Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Rachel
Waking up in his arms was so much better than she’d ever imagined.
Waking up to being kissed like this was pure bliss.
If there had been any doubt about Kell’s attraction to her, it was put to rest by the way the man was touching her, a hazy morning light shining in through his window, the kiss urgent, the way he stroked her hip so loving, slow and sure.
His phone buzzed.
Kell groaned so loudly, she felt the vibration deep in her bones. It made her feel even more connected to him.
“I have to go.”
She touched his thigh. “Are you sure?”
“No,” he said, rolling on top of her, giving her a deep kiss as her body nearly exploded on the spot. “But yes. Big project at Nordicbeth. Dad’s on his way to pick me up. This is the early morning job.” One eye open, he glared at his clock. “I can’t believe I got less than three hours sleep.”
“You shouldn’t be climbing trees in your condition!”
“Fortunately, it’s just meetings. Takes an hour and a half to get there because of the stupid bridge closure.”
She eyed his bedside clock. “How long do we have?”
“Ten minutes. I can’t even shower. I don’t want to rush with you, Rachel. I want all the time in the world.”
“It generally doesn’t take that long,” she said.
He kissed her again.
Ten minutes, huh? she thought to herself, debating.
Pulling back, he gave her a wicked grin. “You’ve never slept with me.”
“Way to set expectations, Kell.”
He laughed, but peeled himself out of her arms, making her pout. “Nordicbeth meetings, then I’m meeting Luke for a family thing.”
“Oh.”
“I feel like an ass. Dad will seriously be here in ten minutes. I’m normally not so busy, but it’s–”
“–Valentine’s Day,” she finished with him. “I know.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I am.”
“I hate disappointing you!”
A sultry smile on her lips, she patted the spot on the bed he’d just vacated. “Then come here.”
Calamine took that as her invitation, jumping up and capitalizing on Kell’s warm spot.
“Not you!” Rachel groaned to the cat.
“Stay here. I want you here when I come home.”
“I have to go back to the trailer to change. And I should probably, you know, work?”
“I know all about work,” he sighed, snuggling up for a kiss. “This is our busiest time. If you’d come in early January, I wouldn’t be leaving so much.”
The assumption that this was meant to be made her smile.
“If I’d known this would be the outcome of saying yes to this project, trust me, Kell–I would have signed on much sooner.”
His phone buzzed again.
“Damn. Dad’s outside, waiting.” He pulled a sweater over his shirt and leaned down for a kiss. “Promise me you’ll be here?”
“Promise.”
“Yesterday was wonderful,” he said. “I wish we had been able to–”
Pressing her fingers over his lips, she looked at him, so earnest, so full of potential. “We did the right thing yesterday, even if it meant we didn’t do what we wanted last night. There’s plenty of time for sex. The community needed help last night, and we did what we needed to do.”
“Rachel! You sound like a townie.”
“Maybe this place is rubbing off on me.”
“Tonight,” he said with a kiss, “I’ll be rubbing on you.”
With that corny joke, he ran out the door, Dean tapping the horn once before the door shut and Rachel slumped back into bed.
“You,” she said to Cally, “are a very poor substitute for Kell.”
The cat made it clear the feeling was mutual.
Exhaustion let her fall back to sleep, the cat’s warmth on her feet making it easier. When she finally woke up, with a start, it was eleven a.m.
“Better,” she murmured, stretching, with an ache between her shoulder blades and a charley horse starting in one calf. As the first hint of pain made its way to her brain, she forced herself to stand and stretch more seriously, Calamine jumping off the bed in surprise, then glaring at her.
“Might as well work,” Rachel grumbled. She picked up Kell’s t-shirt from the bed and pulled it on. Then she shuffled into the living room, her bare feet cold on the floor.
A cup of coffee did wonders for her spirits, and when she checked in on work, she found a surprising twist in the Love You Chocolate deal.
An email from Orla, with attachments that were maps and took forever to download even with great internet, gave her pause. Rachel had to read it through twice before it all sank in.
Markstone’s was now looking seriously at an enormous parcel of land that was about to go on the market, outside of town, toward the Nordicbeth resort.
The perfect place for a theme park that would be bigger and better than their rivals.
Feasibility studies were in their infancy, as the land wasn’t even officially being sold.
Hundreds of acres of rich forest land would be razed, the timber sold, and the land reinvented as a love-themed amusement park with a chocolate and candy focus.
