Czytaj książkę: «Honeymoon Mountain Bride»

Chapter One

“To Dad,” Vivian Jackson said, lifting her glass of cheap wine as she looked beyond the dock to the blue waters of the North Carolina lake. “Peaceful sailing.”

“Catch the big one,” her sister Temple said, lifting her glass.

“To Dad,” her youngest sister, Jillian, said. “Drop that eight-point buck with one shot right between the eyes.”

Vivian winced at the image but knew her father, Jedediah Jackson, the son of a son of a sailor, retired navy himself and hunter/fisher extraordinaire, would approve.

Although Vivian had never quite thought she’d measured up to her father’s expectations, she felt a painful sense of loss. “I almost can’t believe he’s really gone. I expect him to come down that hill from the lodge with a bait box and two fishing poles, telling me not to be afraid of worms and insects and not to throw the pole in the water when I get a little bite on the line.”

“He didn’t always know what to do with girls. I think he was hoping for a son,” Temple said.

“I’m as close as he got,” Jillian said.

Vivian couldn’t help but chuckle at her sister’s statement. With a bombshell body, bad-girl-red lips, smoky eyes and wild ways with men, platinum blonde Jilly had caused more than her share of their dear dad’s indigestion.

“Not close at all,” Temple muttered and moved her glass of wine from one hand to the other. She cleared her throat. “I hate to be a mood-killer, but I think we all know what we need to do with the lodge.”

Vivian felt a twinge of pain at giving up the lodge, even though it was the practical thing to do. “I didn’t think it would bother me,” she said, feeling a flood of memories rush through her. Staying with her father in the summers had meant she could get dirty without her mother becoming upset. Vivian had experienced her first crush here at Honeymoon Mountain Lake. The memory was more humiliating than sweet, but she didn’t want to give it all away. “Or maybe I just hoped it wouldn’t bother me.”

Temple gave her a considering glance from behind her glasses. “But you do agree we should sell it. As it is, it’s a money pit. The cabins and main house are in disrepair, and I don’t think any of us wants to sink our life’s savings into it. Plus, Dad canceled all reservations once he got truly sick. I’m not sure we’ll get our regulars back since they had to find another resort for their vacations.”

“He was sicker than we realized,” Vivian said, feeling regret that she hadn’t caught on to his illness. But she was certain Temple, an accountant and financial planner, had done her homework on the best options for their inheritance.

Jilly nodded and tossed back the rest of her wine. “I’m just glad we all got to see him during that last month he was alive. Makes me believe in fate and luck.” She sighed. “I have practical skills in many areas, but not enough money to save the lodge.”

“Then we’re agreed,” Temple said. “We’re selling it. We may have to accept a low offer due to the condition of the property.”

“I didn’t ever expect to get any money out of it, anyway,” Jilly said.

Vivian put her arm around her youngest sister. Jilly talked and acted tough, but she had a tender heart about some things.

“I’ll find a real estate agent, but someone needs to tell the full-time employees.” Temple looked expectantly at Vivian.

Vivian frowned. “Why me?”

“You’re the oldest,” Temple said.

“What does that have to do with anything? In fact, I think you would be the perfect one to deliver the news since you’re so eager to get rid of the lodge.”

“I don’t like it any more than you two do, but someone has to be practical, and as usual, that someone is me,” Temple said. “I don’t want to overthink or overfeel this.”

Vivian understood what Temple was saying. Even though Temple could seem cold and calculating, underneath it all, she was suffering, too.

Vivian took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll do it,” she said. “But it’s not going to be fun. Do you think we’ll be able to find a home for Jet?” she asked, thinking of her father’s hound dog.

“It’s gonna be tough. Maybe Grayson will take him.” Grayson was the lodge’s handyman and bartender. Temple extended her glass toward Vivian. “You want my wine?”

Vivian rolled her eyes. “This is going to be hard.” She hated to think about how the permanent workers would receive the news. After all, they’d been more like family than employees.

