“Avery? Earth to Avery...”
Thirty-five-year-old Avery Winslow snapped out of her thoughts and turned her gaze to her best friend Lisa Gibbons, who was dangling a set of keys in her hand right in front of Avery’s nose and grinning like the proverbial cat who’d eaten the canary.
Avery’s heart welled until she thought it might burst clear out of her chest. She had been waiting absolutely forever for this moment, and now it was finally here. She wanted to pinch herself just to make sure it was real.
Technically, forever had actually only been a few months, but she was one of those people for whom, when she decided to do something, she wanted it done now. It was time to put those dreams into practice. Christmas had just passed, and she was finally able to look after her own interests instead of just her family’s Christmas-tree farm.
“It’s perfect,” Avery murmured. “Don’t you think it’s perfect, Dandy?” she asked the black Lab mix at her heel. She always tried to take one of the service dogs in training from A New Leash on Love, her service dog ministry, with her whenever she went out, and today was no different.
Dandy sat and gestured with a paw.
“Good boy,” she said, slipping him a bit of bacon for exhibiting the proper behavior. To Lisa she said, “See? Even Dandy approves.”
Lisa grinned. “Did I tell you, or did I tell you? The moment I saw it, I knew you’d love it—and Dandy, too,” she said with a laugh. “Gotta get his opinion in there, of course.” She swept her arm toward the cabin in a big gesture that fit Lisa’s gregarious personality, and what made her such a great real estate agent. “Talk about it being worth the wait! The cabin won’t even be formally listed yet for another week, but I managed to speak to the owners and snag the keys so we can take a look inside,” she said in a singsong voice. “Get ready to be blown away. You aren’t going to believe this.”
“Was I impatient?”
“As if you have to ask,” Lisa said with a snort. “You’re pushy, too, by the way. It’s a good thing you picked me to be your real estate agent and not someone else. They’d never understand your motivation the way I do. This is by far the biggest passion project I’ve ever seen you take on. You’re usually too buried in the family businesses’ financials to lift up your head and see the world. You think in spreadsheets.”
“Just tell me what I need to know,” Avery insisted, ignoring Lisa’s jibes. They’d been best friends since kindergarten in Whispering Pines, Colorado, and even though they were now adults and Lisa had a family of her own, they still managed to get together for coffee at least once a month.
So, of course it made perfect sense to hire Lisa as her real estate agent when the timing was right for Avery to set her plans in motion.
As they approached the front door, Lisa supplied more information. “You already know the Meyer family from church. They built this cabin when their brood started growing, and they’ve lived here ever since.”
While Avery was familiar with the Meyers, she’d never visited them at their home. She knew they had five children and were faithful Christians.
“The kids all grew up and moved away,” Lisa continued, “and the place is obviously too big for just the aging couple. Six bedrooms and four baths, plus a separate mother-in-law suite. Tell me it’s not perfect for what you have in mind. It couldn’t get better than that if I’d planned it that way.”
Avery examined the outside of the cabin. Tucked into the woods so it was nice and solitary, the peace surrounding the place was tangible. It was only a fifteen-minute drive to the center of town and ten to Winslow’s Woodlands and the dog rescue, A New Leash on Love, which was the real key to the cabin’s location.
“I adore the gorgeous wraparound porch.” She was in love. And she was already making lists in her head—changes she wanted to make, tools and materials she’d need to purchase. Names of contractors to do the work for her.
Organize and Prioritize. That was her motto. “If I add a porch swing in that corner and some outdoor furniture, along with—”
She’d been about to share her thoughts about year-round landscaping and a vegetable garden, as well as a playground for visiting children, but at that moment, the roar of a car’s engine overtook the sound of her voice.
What on earth?
Suddenly, a shiny red Mustang came around the curve of the driveway at a speed far too fast for the dirt road, and when the vehicle slammed to a stop, it fishtailed and nearly hit the side of Avery’s blue SUV.
Avery gaped, but no sound came from her throat.
Seriously?
Who drove that way, especially on unpaved mountain roads?
“I thought you said the owners wouldn’t be here this afternoon,” she managed to squeak out.
“They aren’t. I can assure you that person is not one of the owners,” Lisa said, annoyance lining her tone. “As you well know, the Meyers are a lovely older couple who are moving to Arizona for retirement. And that—”
The man unfolded himself from the driver’s seat and stood to his full over-six-foot height, let out a whoop of pure pleasure and waved his black cowboy hat in the air before combing his fingers back through his thick, dark hair and settling the hat on his head. He straightened it as if he were looking at his reflection in a mirror and wanted his image to be just so.
