A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection (29 page)

No answer.

I knocked again, a bit louder than before. It was freezing. The air up here made the temperature at 7-11 seem almost tropical. I hopped from one foot to the other with my arms wrapped around me, trying to get blood flowing through my veins. I felt even sillier as I tried to reconcile my plans for lengthy strolling with my wardrobe of t-shirts and jeans. Normally, I had everything planned to the last detail, so I blamed this lapse in judgment on how stressed out I’d been lately. My fingers were starting to feel numb, so I knocked again while I still could.

Still no answer. Maybe whoever was here had brought realistic clothing and was outside somewhere, taking advantage of the beautiful but frigid day. I was about to try my key when the door opened abruptly, and I couldn’t help the sudden intake of sharp, cold air that stuck in my throat. The person standing on the other side just grinned.

“Kevin,” I said finally.

“Well, hey, Rosie.” His voice was as steady and unsurprised as if I were the pizza delivery guy.

Kevin was, of course, the aforementioned best kiss of my life.

Chapter Two

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that,” I said, and after all the misery he’d put me through, it seemed an odd choice of first words.
Why did you turn out to be such a jerk?
or
Why haven’t you died a slow agonizing death in a lonely ditch somewhere yet?
Either seemed infinitely more appropriate.

“You never used to mind.” Still smiling that same lazy smile, cockier than ever.

Ugh. Why hadn’t I called Gramps first? “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited.”

I snorted, a noise that sounded appalling, like it came from some large form of wildlife. “Really? By who?”

“Gramps, of course.”

I gritted my teeth to hold back the obscenity waiting to fall out. If I was irritated by Kevin’s use of my nickname, I was livid about the casual use of my grandfather’s. “He’s
my
Gramps, not yours. And he certainly wouldn’t let you stay here now—not after the way you treated me.”

“From what I remember,
I
wasn’t the only one who behaved badly.”

“Then your memory is as faulty as the rest of you.”

“At least I didn’t throw things.”

My face was set to perma-glare. “Do you really want to compare sins? Because I can assure you, I was not the guiltier party.”

Kevin raised his hands in surrender. “You’re right. Let’s leave the past in the past.”

“Which is where you should be. I can’t believe Gramps would ask you to come here after all this time.”

He shrugged. “Go on, call him. See for yourself.”

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. And then you’re going to leave.”

He stepped aside. “Would you like to come in?”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll stay out here.”

“Suit yourself.” He walked away but quickly returned with a heavy jacket that looked temptingly warm. He held it out to me. “At least put this on.”

“I’m fine.” I fiddled with my phone to keep my hands busy so they wouldn’t snatch the jacket from him without my permission.

“Really? Because you look kinda cold to me.”

“I said I’m fine.”

He shook his head and draped the jacket around my shoulders. “Still as stubborn as ever, I see.”

The jacket smelled like Kevin. It took a superhuman effort to fight the urge to tuck my face into the collar and stay there indefinitely. But I’d never let him know I still missed him—not for anything. “And you still think you know what I need better than I do?”

“Go on, make your call. I’ll be inside when you’re ready to talk.”

“You’d better start packing your truck, because you’re not staying.”

“We’ll see.”

* * *

I jumped into the car and turned the key. At least it was still warm, which was about the only thing I had going for me at the moment. 

“What do you mean, you asked him?” I said, trying not to shout into the phone. I didn’t want Gramps to think I was angry, even if I was. After all, it was his cabin, and he could invite anyone he wanted to stay at it. Even if that person was the one guy who had captured my heart more completely than anyone I’d ever met—then proceeded to trash it beyond repair. I’ll say that much for Kevin; he was thorough. He approached everything he did with the same one-hundred percent mentality… even breaking my heart.

“How much snow is up there, Rosie? Is everything okay? Did the gas turn on all right?”

Everything was pretty much the complete opposite of okay. “I didn’t have to mess with the gas because
someone
had already turned it on. Why did you tell Kevin it was okay for him to stay here?”

“I like Kevin.”

