Legacy (Ashford Creek #1)

Chapter 1

Felicity

“Happy birthday!”

I grinned at my four friends who I’d dragged up to my small town from college. The crew not only knew how to plan an event, but they were also a fearsome foursome of joy, exuberance, and abundance.

Lauren, Laura, Laurelin, and Laurel had been best friends since grade school.

They’d all lived in the same suburb of Denver, gone to the same schools, lived within the same group of neighborhoods—even though they’d moved a couple of times throughout their lives—and went to Denver State University.

They’d split dorm rooms, and when it had come to renting a house for their junior and senior years, they’d all lived together.

And somehow, I had been enveloped in their L-named arms when I’d been on the hunt for an off-campus room.

Sadly, as my parents had named me Felicity, and I didn’t quite fit in name-wise—or in many aspects otherwise—but I loved these girls. They treated me nicely and reminded me I wasn’t alone even though I was technically a small-town girl, complete with Journey’s musical lyrics.

“Thank you!” I said as we each held up our shot glass of tequila, tapped it on the bar top, and slugged it back.

The burn was like nothing else I’d had in my life. It felt as if a clawed hand scraped down my throat, set it on fire, and told me that trash was the most amazing and delicate taste that would send me over the edge.

I choked, throat burning, before I bit into the lime that Laura handed me.

“You were supposed to lick the salt first, silly,” Laurelin teased.

Eyes watering, I blinked a few times and set the shot glass down on the bar top. The bartender with familiar eyes just raised a brow at me, and I ignored him.

Of course, I was going to ignore him tonight.

Rune would never let me hear the end of it.

After all, he was my big brother. At least one of them.

In a world of over-protectiveness, I had two big brothers.

While Atlas was out on the road, playing for the Portland Gliders and kicking ass as a goalie in the NHL, Rune had stayed behind in our small town of Ashford Creek because he loved the place. Or so he said.

And I stood here in Summit Grill, his bar and grill—the only true one in all of Ashford Creek—and nodded in thanks as he handed over a glass of water.

“Oh, thank you,” Laurel purred as she fluttered her eyelashes at my big brother.

I gagged again, but this time, it wasn’t over the drinks. “Hey, remember what I said. No hitting on my brother,” I said with a laugh and choked once again since the burn of tequila wouldn’t go away. “How do people drink this?” I asked before chugging half of my water.

It was my twenty-first birthday tonight, and while I was going to drink to my heart’s content because that’s just what you did and I didn’t mind following some traditions, I wasn’t going to be an idiot and end up with alcohol poisoning.

Hence why I knew exactly how many drinks I was going to have.

I marked each shot or cocktail with a Sharpie on my arm and was required to have one glass of water per drink.

The four Ls didn’t follow my mantra, but Rune wouldn’t serve me in his bar if I didn’t. And while he was grumpy, kind of mean, and way too overprotective, he was right.

“Oh, I forgot he was your brother,” Laurel said with a soft laugh, still fluttering those eyelashes. She was probably going to blink out her contacts soon if she didn’t stop.

“There’s my baby girl.”

Head slightly spinning, chest warm, and throat finally hydrated, I looked over and held back a groan—even though a smile crept over my face.

Gwen Carter, with all her gorgeous honey-blonde hair, threw herself at me and hugged me tightly. Jackson Carter followed behind and picked us both up as if we weighed nothing and as if the man wasn’t in his fifties.

“Mom. Dad. You’re here!” I quickly glanced down at my arm, grateful I was only on drink two of the night.

Dad set us both down and kissed the top of my head.

I didn’t miss the look, that glance between the four Ls.

Maybe they weren’t as close to their parents, but I was.

I loved them. I wasn’t exactly embarrassed by them.

“I didn’t know you guys were going to be here tonight,” I said, and didn’t miss the rough chuckle Rune gave from behind the bar.

“Like these two would miss their baby girl out in the world, able to drink legally. When their son owns this bar? No. I don’t know why you’re surprised.”

I barely resisted the temptation to flip him off. It didn’t matter that I was now twenty-one—my parents would kick my butt if I flipped him off or cursed at him. I may be an adult who was now two legal drinks into my night, but I was still the baby girl, and there were rules in Ashford Creek.

