Chapter 4
Jason
I drop the bag of subsoil onto the porch deck, looking unblinkingly at the woman standing in front of me.
Then I slowly recalibrate, heaving the gravel back over my right shoulder, and I walk sideways through the entryway to accommodate the two sacks that I’m carrying.
I stop right on the threshold, my chest heaving as I meet her eyes.
“Sunday?” I ask, disbelief making my voice more gruff than usual.
She’s back from Nashville? And Case didn’t tell me?
As soon as he’s safely back from deployment, I’m gonna murder him with my bare hands.
“Jason?” she replies, glancing shyly up at me from under her lashes, a tentative smile on her lips as she places her palms on the wooden counter behind her.
And that’s all that it takes for me to immediately start moving, tossing the bags of gravel beside the doorjamb so that I’m unencumbered and my hands are free. Her smile grows wider and I can’t fight back my own grin, warmth spreading through my chest at the realisation that she’s happy to see me.
It’s been over a decade, and Sunday’s still happy to see me.
I’m barely three feet away from her when my boots kick something out of the way, and I glance down at the floor as her boots go flying across the living room.
“Shit,” I murmur, trudging over to the couch so that I can pick up her cowgirl boots. Then I swallow quietly as I make my way back over to her, only meeting her eyes after I’ve set the pretty boots next to the front door.
“Sorry,” I rumble, rubbing at the back of my neck and breathing out an embarrassed laugh.
She looks up at me with a dimpled smile, shaking her head gently as she laughs.
And then we’re carefully searching each other’s eyes, not sure where the line is or if we can cross it.
Because the last time that I saw Sunday I was about to graduate high school, and I was holding her in my truck after one of the worst nights of her life.
The night she lost one of the people she loved most, and, as a result, I did too.
Because her losing him meant that I lost her.
I glance down at the front of my jacket, the rain making it stick tight against my chest. Then I look down at what Sunday’s wearing.
A baby blue robe and matching pyjamas.
Pyjama shorts, to be exact. And they’re really… short ones.
I keep my breathing even as I bring my eyes back to hers.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to hug her like that. The second she touches my work gear she’s going to get soaked.
And, for all I know, she could have a boyfriend. A husband.
I run a hand through my hair, pushing back the rainwater as I look down at her.
“Thought you were in Nashville,” I admit, eyes dropping to her robe as she refastens it.
And when I get a glimpse of those shorts, I look as far away from them as possible.
She blinks up at me in surprise, that beautiful smile softening her expression. “Did Casey tell you where I was?”
I smile at that. “Case didn’t tell me.”
Doesn’t matter how long it’s been. I remember everything that you ever said to me.
The second that her mom met Cash Anders, it was Sunday’s dream to move to Nashville.
We watch each other in silence, and then she bites her lower lip, as if weighing her next words carefully.
“I was in Nashville, but some stuff came up. I’m just taking a little time away.”
“A vacation?” I ask, a frown touching my brow.
A vacation in Phoenix Falls? That sounds too good to be true.
“Something like that,” she says huskily, with a pretty swish of those soft blonde curls. Then she looks at the gravel I just hauled into the doorway, and flicks her eyes to mine, a question in her expression. “What are you doing here?”
I jerk my chin in the direction of Casey’s back yard, my eyes never leaving Sunday’s as I stand over her.
“Filling the hole.”
“Are you serious?!” she asks, before throwing her head back with relief. “Oh, thank God . Jason, I have no idea where that thing came from.”
A quiet chuckle rumbles through my chest. “I put it there,” I tell her simply.
“What?!” she squeals, and I head back out toward my truck, her feet padding quickly behind me as I go to grab the other bags from the bed.
I glance back at her over my shoulder and see her leaning on the timber of Casey’s porch railing, waiting for me.
And my heart stutters in my chest as I take in how beautiful she looks.
More than fifteen fucking years, and I’m still not over her.
“Why would you dig a hole?” she calls out, laughing gently as she leans over the railing.
I smile back at her as she watches me, my biceps flexing as I lift the bags.
“Homecoming present,” I tell her, grunting as I haul the remaining sacks off the tail-bed.
“For Casey?” she asks, sounding surprised. And maybe a little concerned.
I glance up at her, trying to work out the reason for that nervous expression.
“Yeah, for Case,” I reply, carrying one sack in each fist, my boots thudding against the porch steps as I make my way back up to her. My gaze lingers on hers when I reach where she’s standing, and I tower over her for a beat before looking through the door.
