Autumn Bliss

Autumn Bliss

Romancing Wisconsin #5

by

Stacey Joy Netzel

After a string of bad luck, Mallory Parker is convinced her future lies way beyond the streets of the small home town that stole her mother’s hopes and dreams. As soon as she saves enough money at her new job, she’s going to get out and get a life, and no one can tempt her to stay—until she meets the man who does.

Army veteran Levi Jenkins is still dealing with the aftermath of his last tour of duty. Working in the background as a maintenance man at Whispering Pines Lodge gives him the peace his soul craves. The last thing he wants is the distraction of a woman who charms his heart while teaching him to smile again. Or maybe, that’s exactly what he needs.

Levi fears loving her and losing her would be too much to endure—and yet, asking Mallory to stay could destroy the very essence that makes her so special. If either of them are to be happy, he must find the courage to set her free.

Dedication

To Aunt Betty ~

Another member of my family who is amazingly strong, and a true inspiration. I was lucky to grow up only miles from you and Uncle John, and it was great to see you so often. I still cherish every hug and kiss, and love when we get the time to sit and visit, even if just for a few minutes.

From the first book to now, thank you for all your support.

Love you so much!

Chapter 1

Mallory Parker gripped the wheel and steered her sputtering vehicle to the leaf-covered shoulder of the road. After a few clunks and coughs, she counted four loud knocks before the engine died and silence fell.

“Just great,” she muttered.

Reaching for the ignition, she prayed it would start since she was already behind schedule, but a turn of the key only produced a series of ominous clicking noises. She didn’t need to be a mechanic to know she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Kind of like her life.

No. Not going down that path.

A glance ahead and then into the rearview mirror revealed nothing but an empty road as far as she could see toward Pulaski. The brilliant fall colors of Wisconsin muted in the dim light of dawn and in the quiet, she could hear the distant honks of a flock of geese headed south for the oncoming winter.

It seemed her October wasn’t destined to be any better than the previous month, and to say September had sucked was putting it kindly.

“This dead-end town will suck the life right out of you. It killed all my hopes and dreams, and gave me nothing in return. Don’t get stuck here like me, or you’ll regret it until the day you die.”

The words rasped from the dark recesses of her mind.

It’d been nine years since her mother’s rough smoker’s voice uttered the familiar mantra for the last time on her deathbed. She’d been an unhappy woman, resentful of the life she’d had and everyone in it until her last breath. Mallory had always been able to ignore the bitter words, stuff them deep down inside to avoid the hurt of her mother dismissing their family as nothing.

Until the day six months ago when she’d woken up after four years with a guy who took her for granted, and realized she was walking in her mother’s footsteps. Fear of ending up miserable and full of resentment motivated her like nothing else.

She’d spent the summer saving every penny, only to have September blindside her harder than a three hundred pound Packers’ linebacker. She’d lost her day care management job, been caught up in the investigation of her former bosses for an illegal adoption ring, been displaced from her apartment due to a structural assessment that likely would condemn the building, and now her damn car was dead.

Unfortunately, after nearly a month of unemployment, her savings was dwindling fast. Never mind the fact her brother had advised her not to leave because of the investigation, she simply couldn’t afford to leave right now.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat while drawing in a deep breath through her nose. Expelling the breath, she repeated the action.

Keep smiling. Just, keep smiling
.

That was
her
mantra. Because no matter how strained her smiles felt these days, becoming like her mother was not an option. Action and a positive attitude were the keys to getting ahead so she could move on to something better.

Some
where
better.

Like right now. Dwelling on the negative wouldn’t get her anywhere but sitting in her broken down car and late for work, so she reached into her purse for her phone to call her older brother. If she caught Shane on his way to the station, he might be able to get her and the pastry order in the back seat to the lodge on time.

Not that her boss wouldn’t likely understand her reason for being late, but she didn’t want any negative checks against her barely two weeks into this new job. Managing the coffee-slash-gift shop at Whispering Pines Lodge was currently her only hope to refinance her plan.

An unresponsive blank screen on her phone told her the battery had died, and her fingers tightened on the protective case as her strained positive attitude flew south with the Canadian geese.

At some point, her luck had to change, right?

It better, or she was going to stop being optimistic and start getting pissed off.

Another deep breath restored her resolve and reminded her action would get her further than sitting in a dead car.

After a considering look out the windshield, she determined she was about four miles from the lodge. But back down the road about a mile toward town was a dairy farm where she could probably use their phone. Without a doubt, the better option.

Taking her purse, she locked the doors on her car and started walking as the sun began to rise above the treetops. Despite the time-crunch, jogging was out of the question. Her calf high, heeled leather boots were definitely not made for running.

A shiver shook her shoulders when the cool morning breeze found its way down the neck of her sweater and underneath the hem of her skirt. With the hot Indian summer afternoons after an abnormally cold September, she hadn’t been bothering to bring a jacket.

Mallory had gone maybe fifty yards when the muted rumble of an engine made her glance back. Much as she’d love a ride, her pulse picked up speed at the thought of who she might run into at this time of the morning.

A navy blue pickup truck slowed as it approached, and when she spotted the driver, her heart skipped a beat for a whole other reason.

Levi Jenkins.

Not quite the change in luck she’d have chosen.

