Chapter Ten
She was standing in front of his closet, dressed only in his shirt and a slight frown when Carson walked in with two mugs of coffee on Tuesday morning.
Everything that had been lying around, had been neatly folded and stacked on a table.
Her legs were bare, her hair hanging down her back, her arms crossed.
He should be irritated that the first thing she wanted to do was tidy up, but those legs … Without saying a word, he put down the mugs and grabbed his camera.
“Stop that,” was all she said as she kept staring at his closet.
“I thought you were still sleeping.” He smiled, clicking away. “What are you doing?”
“We have to get all these clothes on the bed so that you can decide what you still want and what can be given away.”
“Okay, but what about coffee first?”
With her eyes still on his closet, she moved closer to him. “Smells good, thank you.”
Only as she turned, he noticed the shirt hadn’t been buttoned up. As his blood heated, he snapped a few more pictures before he put down his camera. “Damn woman,” he growled as he pulled her closer. “You’ll be the death of me yet.”
Within minutes they were back on the bed, exploring and loving each other as if they hadn’t spent an entire night just doing that.
The coffee was cold by the time they finally got up.
“I have to go,” he said as he was buttoning his shirt. “I can drop you off at June’s?”
Glancing to her watch, she groaned. “Oh, my goodness, I forget all about time when I’m with you.” Startled eyes met his. “I mean …”
“I love that you say what’s on your mind.” Giving her a quick kiss, he turned away, chuckling. “Go shower, I’ll make fresh coffee, otherwise we’ll never leave.”
Combing her hair with her fingers, she frowned. “I need to get a brush. I’ve … misplaced mine. Annie has given me one …”
While she was talking, he walked to his closet and took out the brush he’d found in his hotel room in Spokane. “It was under the bed in my hotel room,” he said as he gave it to her. “Remember what I did with it?”
Her eyes darkened. “Carson.”
*
It was another hour before Carson dropped Abby off at June’s. They’d ended up in bed with the brush and … well, time passed before she finally had a shower and got dressed.
Watching him walk around his truck to help her out, she took a breath. She was going to miss him terribly when she returned to Seattle …
That was another few days, she didn’t have to think about it just yet. For just a moment she leaned against his warm, solid body as he gently put her down.
The front door opened and June stepped out, Daisy and George at her heels. With an excited yelp, George charged forward in their direction.
As June approached them, Abby frowned. Something was wrong.
June’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I took him from Cooper at breakfast this morning because I knew Abby would be here.”
Crouching down to stroke George, Carson grinned. “I was on my way to get him. Are you sure he can stay here today?”
“I’ll look after him,” Abby said. “Don’t worry.”
She quickly helped Carson take everything she needed from his truck and put it into the house.
“I’ll see you guys at lunch,” he said as he pulled Abby closer and kissed her. “If I don’t make it, I’ll come and get you late afternoon.”
“Wow,” June said softly as they watched Carson drove away. “You stayed with him last night?”
“I have and before you ask—this is temporary only. Now tell me what’s wrong. And don’t say it’s nothing, I know you.”
Before they could walk back into the house, another truck approached. It was Willow.
“Something’s wrong, June—what?” the tall brunette called out as she jumped out of the vehicle and strode toward them.
“How …?” June said before she threw up her hands. “Of course you’ll know. Come on in.”
A bit bewildered, Abby followed June and Willow into the house. Willow knew things, she’d been told, but she hadn’t quite figured out yet what that meant. This was probably it.
June motioned to the chairs around the kitchen table.
“Please sit down, I’ve put the kettle on.
I finally managed to get hold of Jill, the publicist Barry had appointed, late yesterday afternoon.
When I asked about the catering for Thursday night, she said that wasn’t her job, she’s organizing the event in Seattle.
I haven’t spoken to Barry. I don’t want to upset him.
The launch is in two days, and I have to find a caterer.
It’s just a children’s book launch, but so many people have indicated they’ll be attending, there has to be something to eat. ”
Willow’s phone was in her hands. “Not a problem, June. We’ll figure this out together. Abby, when you’ve had your tea, go do what you have to do to organize June’s house. Let me get the tribe together.”
“I’m so sorry about this, Abs,” June said. “I was going to help you …”
“Have they delivered the storage boxes we ordered yesterday?” Abby asked.
June nodded. “Oh, yes. I put them in the spare bedroom. Some of the boxes are probably meant for Carson’s house, but you’ll know what should go where.”
