Mitch flopped restlessly onto his side as he slept. He was in one of those dream states where he was right on the edge of waking but he couldn’t get his eyes to open. And he needed them to open.
He was at a party where he probably shouldn’t have been. But when you’re seventeen, the things you shouldn’t do usually sound like the best ideas. He had a beer in his hand but he didn’t intend to drink it. It was all for show. He also had his eyes on the head cheerleader across the room. The night was promising to be one of the best of his life.
Not the worst.
“Last-Ditch Mitch,” his buddy Tuck called, grabbing his elbow and pulling his attention away from the blond. “Something’s wrong with Tim.”
Mitch turned to Tuck, whose black hair was overgrown, making waves that turned in varying directions on his head. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s sick.”
Tim Sampson was always sick. He was one of those kids, chronically pale, thin, catching every virus in the air. If survival of the fittest were in play, Tim would be the first one to die in their group of friends.
“He’ll be fine,” Mitch said, curling his fingers around his bottle. It’d taken some convincing from his friends to even come tonight but he was glad he did. All the worry that came with being a teenager in a single-parent home had melted away with the crowd, music, and girls.
Tuck gestured at Mitch’s drink. “You’ve barely taken a sip from your beer. I’ve had a whole one. We all have. You should be the one to drive him home.”
Mitch looked at Tuck as if maybe his friend had lost his mind.
“Don’t you remember how Tim almost died last year? After eating the bad burgers?” Tuck pressed. “My parents don’t know about this party. If we call an ambulance, they’ll definitely find out, and I’ll be grounded until college.”
Mitch started to argue but Tuck raised a good point. Tuck came from a strict home, and having the party here tonight while his parents were away would get Tuck grounded for life. He’d probably never see his friend again.
“He only lives a few minutes away. Drop him home and then you can come back and flirt with Tanya.”
Mitch sighed. “Fine. Where’s Tim?” He went in the direction that Tuck pointed and nearly had to carry their scrawny classmate to the door. The air was chilly as they stepped outside. Ice had been forming every night lately, and Mitch had to watch his step on the pavement to make sure he and Tim didn’t bust their asses as they walked.
With Tim secured in the passenger seat, he got behind the wheel and jabbed the keys in the ignition of his mom’s car. She worked for the prestigious Everson family in the daytime and usually let him have the car in the afternoons and evenings to go to his job at the local diner. That’s where she thought he was tonight. He felt mildly guilty for lying to her but he deserved to be a normal kid like his friends sometimes too. Right?
He turned on his headlights and took to the winding mountain roads, trying to remember which turn led to Tim’s house. “Hey, Tim.” He nudged his friend, trying to get his attention. “Tim?”
Tim stirred in the seat beside him.
“Which road do you live on, man?” Mitch reached over and gave his friend’s shoulder a harder shake.
“I don’t feel so great,” Tim moaned. “I think I’m going to barf.”
“No, no, no.” Mitch glanced across the seat. “Please don’t vomit in my mom’s car. She’ll kill me, dude.” And he’d be busted on his lie. He hated disappointing his mom. She was always working so hard.
Tim lurched forward, making a gurgling sound as he did.
No, no, no!
Mitch grabbed an empty fast-food bag from the floor and started to shove it into Tim’s lap. Then a sharp squeal shot terror into his lungs. Mitch whipped his head up to look at the road and saw only lights, so blinding that he yanked the steering wheel right, but not before something hit the front of his car, throwing his mom’s old Cavalier into a tailspin on a patch of black ice.
The moment seemed suspended in time. One split second seemed to float like one of the snowflakes starting to fall from the sky. A million thoughts raced through his mind.
What is happening?
What did I hit?
Is this the end?
His mom would be so disappointed. So lost without his dad and now him too. How could he do this to her?
The moment broke, and Mitch’s head slammed forward into the steering wheel, bouncing off like a rubber ball. Pain, like a lightning bolt, seared his brain. Then Tim’s body fell into his lap like a rag doll.
Is he dead?
The car finally came to a slamming halt against the guardrail. Or maybe they’d gone over, had fallen down the mountain, and this was death.
Mitch’s eyes cracked open, a splinter of light jabbing into his pupils.
Tim stirred on his lap. Still alive. Still in one piece—hopefully.
Turning, Mitch saw the SUV he’d hit rolled over on the other side of the road. He knew deep in his gut that the accident had been his fault. He had dipped to get a paper bag for Tim, taken one hand off the steering wheel as fate had tossed black ice in his path. Instead of turning into the spin, he’d jerked the wheel. His driver’s education teacher had taught him better but that training had gone out the window in his terror.
