A Town Called Valentine: A Valentine Valley Novel (17 page)

Nate gritted his teeth. “I came to tell you that I’ll be gone part of tomorrow morning.”

“Drywalling.”

Nate groaned as he turned to leave.

“Hey, where you going?” Josh called, all innocence. “You can’t take a joke? Or I’m hitting too close to the truth?”

“I’m blowing off a morning’s work,” Nate called over his shoulder. “Guess after all the pestering you’ve been doing, that should make you happy. My irrigation ditches are all yours.”

Josh grumbled, and Nate felt a little bit better.

E
mily was just finishing breakfast the next morning when her doorbell rang. Unlike her city apartment, there was no intercom for her to discover who was at the door. Wrapping her robe tighter about her waist, she ran down the stairs, opened the door into the hall, and stepped to the back door, thinking with exasperation that it was only seven thirty in the morning.

Through the door window, she saw Nate. “It’s drywall day,” he called, his voice muffled.

She smiled, feeling little prickles of pleasure warm her. Unlocking the door, she opened it, then blushed when Nate gave her a slow grin as he looked down her scantily clad body.

“Now that’s the way a man wants to be greeted.”

She hugged herself about the waist, wishing her robe reached at least to her knees. But why was she nervous? It wasn’t as if Nate was going to demand she undress for him.

Although that sounded exciting . . .

“I’m sorry I’m not ready,” she said. “I guess we never decided on a time.”

“I’m used to working by dawn—I thought I was giving you too
much
time.”

She cocked her head. “We’ll have to be more explicit with our schedule. You can wait in the restaurant while I shower—”

“Naw, that’s okay, I’ll come up.”

He came toward her, and she was forced to step back, or he’d have run right into her. He was carrying a bag and a paperboard container with two cups.

He paused, and his smile dimmed. “Running away from me already?” he asked quietly.

He seemed strangely solemn all of a sudden.

“Running away? I’m trying to stop myself from giving you a kiss. Thought I’d seem a little desperate since we haven’t even had a date yet—and drywalling doesn’t count.”

His white teeth flashed in a grin. “Just as long as you’re not getting skittish all of a sudden.” He leaned down, his mouth near hers, but not quite touching. “So can I kiss you?”

She answered by pressing her lips to his, letting her hand touch his chest, feeling all breathless and light-headed. They didn’t dive into the kiss with tongues and heat, but she felt like they did.

“Mmm,” he murmured, rubbing his cheek against hers, inhaling the scent of her hair. “What am I here for again?”

“Coffee?”

He chuckled and stepped away, looking cute and regretful. “Do you like coffee?” he called over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs.

“Sorry, no,” she said, closing both doors and following him up.

Nice view,
she thought, watching his long legs.

“More for me, I guess.”

It was her turn to chuckle as she emerged into her apartment behind him. “No problem. I’m used to people assuming. Guess I’m a rarity.”

He walked down the hall past the bedrooms and the galley kitchen, into the living room that overlooked Main Street.

“Not as much damage up here,” he said.

“A bit,” she said, looking at the scraped wood floors and the dings in the walls. “But I’d rather take care of the big stuff downstairs first.”

“Go ahead and shower while I eat.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry I didn’t know to hurry.”

She disappeared into her bathroom and set a land speed record for showers, firmly putting aside daydreams of his joining her. She was moving way too fast, if only in her own imagination. When she emerged from her bedroom, she found Nate looking out the front window as he munched a bagel but not standing too close.

“Afraid someone will see you up here?” she asked innocently.

He glanced at her. “Not at all.”

“So I’m not a secret?”

“That we’re dating? Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know you all that well, do I?”

But she knew enough to like him, to trust him with some of her deepest family secrets. And that was a little scary.

“That’s why we’re dating,” he said smugly. “To get to know each other.”

“Oohh, so that’s the reason.”

“That’s one of my reasons. What are yours?” he asked, his voice lowering to a deep rumble, leaning sideways into her until their arms brushed.

Oh, she liked the sound of his voice too much.

“Because you promised to teach me to drywall, and I felt like I owed you.”

“So you’re dating me out of pity and gratitude?” he demanded, tossing his bagel onto the bag and advancing on her.

She gave a little squeak as she escaped toward the back door, but he caught her around the waist. Nate was so tall and broad behind her, and she felt absolutely delicate.

Feminine, too—and desired. She felt his mouth behind her ear.

“Tell me the truth,” he whispered.

She shivered. “Oh, all right, you’re just so hot, cowboy. Now can we get to work?”

He let her go and patted her butt. “That’s more like it. Have a bagel. You need your strength.”

