Stay With Me, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 5) (5 page)

“I don’t need…”

Eli waved a hand and cut him off. “Sure, you can start the day in that t-shirt, but you’ll feel better if you don’t. I could care less how you look, but you’ll smell like fish by the end of the day, so you might as well start off right. I’ve got t-shirts coming out of my ears, so don’t worry about it.”

Ryan’s nodded quickly and ran back upstairs. In seconds, he returned with the clean t-shirt on. Eli’s stomach felt hollow. Seeing his little brother after all these years made him feel strange. He wanted to skip fishing and take Ryan shopping for whatever else he might need. He mentally shook himself. Now was not the time. He had customers on their way and needed to get to the harbor on time.

Not much later, he swung his truck into the small parking lot by Red Truck Coffee, aptly named for the old red square truck in which it was housed. Red Truck Coffee was situated just before the turn onto the road leading to Otter Cover Harbor. As such, Eli stopped here almost every day he came to the harbor in the summer. He and the other regulars kept this place hopping, while the tourists pushed it to overflowing at times. Even now, at a mere six-fifteen in the morning, there was a line.

“Coffee?” he asked, glancing to Ryan before he hesitated. “Wait a minute. Do fourteen-year olds drink coffee?”

Ryan laughed and shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t drink it, but do you think they have anything to eat?” His question came out, and then his face fell. “Never mind. I don’t have any money left,” he mumbled before looking away to stare out the window.

“Ryan, look at me,” Eli said, fighting the anger rising inside. Not anger with Ryan, but anger with his mother. He wasn’t going to pump Ryan for information today, but it was becoming more and more clear that Ryan’s needs, however minimal, had been kicked to the curb. He’d gone in circles with it in his mind last night, considering that Ryan could have runaway for no good reason, but Eli’s gut told him otherwise. Given that Eli had rarely had decent clothes and almost never had any spending money when he was a kid, Ryan’s circumstances were painfully familiar. Eli had hoped the money he deposited for his mother went to help take care of Ryan, but it was looking more likely that was not the case.

Ryan turned away from the window, his eyes guarded. After a quick second of eye contact, his gaze landed on what seemed to be Eli’s shoulder. A ruddy flush covered his face. “Yeah?”

“You don’t need to worry about food or anything like that while you’re here. If you’re hungry, just assume I’ll buy whatever you need. I’m not sure how long you’ll be around, but maybe we can take a run to Kenai for shopping and get you some clothes. I’m thinking you haven’t got much in that little backpack of yours.” He paused to see if Ryan would say anything. When he didn’t, Eli continued. “So, if you want something to eat now, come on.”

Eli didn’t wait for Ryan’s answer and climbed out of the car. As he strode toward the coffee truck, he heard Ryan running behind him to catch up. When they reached the back of the line, Ryan stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets and looked around. “Wow, it’s busy here. Is it usually like this?” he asked as his eyes followed the line of vehicles turning from the highway onto the road and then scanned the cluster of people in line here.

Eli chuckled. “All summer long. Once everyone gets out on the water, the traffic will ease up a little.”

The line moved quickly and within a few minutes, they stood at the counter. “Morning, Cammi,” Eli said to the woman who looked up with a warm smile.

“Hey Eli!” Cammi replied, her blue eyes lighting up when she saw him. Cammi owned Red Truck Coffee and was here almost every day all summer long. She had a ready smile for anyone who came along and remembered the favorites for her regular customers. “Triple shot in the dark?” she asked Eli, tucking a pen behind her ear and brushing her light brown hair out of her eyes. She kept her hair short in a pixie cut, so she reminded Eli of an elf with her warm smile.

“As usual.”

Cammi’s eyes bounced to Ryan and back to Eli with a question in them. “This is Ryan, my little brother,” Eli said.

Cammi’s eyes widened, along with her smile. “Ryan! So nice to meet you. I’m Cammi.” She reached across the narrow counter and offered her hand to Ryan.

He nodded and gave it a hard shake, perhaps too hard, because he dropped her hand quickly. “Sorry.”

Cammi’s smile didn’t waver. “You’ve got a good, strong handshake. No need to apologize. Now what can I get for you?”

“Um, I don’t know. Do you have a muffin or something?”

“I certainly do! Today you can pick from blueberry or raspberry muffins. Do you want something to drink?”

Ryan chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before he answered. “Um, I’ll take blueberry. I don’t drink coffee though, so I don’t know what else you have.”

“I have some sodas and even hot chocolate if you want.”

“Hot chocolate?” Ryan asked.

“Of course! It’ll be chilly for another few hours. Trust me, I sell plenty of hot chocolate.”

