Chapter 7 Blair
Blair
“Two weeks and you’ve already got a date,” Cate sighs over speakerphone as I decide what to wear today.
“I blame Alex. She got into my head about finding a mountain man and I just happened to end up staying with one who was my secret admirer from college that I had no idea existed.”
“When Starchild said a fresh outlook, I’m not sure she was meaning a new boyfriend,” she giggles.
“It’s a hiking date. Low key, stress-free, hopefully with no animals hijacking it, and good conversation. It’s not a marriage proposal.”
“Can you imagine?” she gasps. “Anyway, have you chosen the perfect Alaskan mountain date look? I’m thinking denim… maybe double denim, oooh!”
I stare at my double bed which is now covered in almost all of the clothes I brought to town with me. “Firstly, no double denim. Isn’t that more of a Canada thing? And secondly, please help me Cate,” I beg.
“That’s what I’m here for. Put me on video and let’s get you dressed at least. Can’t leave the poor man waiting. It has been ten years, after all…”
“More than ten, actually. But technically it’s like a second date, but also a first. We had dinner at the diner last weekend, remember?” I remind her.
“Pfft,” she says, blowing a raspberry that fills the air. “That was a pre-date date. It doesn’t count.”
I arch a brow and look straight down the screen at her. “That’s a thing?”
“Totally a thing. That’s a coffee or a casual phone call before the date. When you assess and judge and decide whether it’s worth your time actually dating them.”
“I’m so out of the loop with this whole dating thing,” I groan, taking Cate’s face on my phone with me as I collapse backward on my bed.
“Naw. You’re fine, Blair. You’ve been building your medical empire, establishing your career—your name. You haven’t had time, the inclination, or the motivation to look at a man, let alone date one.”
And there it is. The number one thing I’ve been wondering all week. Why now? Why Sutton?
The thing is, the more we’ve talked over text and gotten to know one another, the more I’ve realized that it’s not a why him, it’s because of him.
The ‘why now’ part is still a mystery but I don’t need to know that right now. I figure it will become obvious at some point. Until then, I plan to take it slow and easy and enjoy myself.
Sutton is kind, honest and a genuinely good guy.
He's open, funny in his own way, and doesn’t hide what he perceives to be his flaws.
That right there is a rare quality—a man who knows himself.
It helps that he’s mighty fine to look at too.
His biggest drawcard is his heart. He loves those important to him hard and will do anything and everything he can for them.
Hearing it was his anxiety that held him back from asking me out all those years ago touched me. I’d like to think I’d have appreciated his approach back then, but we’ll never know because at college I had one focus–kicking butt and taking names in medical school.
Yet two weeks into my stay in Timber Falls and I’m seeing the appeal of a quieter, less stressful life. Case in point, I’m sleeping eight hours a night regularly. That’s something that hasn’t happened in years.
“Can you turn the phone to the right a bit?” Cate asks, umming and aahing as I follow her instructions. “Right there. Blue tank, white with blue pinstripes shirt over top, and wait—did you have those cute denim shorts I made you buy?”
“Against my better judgement since I’m living on a mountain and it’s almost Fall? Yes, I do.”
“Perfect. Wear those too. And a hat. I love your gorgeous hair and skin, but you know that sun is going to be a killer up there.”
“Which is why I’ve slathered myself in an inch thick layer of sunscreen already, C. Learned that lesson far too many times,” I say.
“Oh yeah. The Hamptons five years ago. Remember that?”
I groan but do it with a smile. “Yeah. Overcast days over Fourth of July weekend. Just what the doctor ordered.”
“We had to be your live-in nurses for days!” she regales.
“Definitely not repeating that.” I push back up to my feet and turn to look down at Cate’s suggested outfit. “I have my Red Sox ball cap. Will that work?”
“Oh yes! That sounds super cute. Perfect for a low key first date that’s really a second date.”
“Am I crazy for doing this?” I ask, dropping the phone onto the bed and quickly changing. “I can’t explain why, but it just feels right. Like it’s supposed to happen.”