I put on a bright smile, hoping the cracks didn’t show at the edges, and gestured to the four Ls. “Mom, Dad, this is Lauren, Laura, Laurelin, and Laura.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” my mom said as she leaned forward and hugged each and every one of them.

They hugged her back, looking surprised, and yet each melted into my mother’s embrace. That was my mom—sweet, slightly terrifying if somebody hurt one of her cubs, and the mom’s mom. After all, I knew that each of my friends had their own mother issues, but I actually liked my parents.

Shocking.

“The next round is on us,” my dad said as he gestured towards Rune.

“You don’t have to do that, Dad,” I said as I wrapped my arm around his waist.

“Just one because I’m old, and I’m joining you guys.”

“Every time you call yourself old, you’re calling me old, darling, as we’re the same age,” Mom teased.

“No, no, you stopped aging at twenty-eight. I know the rules.”

I smiled at their banter as they kept going, and Rune made a round of drinks for everyone. This time, not tequila.

“And water for you,” Rune said as he gestured towards my second glass.

“Of course. Thank you, everybody,” I said as we each clinked glasses and, this time, slowly sipped our drinks.

The music blared a country tune that was easy to dance to, and by drink four, my parents were gone, Rune wasn’t behind the bar anymore, as he owned the place, so he didn’t always have to work there, and the four Ls and I were on the dance floor, trying to pick up the line-dancing moves.

“How are you so good at this?” Lauren asked with a little annoyance in her tone.

“I don’t know. I just follow what the person in front of me is doing,” I said, gesturing to the gorgeous redhead in front of me.

I didn’t know her name, and that surprised me.

Ashford Creek wasn’t exactly a tourist town.

Yes, people came up here and stayed during the summer months, as well as stayed here if they wanted to ski at the resort a little bit away.

We were cheaper than the major resort town next door, and that meant they could save money and only had to deal with a drive that, thankfully, the town had leaned into.

We had a bus line, an entire community line of vehicles to get people to that tourist destination.

But on a Wednesday night at my brother’s place, I wasn’t used to seeing strangers.

Then again, I hadn’t been home in a while.

I came for the holidays, of course, but it was few and far between because I still worked down in Denver.

My parents and Rune came to visit often, as did Atlas when he wasn’t on the road.

Hockey season was always weird to me because even when he wasn’t playing, he was still training and conditioning.

My brother worked harder than anybody I knew, and I was sad that he couldn’t be here.

Just then, Laurelin sucked in a breath, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

I turned, and there he was.

The man of my dreams. My hero.

I held back a snort at that.

Callum Ashford wasn’t my hero. Okay, maybe he was. He had been a teenager when I had been a little younger, as I was an ‘oops’ baby, and he’d saved me after I’d fallen off my bike.

He’d put the Band-Aid on my knee, kissed the top of it, and told me I was going to be okay.

All I had to do was smile and let others I could trust know I was hurting, and they would take care of it. But I wasn’t a little girl anymore, and Callum had grown into those wide shoulders of his.

“Oh my God, you did not tell me that Ashford Creek made men like that,” Laura whispered.

“They sure do,” I mumbled.

“Between your brother and whoever that bearded man is, I am in love.”

Jealousy zinged up my spine, but I told myself it was fine.

I wasn’t going to act on it. Callum knew who I was, of course.

Because I was Rune and Atlas’s little sister.

Although I hadn’t truly seen him in years.

He’d left town when he was seventeen and come back to town right when I had left for college.

So I had known him when we’d both been kids, and now we were both adults, and he looked far better than any dream I had made up of him.

“Ashford,” an old man called out, and Callum raised a brow.

“Are you talking to me or one of the other Ashfords?” he asked dryly.

“Wait, is his name the same as the town? Is his family royalty or something?” Laurelin whispered, slightly tipsy on her feet.

I handed her my water, but she ignored it, going for her vodka Red Bull.

Shrugging, I chugged the rest of my water and picked up my own vodka Red Bull. This was drink five. Or six. Had I labeled that on my arm? I was fine. Right? Oh no. Time for more water.

“The Ashfords, years ago, developed this town, but it was like his great-great-grandpa or something. Or great-great-great. How many greats did I say?” I asked, blinking as the girls laughed.