Lisa croaked something else out, but it was entirely inaudible.
Two things struck Avery simultaneously. First, the man who’d exited the vehicle was most definitely not even close to retirement age, and second, she’d never seen him before in her life.
It wasn’t so much that they didn’t have strangers occasionally visiting Whispering Pines. Avery’s own family brought in customers from all over Colorado who wanted the full Christmas-tree-cutting experience or who sought to purchase specialized landscaping during the rest of the year. People needed evergreen bushes or aspen trees, and Winslow’s Woodlands offered a little bit of everything. They were known for being the best.
So, yes, there were often strangers in town.
But this man?
He was as out of place as a blue spruce in an orange grove. And he was on land she intended to purchase—before anyone else was supposed to know about it.
Yes, he sported a cowboy hat and boots similar to those that the men around the Pines wore, but his suit, complete with obsidian cuff links that he highlighted with an annoyingly obvious adjustment, was way over the top for a quiet mountain town. Their lawyers and judges didn’t wear such obnoxiously expensive suits. The whole getup probably cost more than Avery made in a year, and his new boots gleamed from a fresh polish.
Avery fought to withhold a grin, thinking about how quickly those shiny boots would lose their luster with all the dirt he’d raised with his foolish driving.
Served him right.
Then the other thought immediately made the smile drop from her lips.
What was this stranger doing here?
“And didn’t you say the cabin wasn’t listed yet?” Avery said quietly through a dry throat. She coughed to clear her voice. “What does this guy think he’s doing here?”
“It hasn’t been listed,” Lisa whispered back. “I’m positive of that. I have no idea how—”
“Good afternoon, ladies,” said the man as he tipped his hat, accompanied by a sparkle in his deep blue eyes and a grin Avery could only categorize as charismatic. Or maybe obnoxious was the better word for it. He could easily have starred in a toothpaste commercial.
She had a bad feeling about this—a very bad feeling.
As the man approached, the puppy at Avery’s heels started barking and straining against his lead—something he’d been in training not to do. Was he trying to protect her, to tell her this man was bad news?
She wouldn’t have been surprised if that was so. In her experience, dogs were good judges of character. But if that was the case, they lost the battle within moments, as the man quickly won over her dog, crouching before him and holding out his hand palm down so Dandy could sniff it and then scratching the dog behind the ears, earning him a happy welcome lick on his well-trimmed, bearded cheek.
The man chuckled. “You’re a cute little puppy, now, aren’t you?” the man murmured in the high pitch people typically used with animals and small children.
Avery felt frozen to the spot, which was unlike her. While she didn’t exactly consider herself as a people person so much as a businesswoman, she knew how to handle herself. Yet, there was something about this man that threw her off. Fortunately, Lisa stepped into the gap, stepping forward and offering her hand. The man stood to his full height and enthusiastically returned her shake.
He was solidly built, with broad shoulders that pressed at the seams of his suit. Yet Avery didn’t think it was his height that intimidated her. Rather, it was his presence.
“Lisa Gibbons of Gibbons Realty. And you are?”
“Super stoked to be here,” he said in what could only be a genuine Texas drawl. That explained the cowboy hat and boots, anyway. “Not that I mind drivin’, and the winter scenery around here could knock a man’s socks off.”
Avery didn’t want to think about the man’s socks, which were probably made of pure gold. And it didn’t pass her notice that he hadn’t answered Lisa’s question.
“I’m Avery Winslow,” she said, hoping the man would pick up the slack in the names department. “Of Winslow’s Woodlands.”
“Right. Jake Cutter, from Marston Enterprises.”
A tight knot formed in the pit of Avery’s stomach. She had no idea what Marston Enterprises was, but it sounded ominous. This couldn’t be good, a stranger arriving in town representing some big-name company.
Why had this gregarious, ostentatious man shown up at her future bed-and-breakfast? It wasn’t exactly right off the road. More like off the beaten path, which was the whole point of her choosing this place.
“What are you doing here?” she asked bluntly.
He held up both hands, palms out in a sign of surrender, and took a step backward. “Whoa there, Ms. Winslow,” he said with another toothy grin. “No reason to get your dander up. What fun would it be if I gave away all my secrets right out of the chute?”
“It’s Avery,” she said automatically, then immediately regretted it, realizing she’d just eliminated the mental distance between them by putting them on a first-name basis.
“Call me Jake,” he said, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his gaze was gliding over the house and onto the land around it.
“Nice-looking place you have here.”