Cate’s eyes soften as her lips tip up on one side. “You’re cute when you’re smitten. It’s a good look on you, B.”
“It’s too early to be smitten, C. I’d say I’m at the ‘curious, open to anything, want to know more stage’.”
She giggles. “See! So cute!”
“It’s just a hike,” I mutter again.
“You know you need to show me when you’re ready. Can’t let one of my best friends go out without my expert seal of approval.”
Cate is an online stylist who has a huge loyal following on social media and our go-to when it comes to what to wear and buy. It meant that when I moved to Minnesota a few years ago, she was able to follow me. Something I definitely didn’t expect but absolutely loved.
It got even better when Alex applied for–and got–a job at the same hospital as me soon after.
“You’d be blowing up my phone until I sent you a photo otherwise.”
“Exactly. I’m glad you know the drill,” she says with a laugh. “How’s everything else going? Are you enjoying it?”
“Being here? Absolutely. It’s a lot like being back home with Mom and Dad but with less potatoes and more–”
“Donkeys?”
I snort, kicking off my leggings and sliding on the Cate-approved denim shorts. “He’s been very inconspicuous this week. Suspiciously so. But they’ve got a bunch of cattle that like to come up and say hello to me every day when I walk around the ranch. I think they need chickens though.”
“For eggs?” she asks.
“And pest and weed control. Then there’s the manure for the gardens.”
“I know that tone. You’re wanting to chip in and get your farm girl on, aren’t you?” Cate says, her voice laced with humor.
I snort. “I just want to contribute something to the place. Is that weird?”
“Define weird? Alex and I read books about matchmaking mountain spirits and have to talk ourselves out of quitting our jobs and following you to Alaska so that we can make our dreams a reality and not have to go without seeing our best friend for six months.”
“Wait. You want to come live in the mountains with me? I’m not here permanently, C. You know that.”
“And yet you’re getting ready for a date with a man who–by your own words–is kind, honest, open, funny, and not at all hard on the eye. I’m sure you said the word hot at one stage.”
“Just a date, C. Not a vow of lifelong fidelity.”
“Sometimes all it takes is one date to know, B. You need to read Aster’s books. You might see the world–or at least the fact you’re living on a ranch with big, gruff, and rough mountain men–a little differently,” she explains.
I don’t answer her because I’m trying to remain level-headed and realistic about this. Friendship first and foremost, that is my goal. Anything else isn’t just up to me. I have got an end date here in Timber Falls after all…
“OK, are you ready to see your masterpiece?” I pick up my phone and switch the camera back on. Holding it out, I show her my outfit from the front and use the mirror behind me to show her my reflection too.
“Oh yeah. As always, you’re a vision. Sutton will be speechless at first glance. I promise.”
I blush and shake my head, unable to stop a huge smile from appearing. “You’re good for a girl’s ego.”
She shrugs, her eyes twinkling as she returns my grin. “What else are best friends for?”
Just before one p.m., there’s a knock at the cabin door. My handsome psychologist rancher smiles at me when I swing it open. In his hand is a big brown tote bag but since all of his attention is pinned my way, it seems he’s forgotten he’s holding it.
His gaze shifts down, slowly caressing my body before returning back to my face. “I’m startin’ to think everythin’ looks good on you,” he rasps, his voice deeper than normal.
“I had a little help. One of my best friends is a stylist so she was talking me through options while I was getting ready.”
He nods approvingly. “Remind me to thank her because you look amazin’.” His head drops to my sneaker-clad feet. “Though I’m not sure you want to go hikin’ in those.”
I follow his line of sight and turn my ankle to point my toe. “They’re cute.”
His eyes crinkle at the sides as he quirks a single brow my way.
“They are. They’ll also cause you untold damage on our hike.
And as much as I would never mind havin’ an excuse to carry a beautiful woman, I’d much prefer other reasons to do it, not because your feet have been ripped raw and you can’t walk. ”
I stand stock still, my eyes bugging out and my mouth agape. Did he just…? Surely I imagined him saying that?
