Thwarting Cupid (17 page)

“Really, Jim. Are you listening at all? That’s why we need you to come home. Someone has to be here to represent the Founder’s Family, and your sister is in the middle of that big case.”

Hutch looked at Carissa, who still hadn’t moved from her position in his bed. He could tell she was listening though. Her posture wasn’t relaxed enough for her not to be paying attention.

“I kinda have plans for this weekend, Mom. I can’t just drop everything and run up there.”

“Bring your ‘plans’ with you and celebrate Valentine’s Day here. It’s not like it ever means anything when you bring girls home.” Hutch frowned. What was that supposed to mean? “Besides, your father and I won’t be here so we won’t risk falling in love with some wonderful young lady who’s supposed to be our future daughter-in-law and give us the grandkids we so desperately want, only to have you coldly rip her from our warm embrace yet again. It’s a win-win.”

Hutch rolled his eyes. “Overdramatic much?”

“Oh, sweetheart. You’ve confused facts with drama again. Anyway, Trudy will be expecting you tomorrow afternoon. She has the schedule and the speech your father was going to give.”

“Mom, listen.” Hutch paused and stared at his injured arm. Besides the fact that he’d planned to spend a nice, quiet Valentine’s Day with Carissa and celebrate her birthday with her, he had an even more legitimate reason to bow out of a trip three hours up the California coast. However, his mother would freak out if he told her about his injury. He couldn’t do that to her. It would ruin her cruise for sure. “Be careful on the ship. No reenacting any part of Titanic whatsoever. Have fun sightseeing and post pictures on Facebook every time you get a web connection.”

His mother squealed again, making him smile. He’d made the right choice. “I promise that your father and I will behave.”

“You’d better. I’ll expect a full report when you get home.”

“Love you. And make sure your young lady knows that bringing her home with you means nothing.”

“Bye, Mom.”

Hutch hung up the phone and started to plug the charger back in. He rethought the decision and took the phone back to bed with him, then gingerly climbed in. He made himself comfortable and closed his eyes with a relieved sigh.

“Your parents are going on a trip?” Carissa asked.

“Greece. They won a cruise.”

“That sounds fun.”

“For them. I, on the other hand, will be stuck playing Master of Ceremonies for the annual Founder’s Day celebration.” He turned his head to look at her. “Did I ever tell you that my great, great…somebody founded my hometown?”

That little tidbit got her to move. She raised her head to get a better look at him. She winced a bit, but kept her head up. “Are you serious? That’s so cool.”

“I guess. With my parents out of town and my sister working some big case, the duty to appear falls on me. Someone from our family has attended as the guest of honor since the beginning. It would be bad form to break tradition now.”

“Of course. You have to attend.” Carissa's expression closed off and she returned to her prone position.

“I figure if we leave by one tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have a nice relaxing drive up the coast and be there in time for dinner.”

This time she raised herself up on her elbow to look at him. “We? As in you and me?”

“Well, yeah. As I recall, you did say you wanted me to charm you. How charming would it be of me to run off and leave you alone on Valentine’s Day?”

Indecision played over her face. “Are you sure? I mean… There’s a ‘we’?”

Hutch gathered all his courage. He had to say the words and let the chips fall where they may. “I’d like there to be. How about you?”

Carissa’s smile was tenuous, but she nodded. “I would.”

He felt like a hundred pound weight had just been lifted off his chest. He longed to gather her up in his arms and kiss her senseless. The searing pain in his left arm kept him from doing so. He smiled and held out his uninjured hand toward her. “It’s official then. We’re a ‘we.’”

She grimaced when she crawled closer, and settled with her head on his chest. He wrapped his good arm around her and she giggled.

“What a fine pair we make, too. A couple of invalids.”

“A temporary setback,” Hutch reassured with a yawn which he passed to Carissa.

“You’re right. I think we should sleep it off.”

“Absolutely.”

Chapter 16

Carissa checked the GPS for the millionth time that afternoon. Ten minutes to destination. In ten minutes, she would be seeing Hutch’s childhood home for the first time. To say she was nervous was a bit of an understatement. His parents wouldn’t be there so that was a plus, but since he was being honored at a pretty large community celebration, it was safe to assume she’d soon be meeting folks he’d known all his life. This was new territory for her.

She glanced over at him where he slept against the passenger side window. She should probably wake him up soon. The painkillers tended to knock him out. It was a good thing they’d figured that out yesterday.

Then there was the added complication of his weakened grip. He hadn’t complained, but she could tell he couldn’t make a tight fist with this left hand after the cupid incident. There was no way he’d have been able to make this drive by himself.

Heck, Carissa was surprised she’d been able to make it. This was the first time she’d been back behind the wheel since her accident the previous week. She was almost a nervous wreck for the whole first hour she operated Hutch’s BMW. She’d taken a deep breath and drove on while scared.

Sometimes that’s all one could do. It had worked. Soon enough, she’d calmed down and regained her usual confidence. A few hours later, here they were almost to Hutch’s home town of Hutchin Town. She smiled. It must be awesome to have a whole town named after you. Maybe not for him, per se, but his great, great whoever, anyway.

Carissa scanned the two lane highway for any sign of civilization. There were a few houses and barns scattered here and there amongst some fields, but no sign of the town itself. Still, she trusted that the GPS was correct. It had gotten them this far.

“Hutch?” she called. He stirred a bit, but didn’t wake up. “Yo, Hutch!”

He started awake at her abrupt tone and looked around. She gave him a smile. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

He groaned and stretched the best he could in the car’s interior, then flipped down the sun visor to check himself out in the mirror. The visual caused him to grimace. “You’re only half right.” He turned his head this way and that, checking out the burn on his face. Carissa was surprised it had healed fast as it did. It had never blistered so she was pretty sure it wouldn’t scar. Already, a mere two days later, the skin just peeled like it had been sunburn. Too much sun was much easier to explain than a chance encounter with a guy who happened to breathe fire.

