Loving Bailey (4 page)

Needs more time, she thought. He moves at a
glacier’s pace but he’ll come around. He really wants you, he just
can’t figure out how to say it.

God, she was such a fool. She’d built up this
whole tragic figure thing in her head to explain why Trace wouldn’t
touch her. He didn’t seem to have any problem touching the
blonde.

After he brought her the flowers, she’d
started to rethink the whole Spencer thing. When he came to Seasons
for dinner, she’d been polite and friendly but she made sure she
was too busy to spend much time with him. She’d even skipped her
walk this morning because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say to
him.

Instead, she’d driven down the mountain to go
to the farm to see Trace. Well, she’d seen him alright – seen him
kissing the skinny blonde.

Enough was enough. She’d waited and dropped
hints, some subtle, some knock on the head obvious and nothing had
worked. Now she knew why. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get
romantically involved with someone. He just didn’t want to be
involved with her.

Fine. She climbed the mountain, punching the
accelerator coming out of each turn. The whine and grind of the
engine worked to ease some of her anger so that by the time she
reached the restaurant, she was only seething and not fuming.

She threw the car into park, slammed the door
behind her and took off, stomping some of her anger out on the way
up the hill toward the lodge. Instead of heading around the lake
the way she walked every morning, she went straight down the road
to the Newport Cottage.

By the time she reached the porch, she was
breathing hard but her emotions were steadier. She was more
determined than angry. She walked past the rental car parked out
front and through the gate protecting the porch from unwanted
visitors. God, she hoped she was a wanted visitor. Bailey didn’t
think she could take any more rejection.

She knocked on the door and waited while the
music inside turned off. Spencer opened the door, grinning with
pure pleasure when he saw her and part of her wounded spirit
healed. He was barefoot, jeans hung low on his narrow hips and
wearing a T-shirt which looked so soft, her fingers itched to touch
it. The tortoise shell reading glasses perched on his nose made him
look studious and sexy as hell. A lick of lust uncurled low in her
belly.

“Hey you!” he said, sounding genuinely
excited. “I missed you this morning.” He grabbed her hands and
pulled her into the cottage. “I’d offer you tea or something to
drink.” Taking her hand, he led her through the open living room to
the kitchen. “But I haven’t had a chance to go down the mountain to
the grocery store yet. All I’ve got is what I scrounged from
housekeeping and the vending machines.” He pulled out a stool at
the counter and motioned for her to sit. “I have peanuts, crackers
and orange juice.” He opened the refrigerator, revealing its
pristine interior and two single serving size bottles of juice. “I
was going to come see you for lunch and dinner again.”

He smiled the sheepish smile that charmed her
and had probably gotten him out of any number of tight scrapes. She
shook her head and smiled back, warmed by his easy up-front nature.
Spencer didn’t seem to hide or hold anything back. It was a welcome
change.

“Seasons is closed today. There still isn’t
enough traffic mid-week to support it. But if you go for a hike
with me, I can probably be persuaded to feed you anyway. Lunch at
least.” It was more honest and demanding than she’d intended, but
she was tired of waiting for what she wanted. She didn’t do it
anywhere else in her life. It was past time she turned the same
clear headed determination which had built her restaurant to her
personal life.

His eyes went round behind the glasses and he
paused for a moment, not speaking. Maybe she’d overstepped. He had
come to the lodge to work.

“Unless you’re too busy right now?”

“Hell, no. Are you kidding?” he said with an
open, easy smile. “I’d love to go on a hike with you. Let me grab
my boots.”

He came back without his glasses, wearing the
blue fleece and what looked like almost new Timber Frame hiking
boots. She smiled to herself imagining him buying the boots for the
trip. He was so different from her brothers and any of the other
men she’d met. Different from Trace. She shoved his name and the
image of him sucking face with the stringy blonde into a closet in
her head and slammed the door.

She led the way out the door and up the hill,
waiting for him to ask where they were going. Instead, he simply
followed along, catching her hand without asking. His fingers were
warm and strong and they walked up the road hand in hand, past what
had been the staffs’ quarters in Dirty Dancing.

