Chapter 18 Got Wood?
Dakota
I hate to say it, but the photos Calder has texted me the past few days of his outdoor furniture pieces are intriguing. Damn
Cozy and her damn good ideas and her damn meddling bullshit. I swear she knows something happened with me and Calder, because
why else would she spring him on me at my store? She could have mentioned he was coming by to pick up Ethan... That’s a
common thing to tell a friend, right? That you’ve invited a hot mountain man into my business after hours?
But no, I had to be assaulted by his devastating good looks without warning. I would have gone to the bathroom and fixed my
hair, maybe freshened up my makeup. Instead he saw me in leggings, an oversize T-shirt, and a fair share of lip sweat from
hauling inventory up from the basement.
Mortifying.
But not as mortifying as my thoughts. I actually wondered if he was there to like... I don’t know... ask me out or something?
It was so silly of me because the man has never stepped foot in my store, even when we were working on a house renovation
together. Of course he wasn’t there for me.
But if Cozy had told me he was coming, I would have tidied up more. Made the store really shine. I have this irritating urge
to one-up Calder. He’s like the asshole from high school who never gave you the time of day, but now as an adult, you’re wildly
successful, and all you want to do is impress him and let him know all that he missed out on. That’s the vibe I have with
Calder. I want him to see me as more than just a bumbling sex-repressed divorcée with lip sweat.
Maybe that’s what he wants from me too. Maybe that’s why he texted me the photos of his work. He could have easily just dropped the ball and let the deal fall into the oblivion of nothing. Does he want to work with me? Does he want to see me again? What does this mean?
It means that I am hauling my ass up to Fletcher Mountain to see his stuff in person because the photos just don’t fully do
it justice, and I need to touch everything to really get a sense of what he can do for me. And while I’m doing the touching
of wood, I’m going to forget about the touching of Calder’s body because, as it turns out, he could do more for me than just
make some shelves.
What can I say? I’m a control freak.
I drive up the winding gravel lane flanked with pine trees toward the top of the peak, feeling like I’m disappearing into
another universe. I’m a born-and-bred Boulder girlie, and while I can enjoy the view of the Flatirons from time to time, it’s
always been city living for me. Driving into the rural mountain areas freaks me out. There are some suspicious mountain towns
off the main highways that I would not want to be caught alone in at night. I will admit, though, that Jamestown is the exception.
It’s got that perfect amount of small-town vibe with civilization just a stone’s throw away. I can see why the Fletcher brothers
choose to live up here.
I’ve been up here a couple times before with Cozy throughout the years and just last year for Trista and Wyatt’s gender-reveal
party. Though, originally it was a gender reveal for Wyatt because Trista was just the surrogate at the time. My, how quickly
things change.
Maybe not quickly enough when it comes to me.
The big red barn comes into sight, and I stop when I see Trista stepping out of the Dutch barn doors and waving violently
at me. She has Stevie strapped to her chest, and she’s holding a bucket in one hand. I stop and park in front of her, hopping
out to say hello.
“Oh my God, Dakota! To what do we owe this unexpected visit?” Trista sets her bucket down and walks over to me, kitted out
in overalls and knee-high rubber boots.
“Look at you, country mama!” I smile at how calm and at peace she looks with a baby strapped to her in front of a barn.
“This is like my permanent uniform these days.” She laughs and turns so I can get a look at Stevie who’s wide-awake and blinking
up at her surroundings. “Although, I prefer the mountain mama label over country mama .”
“Both suit you just fine,” I reply, crossing my arms and fighting off a feeling of jealousy over how happy she looks. “Married
life suits you too. You and Wyatt thinking about going on a honeymoon?”
Trista shakes her head. “I feel like that trip was our honeymoon and wedding all in one.”
“It was all so beautiful. Thank you again for letting me tag along.”
“Oh please, I was glad you were there!” She waves me off. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you. And it was nice to
have someone else around to help me keep Calder’s ego in check.”
I grumble knowingly. “I’m actually here to see Calder.” I glance up to the log cabin up the lane past Wyatt’s house to see
if I can spot him before refocusing on Trista.
“Calder? Really?” Trista gets a coy look in her eyes that’s so obvious it’s not even funny.
“He’s hopefully building some custom shelves for my store. Cozy kind of forced him into it, I think.”
