Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
SIENNA
Cade watched me in the rearview mirror, eyes pinched tight with concern, and I smiled to put him at ease and show I was listening to what he was saying as we pulled up to the private airstrip.
“Because it’s a last minute flight, you’ll be flying into Calgary. Louise has arranged for you to have a rental waiting that you can drive into town.”
I nodded and August seemed surprised as he looked between us. “You’re not coming with us?”
“You won’t need me where you’re going.” Cade smiled, barely a twist of his lips. “I’ll be here with Louise, keeping up appearances so the press hopefully doesn’t realise you’ve left straight away. When Louise comes to see you, I’ll come too.”
“You’re playing decoy? Fair enough,” August murmured and I could see how the realisation rattled him that I was scrutinised so closely that sometimes I needed to take extra measures for a little privacy. “How long is the flight?”
“About five hours,” I answered, having made the trip relatively frequently in the past couple of years. “Then it’s another hour or so driving once we land.”
We didn’t say much after that. I hugged Cade goodbye while we were on the tarmac and strode to the small jet that was like a second home at this point.
I spent a lot of time on it as a kid when my dad was touring and had even used it for my own tour this year.
I’d hoped I wouldn't have to be on it again for a while, but at least it was comfortable and we could avoid the press and other onlookers at the airport when the news inevitably hit.
August let out a low whistle as we came to the top of the stairs and stepped onto the aircraft. “This must have cost a pretty penny.”
I snorted and handed off my bags to the flight attendant to stow, keeping Muffin close to me in her carrier. “It was my dad’s. I just inherited it.”
The mention of him seemed to take the air out of the room and I could feel August watching me closely, like I might break down at any minute. Who knows, maybe I will.
Muffin’s high-pitched meow, combined with the shudder of the plane, woke me from a deep sleep.
I’d never claimed to be a morning person and this morning had been trying enough without the early start added on.
I’d drifted off pretty soon after take-off and the sky was now bright outside when I lifted the blind to peek out.
Just after mid-day. We would be landing soon and I was eager to breathe fresh air. Muffin’s carrier had folded down into a little seat, her harness clipped in to ensure her safety, and she blinked up at me slowly when I reached down and stroked under her chin in the way she liked.
“Almost there,” I murmured and then jumped when August dropped down into the seats next to the ones I’d claimed. I probably could have fit an actual bed on here, but the reclining seats did the job just fine and it wasn’t very often that I needed to do a long-haul flight anyway.
“You’re awake,” he said, and my mouth watered when he passed over a hot cup of coffee. “I’ve been up for about an hour.”
“You fell asleep too?” I wasn’t sure why I was surprised, but something about August made him seem so put together that the idea of him taking a nap was… cute.
“It’s been a long day,” he mused and I sipped my coffee as I silently agreed with him. “So when are you going to spill about where we’re going?”
“I told you, Canada.”
He rolled his eyes but the small smile that played on his lips told me he wasn’t annoyed. “Care to be more specific?”
I sighed. “It’s a small town called Lavender Creek, just west of Calgary.
” He watched me, quietly drinking his own cup of coffee as he waited for me to say more.
I cleared my throat and focused on stroking Muffin rather than the open look on August’s face.
Only three people in the world knew about my connection to Lavender Creek, the fact that it was about to become four was a little overwhelming.
“I have—It’s-It’s where my grandmother lives. ”
Whatever he’d been expecting me to say, it clearly wasn’t that. “I didn’t realize you had any other family.”
“I don’t,” I said bluntly. “Or, at least, I didn’t know that I did. She’s my mom’s mom and she reached out to me a couple of years ago after she saw me in the press. Apparently I’m a dead ringer for my mother and, once she confronted her daughter, the rest was history.”
“In what way?”
I shrugged, gulping at my coffee and wincing when it burned my tongue. “We talk.”
“It sounds nice.”
I nodded, not elaborating further. What more was there to say that wouldn’t leave me baring my soul to a guy I didn’t really know all that well?
Or, at least, not so well that I wanted him to know about all the softer, squishy parts of me, the parts that could be hurt.
My dad had proved once again that trust only led to disappointment.
The reality was that Lavender Creek was my favorite place on Earth. Sure, everyone knew everyone in a small town, but those people were loyal. It had never leaked that I was there, nobody stopped me for photographs or signatures, it was the closest thing to normal I’d ever felt.
If there was one thing my mother ever did right, it’s coming from the small town I now loved.
Not that she’d cared for it, Lisette — or Gram, as she insisted I call her — had told me my mom was always off chasing something.
A new high, a new man. But that was okay, I could appreciate the town enough for the two of us.
The truth was that Lavender Creek had given me the one thing my dad had never been able to: a home.
“So, are we staying with your grandmother?” August leaned back in his seat and I tried to ignore the way the muscles in his forearms flexed when he did so. What was it about men with rolled up sleeves that rendered me dizzy?
“What? Oh, um, no. I have a place.”
He nodded and I was relieved when the flight attendant approached with a smile to tell us we would be landing soon.
But it was like her appearance was some kind of signal for my brain to start going a mile a minute. I hadn’t thought this through. Any of it.