Ryan looked to Eli as if he was unsure.

“Go for it. Get whatever you want,” Eli said with a nod.

“Okay, I’ll take the hot chocolate then.”

Cammi grinned. “Coming right up. Give me a sec.”

She whirled around, working the espresso machine with one hand and prepping the hot chocolate with the other. Within moments, she handed the two drinks over and put the blueberry muffin in a bag for Ryan.

“Have fun on the water today!” she called out as they headed back to Eli’s truck.

Hours later, Eli steered the boat through choppy waves and glanced over his shoulder. Ryan had shown himself to be fairly experienced with fishing. Through bits and pieces of conversation throughout the day, he’d learned Ryan often went fishing with a friend’s family. Ryan was also a hard worker. Once he was on the boat, he simply did whatever was asked and offered to help with everything. Eli watched him now as Ryan helped one of the customers work a fishhook out carefully and then carry the salmon in question over to the cooler. The awkwardness he carried dissolved once he was busy working. Cliff had been warm and welcoming, which also helped Ryan get comfortable.

Eli turned to face forward and savored the salty breeze gusting across the bay. It was early afternoon, and they were headed back into the harbor. A good day fishing was about the ideal way to spend a day with his little brother.

J
essa adjusted
her stretchy black skirt over her leggings. “Are you sure I look okay?” she asked Marley.

Marley, her sister-in-law and adored wife of Gage, brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes and adjusted her six-month old daughter in her arms. Holly wiggled mightily and tried to grab ahold of Marley’s hair. “Here, play with this,” Marley said as she snagged a small rubber loop off the kitchen counter and handed it to Holly. Holly immediately began chewing on it. Marley looked up at Jessa and smiled ruefully. “Sorry about that. I’ve only been a mom for six months and I’ve discovered conversation is mostly a series of interruptions.”

Jessa smiled softly and stepped to Marley’s side, looking down at Holly and stroking a finger through her soft brown hair. “She’s so darn cute.”

Marley laughed. “I think so.” She adjusted Holly again and walked over to the couch where she sat down and set Holly inside a small cushioned seat on the couch. Holly kept gnawing away on her toy while Marley leaned back with a sigh and looked over at Jessa. “You look great! What are you so worried about?”

Jessa looked down at her worn cowboy boots, her eyes traveling over her black leggings and skirt and fiddled with the collar on the flowy blue blouse Marley had given her today. She insisted she never wore it, so Jessa should have it. “I don’t know. How do hostesses dress around here? Is this nice enough?”

Marley grinned. “Hon, you could wear rubber boots and jeans, and no one would care. Delia tries to keep the lodge restaurant a step above, but she wouldn’t care if you had to make do. People would think it gave the place added character.”

Jessa sighed and plunked down in the opposite corner of the couch. “I know, but I’m trying to do this right.”

Marley’s expression sobered. “You don’t need to be worried. Delia could use the help more than she’ll ever admit. You look great, and it’ll be fine. Plus, Gage told me you used to wait tables. All you need to do is smile and keep track of who goes where.”

Jessa wasn’t quite sure why she was so nervous. She supposed it was because she wanted to help. She needed to find a way to feel useful since she’d been at loose ends for the last few weeks and facing the reality of cobbling her life back together with next to nothing as a foundation. She scraped by for years on the income from her whimsical furniture, but it had never been enough for her to save. The fire was making her pay a price for that. The owner of her former apartment building had told her she may eventually qualify for an insurance payout to cover costs for relocation, but it would be months before that came through. Not to mention, she hadn’t bothered to obtain renter’s insurance, so the total loss of her belongings wasn’t covered. She needed to have something to latch onto and helping Delia in the restaurant gave her that.

Jessa fiddled with the simple silver chain she wore around her neck and looked over at Marley. “You’re right. I don’t need to worry. As long as you think I look okay, I’m good to go.”

“You look great! What time are you heading downstairs?”

Jessa glanced at the clock on the wall above the windows. “Delia said five was good, so I’ll walk down in a few minutes.” Her eyes fell to the view through the windows. Marley and Gage lived in an expansive private apartment in the ski lodge with windows stretching across the living room and kitchen, affording a wide open view of the ski slopes, the mountains rising tall behind them and an opening in the corner where Kachemak Bay winked under the sun. Jessa had vague memories of coming to visit their grandparents here, but that was it. Her family had moved away months after she was born, so she didn’t share the childhood memories Gage had of Diamond Creek. She recalled coming to visit, warm hugs from their grandmother and running around through the woods as she tried to keep up with her older siblings.

