13. Haven
Chapter Thirteen
Haven
Thank fuck, I was busy. That hug, followed by that kiss—which I hadn’t intended to be sexual—was burned on my lips. The second my mouth met the soft give of Elsa’s plump lips, it had been like a bolt of lightning sizzling through my body, the hot shock of it still burning hours later.
But we had a crazy day, like every day, and its relentless pace kept me distracted.
We were in a hustle to finish the work at the main resort.
I threw myself into one task after another, blowing through work with such focus that when Cole stopped by, he let out a low whistle.
“Damn, bro. You’re kicking some ass on the work today. ”
I tossed my tool bag on the ground, dragging my sleeve across my forehead.
“A few finishing touches out here, that’s it.
” Part of the renovations meant sprucing up the downstairs area of the old barn to store gear for the various trips we guided.
I’d spent a few hours finishing up the shelving out here.
“We should have Elsa do some painting on the outside of this barn. Make it look good,” Cole said as he leaned his shoulder on the inside of the doorway.
“You think?” I prompted.
“She’s done a great job with the painting. The rooms look good. On the outside, where the old sign was, she could paint the name, that kind of thing. She seems all worried about making sure she earns her ‘keep,’” he added with air quotes and a chuckle. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I countered quickly, not about to admit that the mere mention of Elsa’s name set fire to burning on my lips again.
It was just a kiss. Just a friendly, congratulatory kind of thing, or so my brain tried to convince me. If it could speak, my body had nothing more than a sly laugh in response to that.
“Mom’s going crazy in the kitchen, by the way,” Cole added. “She said something about Elsa getting her dream job, and we’re doing a buffet celebration.”
I grinned. “I texted Mom. I ran into Elsa after her job interview, and she was all excited because she got the job.”
Cole nodded, his gaze sobering. “Nice! I’m guessing it was hard when they moved away. I’m glad she came home. She might as well make Alaska hers again, you know?”
I scuffed my boot on the floor under my heel. “Yeah.”
“Mom’s beside herself,” he added. “Gives her somebody to fuss over.” Cole let out a little sigh. “We all miss Bree. And there is kind of a shortage of women around here. I mean, hell, there’s?—”
He was cut off abruptly when Tommy came barreling into the barn, letting out a whoop with two goats chasing him. Cole and I chuckled together.
Tommy was a boy through and through, wild and full of energy. Thank God we lived out here, where he had plenty of ways to burn off his energy. If we didn’t, I think he’d drive us all batshit crazy.
As it was, we still had to keep him on point. “Hey, bud,” I said when he stopped beside me after looping around us in a circle. I ruffled his hair. “How’d school go today?”
“Good. The teacher says she’s gonna call you.”
“How come?”
“I guess I have trouble sitting still.”
“You guess ?” Cole snorted.
I eyed the purple fading in Tommy’s hair, which was growing out. “Sitting still is definitely not your strength.”
Tommy let out a dramatic sigh. “I know.”
“But you gotta figure it out, dude. We all do,” Cole added.
“Fine,” Tommy replied enthusiastically.
“You taking care of your chores? The stuff over the rescue program?” I asked as the three of us began walking together from the barn over to the main house.
“Of course. The bus drops me off there, and I do that first.”
“I know, just double-checking,” I said.
“What’s for dinner?” Tommy asked. That was always an important question for him.
Cole teased, “Your grandma is making a buffet because Elsa got her job.”
“Ooh, a buffet?” At that, Tommy started running.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Not even that old and I can’t keep up with him,” I said as I glanced toward Cole.
“You’re an oldie, dude.” He quipped, nudging me with his shoulder as we walked.
Our mom was not shy about celebrating anything, and she’d gone all out for Elsa. There was the gooiest mac and cheese ever , according to my mom, along with braised caribou, one of her Brussels sprout casseroles, mashed potatoes, and a generous charcuterie board.
Elsa looked abashed when she sat at the table a little later. “I can’t believe you did all this for me, Maggie.”
“Honey, you got a job, and Haven said that you said it was your dream job. I’m thrilled for you,” my mom replied.
Elsa pressed her lips together. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to go out of your way for me like this.”
“Honey, we celebrate things here. Get used to it,” my mom said firmly.
My heart twisted a little because Elsa looked as if she felt adrift. Celebrating anything didn’t seem like something she was accustomed to. Maybe I didn’t know all the details about her family life, but I knew her dad had kept things simple to the extreme.
When she looked over at my mom, I thought there was a sheen of tears in her eyes for a second, but she blinked and glanced down at her plate. “Thank you.” Her smile was tremulous when she met my mom’s eyes again.
“All right, who’s going to say grace?” my mom asked.
Tommy raced through grace. “For this food, in a world where many walk in hunger. For our faith, in a world where many walk in fear. For this fellowship, in a world where many walk alone. We give thanks.”
After he finished, Elsa glanced over at Tommy. “I like that blessing a lot.”
“It’s the only one I know.” Tommy shrugged.
My mom smiled over at Tommy. “My mom always said that one. It’s been passed down in her family. I don’t know officially where it came from, but it’s perfect. We don’t make it to church often, but to me, that little blessing captures what matters in the world.”
Elsa was completely quiet for a moment before she nodded. “It does.”
“Now eat up, hon.” My mom beamed at her.
When Elsa giggled at that, hot damn, it felt like she swung a lasso across the table and cinched it tight around my heart.
Dinner with my family involved a lot of conversation, ranging from mundane to casual jokes to business. These days, we had lots of logistics to cover. We were racing toward the deadline we’d set for ourselves to reopen the resort.
“We’ve got that computer system up and running,” my mom said. “I feel clunky with it, but it seems simple. We even have a little point-of-sale thing with a calendar. People can make their own reservations, but we have to confirm them. We need to hire someone for that.”
“For what?” Elsa prompted.
“Handling this online stuff. I can do the kitchen and handle the guests, but I’m on the information cow-path, so all this computer stuff feels overwhelming.” My mom eyed Elsa with hope in her eyes.
“I’ll try to help. I’m pretty nifty with computer stuff. I’m starting my job next week, and I’ll be painting, but I’ll take a look and make sure it’s all lined up. If you’d like help hiring for that, I’m happy to do that too,” Elsa offered.
“I think we should hire someone, and I’d love any help you can give.” The tension lining my mother’s face eased, her relief clear.
“Mom, it’s going to be fine,” Cole said, the most easygoing of all of us.
When Elsa looked over at my mom, genuine concern in her gaze, my heart twisted. She wanted to help. She wanted to make my mom feel okay, and that meant the world to me.
Throughout dinner, I was quieter than usual because I almost didn’t trust myself around Elsa. Just having her there was stretching my nerves.
Fuck me.
I was glad she came back to Willow Brook.
But holy hell, I was going to have to get a grip.
Surely, this was just some kind of fluke.
I’d figured that old high school crush was long gone.
Instead, all she had to do was appear, like she was a veritable ray of sun in my world.
Cheerful, kind, pushy about wanting to help, and delectably sexy.
The only thing between us at night was a thin wall.
I mentally shook myself. Get a fucking grip. You have other priorities.