’t forget that practice starts thirty minutes early tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah. I got it. No problem, Coach. Thanks.” The smile spread wide on the kid’s face.
Jett nodded to the kid and his father. He was ready to get in his truck and get out of there.
“How’s my boy doing, Ryker?”
“He’s doing just fine. Our best skier. The schools will be looking at him.”
“I tell him never to half-ass it. Don’t you let him get away with anything less than his absolute best out there. One hundred and ten percent for him. You have my permission to push him past his limits.” Markus pounded Logan on the back.
Logan’s cheeks turned pink.
“I provide a safe and fun environment for all my skiers. They work to their potential. And hopefully, they’ll grow, but at their own pace.” He might not be great with kids, but he sure as hell knew what a good coach was. And he would never threaten a kid or demean someone to push them. And absolutely never push them to do things they weren’t ready for on the slopes. What the hell was wrong with this guy?
Jett suspected he knew. Markus had a thick competitive streak, and he was strangling his son with it. He glanced at Logan, who stood there shifting from one foot to the other. Was the kid going to tell him he wanted off the team? That would suck. But whatever the kid wanted. Jett would have to let him go.
“Sure. Safety first. I get it, but Logan is special. I want him to have every opportunity to surpass the others. His future is bright, my boy.” More pounding on the kid’s back.
“Since when do you care?” Logan said with a snarl. “You keep telling me I’m wasting my time.”
Markus shot a death glare at his son.
“Logan, you’re doing a great job out there. You’re a real leader. The other skiers look up to you. Keep doing what you’re doing. Everything else will fall into place.” He didn’t know what exactly was going on between son and father, but he wouldn’t allow Markus to use his son as a showpiece just to get at Jett.
“Thanks, Coach. Dad, I have my car. I’ll meet you at home,” Logan said.
“I’m not going home. That’s what I came to tell you. Honestly, I’d forgotten about practice. Got my days turned around.” Markus leaned toward Jett with some kind of conspiratorial laugh.
Jett remained still and shot Markus a glance he hoped would shut him up.
“Anyway…” Markus coughed into his hand. “I have to go out of town for two nights. You’ll be on your own. Just order takeout. I didn’t get a chance to grocery shop.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
The tension between son and father would snap if Jett reached out to touch it.
Markus grabbed his wallet from inside his coat and handed Logan a wad of cash. “This should hold you over.”
Logan’s cheeks turned pink again, but he shoved the money in his pocket. Jett wasn’t sure a teenager should have that much cash on him. At Logan’s age, he might have been tempted to spend it on beer and girls. Until Gage found out anyway.
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you tomorrow, Coach.”
“Sure thing.”
Logan slid into his car and drove down the drive.
“Listen, I’d like to stand here all day with you, but I need to get back to work. The ranch doesn’t run itself. Could you move your car?” The driveway was big enough Markus could have parked anywhere and given the pickup plenty of room to get out. He suspected Markus knew exactly where Logan had been and had decided he would remind Jett that he was important too.
As if Markus ever let anyone forget. He did not care about Markus, but Markus seemed to think Jett still did.
“No problem. Did you hear that Autumn is selling this land? A real shame she can’t hold on to it. But it would make a sweet development deal. Maybe even bring a little competition to that monopoly your family has going on over there.” Markus hitched his chin in the direction of the ranch.
“Are you planning on trying to buy it?”
“Maybe.”
“Why don’t you loan her the money instead of stealing her land from her for another of your questionable deals?”
“It’s not stealing if it’s for sale. Besides, this is business. Nothing personal. Autumn is a great girl. Always has been. She just doesn’t have the business mind her husband had.”
When he told Autumn that buying her land wasn’t personal, he hadn’t thought much of it. But when Markus said it, the words turned slimy like scum on a pond. “She isn’t a girl, Markus. You should know better than that.”
“Girl. Woman. You know what I mean. I’ll let you get back to your horses.” Markus eased into his vehicle and made his way down the drive too.
Jett stood there until the car was out of sight. He turned, finally able to leave. And bumped into Autumn.
She braced herself from falling by grabbing his arm. “What did he want?”
Even through his parka, the heat from her touch shot up his arm. “To tell Logan he was on his own for a few days.” He was glad to see her up close even if the reason for her presence had nothing to do with him.
“That poor thing is going to be all alone in that big house?” She released his arm.