Mitch focused on the SUV, thinking it looked familiar in the beam of his broken headlights. He knew the person who drove it but in his groggy state he couldn’t remember who it was.
Sirens sang in the distance. Please get here. Please help us. A passerby had pulled over on the roadside now and was running toward the scene of the accident.
Accident. It was all a terrible, horrible accident. He hadn’t intended for any of this to happen. Hopefully everyone would be okay, and he’d just be grounded from now until he went to the police academy next year with Alex. Watching the SUV, with no sign of life inside, he had a sinking feeling that wouldn’t be the case.
* * *
Mitch’s eyes flung open. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin. He blinked in the darkness, making sense of his surroundings. He glanced over at the dark figure lying next to him in bed. Kaitlyn. That hadn’t been a dream. She was real.
They hadn’t had sex but he’d wanted to. All those years of practicing self-control in the marine corps had paid off. Kaitlyn wouldn’t be waking up with any regrets related to him this morning. He didn’t want her to wake up next to him sweating and shivering like this either.
Careful not to wake her, he got out of bed and pulled some jogging clothes and sneakers out of his bag on the floor. He needed to go work off his pent-up sexual energy and frustration before showering.
After dressing, he slipped out of the bedroom and then the front door. He hopped into his truck and drove to his favorite jogging spot at Evergreen Park. It was still dark out, but he didn’t mind. He locked up his truck and started down the path.
Between his interaction with Kaitlyn last night and his nightmare about the accident, he was ready to implode: physically, mentally, and emotionally. He upped his speed, running from the weight of it all, but it stayed steady on his shoulders.
Up ahead he could hear the natural hot springs. The sound called to him as each foot pounded the earth.
Then the image of Kaitlyn’s lace lingerie popped into his mind. What was he going to do about her? He didn’t have a clue. He hoped it would come to him by the time he got back to the B&B. He had a feeling she still might use that fireplace poker on him if provoked.
Which he might’ve done last night.
* * *
Kaitlyn rolled over and stared at the empty space beside her in bed. Before nodding off last night, Mitch had turned on his side, away from her, and he went to sleep without a second thought. Then apparently, after she’d finally drifted off, he’d slipped away. He’d rejected her and then decided he didn’t even want to stay in the same bed as her.
Jerk.
Blowing out a breath, she sat up on the edge of the bed. The clock read five a.m. She supposed she needed to get up and start preparing to be the happy host for her house full of guests. She headed into the bathroom, showered and dressed, and then dragged herself down the hall to the kitchen. Mitch was nowhere to be seen. A quick glance out the window revealed that his truck was missing too. Maybe he’d gone back to his mom’s place. Gah—she shouldn’t have thrown herself at him last night. What was she thinking?
“Need a hand?”
She jumped and whirled to face Paris. He was dressed in his usual jeans and black T-shirt. She wondered if he owned anything else. “You know how to cook?” she asked.
“I didn’t survive this long on cold cereal.” He went to the sink, washed his hands, and then started collecting ingredients from the fridge. She had been doing this routine for a couple weeks now, and she was getting good at it. It was nice to have help though.
“You are a godsend, you know,” she said as she beat eggs in a bowl.
“I could say the same. I got on my bike and headed down here without planning for a place to stay. I’m glad your inn had a room for me.”
“Me too.”
She and Paris prepared enough food to feed a dozen people and set the tables just as the first guests started to arrive downstairs. More guests spilled into the dining room a few minutes later and took their seats. Kaitlyn had decorated the tables yesterday, setting floral bouquets inside mason jars at each one, creating a cheerful environment.
Mr. Krespo pulled out a chair for Mrs. Krespo. The old woman eyed him suspiciously. “You’re going to pull that out from under me when I go to sit,” Mrs. Krespo accused, talking loudly enough for the other guests to hear.
“I would never do that, sweetheart. That’s your paranoia and dementia talking.”
“I don’t have those two things. Are you trying to lock me away so you can find some other hot, young thing to live out the rest of your days with?”
“No, I’m trying to be more romantic. That’s what you said you wanted, remember?”
Mrs. Krespo shook her head. “By trying to kill me?”
Mr. Krespo’s hands flew up at his sides in surrender. “I give up.”
“Want me to do damage control?” Paris offered.
Kaitlyn shook her head. “No, I’ve got this.” She walked over and grabbed the back of the chair that Mr. Krespo had already pulled out. “Why don’t you have a seat, Mrs. Krespo, and I’ll bring your breakfast?”
Mrs. Krespo gave her a suspicious look too but Kaitlyn had no reason to do the older woman harm. On the contrary, if Kaitlyn harmed Mrs. Krespo, she had a feeling the older woman would go after her for all this place was worth, which still wasn’t much.