She munched on breakfast and followed him downstairs, listening to his detailed instructions about drywalling, trying not to let her eyes linger on his broad shoulders or flexing biceps. They worked side by side for an hour, while her mind followed tangents that turned darker and more troubling. He seemed so competent at everything, so well liked, so at ease with himself. He knew exactly what he wanted, whereas she was a nearly broke, divorced woman without a skill to her name. Sometimes he made her feel so unaccomplished though she knew he didn’t mean to. She told herself that at least he admired her determination to learn how to make the repairs herself.

He might want to date her to get to know her, but what would he find—a woman who was so messed up she didn’t know what to do next with her life, still grieving past sorrows? How was that any fun for anybody?

She told herself to get under control. He didn’t need to know all her fears and doubts; this was supposed to be fun. And she was
allowed
to have fun.

Sometimes she didn’t need reminding, especially when his gaze roamed slowly down her body, making her feel like she wanted to straighten up and tuck loose strands of hair behind her ears—or maybe slouch bonelessly onto the nearest horizontal surface and pull him to her.

Okay, okay, this was enough togetherness for one day. The long morning of listening to his instructions while trying to keep from kissing him had taken its toll.

“Nate, you’ve done enough for one day. Surely you’re needed on the ranch.”

She was achy in muscles she hadn’t used in a while, while he looked fresh and fit.

“I guess my brother’s been taught enough of a lesson,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

Nate grinned and shrugged. “He was ribbing me last night. He’s got this leather-tooling hobby he does for fun, and has this stupid idea I don’t do
enough
for fun. So since he thinks I work too hard, I gave him my morning chores. I’m sure he’s sorry he ever opened his mouth.”

A cowboy who did leather tooling? she thought with curiosity. Now that couldn’t just be a coincidence.

“So I’m your new project to prove to your brother you’re not all about work?” she asked lightly, watching him wash up in the sink behind the bar.

“You’re a lot of things,” he mused, walking toward her. “But proving something to my brother? Naw, I’m hardly thinking about him when I’m looking at you.”

He pulled her into his arms and she came up against his body, feeling his arms around her, the heat of him seeping pleasantly into her. “You must like your women all dirty and perspiring.”

“Hmm.”

He kissed her then, leisurely, masterfully, until her heart was trembling along with her knees, making her grip his t-shirt to keep from collapsing.

He gave her another quick kiss, then grinned with satisfaction. “When are you free to go hiking?”

“I’m working for Monica tomorrow afternoon, but the following day it’s just the morning. How about after lunch?”

“It’s a date. How did your first day at the flower shop go?”

A handsome cowboy told me about his art and made me curious.
“It was great. I’m a natural with customers,” she boasted, arching an eyebrow playfully. “Monica said I could bake for her. I’ll be going to the grocery store later today.”

“Good for you.” He leaned down over her. “Now don’t I get another reward for all my hard work today?”

And then he kissed her, and every thought, every trouble or apprehension, fled her mind.

When they both came up for air, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m not certain I can wait two days to see you.”

That made her feel wonderful—and uneasy all at the same time.

Chapter Fifteen

E
mily spent the next two days in a fog of romance. Gorgeous cowboy Nate was desperate to date her. It made her want to hug herself and dance around her apartment. He was the perfect antidote to her low self-esteem after the way Greg had discarded her when she couldn’t give him a biological child. She was a woman in charge of her life, a woman who felt confident enough to date but didn’t
need
a man to be content.

By day, she plodded along ripping down damaged drywall or worked in the flower shop; in the evening, she baked for Monica, chocolate mousse cake one day, a peach cobbler the next. More furniture kept appearing—a plant in a lovely ceramic container from Monica in honor of her first day, the perfect decorative touch on the coffee table beneath her front window; a lamp to read by; then, to her surprise, a love seat that was well used but in good condition. She didn’t feel so . . . temporary anymore. Her brief sojourn in Valentine Valley was becoming part of her journey, not an ordeal she had to get through.

On the day of her afternoon hike with Nate, she attended the Music to Eat By program at the community center with Brooke and Monica. It was an old, converted, brick factory building, with conference rooms as well as a large banquet hall that could be used for wedding receptions. On the huge deck, overflowing with potted plants and vines laced through trellises, a bluegrass band played their guitars and harmonized beautifully for the crowd of twenty to thirty who’d gathered to eat lunch purchased from the Silver Creek Café. All the local restaurants took turns being the vendors for the Music to Eat By crowds. While eating her Chicken Caesar wrap, Emily followed the other two into the banquet hall, browsing the display booths set up to promote Valentine tourism: cooking-for-two school, a string quartet available to hire along with other musical groups, and romantic picnic baskets made to order.

“This is so cool!” Emily said. “What a great way to promote businesses that don’t have a storefront. It’s such a generous way to help other people.”