“Cat got your tongue,” he says, lips twitching. “While you’re waitin’, I came bearin’ gifts.” He holds up the bag still clutched in his hand.
That snaps me out of my brain-freeze. “You brought me a present?” I ask curiously.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong independent woman who has had to do everything for herself for a long time. That doesn’t mean I don’t like being spoiled every once and a while, and Sutton bringing me gifts–plural–has me warming up from the inside out.
“One’s expected, one I promised.”
I bite my lip. “OK.”
He cocks his head, his eyes warm and soft. “I’ve surprised you.”
“Just a bit,” I say, huffing out a breath. “I had to talk you into asking me out–in a roundabout way–so I definitely wasn’t expecting presents.”
Watching me, his eyes narrow as they roam over my face. Then, as if a decision is made, he steps forward until he’s right in front of me and he’s all I can see.
“Something to know about me, Blair,” he says in a low whisper that has me feeling things I shouldn’t feel before a first date. He reaches his hand out and gently sweeps a wayward strand of hair back over my shoulder. “I wanted to talk to you the first time I saw you.”
“I know,” I reply softly.
“I don’t think you do. I’d go to the quad and sit under the same big tree just hopin’ to catch sight of you.
I was gutted when I came back in the Fall ready to man up and approach you.
I’d talked to my brothers, I’d practiced what to say, the whole deal.
” I think I forget to breathe after hearing that.
“If you think–even for a second–that you ever have to talk me into anythin’ when it comes to you, you’d be wrong. ”
A full body shiver courses through me and I swear my body sways toward him. It’s like there's an invisible rope pulling me toward him that I can’t fight.
Still staring deep in my eyes, he smiles. “I gave up hope of ever gettin’ another chance, but now that you’re here, I’m not goin’ to let anythin’ get in the way now. Not my anxiety. Not the mountain. Not anythin’. OK?”
I stand there and try to take stock of not just his words, but also the way my heart flips, my stomach flutters, and my entire soul feels like I’ve stuck my finger in a power socket.
I feel… alive. And all this before we’ve even left the mountain for our date.
“OK,” I say with a wry smile. “And just so you know, I like this side of you, Sutt. It’s very…” Sexy, strong, steady…
“I’m just me. I’m always gonna be me.”
“The dating you?”
He shakes his head. “No. The me I’m comfortable bein’ after lettin’ my anxiety rule my life for far too long. The last straw was when it stopped me from shootin’ my shot with a beautiful golden-haired woman who lit up the quad with her smile all those years ago.” God, he’s sweet.
“Well, let it be known that I like this you, but I think I would’ve liked you back then too. Had I known you, of course.”
Sutton’s lips twitch. “Thank you.”
My eyes drop to the bag to distract me from the heat radiating between us. “So, gifts?”
A slow-growing smile appears. “Yeah.” The first thing he pulls from the bag is a small black box with a pink ribbon tied around it. “This one is the promised replacement…”
My eyes widen and my cheeks heat as realization hits me. “Oh.”
“I said I would.”
“I know,” I reply. “I just… thank you,” I say before taking it from him, not confessing that I didn’t think he’d actually do it.
“And after seein’ those sneakers, this might be the most important gift of all.” He places the bag on the ground before pulling out a bigger box this time, my eyes widening when I see it is pink hiking boots, a very expensive brand too. They’re my size too.
My eyes jerk up. “How did you know?”
“I may have enlisted Jude’s help to check your shoes when you were at the hospital.” he shrugs.
“Sneaky,” I tease.
“Necessary sneakiness. Worth it for that smile too.”
Damn, how am I supposed to resist this man. Why would I want to? “Should I put them on?”
“I chose a beginner’s trail but it’s still an hour each way. I’d feel much better knowin’ you had good boots on your feet while doin’ it.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, truly touched by his thoughtfulness.
“It’s nothin’,” he says, humbly.
It’s not nothing, but I don’t call him out on that. Not when I’m eager to get this date underway.
And more excited than I’ve been about anything for a long time. Who’d have thought.