Chapter 29 #2
“Well anyway, I'm fine,” I say hurriedly. “Luckily, there were no other cars on the road at the time, so nobody got hurt. It’s an old car, I guess after all these mountains it just… gave up.”
“Jesus.” Luke doesn’t sound happy.
“That’s not the point,” he mutters, dragging a hand through his wet hair before facing forward again. “Middle of nowhere, up in the mountains, and a storm like this… you don’t just head out without thinking it through.”
“Yeah, well,” I say lightly, “it’s not exactly how I pictured the evening going either.”
No one laughs. Tough room.
Luke exhales sharply, the tension still sitting on him, and even from the back seat I can feel it lingering in the air between him and Reid. He says something under his breath I don’t quite catch, then falls quiet, but the concern doesn’t go anywhere. It just settles into something heavier.
He really was worried.
That thought lands softer than I expect.
“You can let go now,” I tell Talon, even as my teeth chatter. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
His voice is low, steady, leaving no room for argument as his arm tightens around me. His body is a wall of heat at my back, solid and grounding, and I can’t stop myself from leaning into him, soaking it in.
God, he’s warm.
The contrast hits me all at once—how cold I was out there, how quickly that cold had started to sink into my bones, and how different this feels now, tucked against him, shielded on all sides.
For a second, I let myself just exist in it.
Then my mind betrays me, drifting somewhere it definitely shouldn’t.
What it would feel like without the layers between us.
Skin to skin.
I swallow and shift slightly, but not away.
Suddenly, the car feels very silent. I look at the rearview mirror and catch Luke watching me.
My heart jumps in my throat. Discomfort skitters over my skin, but I don't pull away. I wonder if it bothers him that I'm in Tal's arms right now. He doesn't look angry. If anything, he looks almost contemptuous.
“Luke,” Reid says, effectively breaking our eye contact. “Can you see down that hill over there?”
“Not very well.”
“Shit.” He sighs. “Driving in these conditions just isn’t safe. We risked coming out to find her, but now we’ve succeeded, I think we should just wait it out.”
“Isn’t there an inn just a little further up the road?”
“Think so. With a gas station.”
“That’s the one. It should be about five minutes further up the road from Sierra’s car. Let’s go there.”
“I saw it on my GPS,” I contribute. “It was marked as a motel, shop, and gas station.”
Reid nods and turns the truck around. I watch my car go by the second time and try not to feel anxious about what might happen to it while I'm gone.
After a few minutes of worrying anyway, I decide to put it out of my mind for now. That's the key to anxiety, isn't it? Letting go of the things you can't change and simply accepting that not everything is within your control.
Maybe I should give the therapy thing a try. I might have if I weren't leaving.
Although now that they're here, I don't know what's going to happen.
No. Don't get weak now. You have to leave, for your own good and theirs as well. They may not exactly know what's good for them yet, but you certainly do.
I strengthen my resolve as we approach the inn, with only a few cars outside its small parking lot.
Luckily, there’s an awning to park under, but the men still aren't taking a chance with me.
They get me out of the back of the car and into their arms, running up through the awning and pushing open the heavy oak doors.
“Hello,” Luke calls out in the empty lobby, low ceilings held up by weathered timber beams. “Is anyone here?” He sees a bell on the desk and gives it a ding. After just a moment there’s a sound of a door opening and closing, followed by slow, shuffling footsteps coming nearer.
“Yes, hello.” An older female voice emerges as a woman appears from a door behind the reception desk. “Sorry to keep you, my dears, I wasn’t expecting any new visitors with this storm. People don’t tend to drive far in this sort of weather. Not if they don’t have to, leastways.”
“Well, we're kind of here because of the storm. Actually, I don’t know if you remember me, but we stayed here a few years ago.”
She peers closer at Luke. “Oh yes, of course.” She adjusts her glasses. “You’re that fella on TV—the chef. I wouldn’t forget a face like that!”
