4. Cord
4
CORD
A larm bells were going off in my head. I’d met this girl less than twelve hours ago, and for the second time, I was thinking about how soon I could get her into bed. Seducing a woman who’d lived in this small town her whole life was a terrible idea.
Crested Butte was just as small, but that it was a ski town meant, during the winter, the place was overrun with tourists, including lots of pretty girls looking for a hookup with a cowboy—a fact my brothers and I had taken full advantage of in our youth.
We’d all settled down as we got older, not that any of us, besides Buck and our sister, Flynn, were married. Holt, who was the youngest other than her, still sowed his wild oats plenty, but he was also in an über-famous rock band.
As far as long-term relationships were concerned, all of us had someone from our past we’d stayed with longer than we should’ve because it was easier than the drama of breaking up. For me, it was Sandy Volk, whose ancestors were among the founding families of our town—like mine were. We’d known each other since we were kids, started dating as teenagers, hooked up when she was home from college, and broke up more times than I could count. She was certain we’d get married someday. I was equally sure we never would.
While on the road between there and here, I got a couple of text messages saying she was home for Christmas and wanted to see me. I probably should’ve responded, but I had no idea what I’d say. If I told her I was on my way to New York, where I’d be living for the next year, she would’ve been full of questions I didn’t have answers to.
“So tell me about the history of East Aurora,” I said, resting against the chair.
“Let’s see. First, there’s the Roycroft.”
“The inn, right?”
“Yes, but so much more. A man named Elbert Hubbard started the American Arts and Crafts Movement here in 1897. For twenty years, it flourished, with craftsmen of all kinds traveling to the village to live on the campus he constructed.” She rolled her eyes. “I sound like a tour guide.”
I chuckled. “Why only twenty years? ”
“He and his wife died on the RMS Lusitania .”
“Right. Was that the one torpedoed by the Germans?”
“It was.”
When she smiled, I was damn glad I’d paid attention in history class.
“Anyway, the campus still exists, but it will never thrive the way it did when he was alive. You still see his influence throughout the village, though.”
“What else?”
“It’s the home of a successful toy-making company, but manufacturing was moved out of East Aurora decades ago.”
“Anything else?”
“Millard Fillmore had a home here.” She looked out a window. “There are a lot of villages like this one in New York, but few are still flourishing in the same way.”
“What about the Lilacs?”
She sat up straighter, and her eyes sparkled. “The history of the estate is fascinating . Miss Cena’s life in particular, but I might be biased.” She shook her head. “As my brother said, I can be pretty nerdy, so be careful when you ask questions because I might go overboard with my answers. ”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say I loved hearing her talk, that the sound of her voice intrigued and captivated me, but I stopped myself.
“Is that June-bug?” said a guy wearing a cop’s uniform as he approached our table from behind her.
“Hey, Pete,” she responded, glancing over her shoulder.
“Who’s this?” he asked, bending down to kiss her cheek.
“Cord Wheaton, meet Pete Chance, my uncle.”
I stood to shake the man’s hand. “It’s a pleasure, sir.”
“Likewise. What brings you to town?”
I chuckled. Like I’d told Juniper earlier, this place was just like Crested Butte. Everyone knew who belonged, as well as those who didn’t. “A job.”
“At the Lilacs,” Juniper added.
“Oh yeah? Workin’ with Schultz?”
“That isn’t who hired me, but if you’re talking about Hoss, I’m supposed to check in with him tomorrow morning.”
He raised a brow.
“What do you know about the guy?” I asked, quickly learning the man wasn’t well-liked and deciding to take the bull by the horns, as they say.
He glanced around the room. “Where are you staying?”
“At the inn tonight. Not sure about tomorrow.”
He nodded, then looked at his niece. “Juni, give Cord my number, and we’ll chat later,” he suggested.
“Appreciated,” I said, taking a seat when he left.
“Pete’s a good guy. Whatever he tells you is worth listening to.”
I sensed it just from the brief conversation. “Gotcha.”
The waitress brought our coffee and food at the same time, which Juniper appeared to notice but didn’t comment on. It was yet another thing I liked about her.
Like the burger the night before, breakfast was so good I thought about ordering seconds.
“It’s yummy, right?” Juniper asked, pointing at the plate I’d nearly cleaned while she hadn’t eaten half of hers.
