Chapter 20
Colleen
Colleen woke up in her own bed, in her cabin, to the sound of an electric saw.
It was not an unfamiliar noise.
When Luke had approached the entire family with his idea to buy the old camp near Luview, they’d all reacted differently.
Colleen had been more skeptical than anyone.
Her biggest concern hadn’t been living so close to family, but rather the renovations that would be required to make the place truly livable.
Three seasons out of the year, the cabins and lodge were fine, but winter revealed some harsh truths about the structures at the camp.
And every weekend, every repair, every patch reminded them of that fact.
Weekends and days off weren’t relaxing like they used to be when she lived in her small house in town, because they were all spent on the fixer-upper part of owning the camp.
Envying Dennis for a moment, her older brother’s long-distance ownership made her reconsider whether living here along with everyone, with people all up in her business, was the right choice.
When Luke had proposed the idea, it had felt like her only choice.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Jordy.
Be there soon. Dad says we’re helping you renovate the camp, then you’re coming over to our house for dinner before your night shift.
Dinner? I thought we were just getting pizza, she wrote.
He says Mountain Dragon. Bi bim bap.
Ooooo, fancy.
I’ll just get ramen. I don’t like those gross eggs you pour on your noodles.
They’re not gross!
She got back a puking emoji as a reply.
A thrill of happiness ran through her as she thought about Moore.
Kell asked him a while ago to come help paint, and Jordy agreed it could be fun.
Colleen was certain that Kylie’s promise of fairy muffins had drawn him in.
Fifteen was the magic age when a teen’s stomach was an influencer in his life.
A text came through with a picture, both of them dressed in ratty, paint-splattered work clothes, both grinning at her.
They looked so much alike for a second that she did a double take.
You two look way too chipper for me. I need a lot more coffee before I can even look at those smiles.
Mine is radioactive. Shield your eyes. Hide your children and pets, Jordy shot back, making her laugh.
So much for trying to sleep some more.
Padding into her kitchen, she found her pre-programmed coffee pot nice and full of hot coffee, waiting to nourish her. In the distance, her dad called out to Kell, then a thumping sound cut through the morning air.
Harriet squealed with happiness. Luke whistled for Jester.
Simple sounds, but deeply good ones. Mornings like this reminded her of why she chose to come into the family compound, invest herself and her future in it.
Would Moore consider moving here with her? Would Jordy?
The thought took her breath away, leaving her staggering toward the dining table, plunking into a seat.
Sex with Moore last night hadn't just been earth shattering, it had opened up a portal into an imagined future that she had never let herself consider before.
Colleen felt like a bag of puzzle pieces. Everything she needed was there, either as part of her or part of her life, but she hadn't figured out how to put the parts together into a whole that made sense.
Being with Moore did that.
Closing her eyes, she sipped her coffee and let her imagination run wild, to a future time when Moore lived here with her, with Jordy in his own room.
They could go to breakfast with the family down on the dock by the lake, walk in the wildflower fields that her father mowed mazes into, help Kylie with the future fairy camp she so desperately wanted to start and maybe even give Jordy a sibling.
After all, if Cammie could do it, so could Colleen.
At her age, there wasn't much time for babies, but she hoped that Moore might be open to the idea. It was a topic that hadn't come up yet.
Yet.
Having found the online nursing program, she felt less of a pull to leave Luview but more of a draw to change her future. She had options–more than one–but the only option she really wanted was Moore. A life with him and Jordy, here at the compound with her family, would be a dream come true.
Every time she inhaled, she remembered his mouth on her breast, his body over hers, the intensity of his gaze, the taste of him still in her mouth, his scent on her skin. She wondered whether she would be able to smell their sex from last night on his hands when he arrived.
Perhaps when they had Korean takeout for dinner, they would finally tell Jordy.
That was the goal, after all. First, they would help with the renovations, which would root the Luview family more deeply in the camp. Then she and Moore would tell Jordy the truth about their relationship, which would root them even deeper in their shared experience in the town.
What better future could she and Moore have than to be together in a place where so much love had been given to them? Giving love to each other surrounded by community would be so healing.
