Rerouted Obsession - A Sexy New Adult Contemporary Romance Novella (5 page)

“Always a pleasure,” he replied with a smile.

He drove to Mackie’s, a small, family-owned restaurant right at the outskirts of the small town at Abby’s suggestion.

“It’s a local favorite,” she told him as they pulled into the graveled parking lot in front of the white building. Its green shutters and warm lighting gave it a homey feel.The restaurant was in full lunch rush swing, so they had to wait a few minutes to be seated.

“There really isn’t much to Pinesville, is there?” Jake asked her when they were finally seated at a wooden table near a window.

“I told you that it’s a small, quaint town. I love it here, and the airport provides a much-needed service to many of the small towns in this area of Montana,” she explained. They were quiet for a few moments as they perused the small menu, trying to decide what to get.

“Chicken and dressing is today’s special, and it is out of this world,” Abby said.

“Sounds good and warm. I’m freezing!” Jake replied. He still wore his coat. It felt as if the temperature outside had dropped twenty degrees since they had left the airport.

After they ordered, Jake asked her about growing up in Pinesville.

“It was the childhood people write about in books: simple and happy,” Abby said as she fiddled with the straw in her glass of Coke.

Jake noticed she didn’t say anything about her mother and that she wasn’t too keen on letting out too many personal details. He could barely eke out of her that she was twenty-six and that she had studied her trade at the Helena campus of the University of Montana. She was really reserved.

Since he was not getting anywhere with her on a personal front, he told her about himself instead. He left out a few telling details, though.

             
“Since my dad was a pilot, from the time I could talk, I told anyone that would listen that I was going to fly planes just like my dad,” Jake told her.

             
“It sounds like you have a great relationship with your dad,” Abby remarked as she forked her green beans.

             
“”We had a great relationship up until the day he died three years ago,” Jake said quietly. The pain from the loss of his dad still felt raw at times.

             
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Jake.” Abby continued, “My mom died when I was young, so I know the pain of losing a parent all too well.”

             
“Yeah, to be honest, it blows. I miss that man so much,” Jake told her. “Jim kind of reminds me of him in many ways,” he added.

             
Abby smiled when he mentioned her father.

“Then he must have been a very wonderful person,” Abby gently said and surprised both herself and Jake by giving his hand a squeeze across the table.They continued their meal comfortably.

             
“That dressing was as good as you said it would be,” Jake said and patted his stomach appreciatively.

“Yes, but now I feel like curling up and taking a nap. I normally don’t eat such big meals during the work day,” Abby said as she stretched her arms.

Jake insisted upon paying the check when it came, and afterward they bundled up to dart across the parking lot.

“So where do you live around here?” Jake asked Abby on the drive back to the airport.

             
“I have a cozy little cottage in the woods not too far from here. Connor and I are very happy in our little piece of paradise,” she happily answered.

             
Jake tried not to show his obvious disappointment. She was taken. Of course she was taken. She was beautiful, smart, sexy, and mechanically inclined. What was there not to love? He fell quiet for the rest of the short ride.

             
“I’ve got to make a couple of calls,so I will catch up with you in a little while,” he told her when he had parked.

“Um, okay,” Abby said, sounding slightly miffed. She jumped out and headed to the main buildings. While Jake watched her walk away, he noticed that the sky looked heavy with snow clouds, and the snow was already beginning to fall.He sat back in the driver’s seat to think about this new revelation with Abby. Obviously, this Connor guy couldn’t mean too much to her, since she had only just mentioned him now. On the other hand, she seemed pretty happy to be living in the middle of nowhere in a little house with the guy.

             
Even though it wasn’t his style to go after a woman with a boyfriend, after weighing his options for several moments, Jake decided that he still wanted to pursue Abby. He found himself tempted to ask her the simplest questions, just so he could find out the answer, like
How did she take her coffee?
And
What was her favorite color?
No other woman had ever made him feel this way or want to know these little things. This whole experience was new and thrilling to him.

             
After all of his contemplation, he called Will to see if things were still going well with Scarlett, but the call went straight to voicemail.

             
“Okay, those clouds look like they mean business,” Scarlett said as she pointed to the sky while they rode the lift up the mountain. She and Will had been on the slopes for hours now, but the weather had taken a sudden frigid turn from the sunny skies that had greeted them when they had first started skiing earlier.

             
“We probably need to head back,” she added, snuggling up to him for extra warmth.

“I agree. It wouldn’t be any fun to get stuck up here in a snowstorm,” Will said. When the lift reached its destination, they exited and made it down the mountain as quickly as they could. By the time they reached the bottom of the mountain, snow was falling heavily and the wind was blowing it everywhere.

“A cup of something hot sounds really good about now,” Will suggested through chattering teeth as they turned in the ski equipment they had rented.

“I would kill for a cup of hot cocoa. My toes are numb!” she said in agreement, rubbing her hands together.

             
The lodge was fairly packed with guests who had the same idea and were eager to get out of the blustery weather and warm themselves. Scarlett and Will exchanged a look.

“Maybe we should go ahead and make our way back to the cabin. This weather isn’t anything to play with, and we could be end up waiting a long time if we order something,” she told Will.

