Chapter 13
“I’m so sorry!” Alaska said mournfully when Cora walked into the lodge later that evening.
Cora frowned at the angst in the woman’s voice. She didn’t like it. Not at all.
She’d actually been able to relax with Pipe earlier.
They’d done just what he’d suggested…gone back to his cabin and sat on the rooftop deck, eating sandwiches he’d made and talking about Lara.
Eventually, that conversation had morphed into talking about herself.
What she liked to do in her free time, her job at the preschool, the best dive restaurants in DC.
They’d sat in the comfortable chairs, but Pipe had moved the table that sat between them and pulled his chair right next to hers.
After they’d eaten, he’d held her hand, and Cora swore she could still feel the weight of his thumb moving over the back of her hand even now.
It wasn’t until they’d stood up to head back down the stairs that Pipe had taken her into his arms and kissed her.
It had been a tender kiss, one that made Cora long for more.
By dinnertime, she’d been looking forward to heading up to the lodge for the taco bar Robert was putting together for the guests and staff.
It was hard to believe how…nice everyone was.
In her experience, she never really fit in with groups of people, and women rarely seemed interested in getting to know her.
But Alaska, Henley, Ryan, and Reese, along with the others she’d met so far, were the opposite.
They seemed happy to get to know her. In some ways, Cora felt as if she was in an alternate dimension.
Like any moment the bubble would burst and everyone would see the “real” Cora and turn up their noses at her.
As soon as she’d walked into the lodge, Alaska had made a beeline for her and immediately apologized.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Cora told her.
“I do! I shouldn’t have ignored your emails and your phone message.”
“It’s okay.”
“In my defense, we get several emails a week from people who want to hire the guys. And they don’t do that.
I mean, they could, because they’re damn good at it.
I should know. But I’ve never even thought about showing any of the emails to Drake because it wasn’t something the men were considering.
I just skim them quickly and delete.” She looked miserable at that admission.
“But if I’d taken the time to read your emails more carefully, maybe I would’ve mentioned it to Drake and the others. ”
“I get it, I do,” Cora told her, hating that Alaska seemed so upset.
“I talked to Drake about it, and while it doesn’t help your situation, we agreed that I’d put any emails of that kind, from people wanting to hire the guys because of their backgrounds, in a separate folder, and Drake or someone else would review them and decide how to proceed.”
“Are you…Never mind,” Cora said, changing her mind about asking the question that was on the tip of her tongue.
“Am I what?” Alaska asked.
Cora sighed. “Are you okay with that? I mean, having your boyfriend—ugh, that word doesn’t seem to fit Brick at all—doing something potentially dangerous to help someone else?”
The two women were standing alone in a corner of the great room. Pipe was talking with Owl and Stone off to one side, the guests were laughing and mingling, and Henley, Jasna, and Reese were going through the line at the buffet.
“Honestly? Yes,” Alaska said. “Drake and his friends were excellent at their previous jobs. I experienced it first-hand when they rescued me. Will I worry about him? Absolutely. But the thought of someone else out there desperately needing the kind of help I did, and not getting it, would haunt me. I don’t know how this is going to work.
I mean, the logistics of it all. But we’ll see what happens.
If it’s not something they ultimately want to do, they have some friends they can refer people to, or they can ask Tex for recommendations.
“And as for Drake being my boyfriend…” Alaska smiled and glanced across the room, at the man in question. “I think I’m ready for him to be my husband.”
Cora’s eyes widened. “Wow, cool.”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re already engaged, and I know he wants to get married, but I’ve been putting it off.
I think it’s because I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?
For Drake to come to his senses and realize that I’m the same dork I was back when we knew each other in high school.
But I swear with every day that goes by, we get closer.
I can’t imagine not living the rest of my life with him. ”
“That’s awesome,” Cora said with a huge smile. She was truly happy for the woman.
“I think so too. And I suspect Tonka and Henley are thinking about a civil ceremony, though I know Jasna wants to throw a huge thing, with all the animals involved, and have it in the barn.” The women laughed.
“I don’t think Tonka is all that thrilled about it, but he’ll do whatever makes his girls happy.
