Chapter 39
KELSEY
Sterling Springs, New Mexico
“OK. Did you drink too much coffee on the plane while I was asleep? You haven’t stopped tapping the steering wheel since we got in the car. Or is this about that surprise that you still haven’t given me any details about?”
Sutton waggles his brows at me from the driver seat of the rental car.
We’ve been driving for almost an hour, heading north from the small Taos regional airport.
“No to the coffee question and it would not actually be a surprise if I gave you more details. Now, come on. Drink some more water and rest. You’re going to love it and we’re almost there. ”
He grabs the bottle of water from the cup holder and holds it out for me.
I shake my head and groan before taking the bottle from him.
I might act like I’m irritated when I snatch it, but I appreciate it.
Once we were airborne, he got me some medicine and hasn’t stopped supplying me with water.
I unscrew the cap and take a long drink before gently leaning back into the plush leather seat to not make my headache worse.
The seat’s not as nice as the ones in his SUV, but it still feels good to relax and I’m glad the drive has been smooth.
I’m sure the ride is more relaxing than the one in the sports car that TJ rented because Grace wanted to do some sightseeing around Taos and the other towns nearby.
“You’re enjoying prolonging my misery way too much.” I set the bottle of water down and look out the passenger window, thankful that I remembered to pack my sunglasses.
Looking out over the scenery, there’s gorgeous granite mountains in the distance to the east and north. To the west, it looks like endless farms and ranches scattered along the banks of a wide river. “That’s the Rio Grande, right?”
He nods and I straighten in my seat, looking down the road.
Unlike the cool tones of the Tetons with their dense forests surrounded by grazing lands for elk, the land here is earth tones—a beautiful array of desert yellows and terracotta reds.
It’s every bit as beautiful as he described it and I can already picture him growing up hiking in the mountains here.
Off in the distance, I can even make out a small pocket of snow on one of the peaks that hasn’t melted yet.
“Is there skiing around here besides Taos?” I ask, taking another sip of my water.
He looks at the mountains out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the road. “There’s a small resort, not too far from here, in a town called Red River. Nothing fancy, just a locals kind of place, like Snow Queen in Jackson.”
He points at a road that leads off the highway and into a narrow mountain canyon.
“Actually, that road leads to an abandoned ski area that shut down about ten years ago.” I look down the road and make out a faded sign for Rio Ski.
He sighs and continues. “When that closed, it took a good number of jobs with it.”
“Why’d they close?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “That’s a sore subject around town. They just didn’t get enough snow and some investors were going to install upgraded snowmaking and a new base area, but that didn’t exactly work out.”
I look back at the road ahead of us when another sign catches my eye.
Welcome to Sterling Springs
We might be known for Silver, but we’re second to no one
I don’t know why, but up until now I’ve never thought twice about his family’s name and the town. That can’t be a coincidence. “Wait, is the town named after your family?”
He chuckles as we start to pull through the roundabout and start down what looks to be the main road through town. “Did you seriously just realize that?”
“Well, is it?”
“Yeah, it is. Our family owned a silver mine and the town was built to support it. The mine’s been closed for a long time, but the town is still here—barely.”
I slowly turn to look at him. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me your family, the Sterlings, mined silver in a town named after them? Sterling silver? Please tell me people had a long list of punny silver nicknames for you guys.”
“Oh, there were plenty of them.”
We continue down the road, and I notice all the quaint two and three story shops lining the street, which is aptly named, Silver Street.
There’s a diner, a bakery, a pharmacy, all the little things you’d expect in a small town.
There’s also a fair share of vacant, boarded up storefronts—something we only see in Jackson during a renovation.
Sutton puts the turn signal on and we start to slow down. I look over to see that it’s an auto repair shop with a big neon sign on a pole out front, Second Place Automotive.
I chuckle, this must be his family’s shop. “Second Place? Who would want that as a business—oh my gosh, is that a silver pun?”
He parks in front of one of the garage doors and flashes me a pleased smile. “You’re catching on fast.” He undoes his seatbelt and opens the door. “Now, I want to show you the surprise.”
He shuts his door and sprints around the hood of the SUV to my side, opening my door and holding out a hand for me. I take it and smirk. “Such a gentleman.”
His lips curl into a devilish grin. “Hold that thought because you might not be calling me a gentleman later.”
A moment later, he’s standing in front of one of the garage bays, still bouncing around like an eager kid on Christmas looking at the giant poorly wrapped present that he obviously knows is a bicycle.
He bends down and slides open one of the garage doors.
I shake my head, covering my mouth because he’s so excited that it’s contagious.
“Please tell me you didn’t buy me a car. ”
He looks at me over his shoulder while he crouches down and starts sliding open the garage door. “Don’t tempt me. Just because you’ve been using my car doesn't mean I haven’t thought about it. Sly did say it should be good for a few more years after the work I put into it.”
The realization that he really did drive here—over ten hours away—to work on my car in their garage because he was that worried about my safety, makes my heart flutter.
“OK then, what’s the surprise?”
The garage door reaches the top of the opening with a thud and he gestures inside. “This.”
I look inside and it takes a minute for me to see what he’s talking about. It looks like there’s a vintage delivery van or some kind of old commercial vehicle in the garage bay.
“Come on.” He grabs my hand and laces his fingers into mine before he walks me around to the passenger side.
I note the subtle shade of gray with blue accents that it’s painted in, the blue reminding me of Sutton’s eyes.
That’s when I see the big window cut into the side of it and the stainless steel counter that folds out. I’d recognize one of these anywhere.
I turn to find him grinning with a toothy smile that is so big it makes me chuckle. I shake my head. “You bought a food truck? Or did you steal this too?”