Tap tap tap
The knock on her front door startled her enough to spill a tiny bit of coffee onto her hand. She set the mug down, stood, and tightened the sash of her bathrobe. There at her front door was Kell, carrying a ladder.
“We're thinking about doing pizza for dinner tonight, you in?”
She shook her head.
“I'm going over to Moore's. We're playing League with Jordy and getting Mountain Dragon.”
He nodded once and continued on, carrying the twenty-foot ladder as if it were a feather.
Colleen looked at the calendar where all of her notes for her schedule were stored. That dinner with Jordy and Moore was scheduled for around four o'clock because she had a six o'clock shift at the hospital. There was no way to change it, so she knew they’d have to squeeze in their talk with Jordy.
Keeping it brief made sense, though. No fifteen-year-old wants to talk for too long about his father's romantic relationships.
And how would he react to learning that she was the woman in question?
Timing was everything, and Jordy’s recent comments about being glad Moore was a bachelor clashed with the nineteen years of restraint they were breaking. An aching wrist reminded her that the crash was just last month.
Not much more than a month ago, they crossed a line they’d spent half their lives holding.
And today, they would cross another line, one that she thought would be so much easier. Moore was too concerned about Jordy’s reaction. She was close enough to the kid to know he was tender and needy underneath the shell of contempt showed the world.
Her phone buzzed. Expecting another text from Jordy or Moore, she was surprised to get one from her cousin, Sandy, who worked at the hospital in administration.
Jill called off. Any chance you can come in at noon today instead of six?
No, she replied instantly. I've got plans.
Shift bonus if you can, Sandy wrote back with a pleading emoji.
Sorry, but thanks. Good luck! Colleen replied.
While she felt plenty of sympathy for Sandy's plight, she also needed to protect her day. Going into work at six would be hard enough, pivoting from what she expected to be a deeply emotional moment to the more clinical approach required for helping patients.
Cutting off the majority of her day for work was a no-go.
For the next hour, she showered, chopped vegetables for a veggie tray for lunch, and puttered around her cabin, tidying. The vacuum cleaner always scared poor Sandwich, who deftly slipped under a dresser.
This time, sex with Moore had taken place at his apartment, so no worries about stray condoms, thank goodness.
When she was finally done, she walked over to the lodge, plastic food tray in one hand and a refreshed hot coffee in the other.
"Hey, slacker," Luke said as she shuffled into the lodge, the scent of paint and freshly cut wood in the air.
"Slow start?" her mom asked, a thick roll of blue painter's tape in her hands.
"Something like that," Colleen muttered. Sipping her coffee, she took a seat in a battered old chair. "Moore and Jordy are on their way," she called out as she watched her parents, Luke, Kylie, and Kell all moving around in synchronicity.
Buying the old camp had been a financial stretch for everyone, the hundreds of acres giving them privacy but also coming at a cost. Doing so many of the renovations themselves had been a key part of the calculus of buying the sprawling property.
Her nerves were getting the best of her, and it wasn't just about telling Jordy and how he would react. Once Jordy knew, it would be time to go public.
Braced already for the hundreds of comments about how everyone knew that they were meant to be together, and how could they have missed what was right in front of them all these years, she didn't relish the town's reaction.
There would also be the handful of women who had pursued Moore all this time.
Handsome and charming, he was a catch. And although he lived modestly in the apartment above the jewelry store, Colleen knew that he had investments. Moore wasn't rich by any means, but he was comfortable, smart, and careful with his money.
And had spent his adulthood trying to prove that he was more than the single mistake he made at seventeen.
As the new dose of caffeine entered her bloodstream, she perked up, but her heart stayed soft, her stomach fluttering.
Today was a big day in her life. Today was a turning point, one that no one in this room understood.
In an effort to find connection and love, Colleen and Moore would have to violate a protective boundary yet again.
Keeping Jordy unaware of their relationship made sense until it didn't, and now it was time.
"Are you going to be a potted plant or an actual helper?" Luke sniped at her as he walked by, carrying a gallon of paint.
"Give a girl a minute to have some peace and caffeine."
"We were all up late partying at Bilbee's, and we're here on time."
"That's because you're perfect, Luke."