“Yeah, I used to like him too. But we broke up a year ago, remember?”

“Sweetie,” Gramps said. “I’m going to tell you something important, and I want you to listen, okay?”

“Okay,” I said. I snuggled down into the coat so that Kevin couldn’t see me if he was spying at the window.

“Have you ever seen salmon spawn?”

“Pardon?”

“You know, salmon swimming upstream to spawn. Have you seen it?”

“Yeah, on a nature program or something.” Where was this going? I was sitting in the car with the heat turned up full blast and I was in no hurry to go back inside and face Kevin. I could afford to be indulgent.

“Salmon go through so much,” Gramps went on. “They’re so focused on their task that they forget to eat so they get smashed into rocks and eaten by bears. They use every last bit of their energy jumping and swimming against the current and the other fish. But the ones who keep pushing themselves get the reward. And you know what happens?”

“Tell me.” I could picture Gramps on the other end and I wished we were having this conversation in person so I could see the sparkle in his eyes.

“They make it to the spawning grounds, where they can finally lay their eggs and rest and be happy.”

I frowned. “I think I remember hearing that once they spawn, most of them die.”

“Bah, never mind that. Animals are smart. Lots of them mate for life—did you know that? Like swans… and termites.”

His metaphors were all over the place, but I think I finally understood his end game. “They stay together like you and Grandma, right?”

“Exactly! You know how when you look at some people, you just know they belong together?”

I blinked away the tears that were suddenly forming. The last thing I needed was to go back inside and face Kevin with puffy eyes. “Yes, you and Grandma were the perfect couple.”

“I was talking about you and Kevin. You kids were made for each other. You need to give it another chance.”

“Kevin broke up with me, Gramps. It wasn’t my choice.”

“Maybe not entirely. But it takes two to tango, you know.”

“Unfortunately we’re not all as lucky as you two. Not everyone rides off into the sunset together.”

“It takes hard work, but it’s worth it. Besides, it’s only one weekend. What have you got to lose?”

No one could say my stubborn streak wasn’t genetic. “You’re impossible. How did you know I was coming up this weekend?”

“I didn’t. Last time I saw Kevin, I told him he was welcome to come stay whenever he wanted to. And now you’re there too. You know what they call that?”

“What?” I massaged my temples with my fingers.

“Fate.”

Chapter Three

I hung up and closed my eyes. The Kevin smell on the jacket wasn’t going away; if anything, it seemed to have intensified since putting it on, and the effect on my emotions was unnerving. The scent made me think of winter outings together in happier times.

The jacket should have come with a warning label stating that it may cause confusion or mental fogginess or, in the worse cases, temporary insanity, which was what I had to be experiencing if I had any fond memories of Kevin left in the old brain depository. But then, that’s what you get when you rely on your nose to make important decisions.

Good thing my brain was still semi-functioning. I couldn’t sit out here in the car with the heater running forever. It was time to quickly consider my options.

The generous thing to do would be to go home and let Kevin stay. He got here first, and all his stuff was already inside.

But I wasn’t feeling particularly generous. This was my grandfather’s cabin—
mine.
I had been planning this weekend of relaxation, and I needed it. Kevin had absolutely no right to be here. He should go.

Unless…

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the ridiculous idea that was sprouting before it managed to take root. Gramps was crazy. This wasn’t a chick flick, complete with cheesy music that rose when the couple stood perilously near each other. This was real life, and Kevin didn’t want to spend the weekend with me any more than I wanted to hang out with him.

Unless…

Why would he come here if he didn’t want to see you? He must have known there was a chance you’d be here.

No. Double triple no. I had been down this dangerous road before, and nothing good could come by revisiting it. One of us would stay and one would go—it was that simple.