“Well,” Abby said. “I’m going to help you get a caterer before I start.” Taking her notebook out of her bag, she turned to Willow. “Who can we phone?”
June smiled. “You want to organize something? Abby here, is your girl.”
Half an hour later, Arlene, Ellie, and Rose had all arrived and they were sitting around the kitchen table. Ellie got someone to help in the yarn shop. Rose apparently worked for herself and chose her own hours. Laura was teaching, but had received the message and would join them after school.
Abby had her notebook in front of her, her pencil in her hand, but as the women discussed various possibilities, her mind wandered and of course all she could think about was last night.
Of Carson’s big, clever hands exploring every inch of her body, his warm lips kissing her, trailing over her skin, finding her heat … She was staring into space, her fingers on her lips when the sound of someone clearing their throat finally penetrated her mind.
“Uhm, sorry, what was that?”
Everyone laughed.
Leaning forward, Willow touched her arm. “You were with Carson last night.”
Stunned, Abby stared at Willow. “How …?”
“Well, let’s see,” Willow grinned. “Rumor has it Aurelia Hill has seen you on two occasions kissing Carson in his truck, and of course, now everyone in Marietta is betting on how long it’s going to take for the last Weston bachelor to marry.”
Abby groaned, dropping the pencil and covering her hot cheeks. “Everyone knows?”
Ellie winked. “Small towns, my dear, small towns. Nothing stays hidden for long. I am so happy for you and Carson!”
“Me too,” Ellie said. “And remember, we can pull a wedding together in days.”
“Stop, please!” Abby cried out quickly. “Nobody is talking about a wedding. It’s just temporary, I’m leaving on Sunday.”
“That’s what we’ve all said,” Ellie grinned.
Abby looked down on her empty note pad. It was definitely time to change the subject. “Okay, so do we have a caterer?”
“Yes, we do,” Arlene said, pointing to herself and everyone around the table. “We’re all going to pitch in and help. Willow doesn’t cook, but she does have a knack to make a table look very pretty.”
“Oh, my goodness,” June said, her eyes wet with tears. “I can’t expect you to do that for me. There has to be someone we can ask.”
Arlene put a hand on her arm. “You’re one of us now, June, part of the family and we all pitch in when someone has a problem. Abby, here is a list of things we can make. Once we’ve finalized that, it’s easy to do the shopping. Tomorrow is baking day.”
“Let’s do it in our kitchen,” Laura said. “You know Isabella. She’d be very upset if she’s not asked to help.”
With everyone pitching in, they drew up a list of what had to be done.
“Let me help with the ordering,” Abby said. “If you give me names and numbers, I’d love to do that.”
“Are you sure?” Ellie asked.
June laughed out loud for the first time. “I’m telling you, Abby is a miracle worker when it comes to organizing and executing lists.”
“We know what to get where,” Arlene said with a smile. “But Abby, if you could organize the flowers, that would be great.”
*
It was after six on Tuesday by the time Carson finally stopped in front of Dylan’s house to get Abby and George. Dylan’s truck was already parked in front of the house.
It had been a long day. The lack of sleep had caught up with him by late morning, but on a ranch, you keep going no matter what. They’d all had to skip lunch because two cows had jumped the fence to be with their babies.
In between the chores of the day, Noah, the curator at the gallery, had also contacted him. They were in the process of sending out invitations to the exhibition and he wanted a list of names from Carson.
In another three weeks, his photographs would be on a wall in a gallery among other well-known artists’ work.
He still couldn’t quite believe it was really happening.
When he’d started posting his photos of beautiful Montana landscapes on social media a few years back, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Even when Willow offered to mention his photography to a friend in Spokane, he’d barely thought of it.
It was only when Noah Felix, the gallery owner, had phoned him that he’d allowed himself to get excited.
When they’d spoken earlier today, Noah had seen his email but hadn’t had time to look at the few new pictures he’d sent of George.
Initially he’d thought to include the photos he’d taken of Abby, but those were way too personal.
One particular photo he’d taken had captured the essence of Abby—her wide smile, the little bit of wariness in her eyes, her beautiful, long hair a bit messy.
They were good, he knew that, but some things were not meant for sharing.
The picture he’d taken of her and George, Abby’s back turned to the camera, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, he’d included. He’d have to wait and see whether Noah liked it.