Love at Last (Last Frontier Lodge #2) (17 page)

“Yeah. What do you think?”

Garrett stood and walked to the windows, restless and churning with emotion.

“I don’t know what I think. It’s… Ah hell, Becca. Delia came out of nowhere for me. I don’t have much experience with…”

“Feelings,” Becca offered helpfully.

At his long pause, she continued. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. You have plenty of experience with feelings. You’re an awesome brother and a great friend. You just never left any room for women to be much more than superficial in your life. You never asked for my opinion, but I’ll give it to you now. I think you did that for two reasons. You’re a workaholic, and I think you knew if you let yourself fall for someone, you’d fall hard. Because you’re that kind of guy—you don’t do anything in half measures.”

“No, I guess not.” He stared outside. He looked up beyond the ski slopes at the mountains stretching across the horizon. The sun was slipping slowly down the sky, glowing reddish-orange and streaking the sky with its faded rays. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Maybe you should talk to Delia,” Becca offered softly.

“Gage said the same thing.”
Becca chuckled. “Once in a while, Gage and I agree.”

Garrett smiled and turned away from the window. “Maybe I need to get back to Seattle and make some sense of my life.”

“You’d better talk to her first. You might blow it if you don’t.”

“I will.”

He heard someone’s voice in the background through his phone. Becca’s voice was muted and then she came back on. “Duty calls. I can call you later tonight if you want.”

“No worries. Thanks for listening. Good luck with your trial tomorrow.”

“Anytime. Call me if you need to talk again.”

Chapter 18

“Mom!” Nick ran down the hallway toward the front door, skidding in his socked feet as he reached her.

“Hey there, how was school today?”

She dropped a quick kiss on the top of his head and started to move past him. Nick stood still and looked up at her, his blue eyes questioning. “You forgot about today.”

Delia’s mind whirred as she tried to think of what Nick meant. “Oh no! I’m sorry, Nick. I can’t believe I forgot.” Delia froze in the hallway. Helen would be here to meet Nick this afternoon. She’d been so busy at work, it had completely slipped her mind. She took a breath and glanced at her watch.

“It’s okay. She won’t be here for another half hour.”

Nick nodded. His eyes were a mix of excitement and worry. When she told him about his grandmother, he’d spun like a top. His excitement over meeting her was tempered by the disappointment that meeting his father was still a distant, unrealized hope in his mind. She didn’t quite know how to manage that, other than to be matter of fact about the situation. Honesty was messy and painful sometimes, but she couldn’t think of a better option.

An hour later, Delia leaned against the kitchen counter and watched Nick chattering away with Helen. Her father was with them at the table, his easy-going manner had smoothed the way at the beginning of their meeting. Helen’s expression was one of soft joy. The ball of anxiety Delia had been carrying inside eased. There were no instructions for how to navigate this emotionally loaded territory. For the thousandth time and then some, she shoved away her worn anger toward Terry. His complete lack of involvement in Nick’s life added layers of complication to any potential relationship on his side of the family. Having already loved and lost one grandmother, the gift of getting to know another mattered—a lot.

After dinner, Helen helped clear the table and clean up. She came to Delia’s side in the kitchen. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Delia wiped her hands on a towel and turned to Helen. “I could say the same to you.” She looked through the kitchen to the small den on the opposite side of the counter. Nick was in the thick of playing his allotted half hour of video games. He would be exhausted within the hour and probably fall asleep on the couch. Helen left with promises to stay in touch after Nick did, in fact, fall asleep on the couch.

Delia pulled her hair loose from its braid and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She tried to see what Garrett might. Her blonde hair was rumpled, as it almost always was. Her eyes looked weary. A long day at work tended to do that. She ran a brush through her hair and turned away, tugging on her softest pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. She idly flipped through the channels as she rested in bed. Garrett’s absence was a sharp ache. All she’d had was one night with him and now she felt bereft without him. This, even though she was the one who insisted she couldn’t see him tonight. He was starting to mean too much, her heart was too hopeful. The reality was he would most likely return to Seattle soon, and she’d need to readjust to life in Diamond Creek without him.