“Sounds like Cozy.” Trista pats Stevie on the back when she begins fussing. “Actually, it sounds like Everly too.”
“Everly?” I ask with a frown but get cut off when Trista gasps.
“Cozy was just telling me about some award you won!”
“Oh,” I feel my face heat with anxiety. “Yeah, it’s just the Best of Boulder business thing. It’s no big deal.”
“She said they only pick one business a year to receive that award.”
“Yeah...”
“That’s a really big deal!”
“Thanks,” I murmur running my hand through my hair.
I’ve been feeling kind of weird about the award since I found out.
Cozy was so excited for me, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that it was depressing not having a partner to share the news with.
Not that I wanted to tell Randal. But it would have been nice to have someone special to tell me they were proud of me.
And someone to go with me to the ceremony.
I refuse to let Cozy be my plus-one. My pride couldn’t take it. I would rather go on my own.
I inhale a cleansing breath. “I have to go to an award ceremony thing, so I guess I’m just nervous.”
“Don’t be. You’re amazing. And you so deserve this. I have really appreciated all the logo work you’re doing for my rescue
center. You’re the shit.”
“Well, it’s my pleasure.”
A loud whistle sounds off behind us, causing both Trista and me to turn and look. I spot Calder standing up by his cabin.
He sticks his hands out like he’s wondering what I’m doing down here with Trista.
“What’s his problem?” Trista asks with a frown.
“I guess he wants to get our meeting over with.” I roll my eyes and sigh. Some things never change. “I’ll talk to you later,
okay?”
“Okay.”
“Bye, baby Stevie.” I wave and hop back in my car to continue my journey up the mountain to park directly in front of Calder’s
place.
The view of Calder standing in front of his cabin in a Carhartt coat and jeans elicits butterflies in my stomach, even if
he looks irritable and impatient. I internally scold myself to chill out because this is just a business meeting. You’ve worked
with Calder before. Yes, you were engaged at the time, so completely unavailable, but still. You’ve been around this man loads
of times before and not thought about sex.
Much.
“I have plans tonight so we need to hurry up,” Calder says gruffly as I walk around my car to join him. “You can gab with
Trista later.”
“Jeez, sorry,” I murmur, falling into stride with him as he walks past the side of his house toward a well-worn path deeper into the woods.
We pass by some weird metal hot tub–looking thing located right behind his house, and I wonder how many women he’s had sex
with in it. Then I wonder what his plans are tonight and then shake that thought away. It doesn’t matter what his plans are.
You probably know what he’s doing, Dakota, and you don’t need to think about it.
“How much farther is this workshop? I feel like you’re leading me to my death.”
He huffs out a laugh. “I thought Satan was already dead.”
I stop midstride, feeling the cut of that remark deeper than before. I didn’t think sex would change anything, but apparently
it has.
He notices my absence and stops to turn on his heel, his face falling at the sight of me. “That was a shitty joke. I’m sorry.”
“If you don’t want to do this, just say so,” I snap, crossing my arms protectively over my chest. What was I thinking having
Calder do work for my shop? Our time together on my house nearly killed me. I start to turn to leave, chastising myself for
this dumb idea when he rushes over to stop me.
“I want to do this,” Calder says, walking over to stand in front of me.
“Are you sure?” I hook my thumb back the way we came. “Because I have no issues driving my ass right back down that mountain.”
“Don’t, please. I really am sorry.” He gets a pensive look on his face as he glances down the mountain toward Wyatt’s cabin.
“None of this is about you. I got into it with my brothers at work today, and I’m in a bad mood. I didn’t mean what I said.”
I lick my lips and stare into his eyes, noticing how much greener they look next to the pine trees all around us. “What happened
with your brothers?” I can’t help but ask. Calder has never really been this vulnerable, so I find myself curious.
He exhales heavily and shoves a hand through his hair, mussing the brunette locks into a perfectly tousled mess that hairstylists would spend hours trying to achieve. “They use me to do the grunt work on our job sites a lot, always assuming I have nothing better to do. I’m getting sick of it.”
“Why don’t you tell them that?”
“Because the shit still has to get done, so I just fucking do it.” He shrugs and hits me with a disappointed look, but his
eyes suddenly soften around the edges. “I really do want to show you my stuff, though. I’ve been looking forward to this.”
My eyes widen at that rare sign of vulnerability. It’s unexpected but very appreciated, and I consider the fact that we all