Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Haven
Mom: Can you come down before your birthday?
I look at the text for the third time, and dammit, I’m hiding in the rickhouse to do it.
If I go before my birthday, then I won’t be around when Prescott is taking pictures of Foster House Gold.
If I go, I can’t tell my brothers. They don’t know how much I’ve been talking to her or helping her.
If I go, I’ll also have to be careful not to discuss what’s going on in my brothers’ lives.
What would I tell everyone?
Me: What time?
Mom: Come for dinner.
I could leave after lunch. I’d get there for a quick dinner, and then I’d return to Huckleberry Springs before too late.
Not enough time to incriminate myself, but short enough that I wouldn’t have to make excuses.
I’ll tell my brothers I went fishing, if they even notice.
Both of them are too busy with their lives to notice .
I’m leaning against the table I fucked Prescott on for the first time. What about her? I could tell her, but after how it turned out last time, will she think I’m foolish to think Mom will even be home?
No, I want to keep this to myself. It might be a fool’s errand, but she’s my mom, and she remembered my birthday. Prescott doesn’t need to worry.
We’re not serious. I push off the table and rub at the ache in my chest. I can do what I want, and no one gets hurt.
Me: I’ll be there. Need me to bring anything?
Mom: Grab whatever you like to eat.
I bark out a laugh. Nothing responds other than dust filtering through the light.
Bring my own fucking food for the birthday celebration she wants to throw me. Does she even know what my favorite food is? Shaking my head, I tuck my phone away and head back to the main building.
Lane’s pacing behind the employee entrance in the back, punctuating the air with a hand. He has his phone to his ear. “Hutch!” He looks up at the sky like he’s begging for patience. “Hutch! Goddammit.”
He drops the arm holding his phone.
“Having trouble with your neighbor?” I ask.
“You can say that.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. He might be dressed like me in jeans and boots, with his standard Foster House polo, but he’s all business. “He keeps asking me what to do about his place when he dies.”
“He sick or something?”
He snorts. “Probably. His liver can’t be keeping him healthy.”
My brothers and I weren’t living in town when Hutch lost his kids after his wife died. My dad would’ve known if Hutch was a drinker before that, but we lost all access to the historical gossip hotline when he died.
He sticks his phone in his pocket. “He managed to find a lawyer, and he’s talking about making up some trust for his house and property.”
“You make it sound like that’s not a good idea.”
Lane’s lips thin. “He wants to, fuck — Never mind. He’ll probably change his mind. He’d better.”
“Trusts are pretty straightforward.” The arrangement kept our mom out of our funds and away from the property. It’s why we all have careers and homes now.
Lane stuffs a hand through his hair. “He’s coming up with some crazy ideas.”
“Like what? He’s got kids. Don’t they get along?”
“A boy and a girl, and I’ve heard they do, and he’s desperate to get them back in Huckleberry Springs.
He’s even mentioned—” He blows out a breath.
“It’s just the beer talking. I’ll jam some sense into him in the morning.
” He props his hands on his hips. “I’m going to be traveling to Denver a little more in the next few months. I’ll be here for the wedding though.”
Mentioning the upcoming nuptials gives me an idea. “Speaking of that, I’d like to take a little more time off next Friday. I can be here in the morning when Prescott’s taking pictures. But then I’d like to get away. Before everything.”
He grunts. “Right? It gets to be a lot, and Elodie and Cruz are next. Then it’s just us.”
The last two single guys of Foster House. “Unless you meet some girl and tie the knot before you know it.”
The bemused look he shoots me isn’t expected. “If Hutch has his way.” Shaking his head, he rolls his shoulders. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Taking your birthday off? ”
“Just the evening. Prescott insisted on making me dinner.”
“Nice. You two getting serious?”
“Nope.”
Surprise lifts his brows. “It’s like that?”
“She’s not planting roots in town, and I’m not leaving.”
He nods. “If you both know what you want, more power to ya.”
I bob my head, relieved he doesn’t grill me more than that. “Yep. We both know.”
He shifts his gaze toward me. “Wherever she settles, I’m sure some guy will sweep her off her feet.”
The fuck he will. He won’t know that she doesn’t want to like photography again because she’s afraid of disappearing behind the camera once more.
He won’t know that she’s loyal to her dad even though he’s the man who hurt her the most. And worst of all, he might not realize that her birthdays are precious to her, and she hasn’t had a good one since her mom died.
Lane slaps me on the shoulder. “Like I said, as long as you both know what you want.”
Prescott
Me: Can I get some more footage of the cats before I go to work? I have an idea for the new account.
I stare at the phone, waiting, as if Haven’s going to drop everything and jump on my text.
“Excuse me, please,” an older man says.
I jump out of the way. “Sorry! ”
He chuckles as he pushes his cart by. I’m in the middle of the Tractor Supply store.
I have a handbasket full of cat treats, a puppy toy, and some kitty toys.
The money from the library photo shoot is burning a hole in my pocket, and I should save it for whenever I actually move. But I continue shopping.
My phone buzzes, and I hug the boot aisle to read it without blocking anyone’s way.