             
“You’re right. There is probably some hot chocolate or coffee in the cabin, anyway. The kitchen seemed pretty well stocked,” Will agreed. They gathered their things and took the short but uphill drive to Will and Jake’s rental cabin, just in the nick of time.

“If we had waited any longer, we would have been stuck at the lodge for sure,” Scarlett told him matter-of-factly after they had hurried inside, shaking the snow from their clothes and hair.

             
Will put his arms around Scarlett and nuzzled her neck. “It’s a good thing we left then,” he murmured into her ear.

             
Scarlett thrilled at the suggestive tone in his voice. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him toward the bedroom. She had some really good ideas on how to spend the time being holed up in a cabin during a snowstorm with the man of her dreams. Maybe this blizzard was more of a blessing in disguise than she realized. She now had the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with Will, free of all distractions. Unless his friend, Jake, made it back to the cabin somehow. The way it looked outside made her highly doubt that would happen, though.

“I can think of a much more fun way to warm up than hot cocoa,” Scarlett said, smiling sinfully as she led him in the direction of the bedroom.

* * * *

The airport was completely out of control. Because of the snowstorm, air traffic had come to a screeching halt. The passengers who had been connecting to other flights were directed to the only motel in Pinesville, and Abby and the other airport employees were busy for most of the afternoon shutting down everything at the airport as quickly as possible before they all got stuck in the terminal. Jake stayed busy helping the staff batten down the hatches against the blizzard.

             
“You should really go ahead and get home,” Abby admonished him. “This storm is going to cover the roads really quick,” she added. Jim and Abby were sending people home as soon as jobs were finished, and soon only the two of them, as well as Jake, were left closing up.

             
“I am not leaving until you leave,” Jake said. They flew around locking doors and turning off machines.

             
“Okay you two, this old man is leaving. I don’t want to spend the night here. You both should be leaving now, too,” Jim said when they had finished.

             
“Okay, Dad. I am leaving in a few minutes. I just have to send out a couple of flight schedule changes and messages that the airport will be closed until further notice, since Scarlett is off today,” she said and gave her dad a hug and a kiss.

             
“I will wait to leave until she leaves,” Jake assured Jim. He wanted to make sure the older man knew that his daughter was in safe and capable hands.

             
After Jim left, Jake said, “Abby, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but you really need to hurry up if you plan on leaving. It is coming down strong out there. Everywhere I look is blurry white.” He was peering out the office window at the deluge of snow pouring from the sky.

             
“I just have to shut it down, and we can leave,” Abby said as she closed down the computer system.

“Maybe we should just stay here for the night. It is pretty bad out there,” Jake told her.

             
“That isn’t an option for me. Connor is terrified of storms and there is no way I am leaving him all alone,” Abby said as she was putting on her thick coat. Jake couldn’t imagine what strong and confident Abby could see in a guy who was scared of snow.

             
“If you are going to insist on leaving, I am coming with you. I think you are underestimating the severity of this storm, and if you get stranded, it will be better if you aren’t alone,” Jake said.

“You don’t have to do that. You need to get home yourself,” Abby pointed out.

“Well, I am not going to let you leave here all alone in the middle of a blizzard,” Jake insisted. He was not about to budge.

* * * *

             
Abby knew she had no choice but to let him accompany her home. The squaring of his shoulders and firm set of his jaw told her that he was not going to allow any other option if she chose to leave.

With a roll of her eyes, she muttered, “If you insist, but I want you to know that I am completely capable of taking care of myself.” Jake shrugged into his own coat,put his hand on Abby’s arm, and looked at her intently.

“I know you can, but this storm looks pretty terrible, and I couldn’t live with myself if something terrible happened to you while I was safe here in a warm and dry place that would be perfect for riding out a storm,” he told her with a hint of annoyance.

             
Abby swallowed. Jake’s proximity made her thought process cloudy, but his lightly veiled insult about her leaving made her want to punch him. Even though she was sure she would be fine, she really was secretly glad she wouldn’t have to weather the storm all alone, although she would rather die than admit it.

             
After bundling up with extra care, Abby locked the door, and they made their way across the blanketed parking lot to Abby’s truck. It took several moments as they fought against the wind and heavy snow. When they both were inside the cab, Abby cranked it up and sat there a moment, letting it warm up as they caught their breath. The trek across the lot had required a lot of energy.

             
“Oh my. You were right. It’s awful out here!” Abby exclaimed. If it wasn’t for Connor, she would get out of this truck and camp out in the airport until morning when the storm would be finished passing.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Jake said. She edged slowly out of the parking lot. If she was extra cautious, she was certain she would make it home safely.

             
“I think you are going to probably have to stay the night at my house,” Abby said as she gripped the wheel. “I have a comfy couch, a warm fireplace, and plenty of quilts,” she offered.

“That would be great. I appreciate it, as I have a feeling that only a person who has lost their mind would try to get somewhere in this storm,” Jake said through clenched teeth.

Jake’s snide comments were starting to annoy Abby.

“Look, I didn’t force you to come with me. You can keep your comments to yourself,” Abby told him.

“Geez. Okay, sorry. All this insanity for Connor has me on edge,” he replied.

             
Though the drive was taking considerably longer than normal, Abby let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding in when she turned onto Wildwood Road. Only one more mile and she would be pulling into her driveway.