At the sound of our laughter, Callum looked over at us, and I froze like a deer in headlights. Bambi, scared in the meadow and unsure of what to do with wobbly legs. But then he lifted his chin, and I waved at him, smiling.

Maybe I wasn’t Bambi. Maybe I was the skunk who could learn to flirt and wave. I just hoped I wasn’t the little rabbit, who spoke too much and slipped over their own feet. No, that sounded more like me.

“You know him?” one of the Ls whispered. I couldn’t tell which one was which. That was probably an issue that I would deal with later.

“Yes, I know everyone who grew up in Ashford Creek. We’re a small town. And he’s friends with Rune and Atlas.”

“Oh,” two of them said at the same time, their voices breathy.

I just shook my head and smiled as Callum walked over.

“Here he comes. How do I look?” Laurelin asked, sliding her hands down her tiny, red dress.

Jealousy bit at me, and I pushed away that irritation. No, I wasn’t going to let that have any hold over me. After all, the girls wouldn’t be back, most likely, and it wasn’t like Callum was for me.

“Happy birthday, Felicity,” he whisper-growled, and my knees nearly went weak.

“Thanks, Callum. Buy me a drink?” I asked, trying to act like an adult. Because I was one. Damn it. “Or I’ll buy you one.”

He looked down at my nearly full drink and winked. “I’ll buy you a soda, little flower.”

One of the girls sighed behind me, and I blushed. “How about another time then? It’s my twenty-first birthday, after all? I’m legal.”

Something went over Callum’s eyes, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Instead, he nodded. “Another time. Though you’re in Denver now, right? Not up in Ashford Creek that often.”

“You never know. I could come home. I love home.”

He shook his head. “There’s so much more out there than Ashford Creek, little flower. You should go out and see it.” And with that, he lifted his chin at the other girls and made his way back to the bar and Rune.

“I have so many questions,” Laura whispered, and I just grinned before draining the rest of my drink.

“Brother’s best friend and all that,” I said with a shrug.

“Well, he’s not my brother’s best friend, so maybe I have a chance,” Laurel slurred.

“Didn’t you just try to hit on my brother?” I asked with a bite.

“Maybe. But it’s Ashford Creek. There’s nobody else here. It’s a small town on a mountaintop. With nothing.”

“Hey, it’s my small town.”

“That’s right,” Laurelin said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Be nice.”

“I’m mean when I drink, I’m sorry.”

“Forgiven. But you owe me a drink.”

“Like you’re paying for a single drink tonight,” Laura whispered, and the four of us laughed, walking back out on the dance floor.

We danced for another hour, and I tried to keep up with my water, but I was dizzy. By the time I was back at my brother’s house, tucked into his guest room with all of my friends, I was nauseous, regretting that last drink, and ignoring the roll of Rune’s eyes.

“You’re lucky I love you and you’re staying here. Mom and Dad might not have been too happy about you drinking as much as you did.”

I smiled brightly, my head pounding only slightly. “I didn’t mean to. They were free.”

“We’ll teach you how to take care of yourself better next time, okay?

” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before making his way out of the guest room.

I blinked a couple of times, wondering if I saw another shadow beside him.

But it was such a wide shadow. Was it Callum?

No. It wouldn’t be Callum. He was just the man of my dreams.

I let out a sad sigh, curling into my blankets. Rune had two double beds in his guest room, so the girls and I were sharing, with one of them on the floor on an air mattress.

We could have stayed at my parents’ house, but Rune had known we would be out late, so we’d stayed here. My family was amazing.

And considering what I knew the Ashfords had gone through, I was grateful for the home I grew up in. Part of me wondered if I would come back. If this would be my home. I ignored that part as dizziness took over, and I scrambled to the bathroom.

It turned out that having my brother hold my hair as I emptied the contents of my stomach wasn’t the greatest way to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. Especially when I knew for a fact that it was Callum leaning against the doorway, holding my water glass.

“Happy birthday,” I whispered to myself.

“We’ll take care of you, little flower. Don’t worry.”

And while I believed him, I couldn’t believe I was once again careless.

With my night, with what I had drank, and with my feelings for him.