He rolls his eyes. “Technically, no. Someone left it here and never paid their bill so it eventually became ours. I just bought the parts and put in the work to make it nice and functional again. I always thought it would be perfect for the catering gigs I sometimes do, or maybe a pop-up at the farmer's market or one of the ski festivals at the resort. It’d be intimate—me, the chef taking orders right from the customer—just like the meals I serve at the tasting counter.”
He tilts his head toward the back doors and starts walking that way. “You haven’t even seen the best part yet.”
He walks so fast that it looks like he practically skips to the back of the truck before he swings open the doors.
I almost don’t get to appreciate just how passionate and enthusiastic he is about what he does, not to mention the vision.
This is clearly something he’s thought about and has been dying to share based on how he hops in and extends a hand to pull me up into the food truck.
I look around the small kitchen and prep space, immediately noticing how clean and orderly everything is. It’s almost like a miniaturized, portable version of the kitchen at Gloria’s.
I finally turn back to him and find his eyes waiting for me while he wrings his hands anxiously. “So, what do you think?”
“I love it,” I nod. “What’s your plan for it though? You want to run a food truck, Gloria’s, and the restaurant in Seattle at the same time?”
He shakes his head. “No, that’s not what I want.”
I arch a brow, leaning against the butcher block countertop of the empty prep area. “What do you mean?”
He leans back, mimicking my pose, and folds his arms over his chest, forcing me to look at those gorgeous forearms. “I still need to figure things out with Slade, but I was thinking about what TJ said. I want to make sure I’m doing things for the right reasons.
As much as I owe Slade, I think I realized that I really just want Gloria’s and this—and you. ”
“Me? We’re already dating.”
“Yeah, but I was thinking I want you to do it with me.” He tips his chin toward the empty counter at my back. “I left that spot open for you. It might sound absolutely insane, but—”
“For me?”
He nods. “Yeah, I was thinking about what we were talking about the other day. Trying to get ahead. Trying to have a stake in something. I want you to be my partner in this. I left that spot open to turn into an espresso and drink station. If you wanted to do pop-ups at the ski resort in the morning or take it wherever and set up shop when I’m not using it, we can do this together.
Shoot, do catering gigs with me and make cocktails and make a killing on tips. ”
I look around the space with an entirely different set of eyes now.
He’s thought so much about this and he’s been making plans that involve me.
Not in a weird controlling way, but in the way that says he sees a future for me that I don’t.
If my heart was fluttering before, it’s full on skipping a beat now.
“Why? Why do you want this so bad? Why do you want it with me?” I regret the question as soon as I ask because the answer is obvious—laid bare by the way he looks at me.
“Because I believe in you.” He steps toward me and places a hand at my side.
I look down to see those beautiful little scars covering his knuckles that reminds me he also knows something about hard work.
His warmth, his scent, his presence overwhelm my senses.
“I know if you have the chance, you’d thrive.
I’ve watched you at the coffee shop and with Rich, and I see how you work so damn hard for the people and places you love, even when they don’t always love you back. I’m not like that though.”
“What do you mean you’re not like that?”
He tips my chin up and forces me to look into his sparkling blue eyes. “I’m not like that, because I do love you.”
It feels like the entire world around me has stopped, but I know it hasn’t because I can still feel my heart racing in my chest. I have feelings for Sutton—the same feelings he has for me.
I already admitted to myself and to Monica that I love him.
I’m just not ready to make myself that vulnerable, not yet.
He must know that because he smiles softly and brushes a loose wisp of hair out of my eyes.
“You don’t have to say it back, now or ever.
I’m not going to be shy about how I feel though.
You’re special, Shadow, and not just to me.
You should know that. I love how stubborn you are.
I love the way you look at me with those gray eyes that I can’t escape even when I close mine.
I love that you have never once asked me for anything.
You let me see all of you, and I will never stop loving that.
I told you that you’re the shadow that’s always there and that hasn’t changed.
So yeah, I don’t care if it’s fucking messy or complicated. I want to do everything with you. I—”
I don’t let him finish that thought. I grab his cheeks in both of my hands and stand on my toes to kiss him.
He wastes no time in matching my need for closeness.
His hands find my waist and he pulls me into him.
All of that heady warmth and lust unleash and his hands start to inch up my body, under my tank top to the band of my bralette and even still it feels like there’s too much clothing between us.
He breaks the kiss long enough for me to look at him, and it’s like a veil has been lifted after saying how he truly feels.
All of his selfless acts aren’t just because he’s that kind of a person.
This beautiful man loves me and I want to say it back.
I can feel the word on the tip of my tongue, begging to slip free, because I don’t care if I deserve this man’s love—I want it.
I want all of him if he will keep looking at me the way he is right now.
I would fuck him right now on this counter, which is apparently going to be our thing forever, but what I want more than anything is to show him that I feel the same way.
My hands drop to the waist of his jeans and he groans when I make contact with the fly.
“Do I need to knock before I climb up in that food truck?” A deep, amused voice calls from somewhere in the garage. In a heartbeat, both of us look toward the open window of the food truck.
“Shit,” Sutton hisses when he pulls away from me. My body instantly protests the missing warmth of his body. “No, you ass. I’m just showing Kelsey how it turned out.” He scrubs his palm over his face before we peek out the window.
I see a tall, gruff-looking man walking over from an open office door near the other garage bay.
Even at this distance I can see his full beard and blue eyes that any model would kill for.
He’s bigger and broader than Sutton with closely cropped hair, but there’s no denying that this has to be his younger brother, Sly.
Sutton leans over and I feel his lips ghost over my ear. “Can we finish this later?”