“Wish me luck,” Vivian said, snatching Temple’s glass and downing the contents.

“Luck,” Temple and Jilly said together, but Vivian felt not a lick of comfort.

Vivian winced at the bittersweet taste of the cheap wine. As much as she wished differently, the alcohol content wouldn’t build her fortitude. She would have to find it in herself.

“Here we go,” Vivian muttered and trudged up the hill to the lodge. Grayson and Millicent, the housekeeper, had worked at the lodge before her father had taken it over when his father passed away. It didn’t seem fair that the two of them should be booted off the property at this point, but Vivian felt it was only right to give them as much warning as possible. She and her sisters could request that Millicent and Grayson remain employed by the new owner for a limited time, but any reprieve would be temporary.

Climbing the steps to the large dock furnished with all-weather chairs and three well-worn tables with umbrellas, she paused and took a deep breath. She could do this, she told herself. She would do this.

* * *

Vivian’s discussion with Millicent and Grayson hadn’t gone well. Both had started to cry. Grayson revealed both he and Millie had spent their retirement savings at a casino. Millie grew so restless Vivian feared the woman was going to break down.

Distraught, Millie requested that Vivian drive her into town to provide a diversion. An hour and a half later, Vivian had carted Millie to the new big-box store, a wine shop and a convenience store to buy lottery tickets. “I need as much luck as ever after today,” Millie said as she got back in the car. “I just want to make one more stop. A couple of beers with my friends should cheer me up. Honeymoon Bar.”

Vivian twitched at Millie’s final request. Years and years had passed, but when they were teens, Vivian had once suffered a major crush on the man who now owned the Honeymoon Bar. She remembered the summer she’d done her best to get Benjamin Hunter’s attention. All to no avail. She felt the heat of embarrassment as she remembered his rejection.

“You sure you don’t want to go back to the lodge?” Vivian asked. “You have wine.”

“That won’t help me like a visit with friends,” Millie said. “I won’t be long. Just a beer or two.”

Vivian stopped to let Millie out at the front door, then parked along the street. Perhaps she could just sit in the car and kill some time checking her email. Pulling out her cell phone, she answered messages and deleted all the useless, impersonal advertisements. She glanced at the outside of the bar again and drummed her fingertips on her steering wheel.

So, what was she going to do? Hide in her car for an hour because she was afraid of coming face-to-face with Benjamin Hunter? That was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. She’d dated several men since then, even gotten married, although that had been a disaster from which she was still recovering.

Shaking her head at herself, she pulled together a molecule of the gumption she’d inherited from her father, strode into the bar and looked around. Millicent, along with a small group of people, sat at a table. A few men sat at the bar while they sipped their beers and watched the game on the wide-screen television. An older man tended the bar.

No sign of Benjamin. Her twinge of disappointment irritated her. Stepping deeper into the large room decorated with sports photos and memorabilia, she noticed a sign—Outdoor Seating. The idea appealed to her. After the events of the day, she felt as if the walls were starting to close in on her. She wandered outside and approved of the wrought iron tables and still-green plants and small trees, a courtyard at odds with the good ol’ boy bar.

Sinking into one of the chairs at a table, she let out the pent-up breath she’d been holding for way too long. She drew in the scent of a moonflower blooming as the sun began to set and closed her eyes to savor the peaceful moment.

“Would you care for something to drink or eat?” a voice asked, drawing out of her reverie.

Vivian blinked and nodded at the female server. “White wine,” she said, assuming the choices were minimal. “Whatever you have.”

The server proceeded to name an impressive list. “Pinot Grigio and water,” Vivian said. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back,” the server said, then walked into the bar.

Vivian raised her eyebrows. Benjamin had definitely made the bar more classy. The last time she’d sneaked in here, she remembered the place as rough and rowdy. Not so tonight. Then again, it was Thursday night. Maybe the weekends were different.

