Lumberjack in Love (12 page)

Things were looking up. If he could just convince her his boxer shorts belonged in her laundry basket, he’d be right on board with her six-month plan.

Wood chips flew into the air as he attacked a short piece of pine. Over the buzz of the saw, the workshop door slammed shut. He looked up to see Ami saunter in to his studio. He turned off the saw and pushed the glasses down around his neck.

“Hey, good looking. How’d it go in town? Did Bill get the wine in yet?”

Ami held up a bottle of Italian wine and nodded. “He sure did. Just in time, too. I have some good news. So we can celebrate with this cab.”

Marcus noticed that she didn’t look too happy. In fact, her expression looked sort of stunned.

He pulled off the goggles and flung them onto the work table. “Hey, you okay?” He grabbed her hand and tugged her into his arms. “I thought you said it was good news.”

Ami released a long breath. “It is. It is. It’s just…complicated, I guess.”

“You wanna tell me about it, sweetheart?” Marcus’s heart was knocking against his ribs. He didn’t like the look on her face. Not one bit.

“The Vermont Children’s Science Museum offered me the job.”

“Then why don’t you look happy?”

“I got a call this morning from Boston. From a private firm in the Back Bay. They are looking for a designer, and they’re interested in my work. They asked me to come down for an interview tomorrow.”

Marcus could barely breathe. “What did you tell them?”

“Of course I have to go check it out, Marcus. I would be foolish to turn down a potential job.”

“You have a job. The Science Museum offered you the job. I know it’s not just for design work, either. They want you to stay on and help with the outdoor educational programs. It’s a great opportunity.”

She nodded. “I know. These are both great opportunities. But I owe it to myself to consider them both. This is what I’ve been waiting for since Dan screwed me over. A chance to start fresh. A chance to work again, do what I love to do.”

She stared at her feet. Marcus tipped her chin up and forced her to look in his eyes. “What if you get job offers at both places? What are you going to do?”

Ami shrugged and licked her lips. “I honestly don’t know. Boston has been my home for a long time. I feel like I belong there.” She frowned. “But there are things I’m starting to really like about Vermont, too.”

“Things?
Things
?” Marcus raked his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’ve heard this all before. Kate gave me the same run-around.”

At least Ami had the decency to look jealous. “Kate? Who’s Kate?”

“My ex-girlfriend. She tried to stick it out in the Vermont woods, but after eight grueling months of winter, she couldn’t take it anymore. She left my sorry ass behind and went back to the big city.”

Ami grabbed his hand to stop him from fidgeting. “Is this the girlfriend who told you to wax?”

Marcus laughed half-heartedly. “Yep, that’s the one. She wasn’t too keen on being with a hairy lumberjack.”

Ami’s eyes narrowed. “Well, she’s an idiot. First of all, your hair is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Second of all, if you have eight long months of winter to deal with, you’d better hope your man is a big teddy bear. Otherwise, you’ll freeze to death at night. Third of all…” she paused.

“Third of all?” Marcus couldn’t wait to hear the rest of her tirade.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I lost my train of thought. All I know is that you’re perfect just the way you are. You don’t need to change anything.”

Marcus swallowed. “But am I perfect for you? That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Henry slammed open the door to the studio and ran over to Ami. He sat in front of her and wagged his little tail. She kneeled down and hugged the dog.

“He’s gonna miss you if you go.”

The words hung in the air. Marcus waited for her response.

She looked up at him, tears glazing her eyes. “I’m gonna miss him, too. I’m going to miss both of you, dammit. But I have to check this out. It’s a big decision to make, Marcus. I need to look at all my options.” She stood and wiped a tear away from her cheek. “You understand, right? I am
not
Kate. I’m not running away from you.”

He glanced heavenward. “I know. You’re doing the right thing. I just…I like you being here. Henry likes you being here. We’re both pulling for the Vermont job, okay?”

She reached up and ran her fingers over his beard. “What do you say we finish off this bottle of wine before I pack? You don’t know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You’re the best, Marcus Anderson.”

His stomach knotted, but Marcus ignored the discomfort and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Let’s get working on the sixty minute plan, sweetheart.”

She smiled. “What’s that?”

“A first-hand demonstration on how a hairy lumberjack keeps his woman warm.” He winked at her, wishing like hell he could see into the future. Wishing like hell she’d choose him.

Ami nodded and squeezed his hand. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

Lumberjack In Love

Three weeks later

It was green. Unbelievable. The last time she’d driven down this dirt road, her car had been flying over frost heaves and slipping on ice patches. And now spring had arrived. Buds burst on the trees, robins flitted around their nests, and tender new grass had replaced the everlasting snow cover. Rachel always said a Vermont spring made you forget the Vermont winter. This was why.

Ami pulled her car in front of the log cabin and took a deep breath. She never thought the sight of a hand-built rustic cabin would make her heart flutter, but it did. She’d missed the checkerboard curtains. She’d missed Roberta’s nest and the baby chicks. She’d missed the breathtaking mountain views and the big stone fireplace, and even the front porch filled with sexy memories. Mounds of spring bulbs burst through the newly thawed soil. Her heart warmed with the sensation of homecoming.

She had no idea how Marcus would treat her arrival today. As she stepped out of the car, the whir of power tools buzzed from his studio. Henry’s face was mashed up against the window in the living room. Henry first. Big, sexy lumberjack later.