I tip my chin toward the inside of Casey’s cabin, silently offering Sunday to take the lead, because it’s traditional etiquette for her to enter the house before me.
Old habits die hard.
“When did you arrive?” I ask, as she begins walking ahead of me, and I glance at the bare backs of her thighs as I haul the weighted sacks through the front door.
“Yesterday,” she says, in that sweet, husky voice of hers.
“Got plans while you’re in town?”
“Depends who’s asking.”
She shoots me a naughty smile over her shoulder and I shake my head, biting back a grin.
I do a brief scan of the cabin’s interior as Sunday leads me slowly through it, my eyes pausing on a can of bear spray as I side-step Casey’s couch.
“What’s the bear spray for?” I ask.
“Oh, it’s for this solo bear-watching expedition I was thinking of going on.”
My eyes widen and I instantly halt, but then she grins back at me as she steps outside.
“Kidding.”
“Jesus Christ,” I laugh, tossing one of the sacks beside the back door, and Sunday yelps with giddy fear, running barefoot across Casey’s grass.
Because it might be over a decade since we last saw each other, but she knows I’ll still throwdown with her when she’s being a smartass.
“Not funny,” I tell her, but I’m grinning like an idiot as I drop the other bag, descending the steps and treading the grass before crouching down beside the tarp. Then I crook two fingers at her across the yard to come over and check it out.
If she’s staying at Casey’s I might as well show her what I’ve been up to.
She jogs back over to me with a gorgeous smile on her face, using both hands to shield her eyes from the quickening rain. And I can’t help but give her golden legs a subtle once-over, looking her up and down until she’s standing right beside me.
Yeah. She’s a knockout.
No change there.
I run a hand through my hair and lift a corner of the tarp, showing her what’s beneath it.
“You dug a hole,” she says teasingly, and I breathe out a laugh as I look up at her.
Sometimes when we were in high school she would get playful like this, when she got the courage to come and hang out with her older brother and his friends.
She was smart, funny, and so pretty it was fucking crazy, and I used to love making her laugh, even when she got all shy for sitting with upperclassmen.
She was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen and I would have done anything to keep her forever.
I drop the tarp back over the hole and get to my feet, the height and breadth of my body shielding Sunday from the rain.
“Want me to tell you what I’m building, or d’you want it to be a surprise?”
“A surprise,” she says breathlessly, and my eyes crinkle at the corners.
“Okay,” I murmur back to her. “A surprise it is. I need to set up a canopy this morning, and then I’ll be on my way. The tarp’s been fine so far but the winter weather’s been holding out on us. So in a couple of days’ time, it’s gonna come down tenfold.”
Sunday nods up at me, still shielding her eyes from the rain with her hands.
And despite the increasing rainfall, neither one of us makes a move to head back inside the cabin. Probably because as soon as we’re back in there, Sunday will get ready to head out herself. And then I’ll be standing in her brother’s yard, looking at the pine trees and wondering if this even happened.
“What are you gonna do while you’re in Phoenix Falls?” I ask, not sure how to broach the question that I really want answering.
Like, “how long are you staying for?” followed by, “I wanna take you on a date.”
“There’s some stuff that I need to do for Casey,” she says, soft and honest. “And after that, I’m gonna take his truck and go see the mountains. Drive up some of the passes so that I can see the forests in the snow. I’m not doing any hiking, but…”
She shrugs and glances toward the emerald evergreens behind her brother’s cabin.
“It’s been a long time for me,” she says gently, “since I’ve been in a place as beautiful as Phoenix Falls.”
I nod down at her in understanding, unable to imagine what living in Nashville must have been like. I’ve got Phoenix Falls running through my blood, and as soon as I left the Army I knew where I wanted to be.
“If you’re driving through the mountains, make sure you check the weather before you head. And let someone know where you’re going, just in case a blizzard hits out of the blue.”
“Does that happen a lot?” she asks, her brow creasing with concern.
“More than you’d want it to,” I admit, before tipping my head back toward the cabin, signalling for her to go inside because she’s getting drenched out here.
She heads in first and I follow behind her, keeping my gaze strictly eye-level as we ascend the back porch.
And then a thought flashes through my mind as I pull open the door for her.
“Avoid Bear Pass if you can. Don’t know why, but it’s been a hotspot with hikers lately.”
Sunday turns around with a naughty smile, lightly perching her behind on the back of the sofa once we’re inside.