Avery didn’t yet have it, but she would. Despite the stranger’s unexplained appearance, excitement crept back up into Avery’s heart.
“We were about to take a tour inside the cabin,” Lisa said. “We’d be happy to have you accompany us.”
Avery sent her best friend a glare and raised her eyebrows. What did Lisa think she was doing, inviting the guy in?
Lisa shrugged and gestured to her clipboard. Avery supposed she couldn’t blame her for trying to get new business, especially since the man had shown up without a real estate agent. She was probably thinking about nabbing the guy as a client.
A very rich client.
But not in connection with her future bed-and-breakfast, thank you very much. Lisa knew she wanted this place. There was no way she’d betray her in this. She would have to point this Jake fellow in a different direction, which was, now that Avery thought about it, probably what Lisa intended to do.
As it was, Avery was much more inclined to tell Jake Cutter to get back into his fancy red Mustang and see himself off the property—without taking a tour of the house and land.
She usually didn’t mind a little competition in her life. With five brothers and sisters, she’d grown up with a competitive spirit.
Just not now. Not for this. It was too important to her, and the sooner they wrapped up the particulars, the better.
Apparently, however, this place meant something specific to Jake, as well, though she couldn’t begin to guess what it was he wanted with the place.
Jake grinned and tipped his hat a second time. “I appreciate the offer—Lisa, was it? But I don’t need to see the inside of the cabin. I’m here for the land.”
Jake chuckled as he watched the women make their way into the cabin. That Avery Winslow was a beautiful spitfire, tall for a woman, with sparkling blue eyes and her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He’d have to watch out for her.
It was more what she hadn’t said than what she had. He hadn’t gotten where he was in life today by accident. He had a gift with people. He’d made a study of reading expressions and body language and could practically guess what people thought before they’d figured it out themselves.
And it was clear that Avery Winslow didn’t like him.
Which really should be neither here nor there—unless she ended up being the president of the town council, in which case it could be a very big problem indeed. He needed certain people in this town to be on board with his plans—or rather, Marston Enterprises’ plans—but Avery more than likely wasn’t one of them.
He didn’t know why Avery’s clear rejection bothered him, exactly. In the business he was in, renovating old land and buildings to become upscale resorts, it wasn’t about making friends. He never stayed in any one place long enough to form any real relationships, which was just as well as he didn’t care to make any. He’d pop into town for a few weeks to make the necessary connections, then move on to his next conquest.
That said, most people fell for his natural charm. It was part of what made him so successful. Getting to know people was easy, as simple as switching on his smile. Which was why Avery’s immediate dislike of him set him on edge, he supposed.
He spent the better part of ten minutes walking around the land and surveying the area. He had studied a land map before he’d come, and the company had already decided this was the spot for a grand hotel. It was twenty minutes away from a major ski slope but secluded enough to draw in the type of clientele who Marston Enterprises wanted to attract.
Actors, sports icons and other celebrities would be visiting this place when it opened. Once the papers were signed, it wouldn’t take long for them to build. He was just checking out the property for himself before he got down to the real business of getting the town council to vote the building permits and zoning in his favor.
He didn’t need to see the inside the cabin, which was quaint in its own way but had definitely seen better days, because it would just be leveled in order for the new construction to go up.
Still, his encounter with Avery had made him curious—and it felt more than a little bit like a challenge. He never walked away from a challenge—especially such a pretty one.
He let himself into the cabin, whistling as he casually sauntered into the house.
“Hello?” he called, wondering where the women had gotten to. “Anyone home? Where’d y’all get to, now, anyway?”
He wandered through the front room and poked his head into a large, empty room he assumed was supposed to be the dining room. He then walked into an oversize kitchen with an industrial-size refrigerator and oven that took his breath away. In the middle was a gorgeous solid-oak island with a marble inset on it for food prep.
His mind drifted for a moment as he pictured himself and Lottie sitting next to each other on the stools at the island. He’d be serving his daughter the monkey-shaped chocolate-chip pancakes she especially loved.
Too bad the whole cabin would be torn down soon. He blinked hard to erase the daydream from his mind.
“Excuse me?” came a feminine but definitely annoyed voice from behind him. The deep, rich alto vibrated across his skin.
Ah—Avery had found him at last.
He turned and grinned, sweeping his hat off his head. He’d get it right this time—just to prove to himself he hadn’t lost his ability to charm the ladies.
“I thought you said you didn’t need to see the inside of the cabin.” Again, Avery’s bluntness surprised him. No beating around the bush with this woman. She laid it out plain and clear.
