Chapter 4
TAYA
I glanced out the window and saw Juni coming up the sidewalk, so I slipped on my shoes and threw the door open to greet my friend.
I had been talking to her online and through video calls for almost two years now, so I felt like I knew her even though this was the first time we’d ever met in person.
“You’re real!” Juni exclaimed as she bounded up the steps and threw her arms around me.
“So are you!”
“I’m so glad you could make it!” Juni said as she pulled away and looked me up and down. “You look perfect.”
I frowned before I asked, “Was I supposed to dress up? I thought we were eating at your house.”
“We are,” Juni assured me. I wondered why it mattered what I wore if it was just a chill dinner with her family, but before I had a chance to ask, she said, “I brought the Gator so we don’t have to walk. A storm is moving in and that wind can chill you to the bone in seconds.”
“Let me grab my coat,” I said as I hurried through the cabin to my room.
I pulled the coat out of the duffel I always used as a carry-on when I flew and laughed when I remembered how hard it was to stuff the damn thing into it.
I slipped my arms into it and sighed at the heavy weight and instant warmth it brought and then walked out into the living room.
“I bought a coat just for this trip. I’ve got plenty of jackets and a durable coat I wear when I go outside in the winter, but nothing that can hold up to a Montana winter. ”
“We didn’t have a storm in the forecast. It seems this one is taking the meteorologists by surprise. I hope it doesn’t deter any of the writers coming in tomorrow.”
“Will they be stranded at the airport if it snows here?”
“They could be. If we’re snowed in and can’t go pick them up, then there wouldn’t be anyone willing to brave the roads to bring them out to us.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have my friends cancel their flights.”
Juni looked at the sky and said, “That’s probably a good idea.”
“I’m ready if you are,” I told her as I pulled the cabin door closed behind me.
“One second,” Juni said as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a pocket knife, flicked her wrist to open it, and then reached toward me as she said, “You’ve got tags.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “Thank you. I guess nothing says city girl like a new coat with the tags still on.”
“You’re better prepared than some guests who show up with nothing but cardigans. Even during our warmest months, we rarely get above the mid-eighties during the day and drop into the fifties at night.”
“It’s the same at home, just add cloudy with a chance of rain to that.”
“Let’s get going,” Juni said eagerly. As we followed the trails toward what I assumed was the back of the property, the cabins became more sporadic, and we passed the dining hall and a few pens where livestock were grazing.
“Are those mini Highland cows?” I screeched in excitement.
Juni slowed to a stop and laughed as she said, “Taya, I’d like you to meet Cocoa, Cinnamon, and Ginger.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“I know, right?” Juni was practically bouncing in her seat. “Sugar surprised me with them a few months ago.”
“I’ve always wanted some. Four, actually. I’ve already got their names picked out and everything.”
“My guess is that the city might frown on that.”
“I don’t live inside the city limits. I live on my family’s property of sixty acres. Most of it is leased to others who use it for their own purposes. My part of the property is ten acres.”
“Damn, girl. If that’s the case, then what’s stopping you from getting cows?”
“Fear and good sense.”
Juni cackled and then said, “Before I moved here, I could never have imagined owning livestock. I’m still learning how to care for everything, but if I can do it, then so can you.”
“I’ve actually looked into it. I would need to hire someone to build the infrastructure before I even considered it, and then, of course, I would need to find someone that can teach me how to handle the day-to-day responsibilities.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to know someone local who could take care of that for you?”
“It would. I know plenty of tow truck drivers but not many construction workers or experienced ranch hands.”
I found it a bit odd when Juni smiled and then giggled, but I didn’t comment. Instead, I held on as she started the Gator again and we took off down another winding path. I was amazed when we rounded a bend and a gorgeous house came into view.
“This is beautiful, Juni.”
“Sugar built it. I think it looks like a bougie treehouse with lots of windows.”
“It really does,” I agreed. “I can’t wait to meet Sugar and the kids. I’ve heard so much about them that it feels like I already know them.”
“You can get to know them over dinner. One of Sugar’s friends is staying in a cabin here for a few days, so he’ll be at dinner and you can meet him too.”
“The more, the merrier!”
