Chapter 12
Sutton
There’s something building between us. I’m more sure than ever now. But not knowing if she’s even got an inkling that the mountain spirit has brought her to town is distracting me to no end.
It’s not exactly the kind of thing I can just drop into conversation though. ‘By the way, what’s your thoughts on fate and soulmates?’
Right now though, I have a tour to start.
I carefully slide the latch aside and push open one of the heavy wooden doors to the bunker, revealing the old—but thankfully fixed—wooden ladder that leads down into the large dug out room beneath.
As it has always been, the air is cool and damp down there, the familiar musty scent tickling my nose and making me sneeze.
I enter first, pulling out my cell phone and using the torch function to light my way until I hop off the ladder and can flick the switch at the bottom.
“Bless you,” Blair says softly behind me as she carefully climbs down to join me while I stand at the bottom watching her descent.
She shoots me a beaming grin when her feet hit the ground and I try to imagine what it’s like seeing this for the first time.
It’s like a different world down here and despite me and my brothers using this as a storage space now, we’ve left a lot of Gramps’s collected wares down here too.
I stay quiet as we move deeper into the space, watching Blair’s face as she takes it all in.
First there are the walls which are lined with plastic sheeting behind years of collected wood panels that Gramps collected from other properties in the district. I remember helping him on a few trips when Case and I were twelve and asking why he didn’t just buy it from the timber mill.
‘There’s a lot of old things that people don’t need anymore, boy. We’re just reusin’ them, helpin’ people out, and gettin’ their help in return. It’s the way the world has always been around these parts, and this is my way of givin’ back.’
Even back then, I knew it wasn’t about taking people’s rubbish. It was about reusing and recycling rather than buying new things. And as for giving back, I think he was talking about more than just the land.
“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” Blair asks, sidling up next to me.
“My grandfather. I always feel closer to him when I'm down here.”
She grabs hold of my hand and gives me a gentle squeeze. “I can see why,” she says, looking around the room. “This must’ve taken years of work just to build it.”
I chuckle. “Just a bit. Accordin’ to Cap–our dad–Gramps started before we were even born. As we got older and started spendin’ our summer’s here, he recruited us to help him out.”
We move over toward the homemade wooden shelves lining the room, each of them stocked to the brim with supplies like canned food, bottled water, vacuum-packed bags of rice and flour. There is also a meager amount of medical supplies which I plan to add to.
I’m not a prepper by any means but since we started sorting through this place and Gramps’s belongings, it feels like something I should do. My brothers and I have talked about it and we all agree that it’s about keeping up the tradition of looking after future generations.
“How old were you when you started coming here?” she asks as I let her and urge her to explore.
“Eight, I think. Will had already been here by himself a few times, then our parents decided Case and I were old enough to join him.”
“Leaving little Jude and Abby at home?”
I laugh at Jude being called little because he’s six foot four without boots on and has always towered over all of us. “I can’t wait to tell him you called him that.”
“I didn’t mean he’s small now,” she replies as she makes her way over to a rickety-looking bookcase and runs her fingers over the dusty spines. She stops when she sees the stack of seen-better-days board games, some of them older than I am.
“This place is something else, Sutton.”
“You mean it’s like a tomb?” I joke.
She whirls around and shakes her head. “No. It’s like a memory vault. I can sense your grandfather in every part of this place. You can tell it was done with love and his family in mind.”
I look around and realize she’s right. “A different kind of time capsule,” I say quietly, seeing the bunker in a new light.
It’s a strange mix of practicality and comfort. Gramps was preparing for the worst while hoping for the best and collecting mementos from his time here as he went.
“Wait. Is that you?” she says, pointing at the far corner of the room where there are lines scratched into the wood.
I smile at the sight, remembering our surprise and grief when Will and I first saw it again.
We got Jude and Case to come down and see it too, then we spent the rest of the day sharing all of our memories about Gramps and our time here while toasting him.
It was like we held our own private wake for the man who did so much to frame the men we grew up to be.