I don’t think The Refuge will become wedding-central, because that’s not what this place was created for, but knowing my best friends started their married lives here makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. ”
Cora smiled. “The whole vibe of this place is very serene and laid-back.”
“It is,” Alaska agreed. “Come on, my stomach is yelling at me. Robert’s tacos are the absolute best. But then, everything he makes is awesome.”
Alaska dragged Cora over to the end of the line, and while they were waiting for their turn to pile their plates high, Pipe, Owl, and Stone joined them.
“You two plotting world domination?” Pipe teased, wrapping an arm around her waist and crowding her from behind.
Cora tilted her head back and smiled at him. “Of course,” she retorted.
“Did Brick tell you about the self-defense lessons we want to start?” Owl asked Alaska. “Pipe said he’d lead them, and Stone and I are gonna attend each and every one.”
“Yes!” Alaska said, her eyes widening in excitement.
“I think it’s such a good idea. I’ve already looked at the schedule to see where we can fit them in.
I think in the afternoons, after lunch, but not right after, so everyone’s food has time to settle.
In the summer, it’ll be good for the people who might not want to go hiking in the heat, and in the winter, it’ll give the guests one more option for something to do indoors.
Oh, and I’ve talked to Ryan, Jess, Luna, Savannah, and Carly, and they’re all excited about them too.
” She made a karate chop move and grinned up at Pipe.
He chuckled, and Cora felt the rumble against her back. Once again, a burst of desire shot through her body. It was such a foreign feeling. This wasn’t like her, but she didn’t hate it. How could she when it was because of Pipe?
“Easy there, ninja warrior,” he told Alaska.
She giggled and turned back to the buffet line to grab a plate.
“You good?” Pipe asked. He’d leaned down and whispered into her ear, making Cora shudder as his warm breath tickled her skin.
“Yeah.” She looked up at Pipe. “She doesn’t hate me,” she whispered.
“Of course she doesn’t,” he said, his brows furrowing.
“You don’t understand. Other women don’t usually get along with me.”
“That’s because they sense that shield you carry around, keeping them at arm’s length,” Pipe said matter-of-factly. “But Alaska doesn’t care. Neither do any of the others here. Probably because they used to have similar shields and they recognize a kindred spirit.”
Cora blinked at him. Was he right? Did she have trouble making friends because of some sort of vibe she was putting off?
“Your turn, love. Grab a plate.”
Turning, Cora saw there was a large gap in the line between her and Alaska. She felt a little dazed as she picked up a plate.
Pipe stepped even closer, tightening the arm around her waist. “This place’ll heal you…if you let it,” he told her. He kissed her temple and straightened.
Her skin tingled where his lips had touched her. She had a feeling he was right. She’d felt at home here from the second she’d arrived. Granted, she hadn’t been here all that long, but with every minute that went by, she felt more…normal. Not that she really knew what normal was.
She’d spent her life being rejected by everyone.
Her own mother and father, countless foster families, bosses at the many jobs she’d had over the years, men and women she’d met along the way…
but from the second she’d looked up and made eye contact with Pipe while he’d been on that stage during the auction, she’d felt a shift.
In herself? In time? In the universe? She wasn’t sure.
All she knew was that she’d felt more comfortable in her own skin from the minute she first spoke to Pipe.
Because she was busy frantically trying to blink away her tears, Cora piled food on her plate blindly.
It didn’t matter what she grabbed; everything smelled and looked delicious.
When she sat at a table next to Henley, who greeted her as enthusiastically as if she hadn’t seen her in months, rather than a few hours, Cora realized with a sudden flash of insight that everything she’d been searching for her entire life was right here.
In the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. In this homey, peaceful setting that Cora never in a million years thought she’d enjoy.
She was a city girl, had lived there all her life, but sitting on Pipe’s rooftop, smelling the crisp winter air, seeing how everyone at the lodge interacted with respect for each other… a longing hit her, deep and visceral.
She wanted this.
Wanted to belong to a group of people like this.
No. She wanted to belong to this group of people.
But she was essentially a stranger. And there was a good chance, because of her, that Pipe, Owl, and Stone could be in danger when they went to Arizona.
Cora clenched her teeth together. Hard.
She couldn’t let that happen.