The sun fell through the spruce trees lining the ski slopes, casting lacy shadows on the grassy slopes. With the snow absent in the summer, the slopes were still busy since Gage had set up marked hiking and mountain biking trails. At the moment, two bike riders were zooming down the grassy ski slope, dodging boulders and, as far as Jessa could tell, risking their lives with a wild ride down the mountain. “It’s so beautiful here. Do you ever stop being amazed by the view?” she asked on a sigh, glancing to Marley.

Marley shook her head, her green eyes crinkling at the corners with her smile. “Never. Diamond Creek is amazing, but it took moving away for a decade for me to realize how much I didn’t appreciate it when I was here before. I’ve been back going on two years now, and if I’m having a rough day, all I have to do is look outside. It doesn’t hurt to have one of the best views in town.”

“I’d say,” Jessa replied as she scanned the view again, its beauty both energizing and soothing. “Do you mind living here at the lodge?”

“I wondered if I would, but I love it. This apartment is so private, it feels like our own home. Here and there we’ve talked about maybe building a separate home on the property, but I’m in no hurry. It’s nice to be right here when things come up. If there’s one thing I’ve learned running a lodge like this, something always comes up.”

Jessa’s heart warmed to see Marley like this. When she’d first met Marley, she’d known Marley was the woman for Gage. She was the first woman he’d ever introduced to the family. Gage was the best kind of brother—kind, protective, strong and helpful—but he was guarded when it came to his own heart. Until he met Marley, Jessa had worried he’d never let down his guard. Since he’d moved back to Diamond Creek, fulfilling his childhood dream, and met Marley, Jessa felt good about where he was with his life. As if on cue, the door to the apartment opened and Gage stepped inside. He walked immediately to the couch to drop a kiss on Holly’s forehead and another in the curve of Marley’s neck. He whispered something in her ear, and two spots of bright color crested on Marley’s cheekbones.

Gage stretched before plopping down in a rocking chair adjacent to the couch, his eyes landing on Jessa. “Did you get settled in today?”

“Of course. There wasn’t much to settle because I don’t have much. The suite is lovely. Thanks for letting my stay for a bit.”

Gage angled his head to the side, his gray eyes assessing. “No thanks necessary. You can stay as long as you like. Move in if you want. I’m just glad you made it out of that fire and you’re here.”

“I’m not going to move in,” Jessa replied, swallowing at the defensiveness that rose inside. She didn’t like needing help like this. “I just need somewhere to land for a bit until I figure out what to do next.”

“Our home is your home,” Marley said firmly. “Don’t you dare try to think you’re in the way. We’re thrilled to have you.”

Jessa felt that knot of tension she’d been carrying ease just a little but more. She took a breath and let it out. She’d do anything for her family, so she needed to realize it might be okay to accept help in return. “Thank you. It’s been a long few weeks. It’s good to be here,” she finally said. At that moment, the clock on the wall chirped like a bird. She glanced up at it and then between Marley and Gage.

Gage chuckled. “Garrett brought that over after he saw how much Holly likes this little toy she has that makes bird sounds.”

Jessa grinned. “It’s awesome! Time for me to go. Are you two coming down for dinner?”

Marley nodded. “Oh yeah. I’ve pretty much given up cooking dinner since we had Holly. We’ll be down for a little bit even if it’s just to grab something from the buffet.”

Jessa made her way downstairs and within an hour, she’d completely forgotten why she’d ever been nervous. She loved talking with people and found the customers at the lodge restaurant to be a varied bunch, a mix of locals and tourists from all over the world. Since the restaurant was crazy busy, Jessa found herself constantly manning the waitlist and chatting with the customers while they waited. Harry Lawson, Delia’s front manager, ran Jessa through the paces of what she needed to know and then left her to her own devices. He breezed by occasionally and threw encouraging smiles at her, even swinging by to deliver a glass of wine.

“I can drink when I’m working?” Jessa asked, amused by the idea.

Harry winked as he set the glass down with a flourish on the reception desk. “A glass a night is fine. Plus, you’re taste testing. This is a gooseberry wine from Diamond Creek Brewery. They mostly do beer, but they’ve been expanding into wines lately. You can let me know what you think and maybe we’ll serve it here.”

“Oh, sign me up! I love wine, but I’ve never even heard of gooseberry wine.” She lifted the glass and sniffed it. “It smells delicious,” she said as she glanced into Harry’s dark eyes. Harry was dark and angular—dark brown hair with eyes to match and a thin frame. He appeared to love his job and thrived on the restaurant running at full speed. He nodded at Jessa’s comment. “It does smell good, doesn’t it? Tell me what you think.”