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” he said and
yanked on her hand, spinning her into his arms.

She landed with a wumpf against the solid
wall of his chest and giggled.

“I can’t believe you know the movie.”

He made an exaggerated attempt at looking
around to make sure no one was listening. “I hate it,” he said in a
stage whisper. “My sister hogged the remote and made me watch it
every time it was on cable, which was all the time. What was it
with Swayze anyway?”

“Shut up,” she said, poking him playfully.
“He was perfect. And don’t let anyone else know how you feel about
it. It’s still a pretty big deal around here. They have Dirty
Dancing weekends at the hotel. They bring in dance instructors and
everything.”

“I heard about that,” he said, turning to
grin at her. “I thought they were kidding.”

“Nope.” She laughed. “Very serious business
and it’s good for my business. The restaurant is booked solid on
those weekends. I have to bring in extra help. I need those
weekends.”

“I will never underestimate the power of
Swayze again,” he said, hand over his heart.

They made their way over the crest of the
hill and past the old stone lodge. She found the trail she wanted
and ducked into the shelter of the trees.

“This path goes to a virgin hemlock stand.”
The irony of the word choice was not lost on her. “It’s amazing.
Some of the trees are hundreds of years old.”

“Awesome,” he said, following along behind
her.

They wove their way under rhododendrons as
tall as trees and along the path strewn with soft needles and tiny
hemlock cones. It wasn’t a difficult hike, but there were enough
roots and dips in the trail to make paying attention important.
They walked in silence until the first of the ancient trees came
into view.

“My God, I had no idea,” he said with
reverence. “They’re huge.” He walked to the nearest tree and
wrapped his arms around it, his fingertips nowhere near to touching
each other. “Come help me.”

She climbed around to the other side of the
giant and mimicked his position. With her cheek pressed flat
against the rough bark, their fingertips just touched.

“How can they exist?” he asked, pulling
around the tree to peer at her. “Why didn’t they get cut down along
with everything else? You said hundreds of years old, but I never
imagined anything like this.”

“Somehow they were missed when this area was
first logged. No one’s sure exactly why. It’s a shame, though,” she
said pushing away from the massive tree and stepping back onto the
trail. “Hemlocks have gotten some kind of aphids. Some bug that
came from Japan in the ‘50s. They’ve been trying for years to save
them, but a lot of them are still dying.”

“That’s awful,” he said, meeting her back on
the path. “They beat the settlers and loggers just to be eaten by
bugs.”

“It is. The aphid things can kill a four
hundred year old tree in a year and a half. Hopefully they can save
some of them. I’d like to be able to show them to my kids some
day.” Why in the world had she brought up kids? She liked Spencer.
She was starting to like him a lot, but in an immediate good time
how’d you like to help me lose my virginity way not in a future
plans kind of way. The last thing she needed was for him to get the
wrong idea.

But he didn’t shut down, he nodded and
smiled. “They have to save them. They’re too precious to lose.” He
draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in against him,
pressing a quick kiss to her hair. “Thanks for showing them to
me.”

Spencer was comfortable, light and
uncomplicated. She found his easy way and open interest, refreshing
after the Rubics cube of Trace’s emotions. For a moment, she could
imagine explaining the sex thing to him and having it work out
perfectly.

I’ve got this problem you could help me
with if you want to. See turns out the trees aren’t the only
virgins in this forest
.

They’d have a couple of days of playful,
friendly sex. She’d get this embarrassing part of her past over
with and they’d go their separate ways. Piece of cake. But when she
opened her mouth to speak she couldn’t bring herself to say
anything about it.

“So just a sister?” she asked, kicking
herself for being a chicken.

“Just the one. Older or she wouldn’t have
owned the remote. What about you?”

“ Four brothers, two sisters. I’m number
six.”

“You have six brothers and sisters?” He put a
hand on her arm to stop her. “Six? Like the Waltons or something?
Wasn’t that show from around here, too?”