Throngs of high-rise hotels would be built around the perimeter, also serving the ski resorts in winter.
Doug was the one who had found the land, but Orla didn’t elaborate on how he found it. It sounded very cloak-and-daggar.
The message was clear: Get Love You Chocolate to sell on February 15, or Orla would be out there to do it for her, and Rachel would be fired. If she closed the deal, she would stay in Luview a little longer to finalize details.
Life back in L.A. was simple. So simple, she didn’t have to worry about a thing while she was away. No plants. No pets. No boyfriend. No… nothing.
There was literally nothing keeping her in L.A., other than her parents, and she spent so little time with them that she’d probably see them more if she lived elsewhere. Then her visits would be an event, and they’d actually clear their schedules.
That was true for major holidays, at least.
Indulging herself, she imagined life here in Luview. What kind of job would she have? Markstone's might let her telecommute, or there was a division in Boston. She certainly wouldn’t live in the trailer–there must be nicer apartments to rent. Cost of living would be super cheap.
Getting a mani-pedi might be hard, and her mother had warned her about basement salons, but that sounded like Portia’s snobbery.
“I’m being silly,” she muttered as she drank half her coffee in large gulps, but the idea pulled at her. Kell hadn’t given her any reason to think long term. Staying here without being in a relationship with him would be foolish. As time passed, though, the town had charmed her.
Maybe it was time for a huge change in her life.
If not here, another small town? Someplace away from the enormity of L.A., where people greeted each other by name, where you could serve on committees that made a real difference, and where people came together to support others during crises.
In L.A., kids like Dutch and her sister were less likely to be supported by a community.
In L.A., Rachel never felt welcomed. On the other hand, no one considered her a pariah there, but at least in Luview, she was seen.
Known.
Acknowledged.
In Luview, she wasn’t almost anything, other than almost done.
The events of the past few days had been so constant, so demanding of all her energy, that she hadn’t been caught up in the fear that lurked deep inside. What if Lucinda and Boyce didn’t sell?
Sadly, she knew what would happen. The last two failed projects she’d worked on had involved a lot of shame, some angry almost yelling from Doug (the worst kind of almost), and an identity crisis that had led her here.
To take the job Orla had mentioned a few months ago.
While she’d been ninety-nine percent certain Kell had gotten some job in a big city, she’d known when she’d made the trip here that there was at least a chance the guy lived in his hometown.
Seeing him immediately, when she was stuck on the side of the road with a broken-down car, was a scenario that had never occurred to her–much less being glued together.
And then there was that ride into town.
If she’d been harboring any small, hopeful fantasies inside her when she’d come here, they hadn’t exactly come to fruition, but parts of them had been fulfilled.
It was as if a very impish genie had granted her a wish, just… with a few twists.
The email from Orla said that she should go to the tract of land, an old summer camp, and take a look around. Rachel’s idea of summer camp meant drama classes, or gymnastics and cheer, hours spent indoors practicing, with a lunch break and a swim class.
Big woodsy camps with cabins were something she only knew from television and the movies.
A quick look outside showed her it was not snowing and miraculously, had not snowed last night. A trip to the old camp was in order.
She took a fast shower and was forced to put last night’s suit on again. Earlier, she’d been sorry she didn’t have anything dressy to wear for their date, but now she was thankful she hadn’t worn a cocktail dress.
Rachel pitched the rest of her coffee when she realized she could get some in town, and grabbed her keys and coat. As she pulled her gloves out of her bag, she remembered that her boots were stowed in the car, so she retrieved her heels from the bedroom.
All the preparation for just going somewhere felt weird. You needed a coat. A hat. Gloves. To think ahead in case you got stranded. Kell had warned her to carry extra protein bars, and had given her a Mylar blanket, folded neatly in a pouch, like a kids’ balloon that never got to have fun.
Who wanted to live somewhere like this? It took forever to get out the door, your fingers and toes were always cold, and driving was an act of faith.
Or maybe a skill she hadn’t acquired.
This morning, as she took the roads carefully, but with growing confidence, she learned something new, sliding into town and searching for a spot.
Love You Coffee was closed.
In disbelief, she saw the sign that said, “Back at 11!” and gaped.
They were the equivalent of a public utility. How could they close? Or maybe, like her and Kell, they were just too exhausted to function.