Haven: You know where the key is.
I smile. He doesn’t have a key. The guy lets anyone come and go, but from what I can tell, I’m the only one doing so.
I finish up in the store, load my items into the car, and head for Haven’s place.
The drive is so damn familiar by now, it’s second nature.
It’s…wishful thinking. I cannot catch feelings.
I’m barely over my titillating embarrassment from going through the images he took of me in the bar. I even edited a few.
The man has an eye for…me.
I pull in a breath and slowly let it out.
The impromptu boudoir session, what he did to me on the stool after…
a cold shower isn’t enough. Can I swim in the Stillwater?
Is it icy? Glacial? That’s the only thing that’s going to cut through the haze of lust from that night.
It’s that daze that made me upload one of the edited images in my pale-blue underwear set to his gallery.
I don’t have the guts to tell him.
When I reach his house, his pickup’s gone. I figured he was at work, but the disappointment is still there. I got myself all bothered on the drive.
I park by the barn, grab the bag with my purchases and my camera, and head inside. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty. ”
Daisy sprints from the back of the barn, her tail held high.
“Hey there, girl.” I take out the treats and rip the top off. The sound attracts Thistle. Good.
I dig out my camera, set the bag on the floor, and squat. Aiming toward the anxiously waiting kittens, I hit record and toss out a few treats. The kittens dive for them and gobble them up. The shot is perfect with the visible treat bag.
For the next twenty minutes, I get video and stills of the cats eating and playing with the toys. I’m so engrossed in the work, laughing at their antics, and being delighted that I even got some of Tan, that I don’t hear Haven pull up until he’s standing in the doorway.
“Hey!” I was having a lot of fun, but seeing him adds a whole new level.
He crosses his arms and leans against the frame of the barn door. “I have to hear what this idea is.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll go through with it.
” I gather up the treats and toys. Thistle’s twining around Haven’s legs.
I stuff the cat items into my tote. “So, there’s this cat company based out of Chicago.
They were one of the first to approach me, and they’ve really grown, but they stuck with me until the end.
I just thought, I don’t know. Maybe they could help the rescues, get them some exposure. ”
“That’s an awesome idea.”
“It probably won’t amount to anything,” I say quickly.
“Don’t discount yourself—or how much people want to work with you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I’m more emboldened than I was this morning. I was looking forward to playing with the cats and having an excuse to come out and do so. Add in Haven, and it’s been a fantastic morning. “All they can do is say no, and that’s fair. The animals I’ll be posting are in Montana.”
“But you bought their stuff, right here in town.”
“I’ll make sure to add that.” I take the cat supplies to the tack room, and he follows me in.
The air grows thick and sultry, rippling over my skin.
I’m hyperaware of his proximity, overly sensitive from my nipples down to the juncture of my thighs.
Maybe it’s what we’ve done in here before.
Maybe it’s seeing his long, hard body leaning against the doorframe.
Maybe it’s his unyielding support and confidence in me.
All of it. The whole package that is Haven is perfect. Except…crochet club flits through my mind, dumping a tidy little cup of water on my building desire.
I set my stuff on the shelf he’s reserved for the cats and turn. He lifts his gaze from my ass.
There it is. The way he makes me feel…special. But then… “If you don’t want me at the wedding, I won’t go. I mean, I probably wasn’t going to go anyway,” I rush to tack on.
“Oh, that.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “It’s up to you. I’ll be helping Durban and Iverson. I want to make sure Durban and Campbell don’t have a thing to worry about.”
Makes sense. Yet I’m let down in a way I can’t explain. Did I want him to ask me out? A wedding date?
It would be a promotion from working a wedding, but that’s kind of what Haven’s doing.
“Campbell said I could ask you.” He rocks on his heels. “But I know how you feel about weddings, and I didn’t want you to feel ditched if you came with me.”
“Oh.” He doesn’t want a plus-one. He doesn’t want me as a plus-one. But he’s looking out for me. The middle of my chest burns. I had a late breakfast. Is it heartburn?
“You should come. If you want.”
The way he hesitates doesn’t invite me in. “I’ll see what I’m doing. Who knows, maybe I’ll go viral by then.” I summon a weak smile.
“You will.” He closes the distance between us. “You’re going to find all those cats and dogs a home.”
The unwavering confidence in me. As a pet influencer. Not as his—I can’t finish that. It’s not what I’m looking for. “I could do other animals too.”
The corner of his mouth tips up. “You’re going to help every critter.”
Sizzling heat returns, licking up and down my body. I’m so primed for him that it helps chase off the doubts from earlier. Those have no place in this moment. What did he say before? Here and now.
I nudge him backward until his butt hits the saddle stand he propped me against when he stripped me down. “It’s your turn.”
He sucks in a breath. “Red, you don’t have to?—”
I yank his zipper down, and he groans, long and loud. His erection’s already raging when I free him from his underwear. His lips are parted, and his breathing’s heavy. He looks from my hand around his dick up to my face. I hold his gaze as I sink to my knees and take him into my mouth.