The older lady sat and frowned at her husband, who took a seat next to her.
“There you go. Why don’t you two talk while I get breakfast for you?” Kaitlyn gave a slight nod at Mr. Krespo when he looked up at her. “Maybe talk about what you’d like to do today,” she suggested, and then grabbed a nearby brochure. She laid it on the table in front of Mrs. Krespo. “This might give you some ideas. I recommend going downtown and walking along Silver Lake. Dawanda’s Fudge Shop sells hot chocolate nearby. You might stop there after your walk.”
Before Mrs. Krespo could argue with the suggestion, Kaitlyn walked away to get the serving dishes passed around. Then she sat down with Paris, Chris, and Nate.
“How was your stay last night?” she asked them as she filled her own plate.
“Wonderful. Much better than it would have been at your mom and dad’s anyway,” Chris said, looking at his partner.
Kaitlyn looked between them. “If you don’t mind me asking, why won’t your mom let you two share a room, Nate?”
He shrugged. “She’s still getting used to the idea that we’re not just friends, I guess. We’re married now, and there won’t be any grandchildren for her.”
“Not in the traditional way, at least,” Chris said, smearing strawberry jam on his biscuit. “We can adopt,” he told Nate. “I love kids.”
“Me too.” Nate turned back to Kaitlyn. “My mom sometimes takes a while to come around but she usually does. This just means that Chris and I might be booking more nights at your inn over the next couple of years.”
“Well, you’re always welcome,” Kaitlyn told them. “And if you have any suggestions to make the stay better, please feel free to tell me. I’m still learning the ropes of running a bed and breakfast. This is all very new to me.”
Chris shook his head. “I can’t think of any recommendations. It’s absolutely perfect here.”
They continued to make small talk, and then Nate leaned over to Chris and whispered loudly. “Chris, why don’t you ask her?”
“Ask me what?” Kaitlyn looked between them.
“Well”—Nate grimaced slightly—“Chris and I can’t figure out which one of the guys who work here is your partner.”
“Business partner?” she asked.
“No, partner partner,” Chris said.
The room suddenly went very quiet.
“I mean, you were with the big guy with the beard last night,” Nate said.
“That’s Mitch,” Chris offered and then nodded at Paris. “But you’re eating breakfast with him.”
Paris started choking on a bite of his biscuit. “I’m just a guest here,” he said when he finally swallowed. “Kaitlyn and I are just friends.” He looked at her. “Once you’ve shared a Thanksgiving dinner together, you’re officially friends, right?”
Kaitlyn nodded, a little stunned by the Trapps’ question. “Yes. We’re definitely friends. Just friends,” she told the group.
“So, the other guy, Mitch, is your boyfriend? I say boyfriend because there’s no ring on your finger.” Nate nodded at her left hand.
She pulled her hand back from the table. When she’d decided to be the host here, she’d had no idea she would be the object of such speculation. “I’m single, actually. Mitch is also just a, um…um…” She had no clue what Mitch was to her. Maybe they weren’t even friends anymore.
“Sex toy?” Mrs. Krespo asked from across the room. “That’s how me and Marvin started out too. Sex buddies, and then he knocked me up.”
The room filled with gasps. Then Missy and Joe started giggling uncontrollably.
“You laugh,” she said, pointing a finger at Joe, “but I sure hope you used protection with her last night, young man, or your good times are over. Once the baby comes along, all the fun is sucked right out of life. No more staying at fancy bed and breakfasts like this one. Not until you’re old like me, at least. And by then you’re no longer attracted to one another.” Mrs. Krespo gave a pointed look at Mr. Krespo, who was busy keeping his head down and nibbling on his bacon.
Awkward.
Kaitlyn made a mental note to offer Mr. Krespo some more tips that might put him back in favor with Mrs. Krespo. He’d told Kaitlyn over the phone that his wife wanted romance. Kaitlyn could certainly help with that.
The front door to the house opened, and Kaitlyn heard heavy footsteps in the living room. Her breath stuttered in her chest.
“You go check on who it is,” Paris said. “I can help out here if anyone needs something. That’s what friends are for.” He winked.
“Thanks.” Relieved to distance herself from the conversation, she headed to the front, even though she already knew who was here. The only person who would enter without ringing the doorbell.
“Sounds like everyone is already having breakfast,” Mitch said when she rounded the corner and stopped to look at him. He was sweaty and dressed in jogging clothes, and something about that turned her on.
Which also infuriated her. After last night, she didn’t want to be attracted to him.
“The guests started coming down early. Paris helped. In fact, I think I can handle things on my own from here on out. You can just come by during the day for the next month to satisfy the conditions of the will.”