Her feet dangle above the floor before she crosses one golden thigh over the other.
“What are you, the mountain police?” she teases, her voice light and husky.
I give her a smirk of my own before pulling out my wallet and showing her what’s inside.
Her eyes widen as she leans forward to look at the authorised search-and-rescue card, and then she blinks back up at me, whispering, “Oh… you actually are.”
I breathe out a laugh, shaking my head. “It’s not a big deal,” I rumble quietly. “But I know how many situations people can find themselves in up the mountains.”
The small crease on Sunday’s brow stays in place.
Then she asks me the question that makes me understand the guarded expression.
“Um,” she says quietly, “so, when are you going back?”
Her eyes lock with mine and my chest heaves when I realise what she’s insinuating.
What she doesn’t know.
“Sunday,” I rumble slowly, “I don’t do that anymore.”
She watches me without blinking, and I search her eyes, my chest rising.
“I received honorary discharge a few years back. I’m not in the Army anymore.”
In less than a second she’s on her feet, closing the space between us until there’s only an inch.
“ What ?” she exclaims. “You’re… you’re not…?”
I swipe my tongue over my bottom lip, looking away from her, suddenly parched.
I jerk my chin toward Casey’s front porch, to where Sunday will be able to see my truck parked up on the curb. The words COLESON CONSTRUCTION printed in capital letters on the side.
“I run a construction company,” I tell her. “And do a little search-and-rescue during the winter.”
I rub my palm down my stubble, casting a wary look down at Sunday.
Her jaw’s on the floor. And I’m not sure how she’ll take the news that I left one dangerous job and started another.
So I just keep on talking, hoping that the more I explain, the more she’ll understand.
I jerk my thumb toward Casey’s yard and say, “Case doesn’t have a clue that I’ve done that, by the way. During the winter, me and the guys focus in on small-town jobs, and because we’re not as booked from November to March, I can use the free time to…”
I trail off and shrug a shoulder, not sure how to describe it.
“I wouldn’t call it doing a favour, because I don’t expect anything in return. Guess it’s just showing appreciation. Using my skills to… make someone’s day.”
Sunday shakes her head at me, looking even more confused now than she was thirty seconds ago.
“Do you have, like, any free time at all?” she asks breathlessly.
I roll my shoulders and search her eyes. “Want me to make some?”
Her breathing hitches and she blinks quickly away from me, blushing prettily.
Case would probably shoot me if he knew I was flirting with his little sister in his cabin right now.
“Tell you what,” I rumble, grabbing my wallet so that I can slip out one of my business cards. It’s a simple black rectangle with my company’s name and two numbers on the bottom – one for my company cell, and one for my personal phone. “I’ll be finishing up Casey’s yard, ideally before the heavy snowfall, but if you want any company while you’re in town… or if you need help with anything at all… you’ve got my number, okay?”
Sunday watches me for a moment before cautiously taking the card from my hand.
“Anything?” she repeats, trying to gauge what that word means when it comes to us.
There are too many unknowns for me to cross any lines, and it’s way too fucking soon to even consider asking her out.
So for now the least I can offer her is a helping hand while she’s at the cabin.
“Yeah, anything,” I repeat. “If you need a drive to the mountains, or someone to go with on a trail–”
“Jason,” she says, her beautiful smile a little shy.
“And they even still run the outdoor cinema night, if you wanna go.”
And I know that that’ll get her attention because, back when we were in high school, Sunday was dying to go. But you had to be eighteen to be permitted entry, so she never got to come with me and the guys.
“What?!” she laughs. “No freaking way do they still do that!”
“Yes ma’am,” I tell her, grinning as she throws herself backward on the couch, squealing behind her hands. “But it depends how long you’re staying for.” I widen my stance. “’Cause it’s on Valentine’s Day.”
She peeks up over the back of the couch. “I’ll still be in town on Valentine’s Day.”
We watch each other for a moment, not saying anything but thinking the same things.
Adult things. The things you think about on Valentine’s Day.
“Okay,” I say finally, my voice going a little deeper. “If you don’t have other plans on that night… I’ll be taking you to the movies.”
She saunters over from the sofa and flicks the curve of my bicep with the business card, making me chuckle and rub my jaw as she brushes gently past me.
And she looks so damn irresistible that I watch her the whole way to the bathroom door.
She gives me a mischievous smile from over her shoulder and, just before she locks it, she says, “I’ll think about it.”