She fell asleep with a comedy show murmuring in the background. When she woke during the night and got up to turn off the lights, her phone blinked with a text. Tugging the covers over her again, she grabbed her phone to check.

Missed you tonight. Good night.

Her heart thumped with a beat of joy. Though the rational part of her mind argued against it, she texted him back anyway. Because even if it didn’t last, she was going to enjoy this.

Missed you too. Sleep tight.

As soon as she set her phone down, it chirped again.

I’d be sleeping much better if you were here.

She giggled, joy racing through her. Hope danced on its toes, twirling madly. She bit her lip as she considered whether to reply.

Would you really be sleeping?

She giggled when she hit send, her eyes on the screen waiting for his reply.

Probably not. In fact, I could think of all kinds of other things to do…

She flushed, straight through, and sighed.

Not much we can do about that now.

Nope. How did tonight go?

Delia’s heart flipped slowly. Leave it to Garrett to tighten his grip on her heart and body by being considerate and asking about tonight. He’d known how anxious she’d been to have Nick meet his grandmother finally.

***

Garrett spent the morning helping Gage install the last heater. He stood outside the small ski hut while Gage finished loading up the tools. Today was cold and clear, the sun glittering in the bright blue sky. He took a deep breath, savoring the bite of icy air. He slowly spun in a circle, taking in the breathtaking view. Atop the mountain, he had a panoramic view. The surface of the bay ruffled in the wind. Boats moved in and out of the harbor. Mount Augustine, one of the nearby volcanoes, stood tall and still in the distance. Its peak was arrayed with its own clouds. In another direction, the mountains stretched as far as he could see. An eagle screeched and lifted from the trees, its wings casting a wide shadow on the snow as it flew across the ski slope.

He circled back to look down the ski slope. Last Frontier Lodge sat at the bottom, a charming cluster of buildings. After spending more time here, he had a better understanding of what drove Gage to return to Diamond Creek. The sound of the door closing brought his attention full circle. Gage stepped out with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his bag of tools in hand.

“Ready?” Gage asked.

“Let’s go.”

Garrett savored the cold wind on his face as they zipped down the mountain. They headed inside for a late lunch. Delia was busy in the kitchen, but she threw him a smile from across the room. He kept a tight rein on his impulses—because what he wanted to do was drag her upstairs and spend hours tangled up with her.

Awhile later, he was deep in the middle of working on some legal briefs when his phone rang. He’d notified Elaine she could call if needed while he was online. Her number flashed on his phone.

“Hey Elaine,” he said, tucking his phone against his shoulder while he kept typing away.

“Nice to hear your voice again. I thought you’d want to know Carlton has finally accepted his fate and scheduled a meeting with Olivia.”

Garrett grinned. “Good. I hope Olivia enjoys a challenge.”

Elaine laughed softly. “That she does. She’ll give Carlton a run for his money.”

After a few questions about cases, Elaine got right to the point. “So when will you be back?”

“I’ll probably book my flight to Seattle in the next few days. I need to get back to wrap up a few cases in person. After that…”

He heard someone gasp and spun around in his chair to see Delia standing inside the door. He’d texted her earlier to come upstairs when she could, even teasingly specifying there was no need for her to knock.

“Elaine, I need to go. I’ll call you later.” He didn’t bother to wait for her reply.

He tossed his phone on the counter as he stood and walked toward Delia.

“Delia…”

Her eyes were bright and her face flushed. She shook her head sharply.

He reached for her arm, catching it as she swung away. “Delia, it’s not what you think. Please…”

She shook him off. “I know what I heard. I get it. I really do. I knew you weren’t going to be here forever.”

He watched her fold herself inside, right in front of his eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist, her lips thinned and her eyes shuttered. A polite smile graced her face. He knocked back the frustration mounting inside. He needed to explain, to make sure she knew how he felt.
Um, nice idea. You don’t even know how you feel. Remember? Gage thinks you love her and you can’t even admit it to yourself.
He shut his critic down and looked at Delia. He meant to talk to her and he would.