It was a good day. I think it gave us the final push we needed to decide to stay here for good and not just the two years stipulated in the will.
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “After this place was built, we’d come down and put our heights on that wall at the end of every summer.”
She gasps and she slowly looks over her shoulder at me with a wry smile. “You guys updated it.”
I laugh, moving to stand behind her and reaching around to trace the new lines we added.
I don’t miss the way her breath catches or how she relaxes back into me, lightly pressing her back to my front, a warm buzz spreading between us from where we touch.
“There may have been a few drinks involved,” I say, taking in the sweet apple smell of her shampoo.
“Well, at least now we have proof. Jude isn’t definitely not little anymore.” she muses.
Slowly dropping my arms, I rest my hands on her hips and smile down at her when she turns in my arms and tilts her chin up.
“Thank you for bringing me here, Sutton. You’ve given me another piece of you and I know that’s something you don’t give just anyone,” she says softly. “I hope you know it means a lot to me.”
The connection between us feels strong in this moment. Before Blair, the intensity of the situation might’ve triggered me but right now, I feel more comfortable than I’ve ever been. “I like havin’ you here. It feels right.”
“At the ranch or in your secret superhero lair?” she whispers with a twinkle in her eye.
My lips twitch as I let my gaze roam over her gorgeous face. God, I wish I could’ve talked to her back then. We could’ve had years of this…
Blair reaches up and runs her fingers between my scrunched brows, her touch relaxes and ignites me all at once. “Every time you think too hard, you get these two lines right here, and every time I see it, all I want to do is smooth them out just like this,” she whispers.
If she can be honest, then so can I. “And when you say somethin’ sweet like that, all I want to do is kiss you.”
A soft gasp escapes her parted lips and it’s then I know there’s no fighting it. No fighting whatever is growing between us, not that I want to. Right now, all I want to do is prove that I’m a man of my word.
Before I do that, I remember what I was going to ask her. “Will you be my date to the weddin’?”
She pulls her head back slightly, her expression soft and warm. Placing her palms over my racing heart, she melts against me. “I’d love to.”
“Good,” I reply roughly as heated silence stretches between us.
“Sutton…” she murmurs, her gaze dropping to my mouth just as mine locks on hers.
Leaning in, I brush my lips to hers as I run my hands up her back and wrap her tight against me. I tilt my head to deepen the kiss but before I can do that, a ruckus erupts outside the bunker.
“Come back here you stupid donkey. You’re not supposed to eat it!” Wyatt yells before there’s a crash.
The groan of creaky hinges that follows has my heart sinking. The resounding bang of the bunker door as it crashes closed makes me groan–and not in a good way–against Blair’s mouth.
We pull apart and stare at each other. “Was that what I think it was?” she asks.
I nod with a resigned sigh. “Unfortunately so. I think it’s karma–Grumps style,” I mutter to myself, knowing that somehow–some way–this has to be the mountain’s doing.
“We can still get out of here though, right?” I don’t miss that little bit of panic lacing her voice now.
Rubbing her back, I step back and reach for her hand. “I sure hope so,” I grimace.
“And if not?”
I look around the bunker. “If not, I’ll get as close as I can to the door and hopefully call Wy back to let us out. Worst case, I’ll give you a tour of the bunker menu in case of an emergency.”
“Well, since we’re not in any rush,” she says coyly. “How ‘bout we enjoy the bunker cuisine anyway. I’m sure you’ve got some good stories about when you all were here as kids. I’d love to hear them.”
I stare at her in wonder. “You want to stay?
She shrugs. “Why not? We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re not at all what I expected.”
“Neither are you,” she says, plucking at my shirt. “For one, you’re not wearing plaid.”
My brow jumps up. “Does that ruin the mountain man fantasy?”
“Not at all.”
“Good,” I say, puffing out my chest and earning a giggle. It’s that sound that quells any fear that being locked in here might bring.
Then again, just being with Blair does that anyway. Even if we’re temporarily trapped underground by a jackass of a donkey.