“I didn’t. I don’t.” It wasn’t like him to stammer, and he swallowed hard against the dry tickle in his throat. “I was just curious, so I let myself in. Lisa here said I could visit if I wanted, right?”
He was more curious about Avery than about the inside of the cabin, if truth be told, but he knew saying that thought aloud would get him into a world of trouble and hurt, so he just tapped his hat against his thigh and waited for her response.
“If you give me your cell number, we can set up a time to meet in regard to your needs,” the real estate agent said, holding her clipboard toward him. “I’m sure I will be able to provide you with several wonderful choices in land around here. If I don’t already know of something, I’ll work to find a property that will be perfect for your company’s needs.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he assured her, ignoring the clipboard and instead shoving his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. “I’ve already done my homework, as has my company. If they haven’t already, Marston will soon start the official paperwork to secure the property.”
Avery and Lisa passed glances Jake couldn’t even begin to decipher.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand. Because right now, all I know is you shouldn’t be here,” said Avery.
More like she didn’t want him to be here, but he didn’t correct her.
“Again, I just want to remind you I was invited inside,” he said, nodding toward Lisa. “I thought I’d take a look around the place. Out of curiosity, I mean. Not because I need to know.”
Avery remained silent.
“And while we’re on the subject, why are you looking at the property, if I may ask?” he said, turning the tables on her.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I intend to remodel this beautiful cabin into a bed-and-breakfast for the customers of my family’s businesses, especially because they often need to stick around for a couple of weeks to do the necessary training to receive a service dog to suit their needs. Many of them are facing major difficulties in their families as it is, and my vision is for them to have a quiet, peaceful place to stay.”
“Bed-and-breakfast, huh?” He thoughtfully brushed a palm across his well-trimmed beard. It was a nice enough cabin, and the large kitchen was spectacular, but it was pretty run-down and would take a lot of elbow grease to get it into any kind of shape to serve customers. It’d be much easier just to raze the thing.
Besides, his idea for new construction was much, much better than a quiet bed-and-breakfast. And who knew? Maybe some of Avery Winslow’s customers would enjoy a stay at the new resort—at least, the ones with deep pockets.
“The kitchen is outstanding, I’ll give you that,” he said, gesturing his head toward the kitchen doorway. “I’d really enjoy giving that oven a whirl.”
“You cook?” she asked, her mouth agape as she looked him up and down.
He squared his shoulders. Why he felt offended by her response was beyond him. As if it mattered one way or another what she thought. “You don’t have to sound so surprised. I spent a few really good months going to culinary school before I started working as a salesman. Ask my daughter, Lottie, if you don’t believe me. I make a mean chocolate-chip pancake in any shape you want. Monkeys are Lottie’s favorite.”
“It’s j-just that—” she stammered and then broke off. “I guess your fancy suit kind of threw me for a loop there.”
He glanced down at his clothing and shrugged. “Marston has a dress code. And as a salesman, I try to look my best. I’m way more casual in the kitchen. Jeans and T-shirts on the weekends.”
“Right.”
He laughed. “You still look confused.”
“I am. You never answered my question. What exactly does Marston Enterprises want with this cabin? What exactly is it that you do?”
“It’s not the cabin we want, it’s the land. We build upscale resorts, and this area is perfect. It’s close to the ski slopes and only an hour and a half from Denver International Airport. There is a major highway nearby, but Whispering Pines is a nice small town tucked into the mountains.
“This town could be the new Aspen. Doesn’t it excite you just a little bit that you might be having famous movie stars and sports icons wandering around Whispering Pines? Brand new businesses will move into the area to attract the types of customers our resorts bring in.”
Her mouth grew wider with every word of his explanation. Clearly she wasn’t nearly as happy about the possibilities as he was, which cut him to the quick. He apparently wasn’t doing a very good job selling the idea to her.
“You don’t really mean to—”
“I do. Well, Marston Enterprises does. The process is already in motion, so it’s a little late to put the brakes on it now. Plans have been made, meetings convened.”
“But this is my...” Her lips curled into a frown and lightning shot across her face. “What did you say will happen to my cabin?”
“I’m afraid it’ll be torn down to make way for a grand hotel. Sorry.” He shrugged. He really was sorry, since the place clearly meant so much to Avery.
“If you think you can just waltz in here and change the dynamics of our beautiful little town without getting any pushback, you have another thing coming.”
Again, he shrugged. “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. And for the record, I’m good at what I do. I rarely receive any pushback from local town councils. Do an internet search on Marston Enterprises, and you’ll see just how successful we are in this type of endeavor.”