His gaze was steadfast. “Kaitlyn, I’m trying to be a good guy here.”
She folded her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Good guys don’t make plays for a woman when they know they aren’t staying.”
She shook her head. “If you’re so eager to leave, then why did you agree to stay in the first place, Mitch? Why didn’t you just go?”
“I couldn’t do that to Mable. Or to you.”
“I was a stranger. You didn’t owe me anything.” Tears burned in her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him though. No way, no how.
“Kaitlyn.” He took a step closer. “You’re upset about last night. I get it.”
“Last night was poor judgment on my part. I’m glad you wanted nothing to do with me. I couldn’t be happier that you saw me with my shirt off, then rolled over and started snoring.”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it,” he said. “I did want you. I think that was pretty obvious.”
The image of his heated gaze on her flicked across her mind. He hadn’t turned away immediately when she’d stripped off her top. “What’s obvious is that you and I could never work together. I don’t know what my grandma was thinking when she set up this arrangement.”
“Kaitlyn,” he said, reaching for her hand, “it’s not that I didn’t want to have sex with you. Because believe me, I did.”
Her body temperature dialed up.
“Ahem.”
Both Kaitlyn and Mitch snapped their attention to the corner where a few of the guests stood watching them. Kaitlyn pulled her hand away from Mitch’s.
“Hi, guys,” Paris said. “Um, sorry for interrupting this, um…”
“Lovers’ quarrel,” Mrs. Krespo called behind him. “That’s what you call this.” She seemed to be an expert on everything this morning.
“No.” Kaitlyn shook her head but she couldn’t explain away what the guests had just witnessed. Mitch had just mentioned her and sex in the same sentence. “We’re not lovers,” she said before turning and walking toward the kitchen to clean up.
And not being lovers was the problem.
* * *
Mitch ran his forearm across the layer of perspiration on his forehead. He’d worked himself into a sweat setting up spotlights to shine on Mable and Henry’s wooden cutouts that he’d put out on Thanksgiving morning. People loved to drive around and look at decorations this time of year. In addition to spotlights, Mable had always insisted the house be strung with lights from top to bottom. Mitch had always helped Henry with the lot while Henry fussed and complained under his breath.
Damn, he missed Henry just as much as he did Mable. Those two made Christmas nice. And they’d always taken Mitch to the Lights on the Lake event while his mom watched the inn when he was growing up.
After last night, he guessed he didn’t have to worry about taking Kaitlyn to the event anymore. As angry as she was, she may never talk to him again.
Done, he carried his ladder back to the shed and retreated to his truck. He needed a shower but he wasn’t about to go in the room he and Kaitlyn had shared last night to grab clean clothes or rinse off. He wasn’t crazy. He had clothes at his mom’s house. She would let him shower there, and he guessed maybe he’d stay the night with his mom too. He supposed he’d be staying the next month with her.
Mitch rounded the corner of Mistletoe Lane and pulled into the driveway of the second house on the right. He got out of the truck and walked up the porch steps of his childhood home, remembering how he used to race out the front door when his dad drove up from work every evening. He’d idolized the man. His dad was the exact kind of guy he’d hoped to be. The kind he’d never live up to, no matter how hard he tried.
“Mom?” he called, as he stepped inside the house.
“Mitch. What a surprise. I thought you’d be busy with the duties of hosting a bed and breakfast.” She walked through the living room in her bathrobe.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” he asked. The mother he knew was always dressed before sunup. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
She waved a hand. “Stop treating me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re my parent and not the other way around. It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I worked hard and ate too much. I’m taking the day off if that’s okay with you.”
He kissed her temple and sat on the couch, waiting for her to sit across from him in the recliner. He couldn’t help scrutinizing her every movement. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Never better.” She wiggled back into the chair and looked up at him. “I’m taking the vitamins like Dr. Jacobs told me to, and I’m already feeling much better. I have the energy of a twenty-year-old, in fact.”
He pointed a finger. “I know you. Just because you have renewed energy doesn’t give you a license to double your workload. Have you gotten your lab results back yet? Maybe we should call and see what the holdup is.”
“I’m fine, Mitch. I promise. You, on the other hand, are not,” she said. “I can see it on your face. What’s going on?”
He leaned forward over his knees and blew out a breath. “I got in a fight with Kaitlyn. I wish I didn’t have to stay and fulfill Mable’s final wishes. It’s time for me to get out of Sweetwater Springs.”
His mom was quiet for a long moment. “For such a brave man, which you are, you always seem to be running.”
“I’m not running. I just don’t belong here. You know that. I’m just idling while I wait for the security job to open up in January.”
