Chapter 3

Chris swallowed the last of his pint and set his glass down on the counter. Three was enough. As it was, after three pints, he’d have to walk around for a while and chug a couple glasses of water before attempting the drive back to Winslow. 

His cell phone chimed, indicating that he had a text message, followed by a beep that indicated an email. He read both. One was from Jenna, the other from Kendall, both wondering where he had been hiding for the past few months. Five messages in all today. All from different women. Unfortunately none were from the one woman he would have liked them to be. But if he didn’t get the hell off his ass and meet her, that was never going to happen.

The bartender eyed him cautiously, ready to ask if he was driving before pouring him another pint.

“No more,” Chris assured him.

“Good, because I wasn’t planning on giving you anymore.”

Chris chuckled. He appreciated the honesty. And the vigilance. “Maybe I’ll have some water though.”

Nick Callen poured a large mug full. “It’s free. And so is the advice.”

“Ah, you’re that kind of bartender.”

“That kind?”

“The wannabe therapist kind.”

“Actually I’m a writer. I just got into bartending”—Nick glanced across the room at the other bartender—“to be near a certain woman.”

Chris was grinning now. “Did it work?”

Nick winced. “After a grueling courtship of which she was completely unaware—yeah. Only took me five months to get her to go out with me.”

“Five months?” Not so bad. It had been seven months since he’d first seen Anne dance. Okay, so he had flown around the country to do several photo shoots and articles since he’d first seen her perform in San Francisco, but there was still no excuse for not having introduced himself.

“It wasn’t until I learned to ride a horse for her that she even considered,” the bartender continued. “When you’re up against a heart that’s had a stone castle erected around it and a woman as stubborn as Skye—”

Skye. If Chris wasn’t mistaken, she was the other bartender. Anne’s friend. “Okay, maybe I will take you up on that advice.”

“Good.” Nick slapped the towel on the counter and leaned forward. “And just so you know, I’m well aware that the woman who is the reason for your drinking one more beer than you can handle and drive, is a certain local dancer.”

“Shit. This town is way too small.”

“Village,” Nick corrected.

“Did Palmer tell you?”

“Didn’t have to. You’ve been following Anne around ever since she got back from her dance tour.” Nick’s eyes opened wider. “But my hunch is, it’s been a lot longer than that. You’re the photographer that Sophie mentioned. Right?”

What was this guy? Psychic? And who the hell was Sophie?

“Well, yeah, I am a photographer.”

“And you’ve been in Canden Valley before, taking pictures of Anne at the studio. And then when she left on tour, you left town as well, returning shortly after she did. Coincidence?”

Shit, had he landed in the middle of the Twilight Zone? “How the hell do you know all this about me?”

“I’m a writer. I make my living observing things . . . and people.”

“Do you observe all your customers this closely?”

“Nope. Just the ones who are smitten with my soon-to-be family members. Anne and my fiancée, Skye, are cousins.”

“Shit, so this entire conversation will undoubtedly be related to your fiancée who will in turn, tell Anne all the pathetic details of my interest in her.”

Nick looked across the room and spotted Skye sitting down at a table with her Cousin Kelly and figured he had about six minutes before she’d be interrupting this conversation. “Consider it bartender-to-customer confidentiality.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Now, tell me, where did you meet her?”

Chris grimaced. “I haven’t yet.”

“I see we have our work cut out for us.”

“Us?”

“Just passing it forward. Skye’s brother Sean took pity on me and taught me to ride a horse—which turned out to be the way to her heart.”

“So, you weren’t kidding about learning to ride a horse.”

“’Fraid not. I’m not the most natural rider on the ranch.”

Chris laughed and took a long drink of the water Nick had poured him. “That bad?”

“Worse. In case you haven’t noticed, the McCullough cousins grew up on the back of a horse. Anne’s mother Nan is the best trainer and rider this side of the Colorado River, or so I hear. And her brother Alex taught most of the cousins to ride.”

“Well, I’m fortunate there. I learned to ride as a kid as well. Do you think it will help—”

“It won’t hurt. But how’s your dancing?”