“Delia, please come in. Let me explain.”

She hesitated, her arms tight around her. At that moment, a family turned down the hall, two boys jostling each other along the way. Delia glanced between him and them before taking a step through the door and closing it behind her. She walked past him to stand by the windows. She didn’t look his way.

Garrett marshaled his courage. He was the master of words when it came to arguing his point in court. Yet, right now, he was floundering, struggling to find a way to explain. He kept thinking it should be simple. His highly perceptive brother was convinced he was in love. Usually, Garrett trusted Gage’s judgment implicitly, but he had zero experience with love. He liked things to be clear, to be straightforward. His feelings were a messy muddle. Every time he thought about being away from Delia, his chest felt hollow. Yet, whenever he considered actually speaking his feelings aloud, fear washed through him. He was no good at this. He’d never thought he was cut out for serious relationships. He liked to be in control, to manage things. He didn’t know how to manage this.

He walked to the windows. Delia stared ahead. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but she was distant. He took a breath, his eyes traveling over the now familiar view.

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Seattle, but I have to go back. I’ve ignored my work longer than I should have. I was hoping maybe we could talk about…”

Delia cut him off, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. “Talk about what? You have your life in Seattle, and mine is here. I knew that from day one. It’s okay.” She whirled away from the window and started pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

He clenched his jaw. She wasn’t even giving him a chance to explain.

“Maybe it’s okay with you, but it’s not with me. I didn’t expect this to happen. I came up here after a winning a shitty case in court. I just needed to get away and think. And then, well…” He paused, a jolt of lust coursing through him at the mere thought of the first time he kissed her. He gulped in air. He needed to stay on track somehow.

“It took a little time, but I’ve figured out what to do about work. I need to focus on something other than corporate cases. I already have a plan. I’m going to route all the corporate referrals to the other attorneys in my practice and start taking cases for non-profits and consultation. I don’t have it completely hammered out, but I was hoping to find a way to go back and forth between Seattle and Diamond Creek until the dust settles. If I can get enough work up here, I can sell my partnership to some of the newer attorneys—the ones who have the energy and drive to keep it going.”

Delia’s arms were still crossed, but her expression softened slightly, the shutters lifting on her eyes if only a little. It occurred to him he was avoiding the hard part of this conversation. He was focusing on work and tiptoeing around their relationship. Because that’s what it was—a relationship.

He walked to her side. She kept pacing, so he paced alongside her and dredged up the last of his nerve. “Delia, this is all new to me. I know I’m blowing it. I don’t want us to end. I don’t know how it’s going to shake out, but I want to try to make this work. I’ve never done this…this relationship thing. If I could wave a magic wand and somehow sort out my life in Seattle without leaving your side, I would. I absolutely would. I’d love it if you could come with me. I’ll fly up here every weekend while I’m there if you’ll just give me a chance to show you how much you matter.”

She came to an abrupt stop and turned to face him. “Garrett…I don’t know if I can do this.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to make any promises. I’m just asking you to let us see where this goes.”

His heart battered against his rib cage. He waited. The room was so quiet, he could hear the soft rush of her breath before she closed the distance between them.

“Okay… I’m not so sure it’s a good idea, but I can’t say no. Not right now.”

Chapter 19

Delia’s pulse raced. She was caught in the tides of desire and emotion. She meant what she said—she couldn’t turn away from what they had. Yet, it didn’t change the muddled reality of their situation. She heard Garrett’s words—that he wanted a chance to make this work. But he still had an entire life in Seattle. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d change his mind once he got back home. She could only guess at how different his world there was from here. Diamond Creek’s only claim to worldly came from its breathtaking beauty and world-class wilderness.

Garrett’s hand threaded into her hair, shivers chasing in the wake of his touch. She looked up to find his eyes on her—dark and compelling. He spoke her name—a gruff whisper—before his lips crashed against hers. There were kisses and then there were Garrett’s kisses. He fit his mouth over hers—hot, hungry and demanding. She dove into the sensations crashing through her.