“If all the food in town is this good, I’m going to need to up my physical activity.” I nearly groaned. Despite my resolve to rein in my desire for Juniper, the first thing I thought of—again—was getting her under the sheets with me.
“It’s a mile walk from one end of town to the other. You could start there,” she said, smirking .
“Yeah? What else?”
“There are a couple of parks that maintain trails for Nordic skiing. Plus other areas where you can snowshoe. The town has an ice rink too, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
“All of the above. What about you?”
Her smile was broad. “I’m game if you are.”
While Juniper fussed, I insisted on paying for breakfast since she was showing me around the place.
We started out Nordic skiing on trails that were well groomed and pretty, like the woman I was with. Though, she was even more so. I continued to tamp down my attraction every minute we spent together when each new thing I learned made me like her more.
“Tell me your faults,” I said after we’d turned our skis in and were walking from the trails into town.
Her eyes scrunched. “You want to know my faults?”
“So far, I haven’t found any, so, yeah.”
She shook her head. “As my brother said last night and I confirmed this morning, I’m a nerd.” She shrugged. “Hand in hand with that is I spend too much time reading.”
“Yet you’re still athletic.”
“I’m competitive,” she confessed .
“Which is why you’re athletic?”
“Let’s just say I wasn’t about to let Grayson best me at anything .”
“What else?”
The smile left her face. “I’m twenty-three years old and still live at home.”
“I’ve got five years on you, girl, and I do too.” I waited, but she didn’t say anything else. “So far, I don’t see any of what you said as a fault.”
She nodded. “Sometimes, I think it’s easier for others to see our faults than it is to see our own. That’s true for our strengths too.”
“Insightful.”
She looked to her left, stopped walking, and motioned to a shop door. “You should see this.”
“What is it?”
“An original five-and-dime. There aren’t too many left in the world, and certainly not one like this.”
“That’s cool,” I said when I saw a mechanical pony that had to be from the fifties, maybe before.
“Everyone who’s ever lived in the village has taken a twenty-five-cent ride on Sandy. And we all have embarrassing photos to prove it. ”
“Damn,” I muttered, pointing to a sign that said no one over the age of eight was allowed. “That hardly seems fair. I wanted a picture.”
Juniper glanced around the store. “Get on and give me your phone.”
I swiped the screen, and she took it. Since I was tall enough to straddle the thing without actually needing to sit on it, that’s what I did. Juniper giggled as she snapped shots of me, including one with me holding my hat in the air like I was on the back of a bronc.
All of a sudden, her expression changed, and she thrust the phone at me. “Ironic,” I heard her mutter as she walked over to the bins of candy.
I swiped the screen and cringed. Not only was there a text from Crested Butte Sandy, but she’d sent a revealing photo with it. One I quickly deleted. “Hey, sorry.” I picked up a candy bar and held it out to her.
“What’s that for?”
“I don’t know. I feel like a jerk and thought chocolate might make up for it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“She’s…” I took a deep breath.
Juniper thrummed her fingers on folded arms, and her eyes bored into mine.
“Someone from my past.”
“At least you know her.”
I laughed out loud and shook my head. “I guess you’re right. But, seriously, I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Not sorrier than I am, considering I can’t unsee it.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and did what I should’ve done months ago. “There. She’s blocked.”
“I hope you didn’t do that for me.”
“More for me.”
She shrugged, and I followed her from the candy to the toy section.
“I can’t believe they still make some of these,” I said, picking up toy after toy I remembered from when I was a kid.
“It’s like the entire store is a time capsule.” She pointed to her boots. “Including the creaky wooden floorboards.”
“I could spend hours in here,” I mumbled, finding a lunch box I was pretty sure I had in third grade.
“This isn’t even a quarter of it. It goes three storefronts to the left and then there’s downstairs. ”
“Damn.”
Juniper grabbed a T-shirt, held it up, and laughed out loud.
“Oh my God,” I said under my breath and scrubbed my face with my hand.
“What?” she asked with wide eyes and an infectious giggle.
“ I rode Sandy. Seriously?”
“Well, you did, right?”
I grabbed the T-shirt from her hand, snaked my arm around her waist, and breathed in the scent of her. “You make me wanna…”
Juniper leaned into me instead of away. “You make me wanna, too.”