“You could find temporary employment here until then.”
“In Sweetwater Springs?” He grunted. “There’s no money to be made here.”
“Money? Is that what this is about, Mitchell Douglas?” she said with a scoff. “I don’t care about money. And I didn’t raise you to care about it either.”
“I need to make sure you’re provided for.”
“You’ve spent the last ten years making sure I was well taken care of, sending me money that I never asked for.” She lifted her chin stubbornly. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m the parent? I support you, not vice versa.”
“You lost the job with the Eversons because of me. For the past decade you’ve worked twice as hard for half as much, and that’s my fault. So sue me if I just want to make sure you’re taken care of.” And judging by how run-down she looked, he wasn’t doing a very good job. “I shouldn’t have let you prepare Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.”
“Nonsense. I don’t need taken care of. All I need is for my son to be happy. And you’re not happy.”
Happy. Mitch had experienced bouts of that since coming back here, which surprised him. Most of that had to do with Kaitlyn but he’d messed that up just like he had every good thing in his life.
He ran a hand over his head, missing the way his crew cut used to bristle at the touch. Now his marine corps crop was grown out. He’d liked it last night when Kaitlyn’s fingers had sifted through his longer hair while they’d kissed beside the tree though. Right before she’d invited him to her bed and taken off her shirt.
He cleared his throat, shaking that thought away. “I’m not staying at the B and B tonight.”
“Well, where are you staying, then?” his mom asked.
He thought it was a joke at first but her expression was deadpan. “Here.”
She grimaced. “Sorry, honey. I gave the guest room to your aunt Nettie tonight. She’s arriving in about an hour. Better late than never for Thanksgiving, right? Which I guess means I need to get up and get dressed.”
Mitch furrowed his brow. “Okay, well, I can sleep on the couch.”
“I don’t think so, dear. You know how Aunt Nettie and I are once we get together. We stay up all hours, watching movies and laughing.” His mom shook her head. “I could really use a girls’ night with her. You’re the one always telling me I need to relax and have fun. This’ll do that for me.”
Aunt Nettie was his father’s sister but she and his mom were as close as if they were blood related. “So I can’t stay here?” he clarified. “In the home that you said would always be open to me?”
“It is. Just not while your aunt Nettie is here. I suggest you make up with Kaitlyn before sunset.” She shifted and stood back up.
“Seriously? You don’t want my help and then refuse to give me a place to stay?” He said it teasingly but his world was being turned upside down right now. Where was he going to stay tonight? Even if he made up with Kaitlyn, the only room available at the inn was her room, in her bed—and that had been a disaster last night. He didn’t want to repeat it. And he didn’t think he had enough self-control to last another night without giving in to his desire and ravaging Kaitlyn’s body.
He got up and headed toward the door.
“Where are you going?” his mom asked.
“To find a place to stay. Not at the B and B. I’ll check with Tuck or Alex.” And if they couldn’t help, he’d get a room at a hotel up the mountain—although they might be full because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Just don’t run from that beautiful woman too long. She’s a jewel. Some other man is liable to snap her up.”
Mitch didn’t bother acknowledging that comment. First off, he wasn’t running. Secondly, Kaitlyn finding another man was exactly what he was afraid of. He wasn’t supposed to be interested in or attracted to her. Wasn’t supposed to care about her in a way that went beyond a business relationship.
Stepping outside, he took a moment to breathe in the fresh mountain air. There was no place on earth that cleared his lungs so easily. And no place where he felt more claustrophobic either. Fishing his cell phone out of his pocket, he tapped on Alex’s contact in his list and thumbed the phone number. Alex had an extra guest room that Mitch had stayed in during past visits to Sweetwater Springs.
“What’s up, man?” Alex asked in lieu of a hello.
“Hey, buddy. I need a place to stay tonight,” Mitch said.
“Thought you were staying with Mable’s granddaughter now,” Alex teased.
Word in a small town traveled about as quickly as an echo from Wild Blossom Bluffs. “Not anymore,” he said.
“Tuck and I are actually meeting up at the Tipsy Tavern tonight for our own little post–turkey day celebration. Why don’t you join us?”
“A drink sounds great, actually,” Mitch said, sucking in some more of the cool mountain air. If he could bottle up this stuff and take it with him when he left, he’d be good to go.
“Great,” Alex said. “I’ll head over there around seven.”
“See you then.” Mitch hung up and headed back inside. No matter if his mom didn’t have a bed for him tonight, he still needed a shower. He’d needed an ice-cold one since last night. Between that and a few drinks with the guys tonight, he planned to get his head on straight before facing Kaitlyn again.