The man defined the strong, silent type, emphasis on both strong and silent. Her boss Mark Riley had introduced him during her welcome tour of the resort, and all Levi had done was nod in response. Probably not such a bad thing since her mouth had gone dry at the sight of his vivid, moss-green eyes beneath a sexy pair of dark eyebrows the same color as his hair.

She hadn’t been able to manage more than a smile, and an embarrassingly breathless, “Hi.” When he’d turned back to the shed he was painting, she experienced a mixture of disappointment and relief. Guessing him to be late twenties or early thirties, with those dark good looks and the rugged scruff on his jaw, he probably got that reaction a lot, but still, she found she wanted to hear the voice that went with the rest of the heat-inducing package.

Since then, she’d seen him almost daily around the lodge, mostly hauling loads of wood in preparation for the winter ahead, and a few times doing general maintenance on the surrounding outbuildings and rental cabins. Mark hadn’t stated exactly what the man’s job was, but it appeared he did whatever needed doing.

She’d made a point to smile and wave, and if she was close enough while walking during her lunch hour, she even called out a cheery, “Hello,” or “Good morning.” All she got back in return was the nod.

With the majority of the lodge employees being former members of the military, and some of them living with injuries they’d sustained during active duty, she figured he’d also served. Maybe an injury left him unable to speak—until she’d seen him talking with Mark and eliminated that theory.

It left her wondering, was he shy, or simply not interested?

Shy was one thing, but not interested was another. It wasn’t like she could go up to him and explain
she
wasn’t interested either, that she was just being friendly. Especially since, with every day that passed, she feared the
not interested
became less of
not
and more of
interested
. Each time she saw him, the thought of hearing what his voice sounded like set off little hopeful flutters of anticipation in her belly until he turned away.

In the past few days, it’d almost become a challenge, and she’d found herself watching for him while she explored the extensive grounds on her breaks. She couldn’t help notice the way his muscles strained against his sweat-dampened T-shirt as he worked.

Even now, as the truck drew alongside her and he rolled down the window, her eyes were drawn to his tanned hands on the steering wheel, and his shirt sleeves rolled up to expose his strong forearms.

Lifting her gaze to his, she blinked in surprise. His eyes appeared to be brown, not the green she remembered from their first meeting. Framed by those dark lashes, they were still pretty enough to keep her pulse skipping along, but the color difference caught her off guard.

No emotion registered on his face as he asked, “Car trouble?”

Two words. Low and raspy, they made her stomach flip end over end. The deep tone of his voice was even better than she’d imagined, and she wanted to hear more.

Realizing she was staring and he was waiting for an answer, she flashed a smile to combat the heat rushing to her cheeks. “Yes. My car died
and
my phone died, and I have all the bakery items for the lodge coffee shop in the back. I was on my way to the farm down the road to call my brother to come pick me up, but maybe I could borrow your phone instead?”

“I don’t have a phone.”

No phone? Who didn’t have a phone these days? Apparently, Levi Jenkins didn’t.

He jerked his head toward the passenger side. “Get in.”

Still taking in the effect of his sultry voice even with the abrupt words, she hesitated until a gust of wind made her shiver again. When his eyebrows arched in silent question, she hurried around and climbed up into the truck. He sat back from adjusting the heat, and shifted into drive.

“Since you’re already headed into town, if you could just drop me by the police station, my brother can give me a ride from there. He’s a cop.”

As if she hadn’t even spoken, Levi silently swung his truck around and pulled up behind her maroon four door. Leaving his truck running with the heat on high, he opened his door while extending his hand across the cab toward her.

“Keys.”

“It won’t start. I already tried it.” And yet she still dug the keys from her purse.

His fingers made a
gimmie
motion, so she handed them over. She experienced a fleeting sensation of warmth as her hand touched his palm before he jerked away and exited the truck with a bang of his door.

Mallory frowned and got out as well. The cool air hit her after the brief warmth of his cab. She hugged her arms across her chest to stand beside her car as he slipped into the driver’s seat. His turn of the key yielded the same useless clicks.

“I told you,” she said when he reached down to pull the lever for the hood.

“You got a set of jumper cables?”

“No. Do you?” she asked hopefully.

He shook his head, and she stepped back as he got out of the car. Once the hood was propped up, he leaned over the engine and reached to wiggle a few of the different hoses and connections. Checked the oil. She at least knew how to do that one, and knew it was fine.

“Can you tell what’s wrong?”

With a final check of the battery connection, he straightened, then lowered the hood with a little slam to get the latch to lock. He looked at his hands before dusting them off against one another. “Probably the alternator. Might be the starter, too.”

She gave a wry laugh and rubbed her hands on her arms to warm up. “With my luck lately, it’s both.”

His gaze met hers for a brief moment before he moved around her to open the door to the back of her car. Whatever he was doing was going to make her late for sure. If he’d driven her into town like she’d first suggested, Shane would’ve gotten her to the lodge so she could open the coffee shop on time.

“Really, I don’t want to hold you up. My brother will…” She trailed off when Levi pulled out the first box of pastries and turned to shove it into her arms. A quick grab secured the contents. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to the lodge.”

“Oh.” She adjusted the box in her arms. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to mess up your morning just because of my car.”