No matter, she thought. Maybe she should take the moment to take a breath. Leaning back in her chair, she closed her eyes again and heard the distant sound of the ball game on TV, but also the sound of a soft breeze rippling the leaves. She concentrated on that, enjoying the peacefulness. But then her restlessness grabbed at her again and she stood, wandering around the small courtyard.

“Pinot Grigio,” a deep male voice said, and she instantly knew it was Benjamin.

Vivian turned around and stared into the brown eyes of Benjamin Hunter. She took in the whole of him in one glance. Unfortunately, he had not become soft and potbellied. In fact, he was leaner and harder than she remembered, and somehow his shoulders seemed even broader.

“Hi, Vivian,” he said, giving her glass to her as he studied her face. “I’m sorry about Jedediah.”

She swallowed and tried to find her voice. Why did she suddenly feel fifteen again? “Thanks. I got to see him a week before he passed. None of us really realized how sick he was even though he made sure we all came to see him,” she said and took a sip of her wine.

“He told me,” Benjamin said.

A slice of resentment cut through her. “He did?”

“Just a few days before he passed. He made me swear not to tell anyone.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “That sounds like him. I’m just glad my sisters and I got to see him one last time. We’re here this weekend, too. Since he didn’t want any kind of memorial service, we toasted his memory on the dock.”

“That’s what he would have wanted,” Benjamin said.

“I know,” she said. “It just feels odd not to have an official service.”

“I think he liked the idea of drifting away. People are going to miss him. He taught me a lot about fishing and some about being a man. Since my father wasn’t around much, that counted for a lot. Lord knows I could have gotten into a lot more trouble than I did.” Benjamin chuckled to himself. “I remember the time he told me he would skin me alive if he ever caught me with one of his daughters. Scared the living daylights out of me.”

Surprise caught her off guard. “I didn’t know he’d warned you off. So that’s why you didn’t give any of us a second look.”

“Oh, I took more than a second look. I just made sure you didn’t know it. There were plenty of times I thought about you long after my polite Jedediah-approved chats with you.”

Vivian saw the dark hunger in his eyes she’d been sure she’d imagined all those years ago, and her heart started to hammer in her chest while her stomach took a big dip. It was as if she was fifteen again and all she wanted was for Benjamin to look at her. And maybe want her a little so she didn’t feel like such a fool.

“I always regretted not...” His voice trailed off. “No one here to throw me in the lake. I’d say we’re overdue. What’s one kiss?”

Vivian stared at him in shock. He wasn’t really going to—

Benjamin lowered his mouth, inch by excruciating inch. She could hardly breathe, and thinking was out of the question. When his lips touched hers, she couldn’t stop a soft sigh. He must have taken that as an affirmation, because then he slid his hand behind her neck, deepened the pressure and explored her mouth as if he’d been waiting a long time.

Vivian felt herself sinking into the taste and sensation of his hunger. Her body reacted like lightning, taking her completely off guard.

“Mr. Hunter,” a male voice called from behind Benjamin, throwing cold reality at her.

Vivian stumbled, backing away and staring at Benjamin. She didn’t know if she was more surprised by his action or her reaction to him.

Not turning from her, Benjamin responded. “Yeah, what do you need?”

“You got a phone call. Somebody wants to hold a party here,” the server said.

Benjamin glanced over his shoulder. “Thanks. Take a message. Get the number. Tell them I’ll call right back.”

He turned back to Vivian, and she was thankful the darkness would cover the heat in her cheeks. “I—uh, I need to go. I just brought Millicent into town because her car isn’t working properly.” She tugged at her purse. “I’ll just pay for my wine.”

“It’s on me,” he said.

She took another deep breath, still trying to get rid of her jitteriness. “Thank you. I’ll be going, then.”

“I look forward to seeing you around town,” he said.

She shook her head. “No. My sisters and I have decided to sell the lodge.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, no,” she said, discombobulated. She needed to get away.