Coward
.

She let herself into the log cabin and Henry slid across the floor and smashed into her legs. “Oh! My big, beautiful boy, look at you.” She kneeled down and enjoyed an enthusiastic kiss. Which made her wonder if she’d be getting any enthusiastic kisses from the mountain man. Or just a scowl and an invitation to leave. He probably wasn’t too happy with the fact that she’d been incommunicado for the last three weeks.

She gave Henry one last scratch behind the ears, then stood and surveyed the house. The plants were gone.
Oh, shit
. The Larry Bird bobble-head was no longer on the kitchen counter. In fact, there was not one indication that she’d ever been there. Ami hung her head.
He’s not going to forgive me. He thinks I’m just like Kate. A city girl who left him in the dust. Dammit.

Something caught her eye on the refrigerator. A little sketch. She bent over to look at it and couldn’t contain her laugh. It was a family playing on a magnificent tree house, with towers and draw bridges and flowering vines twining over the supports. A big, burly lumberjack stood guard in one tower, and a prissy princess with long flowing blonde hair and a crown of blossoms stood on the other. In between were four little girls of varying heights, all identical to the princess, right down to their billowy tresses. Henry sat in the middle of the bridge with a Celtics bandana around his neck and a crown of flowers on top of his wrinkly head. She pulled the drawing from the refrigerator and held it to her heart. Maybe she had a chance after all.

The front door flew open and Ami whirled around. There he stood, seventy seven inches of hot, bearded Vermonter. With sawdust on his shirt and wariness in his eyes.

“What are you doing here, Ami?” He was winded as he spoke, and he stayed behind the sofa, using it as a barrier.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call—”

He held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t bother. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

She shook her head. “No excuses. I needed the time to think. To sort things out. I’m not giving you an excuse, just explaining.”

He nodded. “Well, how’s the job in Boston going? Are you happy?”

He wasn’t going to come to her. She had to go to him. She’d driven one hundred and nineteen miles to get here. But she wasn’t quite finished.

Ami crossed the room and stood in front of Marcus. “I figured some things out over the last three weeks. You wanna hear?”

His eyes searched hers. “Okay.”

She reached for his hand‌—‌his rough, callused hand‌—‌and held it gently. He squeezed hers back, just a bit, but enough to give her hope. She smiled up at him. “I got to Boston, and it just wasn’t the same. I missed seeing my niece’s sweet face every day. I missed hearing Henry’s snorting, and Roberta’s screeching, and the fiddle music they play at Bill and Bob’s. I missed eating gluten-free muffins with Mrs. Sweeney, and driving where people don’t give you the finger and honk at you if you take too long when the light changes, and drinking flatlander coffee. I missed laughing with the man I’ve fallen for.”

Marcus’s eyes narrowed, but she kept going.

“I missed kissing him and feeling his luscious beard graze my chin, and sharing a microbrew at the pub, and telling him my deepest, darkest secrets. And making love to him all night. And I realized…” Ami paused and lifted up the sketch. “I realized I don’t care if I live in the middle of an icy tundra for eight months of the year. As long as we’re together. You, me, Henry, and maybe some of these princesses someday.”

Marcus dropped her hand and stepped back. “Just like that, huh?”

Ami’s heart plummeted.

For three long, agonizing weeks, Marcus had been waiting to hear from her. An email. A phone call. A fucking letter would have been okay. He’d been going out of his mind not knowing. Was she coming back, or was it all just a mindless fling?

At first he was convinced she would return. He watered her plants and dusted the Celtics knick-knacks and kept her new hiking boots next to the front door. By the second week, all her stuff was boxed up in the mudroom. By the third week, he was trying not to jump in his truck and drive aimlessly around Boston until he “accidentally” bumped into her. All he had left at this point was his pride. Which wasn’t much.

And suddenly she just shows up at the cabin, looking sweet and tasty and nervous, and expects him to welcome her back with open arms? He felt like a marionette getting yanked around on a stick.

“So you spend three weeks in Boston, decide Vermont is where your heart is, and here you are. Just like that.”

Ami frowned. “No. Not
just like that
. It took me time to figure out what I wanted. It was a big decision.”

“And in all that time, you couldn’t once pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey lumberjack, how ya doing?’” He didn’t apologize for the growl in his voice.

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t call until I knew what I was going to say. I had my interview and instead of being excited I felt torn. But mostly just sad and anxious to get back here. I was mad at myself for not giving the other job a fair shake. It was a good professional opportunity for me, but…”

“But what?” It was killing him not to touch her. But he needed to be sure about her feelings first.

“But finally one day it seemed pretty simple. Every time I thought about you and being here, I felt happy. I want to be with you.” She clutched the little drawing like a life-line.

He took a step forward until his Timberlands were just kissing her stiletto boots. “I’ve been going crazy here, you know. Wondering how you were, what was going on.”

She released a ragged sigh. “I’m so sorry. I had to be sure.”

“If you stay, I want the whole enchilada. You, me, Henry—” He gestured to the drawing. “The princesses. Everything.” His chest heaved. “No more ‘one-night stand’ business. No more mixed messages. The. Whole. Enchilada. Got it?” His hands were clenched at his sides as he waited for her response.