He looked so shocked, she laughed out loud.
“Yes, no, further north,” she said between giggles. “We lived in
town not on a mountain. Bedford, not too far from where the Waltons
lived over in Amherst County, but that’s the only similarity. No
Jon Boy or Erin. My oldest brother, Jude, was a pain in the ass
growing up, but he turned out okay. He’s getting married this fall.
I love his fiancée, but I’m not sure how she puts up with him.” She
kept walking, picking her way along the path. “The twins are older
than me and still pains in the ass. Travis is older. He’s in
Afghanistan.” Like she did every time she thought of her brother,
she said a silent prayer for his safety. “Rachel’s older and much
cooler than I am and Taylor’s the baby. She hasn’t quite found her
feet yet, but she will.”

“Wow,” he said, trailing along behind her.
“What was it like growing up in such a big family?”

“Noisy,” she said and he laughed. “No
seriously, sometimes the volume was just too much. When they were
teenagers, my brothers were like baby elephants, banging around the
house. Their friends were always hanging out at our house.”

“Good God, with four older brothers how did
you ever find anyone brave enough to date you?”

She glanced back over her shoulder, shocked
at how close he’d come to the truth.

“You have no idea.”

As soon as Trace peeled Amanda off of him, he
hurried to the greenhouse to find Jake. He wanted to bolt after
Bailey – not stop, think or plan – but he had people depending on
him.

He shoved open the door, making the plastic
shake on the thin frame. Jake looked up from the trays of tomatoes
and peppers he was watering with the long rain wand.

“What’s up? Did Amanda find you?” he asked,
moving the water back and forth over the tiny plants.

“Yeah, she fucking found me.”

“Oh, crap what happened?”

“She kissed me. Bailey saw.” Trace and Jake
had known each other for years. They’d never talked about his
feelings for Bailey. Hell, they were guys, they didn’t talk about
any of that stuff. That didn’t mean Jake didn’t understand.

“I’m sorry, man. What can I do?”

“Hold down the fort. Keep the interns busy.
I’ve got to go up the mountain to talk to her.”

Trace didn’t wait for Jake to agree. He was
out the door and in his truck before the other man had a chance to
respond.

The ancient truck wound its way up the
mountain, working hard for every inch of elevation. By the time
Trace reached Bailey’s restaurant the engine had started to
overheat and he was stringing curses together in new creative
ways.

Her car was parked out front – a good sign.
But when he went to the back door, the restaurant was locked up
tight. He banged on the door to her upstairs apartment and
waited.

No answer. Where could she be?

He looked through the window of the
restaurant to satisfy himself that it was empty. It was dark and he
didn’t see any sign of her.

She walked; he knew she walked every day.
Maybe she’d gone on a hike around the lake bed to burn off whatever
she was feeling after seeing Amanda kiss him.

God, he had a hard time even thinking it. He
knew how it must have looked to her, but he hated the idea that she
thought he’d let himself get involved with someone that much
younger than him and an intern no less. Especially when he never
let himself get romantically involved with her, the only person he
wanted like that.

His truck smelled hot from the climb and
wherever she was, she must have walked. He started up the hill
toward the lodge on foot.

He heard them before he saw them, her bright
laugh and the voice that belonged to the writer. He tucked himself
against the building that housed the outfitters and watched out of
sight as they walked up the hill hand in hand. The writer said
something Trace couldn’t hear and then he pulled Bailey, spinning
her into his arms. When she hit the other man’s chest, she laughed,
a clear playful sound, and the breath left Trace’s body.

It was his fault. He’d pushed her into
Spencer’s arms. He wasn’t being careful by not telling Bailey how
he felt. He was stagnating, holding onto a part of his past that no
longer served him. And now it looked like it was too late.

He waited until they disappeared into the
shadow of the trees before he turned and walked back to his truck
and the long drive down the mountain.

Spencer followed Bailey through the kitchen
door of Seasons.