“I assure you I’ll be doing that,” she said.
“Good. Then you’ll have the opportunity to see how truly beautiful these resorts are. It’s totally worth whatever small inconveniences you have to give up. There’s a good reason the rich and famous seek out Marston properties when they want to take time off. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing for the town, either, you know,” he said, his throat closing around his voice. He cleared his throat and evened out his tone. “Just the opposite, in fact. Think of all the money the resort will bring into this quaint little town.”
“It won’t be a quaint little town if you build your resort here,” she pointed out wryly, her blond eyebrows forming a V over her nose.
“At the very least, shopping will boom,” he insisted. “What exactly is Winslow’s Woodlands?” he asked, thinking he might be able to use her own business as a case in point and turn the tables on her. She was thinking of making the cabin into a bed-and-breakfast, after all, which smacked of some kind of tourism. Maybe his customers could be hers, as well.
“It’s a Christmas-tree farm. During the Christmas season we sell evergreens—offering either precut or the pick-and-cut-your-own experience. The rest of the year, we provide for customers’ regular landscaping needs. Bushes and aspen trees, along with annuals, perennials and various types of rocks. You think your movie stars are going to want to go rock shopping while they’re here?”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him.
“So, I’ll admit,” he said, “our resort may not directly affect your business, although some of our clientele may want to grab a dozen roses for their special someone.”
“I didn’t say we’re a flower shop. We don’t do roses.”
“Okay, so maybe not, then. But you have to admit, many other businesses will get a big boost from serving our wealthy guests.”
Avery seemed to be biting her tongue or clenching her jaw—or maybe both. And Jake felt as if he was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole with every word he spoke, which was an unusual feeling for him. He was usually so slick with his words. But something about Avery pushed him off-balance.
Maybe because he’d seen in the flicker of her gaze just how much she cared about this place, although he couldn’t imagine why.
A cabin was a cabin was a cabin. She could easily find somewhere else equally as serviceable as this one, probably even better. As he’d noticed when he’d first entered, this place would take a lot of work to bring it up to par for any kind of guest.
“They also have a service-dog program,” Lisa offered, tapping her pen against her clipboard. “I think those clients were the guests to whom Avery was referring.”
“Right. You said something about that earlier. And of course you’ve got this dog with you,” he said, gesturing toward the dog, who was lying at Avery’s heel. “You mean you train dogs for blind people?”
Avery snorted. It made Jake want to chuckle, though he knew that would probably just get him into even more trouble than he already was, so he kept his amusement to himself.
“Yes, like dogs for blind people,” Avery snapped. “And for many other situations, as well.”
“So what’s this little guy here for?” he asked, reaching down to the black Lab and scratching behind his ears.
“This is Dandy. He’s in training, so he needs to get out and experience different environments, including this one. We’re watching him to see where he shows potential. But see, what you’re not getting here is this place, this exact cabin, is the perfect location for those clients who come in to train with their new service dogs. They are usually under a lot of stress and need the peace that comes along with the seclusion and scenery this property provides. That’s why it has to be this specific cabin and not somewhere else. Trust me, I’ve been looking for a long time, and I know I won’t find anything better that’s close enough to work for our clients. You, on the other hand—”
“Can’t do anything to change what’s about to happen. Marston probably already has their lawyers drawing up papers, and if they don’t, they will soon. They’ve made their decision, Avery. I’m really sorry. This is the property they’ve chosen, and that’s all there is to it.”
“If it’s a done deal, then what are you even doing here?” she asked, her words as sharp as a sword. “And why don’t the Meyers seem to know anything about this?”
“I’ve come to Whispering Pines to settle things with the town council. Grease the wheels. Take care of permits and zoning issues as they arise. Obviously, Marston wants to make the transition as easy as possible for everyone involved.”
“Obviously.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone. “It must be nice to be able to see so well from that high horse of yours.”
“I’m trying to help,” he insisted. It wasn’t the first time he’d come up against resistance in a small town. To some degree, it was to be expected. No one really liked change. There was always someone digging in their heels against progress.
But Avery—well, she was making this personal, about herself and her bed-and-breakfast.
“I’m here to answer questions and make the whole process as painless as possible for everyone concerned.”
Her eyes widened. “Painless? Yeah. Good luck with that. Come on, Lisa. Show me the mother-in-law suite you were telling me about. I’m sure it will be perfect for the managers of my new bed-and-breakfast.”
Copyright © 2020 by Debra Kastner