* * *

I took a deep breath and went back inside the cabin, prepared to be the bigger person and leave. Kevin didn’t hear me come in; his back was to me. I tried to ignore the taut muscles that told me he obviously hadn’t been mourning our lost relationship on the couch with bag of potato chips. I watched as he put some things in the refrigerator—milk, bacon, eggs, bread, butter. Real food. Aside from hot chocolate and lemonade, I realized I had brought nothing to eat. I think there was a squashed protein bar in my purse somewhere. My lack of planning was really pathetic. I should go and let Kevin stay—at least he wouldn’t starve. But the way he was stocking the fridge made me angry, like he didn’t even plan on offering to be the one who went home, when the cabin was much more mine than it was his.

“What did Gramps have to say?” he said, and I jumped. He didn’t turn around, but somehow he knew I was there.

“You already know what he said.”

“He told me I might be surprised by how much I enjoyed it up here. ‘You see some surprising things in the country,’ he said. I thought maybe he meant a moose or something.” He shut the refrigerator and finally turned around, the smile on his face fading when he saw how annoyed I was. “I had no idea you’d be here. I wouldn’t spoil your weekend on purpose.”

The look he gave me said that he was telling the truth, and for a split second, I imagined that maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d been miserable for the last year. But as he was the one who’d broken my heart, he wasn’t entitled to be unhappy, so I wouldn’t pity him. Still, it was a nice thing to hear him say, and knowing that he actually meant it helped.

“I believe you. Well, I hope you have a nice weekend.” I forced myself to turn and start walking to the door before I changed my mind.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home. I can relax and hide there as easily as I can here.”

He looked curious. “Who are you hiding from?”

“Everyone. I need time to regroup.”
Stop talking, Rose. He doesn’t care anymore.

“That doesn’t sound like the world breaker I remember.”

I shrugged, unwilling to pursue the topic.

“If anyone is going, it should be me. Give me a few minutes to gather up my stuff, and I’ll get out of your way.”

Now that he’d actually said what I’d been thinking, I felt guilty. “It’s okay—you were here first. I’ll go.”

A small smile touched the corners of his mouth. “You know, there are two bedrooms…”

Oh, that mouth. I had the sudden image of us running into each other’s arms and kissing for the rest of the weekend. Maybe there was a reason I hadn’t brought any food. Who needs bacon and eggs when there was all that lost lip time to make up for?

Rose! Focus! Do not let your powers of reasoning be overtaken by a pretty face.

I noticed that Kevin’s smile had widened considerably. I could tell he was pleased to see that he still had the same power to reduce me to speechlessness. Well, I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he made me weak in the knees, even if he did. I pursed my lips.

“I think that’s a terrible idea. In fact, as really bad ideas go, that has to be at the top of the… Really Bad Idea list.”

“I’d forgotten how you ramble when you were nervous. It’s cute.”

Crap. This wasn’t going the way I intended. I wanted to come off as the Ice Queen, but instead I was spouting nonsense. It was probably best to leave now, before I said anything really embarrassing. “I’ll go.”

“I can be an adult if you can.” He was still sporting that smug grin. Perhaps I could do something about that.

“So you’ve developed a new skill since we parted ways?”

He winced. “Ouch. You know what? You’re right. It’s a bad idea. I’m sure arguing with me wasn’t your idea of a relaxing weekend. I’ll go get my stuff.”

“No, you’re right,” I said. “There’s plenty of room for two
adults
here. If we play our cards right, we’ll never even see each other.” Determined to have the last word, I walked into the bedroom I usually stayed in, only to be confronted by Kevin’s duffle bag, fishing rods, and tackle sitting on the bed. His stuff in my room was so incongruous with the picture in my head that my brain disconnected for a minute. When I finally composed myself, I turned around to leave and ran straight into Kevin, who was suddenly installed in the doorway, roadblock style. When I realized a collision was imminent, I put my hands in front of me to keep myself from running him down, but that had the unintended side effect of physical contact. It took me longer than it should have to remove my hands from his chest, and by then he was all smiles again.

“This must be your room,” he said, in the buttery tone that made my head all foggy.

“It’s not my cabin. I don’t have a room.”

“I’ll take the other one. I don’t mind.”

“You’re already in here. It’s fine. I’ll go get my stuff out of the car.”