“They promote people like me, too,” Monica said, gesturing to the potted flowers and plants as they walked back onto the deck.

“You do such beautiful work,” Emily gushed.

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, let’s not get started.”

They took a seat at a picnic table vacated by a young family.

“Then we can talk about Emily’s creative talents,” Monica said, giving Brooke a fake frown. “Already, she’s good at putting an arrangement together, choosing interesting combinations of color and flowers. She’s the best hire I’ve made in a long time.”

“I’m the only hire you’ve made in at least two years,” Emily said, laughing. She glanced around at all the people talking softly or swaying to the music. “Monica, I’m surprised you didn’t ask your sister to join us.”

“Yeah, you haven’t mentioned her much,” Brooke added, watching her friend closely.

Monica shrugged, her smile fading. “She’s doing some writing for an assignment while she’s here. It’s hard for her to get away from work completely. It’s just such a challenging career,” she added brightly.

Brooke scowled. “You imitate your sister well, but maybe you’re taking what she says too seriously. Perhaps it’s not about you but about her own excitement for her job.”

“I can’t help taking it personally,” Monica said glumly, setting down her quesadilla wrap half-eaten. “I can no longer tell what she’s even thinking when she says some of this stuff. Emily, be glad you don’t have a sister.”

Emily blurted, “I don’t know—maybe I do.”

Brooke cocked her head. “What does that mean?”

Though she hadn’t intended to, Emily told her friends all about the revelation of her biological father and how Nate had been helping her.

“Never knew my brother was so sensitive,” Brooke said dryly, even as she studied Emily. “So . . . how are you taking this? It must be hard.”

“It is,” Emily said, her voice subdued. “I loved my father though I only knew him a few years. To think my mother lied to me all this time, and . . . and . . . I can’t even yell at her about it, or demand answers. I’m all on my own.”

“You know we’ll help any way we can,” Monica said. “And trust me, sisters aren’t all bad. I couldn’t have imagined growing up without Missy. We were the best of friends, and she made every step of high school bearable.”

“And you could have a sister or brother right here in town,” Brooke said, looking around the crowded deck.

“It’s . . . unnerving,” Emily admitted. “I really debated just forgetting the whole thing, but I can’t seem to manage it. Nate has had some good ideas, so we’ll probably discuss it today.”

“Today?” Brooke said, perking up. “He’s working with you?”

“Actually, it’s a date,” Emily said.

“Oooh.” Monica gave her arm a little shove. “No more ‘we’re just friends’?”

“We’re still friends,” Emily insisted. “But now we’re dating.” She drew air quotes around “dating.”

Brooke snorted her laugh. “Let me guess—my brother suggested that.”

“It was a mutual decision. Neither one of us wants to get too involved.”

“But he’s helping you find your father,” Brooke said dubiously. “Seems pretty involved to me.”

“That’s the friendship part. The dating part is . . . I don’t know. Today’s our first date. He wanted to go rafting, and I refused.”

“Oh, you don’t know what you’re missing,” Monica said, shaking her head. “Springtime down our rivers is so exciting.”

“Maybe, but I’ll leave rafting to you athletic mountain types. I suggested the movie festival.”

Another snort from Brooke.

Emily laughed. “And that was pretty much his response. We’re going hiking. Good thing I’ve been running and renovating, so maybe he won’t have to wait for me too much on the trail.” She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Apologetically, she said, “Let me get this text. Nate said he’d let me know what time he’ll be free.”

“We moved irrigation dams this morning,” Brooke said. “The next hayfields have been flooded. He should be available.”

Emily read the text and responded before looking up. “Nate’s already in town. I told him we were almost done eating.”

Five minutes later, Nate came up the stairs to the deck, and Emily’s stomach did a little flip-flop that was part nerves, part anticipation. They were changing their relationship, and that could be bad or good. She chose to see it as good—something fun to fill her days until it was time to head back to school.

It took another few minutes for Nate to work his way through the crowd, what with everyone needing to talk to him about something or other. Scout got several rubdowns, and he accepted them as his due.

“Your brother is a popular guy,” Emily told Brooke.

“He knows everybody,” Brooke answered, a hint of pride in her voice.

Nate sat down and looked around at the three women, a grin on his face. “I’m the luckiest guy here.”

His sister groaned, and Monica made a funny face.

“What a sweet compliment,” Emily said, smiling at him.

“That’s it, time to go,” Brooke said, getting to her feet and tossing the second half of her veggie wrap in front of her brother. “I can’t even finish this, you make me feel so sick.”

“Enjoy your afternoon.” Monica waved good-bye.

“What did I say?” Nate demanded in a baffled voice.

“Nothing. They know we’re spending the afternoon together, that’s all.”