“Not bad, but that’s just the social kind. Nothing like what Anne’s capable of.”

“Yeah, well, not too many people can do what she does.” Nick raised an eyebrow and refilled Chris’s water glass. “So tell me, why haven’t you just gone up and introduced yourself and asked her out?”

Chris blew out his breath. “I don’t take rejection well.”

“How do you know she’ll reject you?”

“I’ve observed her for a while. I know her M.O. If she even agrees to go out with me, she’ll reject me within a week or two unless I’m one of the lucky ones. Then she’ll let me stick around until her next tour.”

Nick was impressed. The man had done his homework. “In other words, you’re in it for the long haul.”

“Well, I haven’t stuck around all this time for a fling.”

“Okay, so, if you’ve never even spoken to Anne, how do you know her so well that you’d want a serious relationship with her?”

“I’ve watched her dance and taken enough close-ups to know her better than most people know each other after several dates.”

Nick got it, but then he’d fallen head over heels after a two-minute conversation with Skye. Nothing particularly profound. He was asking directions to the river. “Okay, I have to concede, the direct approach might not be the best. How about telling her you’re a photographer and you’re doing a piece on dancers.”

“I am. And she’s the featured dancer.”

Nick shook his head in bewilderment. “So, what’s the problem? It’s a good way for her to get to know you and for you to spend time together and work up to asking her out.”

“That’s the plan, now that we’re both in the same place at the same time for more than a day. But I would like to be sure she’ll give me the time of day when I finally do introduce myself.”

“If you put it on a professional basis, you don’t have anything to lose.”

“Is that what you did?”

“For several months, Skye thought I was a bartender who took the job here because I needed it. She didn’t know I was a writer who picked up and moved from San Francisco and was tending bar just to be near her.”

Chris was beginning to see why Palmer Burnett had recommended that he get to know Nick. “San Francisco?”

“Yep. I left the big city and moved to Canden Valley to win her heart. Lived in the studio apartment upstairs and learned to mix drinks and ride a horse.”

“I’d say we have quite a bit in common.”

“You’re from the city too?”

“Grew up in Marin County. Recently I’ve been staying in Winslow with my sister. But your boss handed me the key to the apartment upstairs. As soon as the current occupant finishes cleaning it, it’s mine.”

Nick grinned. He loved the tiny one-room apartment. It was, after all, his and Skye’s love-nest. Speaking of Skye . . . “Uh, it looks as if we’re about to be interrupted.” He scribbled down his cell number and slipped it across the bar. “Call me, and we can meet for a more private talk.”

“I’ll do that.” Chris pocketed the number as Skye sauntered toward them. “I appreciate it. I need all the help I can get.”

Nick grinned. He knew the feeling all too well.

“Hey, Cowboy, who’s your friend?”

Hmm, an ironic nickname? Nick didn’t quite seem the cowboy type. Chris reached past Nick to shake Skye’s hand. He had a feeling her approval would mean a lot to Anne. “Christopher Newell. Pleased to meet you.”

“You too. I’m Skye McCullough.”

Chris pushed back his barstool and stood up.

Skye gazed intently at the man across from her, struggling not to reveal her amusement. “You’re not leaving on my account, I hope?”

He smiled at the woman who had his new friend wrapped around her little finger. Now that he was standing only a few feet away from her, he wondered how he hadn’t realized that she was Anne’s cousin. Same dark brown hair. Same blue eyes. “Not at all,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

“I’m sure you will,” Skye said. “Now sit down.”

Nick recognized Skye’s tone of voice and knew they were in trouble.

Skye turned back to her fiancé, a glare on her face. “Okay, so what were you two conspiring?”

“What makes you think we were conspiring, Sweet Pea?”

“You’re not the only observant one in this relationship.” Her eyes narrowed. “Nick Callen, were you planning to keep secrets from me?”

He winced and stepped away from his five-foot, four-inch fiancée who had the meanest slap upside the head in all of Canden Valley to say nothing of her towel-flicking skills. “Hey, we just met. What could we possibly be conspiring?”

“He’s been in here several times.” She turned back to Chris. “Haven’t you?”