Once Junie brought the Gator to a stop on the side of the house, I got out and looked around. It was even more beautiful up close. I turned in a slow circle to take it all in. There was a clearing before the line of trees started, but their home was cut off from the resort where the cabins were.
There was a large playset with a tree house on one end and a slide on the other in the yard, and next to the back door were a smaller ATV, a bicycle with training wheels, and an assortment of outdoor toys.
I heard a little girl’s laughter and looked up at the deck that wrapped around the second floor and saw that there were more toys up there.
Even though the house was an architectural stunner, it looked like a comfortable home.
“Let’s go up this way instead of through the mudroom,” Juni suggested as she walked toward a wide set of stairs. “Sounds like they’re out back anyway.”
I walked beside her up the stairs and around the house and then turned the corner. What I saw on the deck stopped me in my tracks, and when I heard a loud gasp, I realized it had come from me.
Juni’s smile reached from ear to ear when she turned to look at me, and I felt my mouth drop open in shock when she said, “I felt like shit when I missed your actual birthday, so I pronounce this day as your birthday. From now on, I’m going to give you your gift on this day every year. Happy birthday!”
“Holy shit,” I whispered as I looked at her with wide eyes. “How did you . . . Where did you . . . Holy shit!”
“Taya, I’d like you to meet our friend, Chewie. Chewie, this is Taya.”
My muse strode toward us with a smile on his face. When he stopped, he was so close that I had to tilt my head to look up at him. In that sexy voice I had loved so much, he said, “Bookstore beauty, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
I was clearly better with the written word than speech of any kind, and I proved that when I whispered, “Holy shit!”
“Before you start to think I’m a stalker, let me tell you how this happened,” Chewie suggested as Juni dragged Sugar into the house with the excuse that they needed to set the table for dinner.
“A few weeks ago, Juni sent a text asking me to come visit this week, which was out of the blue, but I enjoy it here, so I’ll take whatever excuse I can to visit. ”
“How do you know her?” I asked.
“I met her through Sugar. I had just moved to Eugene to . . .”
“You live in Eugene?”
“Well, yeah. That’s why I was at the bookstore that day. I thought you were there because you were famous or something, not because you were a local.”
“I’ve lived there my whole life!” I exclaimed.
“So has my daughter. I grew up nearby.”
“Juni saw your picture in my office. You must think I’m a stalker.”
“The thought crossed my mind, but she explained that you found a picture of me that one of your readers posted and used me as your muse.” I felt my face flush with that admission and thought about knocking the shit out of Juni for telling him that.
I decided that was a little extreme, especially when he said, “After that, I thought it was pretty fucking cool that you have a picture of me in your office.”
“And she brought you here to see me?”
“Happy birthday!”
“It’s not really my birthday,” I admitted. “Juni missed sending me a message on my birthday and joked that I must have the date wrong because there was no way she was mistaken.”
“Sounds like something she’d say.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” I asked.
“Let’s have dinner with our friends and get to know each other.
What happens after that is up to you.” I couldn’t do anything more than blink at that response because my mind was racing with images of what I wanted to do with the man and at war with the rational side of me, who knew those things were probably horrible ideas.
It was still going a mile a minute when Chewie took my hand and said, “Will you come inside for dinner with me, sweet Taya?”
I gulped before I nodded and let him lead me toward the house.
When we walked inside, Sugar was standing at the stove with his back to us, but Juni and her oldest daughter were watching us with huge smiles.
I saw the girl I knew must be Claire elbow Juni before she covered her mouth and whispered something that made Juni laugh out loud and Sugar shake his head.
Chewie didn’t let go of my hand, even though Claire and Junie honed in on it almost immediately. Instead, he led me toward the kitchen and pulled out a stool so I could sit down before he sat next to me.
As if we were the only ones in the room, Chewie asked, “How was the drive? Did you run into any problems?”
The only time I’d ever had butterflies like the ones currently swarming around in my stomach was when I was a freshman in high school and the captain of the football team greeted me in the hallway by name. I was just as flustered now as I was back then, but Chewie didn’t seem to notice.
When I didn’t respond quickly enough, he said, “I’ve made that drive a few times, but this time, I decided to fly.”