He stared at Brooke’s sandwich. “And to make my
sister
lose her appetite—that’s saying something. Oh, well, shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

Emily laughed as he dug in.

He swallowed and winced. “No meat.”

“Nope.”

He shrugged. “It’s good anyway.”

They sat in companionable silence, finishing their wraps and listening to the music. Nate bought another one, and they split a piece of cheesecake full of caramel and chunks of chocolate. Another Sweetheart Inn dessert. Scout sat down in front of Emily and watched her plate with the same concentration he reserved for a stray calf.

Emily licked her fork and closed her eyes. “God, this is so good.”

“Decadent. And aren’t you amazed a cowboy like me knows those big words?”

They ended up driving a half hour down valley to Mushroom Rock, where the cliffs rose above their parked car. The path through red earth wound slowly up, back and forth through trees and rocks, before reaching the summit, where rocks jutted out like a finger into the sky. The entire valley spread out before them, and Emily swayed dizzily, staring at the snow-topped mountains across from them. She kept wanting to put Scout on a leash, but Nate had him well trained. A simple command called him back to his master’s side. But usually, Nate let him sniff every bush and leave his mark.

“Let’s go out onto Mushroom Rock,” Nate said, gesturing toward a narrow path that led out onto the promontory.

“Out there?” she squeaked, clutching his arm. “The view isn’t any different.”

“But then it feels like it’s all around you. Come on!”

He led the way, and she wished she could close her eyes as the sides of the cliff plummeted down either side of the path. But at last they found a rock to sit on, and her vertigo eased enough for her to enjoy herself again.

“Oh, Nate, this is just incredible,” she whispered. “We feel so . . . above the whole world.”

“We hiked a thousand feet higher than the valley, so we’re pretty high up.”

He opened his backpack and handed her a bottle of water, which she drank from greedily. He poured some into a little portable bowl for Scout. Next he opened a Ziploc bag.

“Trail mix,” she said. “Yum.”

“GORP.”

“Excuse me?”

“Good Old Raisins and Peanuts.”

She laughed. “And M&Ms, too.”

They ate and drank contentedly for a while, nodding at another hiker who passed them to go out onto the very tip. Emily shuddered and briefly closed her eyes.

Nate laughed at her. “So tomorrow I help you put up new drywall.”

“If you’re able. There’re certainly other things I can do if you’re . . . moving dams, or whatever Brooke said.”

“Hayfields have to be flooded to help the crop grow. Every morning and evening we move portable dams and flood a different section of each field. You know that hailstorm we had yesterday morning?”

She winced. “You were out in it?”

“You bet. Those things sting. I’ll be glad to get away and only do drywall.”

“Thanks, Nate.”

They ate more GORP, and Emily was so hungry from the hike, she thought she’d never get enough food again. She fed some nuts to Scout, who’d long ago mastered the look of quiet desperation. Then she told Nate she’d revealed the search for her dad to Brooke and Monica.

“I’ve been procrastinating,” she admitted. “I keep wondering if I’m passing my dad on the street. I never had my mom’s attention, and my husband, well, you can see what he thought of me. Part of me is worried that if my biological father rejects me, too, I don’t know if I can handle it. Maybe I’m just a coward.”

Nate put his hand on her knee. “No. If you were, you’d be huddled in an apartment in San Francisco, or maybe you’d still be married to that jerk.”

“No, he left me, not the other way around.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate. She couldn’t share with anyone the terrible hurt Greg had inflicted on her.

“I don’t care about him,” Nate said. “You’re not a coward. You’re trying to find a new way to support yourself, and you eventually want to adopt. You can’t tell me that’s not a brave thing for a single woman to do. How can your biological father not be happy about the way you turned out?”

“Thanks,” she said, turning to smile at him.

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then she leaned in to kiss him, letting her hand cup the roughness of his cheek. Suddenly hungry for more, she opened her mouth to him and let every other awareness fade away.

Until they heard the hiker going by them back up the trail.

She broke away and felt her face get hot. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m sure he’s jealous as hell of me.”

Laughing, she leaned her head against his shoulder. “This has been a great day. You were right—it’s done me good to get away from work.”

“Then we need to plan to get you out again. The mountain biking is fantastic around here. I usually bike these trails we just hiked.”

She gaped at him. “These
dangerous,
narrow trails? I feel queasy just imagining doing them at high speed.”

He grinned, flashing his dimples. “It’s fun.”

“No, thank you. I have a better idea. I haven’t seen Aspen yet.”

“Then it’s a date. Everyone should see Aspen.”

“Well, that was easy. There must be some daredevil part of the town you’re hiding from me.”

“Nope. I have time to make you try something riskier eventually. And I will.”