She took a sip, the flavor rich and warm. “Wow! That’s really good.”

Harry grinned. “I thought so too. Delia wants to make sure enough people like it before she buys it. I’m leaving this bottle here,” he paused and lifted the bottle in his hand. “You can offer small glasses while people wait if they want to try it. I figure that might give us a good sample.”

“Perfect! Hand it over.” She carefully took the bottle from him and set in on the desk. She’d noticed the desk was stocked with small wineglasses earlier, so she opened the cabinet doors, pulled out some glasses and lined them in a semi-circle around the bottle of wine.

Harry smiled approvingly and gave a wave as he dashed off. He seemed to mostly spin about the restaurant, always in motion, always doing something. Customers loved him with his light and easy humor and engaging manner that made it feel as if you’d somehow known him forever. Jessa appreciated how welcoming he’d been of her. After he dashed off, she offered the gooseberry wine to the customers already waiting.

Hours later, the last of the customers wandered out into the falling darkness, and she locked the front door behind them. She quickly tidied up the reception area and carried the many wineglasses used for the taste testing into the kitchen on a tray, along with four empty bottles. To say the gooseberry wine was a hit was an understatement. She’d blown through it. When she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen, she walked to the back corner to set the dishes in the massive rack to run through the commercial dishwasher and washed her hands in the sink. She glanced around and smiled. Delia was putting a tray of pastries in the refrigerator, ready for the oven first thing tomorrow morning, Harry was in the far corner entering something in the register there, and one of the line cooks was wiping down the prep counters. The space was calm and quiet.

Delia closed the refrigerator and leaned her hips against the stainless steel table that ran down the center of the kitchen. She reached her hands up to loosen her hair from the haphazard knot atop her head. It fell in honey gold waves around her shoulders. She sighed and glanced over to Jessa, patting the table beside her as she slid up to sit on it. “Have a seat. We can ask Harry to bring us some hard cider.”

Jessa walked to her side and slipped onto the cool table. “I forgot all about your amazing cider. It’s the perfect way to end a busy night.” She glanced around to see Harry had shut off the register and was already headed over to where the cider was kept in the corner. “Hot or cold, ladies?”

“Cold,” Delia called out, arching a brow in question at Jessa.

“Me too!” Jessa added.

“Coming right up,” Harry said, as he snagged two mugs from the hooks above the cider.

Delia leaned back on her hands. “Thanks for helping out tonight. Harry said you did great. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to have you here. Without you, I’d have been running around trying to do ten things at once.”

Harry approached them and handed over the two mugs of cider. “You’re always running around doing ten things at once,” he offered with a grin. “With Jessa here, everything ran smoothly, while it would have been a madhouse without her.” He threw his grin in Jessa’s direction. “You were awesome. The customers loved you, and I’d say we have a definitive vote on the gooseberry wine. What do you think?”

“Well, I blew through four bottles if that’s what you mean.”

Harry chuckled. “Exactly. Even when things are free, if people don’t like it, they take a sip and move on. Once people got seated, they wanted to buy bottles, but we don’t have enough to sell yet.”

Delia took a swallow of her cider. “I’ll call down to the brewery tomorrow and ask how much we can order. Since they just started making it, I’m not sure how much stock they have.”

Jessa swung her feet from the table while Delia and Harry chatted about the menu for the rest of the week. They had a regular menu, but they had a range of daily specials, which were dependent on seasonal products. As the conversation continued, her ears perked up while they discussed which salmon would be running when. Thinking about salmon brought Eli to mind, and she flushed straight through when she recalled their kiss. She didn’t quite know what to think about her attraction to him. All she knew was that kiss with him yesterday had been about the best kiss she’d ever experienced, and she wanted more.

In an effort to distract herself, she started asking questions. “How many kinds of salmon are there up here? I’m a little familiar with it because they sell tons of seafood at markets in Seattle, but I never paid much attention. Just from listening to the customers out front, it seems like there are some opinions about what salmon’s the best.”

“King salmon,” Delia and Harry said at exactly the same moment.

Jessa burst out laughing. “Wow! That was fast. How come people even eat other salmon then if king salmon is so good?”

“It’s all good, well except for pinks. They’re good for smoking and canning, but they can’t compete with the rest. The others are silvers and a few different types of red salmon. You’ll even hear preferences about the same kinds of salmon from different rivers. Like the red salmon that run in China Poot across the bay are much smaller than the reds that run in the Kenai River. The reds that run in the Kasilof River are somewhere in between. You’ll find anyone to argue any of those are the best. King is king, but the rest are awesome too.”