“You look fine. Keep putting that cream on. It’s working miracles.” She gave him a smile.

The GPS interrupted, “Your destination is in five hundred meters.”

Hutch frowned and returned the mirror to its stowed away position. “We’re here? How out of it am I?”

Carissa didn’t need further direction from the GPS because the field that ran alongside the two lane highway gave way to a huge lawn. A sign announcing that they’d arrived at the Hutchin Town Bed and Breakfast stood next to a blacktopped lane. She shut off the GPS and turned down the driveway, then leaned forward in her seat to check out the huge mansion at the end of the lane.

She marveled at the huge gray stone structure sprawled before her. A row of high arched windows ran the length of the first floor on either side of a palatial entrance. The drive wound around a marble statue of a man pointing toward the door of the mansion.

Carissa turned an awed look on Hutch. “You grew up here?”

“Yep. Home, sweet home.” He pointed to a small parking lot carved from the lawn. “Park here and we’ll go in the front so you can get the full effect.”

Carissa had no idea what he could mean, but followed his directions anyway. Together they walked back to the entrance. He opened the ornate red door for her so she could step inside.

She gasped when she took in the interior. The black marble floor was an exquisite compliment to the burgundy and gold walls. The registration desk was made of a rich colored wood topped with more black marble.

“This is gorgeous,” Carissa told Hutch and gawked at the huge crystal chandelier hanging overhead. “I can’t believe you grew up here.”

“The bed and breakfast part of the house is only in its first generation. Mom’s idea. We live in the back wing.”

Carissa laughed. “La de dah. The back wing. You poor abused child.”

Hutch affected a wounded look and pointed to the huge stairway behind the reception desk. “Do you have any idea how horrible it was to see that awesome banister every day and never be able to slide down it?” She laughed even harder and Hutch joined her.

“I thought I heard someone out here. Welcome to…Jimmy?” A woman who looked like she’d just raided June Cleaver’s closet entered the reception area from a side door.

“Hey, Trudy. How’ve ya been?” Hutch accepted the big hug she rushed to give him with one armed grace. Carissa winced every time the woman came close to smacking his injured arm.

“Oh my God,” she breathed and pressed manicured fingertips to the base of her throat. “I’m so much better now that you’re here. I’ve just been so anxious thinking this would be the first Founder’s Day without the Founder’s Family, which would be such a disgrace because we’ve expanded the events this year…”

Carissa stared at the woman, willing her to take a breath. Trudy had amazing lung capacity and talked a mile a minute. Carissa looked at Hutch and wondered how he managed to keep up. Trudy had lost Carissa at “expanded events.”

“…So this must be her.” The woman stopped talking and thrust a hand in Carissa’s direction. Carissa smiled and shook it, hoping Hutch would catch her up on what she’d missed.

“Yes. Carissa, this is Trudy, my mom’s right hand woman.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Trudy gave him another half hug, making Carissa realize she’d never completely let go of him after the first hug. She shook off a stab of jealousy while Trudy hurried back around the counter to consult the computer.

“Ellie told me you might be bringing someone, but she didn’t have a name for me to enter into the system.” Trudy looked to Carissa to supply her last name, but Hutch answered instead.

“There’s no need. She’s staying in the family wing with me.”

Trudy’s bright smile dimmed a few watts. “I’ve already prepped a guest room for her arrival. I’m sure she’d be more comfortable there.”

Feeling the uncharacteristic need to assert her claim, tenuous though it may be, Carissa spoke up. “The family wing is fine.”

“Okay.” The woman took a beat to recover the missing watts then turned back to Hutch. “You should take a moment to get settled. I’ll meet you in the den to go over your itinerary for the next couple of days.” She reached under the counter then plopped an elaborately decorated binder on the surface.

“I’ve got your father’s speech right here. You should work on learning it tonight. It looks so tacky when people read speeches from note cards. Don’t ya think?” Of course the question was rhetorical, because she didn’t pause long enough for anyone to answer.

Carissa looked at Hutch. He didn’t seem to be following what was spewing out of the woman’s mouth any more than she was. After a few more beats, he interrupted, “That sounds great. Why don’t we talk more after we settle in upstairs?”

“Marvelous idea. Where are your bags? I’ll help take them up.”

“We’ve got it. We’ll drive around to the family entrance so we don’t have to carry them as far.”

Hutch turned and ushered Carissa out with his hand on the small of her back. At the door, she said to Trudy, “Nice to meet you.”

Trudy responded in kind, but the look on her face said just the opposite for one unguarded moment. Hutch was busy pushing the door open with the hand attached to his injured arm, so he missed the woman’s expression. Carissa thanked him for getting the door and decided she needed get a few insights into his and Trudy’s relationship. Was that a crush she’d just run up against or something more? Most important, was it reciprocated? What had she just walked into here?

Carissa wasn’t sure how to broach the subject so she stalled until they’d parked the car in the back and toted their bags upstairs. She forgot all about the issue when Hutch opened the door to a room that was wall to wall purple with pink trim.

“Wow!” Carissa took a good look around. She left her rolling carryon by the purple desk and ran her fingers over the pink bedspread with purple accents. The queen sized bed was complete with an assortment of pink and purple pillows. It was the bedroom she’d always wanted, but never had the guts to have. “This is great.”

Hutch rolled his eyes. “Please tell me you’re kidding. My sister is the worst decorator on the planet.”

“Why? Because it’s not your taste?” Carissa teased.

“Exactly,” Hutch agreed. “C’mon. I’ll show you a real room.”