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had a feeling Skye was the cousin he did not want to mess with. “Uh, yes,” he mumbled, “But this is the first time we’ve actually talked.”

“About?”

Nick cringed. Now he was moving into dangerous territory—out of the realm of keeping something from her to actually lying.

“Well?”

“Uh, we have some things in common,” he hedged.

“What things?”

“I’m a freelance writer. Chris is a freelance photographer. We’re both from the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Skye considered letting him suffer longer, but he was so irresistible with that guilty little boy look on his face that she took pity on him.” And you’re both crazy about McCullough cousins.”

Damn. “How did you know?” Chris asked.

“As if you haven’t been watching every move my Cousin Anne makes.” Her smile came slowly as if a light were going off in her head. This was the photographer Sophie saw taking pictures of Anne at her dance studio and then at the Dunedin Inn when they were out dancing. This was serious.

“Wait a minute,” Nick said, bravely taking a step closer. “You’ve been observing a man lusting after your best friend, yet you haven’t told her?”

“Lusting?” Chris said. “I haven’t exactly been lusting.”

But neither Nick nor Skye seemed to hear him.

“Are you crazy?” Skye said. “You know Anne. If she had an inkling of how infatuated the guy is with her, she’d chase him out of town.”

“Infatuated?” Chris murmured to himself. “I suppose that’s as good a word as any.” He wasn’t so fond of the chasing him out of town part.

Still not hearing him, Nick stepped even closer to his fiancée, a bold grin on his face. “She is a lot like my favorite McCullough cousin.”

“Ha! Anne only goes for superficial—sure to be temporary—relationships.”

Chris was glad to know he’d gotten that part right. Well, not exactly glad, but at least it confirmed his assessment of the dancer’s dating habits.

Nick chuckled, and Skye’s cheeks turned pink as she realized she was describing herself—before she fell for him. “Okay, but Anne is a lot more stubborn than I am.”

Nick cocked his head to the side.

“Okay, maybe not. But I came around, didn’t I?”

Nick’s hands went around her tiny waist, and suddenly he was wishing that the house they had rented wasn’t two blocks away. “You did indeed.”

Recognizing the seductive look in his eyes, Skye smiled up at him as she took a step back. “Watch it, Cowboy. You gave up your studio upstairs, remember?”

“I remember,” Nick groaned. “Unfortunately.”

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. “Be my guests,” he said, but the couple was too preoccupied to hear him.

Skye stepped toward Nick and reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Maybe when Marty shows up for her shift, I’ll ask Uncle Palmer to cover for me for a bit, and we can sneak off home.”

“Sounds good to me.” Nick took a deep breath and struggled to focus on their conversation. “Uh, what were we talking about again?”

“I was saying that I’d just like to see Anne as happy as I am.”

“And you think she’ll be happy with me?” Chris asked.

They glanced up at him in surprise as if remembering that he was there. “Not sure why, but I like you.” Skye studied him for a moment. “And the fact that you’re still interested in her after what—six, seven months—says a lot.” And the fact that he had studied her through the lens of a camera and seemed to understand her passion for dance gave him a big advantage over the other men Anne had dated.

“What does it say?” Nick asked, winking at Chris. “That he’s tough enough to put up with the torment of a female McCullough cousin?”

“Pretty much. But hey, we’re not all like that.”

“True.” Nick waved good-bye to Skye’s cousin and Palmer’s daughter Kelly as she headed into the office to see her dad. “Some of the cousins are very sweet. You and Anne just aren’t two of them.”

“Hey!”

“Do you disagree?”

“Okay. Anne and I are probably the toughest on men.” Although her Cousin Megan was very adept at giving the male of the species fits as well. “But for good reason.”

Her fiancé already knew her reason. And Anne’s? Skye sighed as she considered her own question. She was afraid of having to give up herself and her dancing if she got too involved with a man. Skye understood. Dance was her cousin’s life. She just needed to find a man who understood and accepted that. And she had a strong feeling Christopher Newell could be that man.

She took another step closer to Nick and encircled his waist with her arms, glancing over at Chris. “So, tell me what I can do to help.”