“Ah, you're too sweet.” Luke's eyes sparkle when he grins, even if it's only a perfunctory one. “I remember you too, Hazel. You made the best apple pie I've ever had in my life.”
“Oh, stop blowing smoke up my behind.”
“No, seriously. I don't think I've ever—”
“Can we get a room?” Tal cuts him off, looking in no mood for long conversations.
He jabs his head toward the stone fireplace dominating one wall, with weathered leather couches around it.
“Preferably one with a good heater in it, and where she can take a hot water bath before she freezes to death.”
“I’m fine,” I try to say, but my chattering teeth ruin the effect. Tal glares me into silence.
He’s right. I’m not fine.
The cold has seeped into my bones.
Hazel purses her lips. “Well, we have radiators in each room, but there’s no hot water. Something’s wrong with the furnace. We've been trying to get a plumber out for a couple of days now, but you don’t know how hard it is to find good tradesmen in this neck of the woods…”
“I’ll fix it,” Tal says, and he passes me over to Luke like I’m a piece of delicate cargo.
“I can walk,” I remind them, but Tal ignores me, telling the lady, “Where is it?”
“Um… it’s in the back. Are you a plumber?”
“No,” he says at the same time as Reid says, “Yes.”
“He’s a lot of things,” Luke says. “Might as well let him take a crack at it.”
The woman looks apprehensive, but she eventually sighs.
“Well, I’m not sure it can get much worse than it is now, so why not.
Oh, and we do have a room for y’all. You’re in luck, because it’s the last one we have available.
The bed’s pretty big, and there’s a pull-out, so hopefully you can all share.
Best of all, it’s got a fireplace—so if one of you young men wouldn’t mind bringing up a few logs from the woodstore? ”
“I’ll do it,” says Reid.
We head up the creaking stairs to a large, family-sized bedroom.
It’s not too bad. The room’s actually kind of charming with its rustic decor and stone-based hearth.
It smells like cedar and woodsmoke, and it’s sizable, with a small writing desk and a couch in the corner.
The bed itself is huge, covered with an old-fashioned, handmade quilt likely pieced together from all kinds of old sewing projects.
The fireplace is a good size too, and looks just the job for a day like this.
The rain lashes hard against the windows, and in the electric light it’s suddenly noticeable how dark it’s gotten outside. Reid closes the shutters, which dulls the sound of the wind and rain a little, before following Hazel out to get the logs for the fire.
The room reminds me of a Hallmark movie, and the way Luke carries me into it makes me feel like a Disney character, or a blushing bride on the first night of her honeymoon.
Except my love interest is three different men, and I want all of them, so no… on second thoughts… not much like a Disney movie after all.
Reid and Hazel soon return—Reid with a big armful of logs, Hazel with kindling, matches, and firelighters.
I continue to hold onto Luke and close my eyes as our hostess tells us where everything is and what time breakfast is served in the morning.
Meantime, Reid builds up a fire in the grate and sets a match to it.
The crackling sound of the fire catching is a cheery one, but nevertheless, I’m anxious about the moment when we’re finally properly alone.
We have to talk about everything, and I guess it’s a relief, but on the other hand it’s going to be awkward and potentially painful.
I don’t want to hurt anyone.
I also don’t want to get hurt.
But either could happen, and I’m trapped in this room until the rain stops and until my car is fixed.
After our hostess leaves once more, this time with Talon to go see about the furnace, Luke finally sets me down on the couch. “You might want to get out of those cold clothes before you catch the flu.”
“Okay,” I say, and get up to do just that.
Then I realize both men are still in the room. They look at each other and clear their throats awkwardly, turning their backs.
“We can leave.”
“You don’t have to,” I say, amused. “You’ve already seen it all. Also, there’s a bathroom. I can just go in there.”
I don’t know why I keep making jokes. Maybe because of the awkwardness, or maybe because I’m trying to put off the inevitable for as long as possible.
It doesn’t work.
Reid turns around and says the dreaded words:
“We need to talk.”