What if the press got wind of where I was and Lisette and the town were caught in the middle? What if they harassed August’s family? And, I realized with dawning horror, I was going to be staying with August Ashford. Living. Together.
As in, my space would be his space.
This was going to be a disaster.
My stomach bubbled with nerves as the truck doors slammed shut and I immediately rolled down the window, desperate for air that didn’t smell like August’s subtle cologne. One hour in the car together, just us and the road.
You can make it one hour.
The truck started on the first try and I breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t often that I got to drive myself anywhere, but a car was a must-have in Lavender Creek.
You could walk into town from where I lived, but having a car made the journey infinitely easier — especially when summer rolled around and the heat became a living, breathing, thing.
“So,” August said as he settled into his seat. “Tell me about your place.”
I side-eyed him as I fiddled with the radio. “Why? You’ll see it soon enough.” He chuckled and I bit back a curse. “Sorry, I’m just grumpy from lack of sleep.”
His eyes were heavy on my skin as he replied, voice a deep rumble, “I didn’t think you were being grumpy.”
I nodded slightly, relaxing as we pulled away from the airport and I took the familiar turning that would take us onto the highway. The radio hummed quietly and I quickly found my head emptying, just enjoying the feeling of the wheel beneath my palms and the cool air brushing over my face.
Despite the chill, it was sunny and I found myself squinting, my eyes still sensitive from the early morning and gritty from my nap on the jet.
Muffin was strapped into the back seat of the truck, her harness on and her nose in the air as she took in the new scents.
She’d travelled with me before, but this was her first time coming with me to Lavender Creek.
Normally I just got Louise and Cade to watch her while I was away, but this time things felt different.
Like maybe I wasn’t sure when, or if, I’d be going back to our life in the city.
“You like to drive,” August said, and I could feel his eyes on me as I watched the road.
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t bother to respond.
Despite the ease that came with being so close to the only real home I’d ever known, I wasn’t as relaxed as I’d normally be and that had everything to do with the large athlete in my passenger seat chuckling under his breath at my silence.
Being around August was usually comfortable, a surprising calm between us that was belied only by the sharp edge of desire I felt when I looked at him.
But having him so close to the side of myself I kept under wraps, protected, was nerve wracking.
Partly because it meant he would be rejecting the real me if he did so, the one most people never looked beneath the surface to see, but also because… I wanted him to like me.
The further we drove, the easier I breathed.
August stayed quiet, watching out of the window as the scenery slowly became less suburban and fields replaced the view.
It was too late in the season for much to be growing, but during the summer this drive was full of greens and golds, punctuated by the odd dirt track, ranch, and small lakes.
We passed over the river bridge and Muffin began to snore, the quiet sound making me smile until I spotted a shadow up ahead that grew in size the closer we got.
As if worried I hadn’t seen it, August placed a hand on my shoulder, the heat of his touch burning through me as I pumped the brakes.
“Is that… dust?”
The car came to a stop and it was my turn to laugh at his wide eyes, until the slight scruff of his stubble caught my attention and I had to look away. “Cows.”
“What?”
I nodded to the ranch on our right and he followed my gesture. “Looks like a cattle crossing. It’ll clear up in a few minutes.”
Eventually the road settled, the cows having moved across, and the surroundings felt too quiet without their grunts and brays.
Muffin had barely stirred in the back while we’d waited, only cracking open her eyes a sliver before resuming her nap.
The ignition turned and caught and I gripped the wheel tight as we began to move again, antsy to get out of this car and have some time alone.
Except, my errant thoughts didn’t seem to agree, enjoying August’s company a little too much.
In fact, being alone with him, in my house, in my bed—not in your bed, I reprimanded myself. He would take the guest room.
A strange popping sound made me jump and Muffin’s eyes flare wide, the movement of her sitting to attention catching my eye in the mirror.
“What was that?”
I cursed and pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Hopefully nothing.”
The door creaked as I pushed it open, the cool wave of air raising goosebumps on my skin. I rounded the truck, inspecting the back where the noise had come from, and I swore again. “We have a flat.”
“Crap.” August climbed out of the car and stood at my side. “Well, I can—”
“It’s alright,” I muttered, rounding the car and popping the trunk. “There should be a spare.”
“You know how to change a tire?” The doubt in his voice made my spine straighten as I raised a haughty eyebrow in his direction.
“Yep.” I popped the p hard as I grabbed the crank and spare and bent down to inspect the deflated back tire. “Why? You want me to teach you?”
“No, I just—”
I tuned him out, smirking to myself as I levered the car up and removed the flat before switching it out for the new tire. “This should get us to Lavender Creek.” And maybe back to the airport again when you decide to tap out, I thought but didn’t say.
August was grinning when we climbed back in the car and I rolled my eyes even as I smiled back. “I can’t believe Sienna Slade knows how to change a tire.”
“I can’t believe you thought Sienna Slade didn’t know how to change a tire,” I countered and he inclined his head.
“You’re just full of surprises,” he murmured and I gently cleared my throat instead of replying. The truth was, he kept surprising me too.