He wanted her touch back.
His thoughts headed into dangerous territory. An old flame shouldn’t mean this much. “Looks that way.”
“Can you do anything about it?” She stared up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.
“What would you like me to do?” He couldn’t change the kid’s life. But her asking made him want to come up with an idea.
“I don’t know. Give him a place to stay.” The wind blew her hair across her face. She brushed it away.
“He has a place to stay. A very nice one at that. And he probably has a staff of people ready to give him anything he needs.” He might want to assist Logan because she had asked Jett for help, but he couldn’t tell the kid to stay on the ranch. He wasn’t in the business of sparring with Markus any longer. They stayed on opposite sides of town, the way Jett liked it.
“It must be lonely being Markus’s son.”
“I wouldn’t know.” He had an idea.
“Your family is very lucky to have each other. There’s always someone around to lean on.”
“We are lucky. And I think we know that. Most of the time, anyway. Did you come out here to find out what Markus wanted, or did you have another reason?” He hoped for another reason. Maybe she wanted to talk about last night again.
“I don’t like him around my place. I don’t know why it bothers me after all these years, but he can’t be trusted. He’s always up to no good.”
Autumn had that right. Markus could not be trusted. No one could prove it, but in a town like Backwater, the gossip was as thick as the snow on a mountain, and the gossip said Markus made his money in ways better not to know about. How Markus had such a good kid like Logan escaped Jett every day.
“He was just here for Logan. Don’t worry.” No point in tipping her off about Markus’s eye on her place. He wanted a chance to approach her first. At least with him, her land would be preserved as a ski area and she could continue to live in her home because he didn’t need a lodge when the ranch was right next door.
“The heat’s fixed,” she said.
“I saw Jay Henry here earlier. He still sweet on you?”
Autumn rolled her eyes. “The whole town knows about that man’s crush on me like we’re still in the seventh grade. I have no interest in Jay Henry as anything more than a friend. And a plumber.”
“I’m not sure he knows that.”
“I feel bad for him. He’s all alone.” She shoved him with a smile on her lips and play in her eyes.
The sun grabbed the last of the daylight, leaving everything around them muted. Dusk settled against the trees and the mountain, blurring their edges. He could watch her smile all night as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He wanted to take her cares away.
“Why did you leave so early this morning?” He wished he could yank the words right back after he said them. He hadn’t planned on bringing up her leaving so early. She had left, and that was that. But it wasn’t, was it?
“Quinn needed to get ready for school. Thanks again.” She pulled that oversized coat closer.
“Anytime. How’s business?” He wanted to keep the conversation going even in the cold, but he didn’t want to come right out and say he knew her schedule was empty.
“Same. Slow. Word got out my lift was broken. People rescheduled at other places.” She sighed and turned toward the lift and then looked back at him with hurt in her eyes. “This kind of small mountain isn’t a draw anymore. People want the whole ski-resort experience. I can’t give them that.”
“It’s not your fault.” He stepped closer to her. The heat rolled off her even in the dipping temperatures.
“It feels that way.” She dropped her gaze.
He tilted her chin so she had to look up at him. Her misty gaze punched him in the gut. He had to swallow to find his words. She was doing things to him he had thought were long gone between them. “You’re a smart woman, Autumn. You did everything you could to save this place.”
She put a hand on his arm again. “I wish I could’ve done more. It isn’t fair to lose everything when I’ve already lost so much.”
Those words held a lot of meaning. They had lost their child. She had lost him, a husband, and now her land. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the harsh realities of the world, at least for a little while. Until morning, maybe when the sun came back out and gave hope to the day. For now, when the air was still but dry and bone-deep cold, he wanted to hold her and tell her he’d take care of everything.
“Can I ask you something?” She still stood inches from him with a hand on his arm as if she had done that very thing a million times before.
“Sure.”
“Why does it feel so right when I’m standing here with you and you have barely spoken to me in the longest time?” Her words were a whisper.
“I don’t know.” Muscle memory for him. He had never forgotten her gentle touch or her sweet smell. The way she would curl in on him when they slept together. She was always running a hand or her fingers over some part of him when she went past. He could pull memories at the drop of his cowboy hat of her laugh and the way she’d squeeze her eyes shut when she really got going.
“Do you want to kiss me, Jett Ryker?”
“Hell yes, ma’am. I do.”
And so he did.