The minute Gabby stepped into the lodge at Crystal Lake for her cousin Stephanie’s wedding the following weekend, she knew she shouldn’t have shown up without a plus one.
Granted, the view out the magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows was spectacular—a lush, piney forest wrapping lovingly around a lake so pure and blue it took her breath away. To her left was a huge fireplace with a roaring fire and cozy couches with couples gathered around laughing. A giant moose head mounted atop the fireplace had eyes that seemed to follow Gabby around the room and appeared to be looking at her judgmentally. Still single? it seemed to ask with a mocking smirk.
Then there was her own family, all conveniently paired off: her dad and Rachel, Evie and Joe, Sara and Colton. Even Kaitlyn had abandoned her to hang out with Rafe. That left her. By herself. And Nonna, who was always a social butterfly at weddings. Except now with the Alzheimer’s, she tended to talk to anyone, even strangers, and easily forgot how many drinks she’d consumed.
That left Gabby open to the well-meaning questions of old aunties and distant cousins and to be hit on by Rafe’s friends from the fire department, all of whom had gone through school with the groom, Everett, who was a member of the fire department of a neighboring town.
Everyone was gathered in the lodge lobby, getting the keys to the cabins where they’d be staying tonight and chatting a little before getting ready for the wedding. Sara walked by and gave her arm a little squeeze. “You should’ve let Rafe fix you up with one of the guys from the station,” she said. “Rambo’s looking at you.”
Rambo was their affectionate nickname for Randall Ames, who’d always seemed to have a little crush on Gabby that had magnified since his girlfriend had recently dumped him.
“I remember Randall before he was Rambo,” Gabby said. “I can’t seem to get over seeing a scrawny kid chewing with his mouth open at the dinner table and trying to gross us out whenever Rachel turned her back.”
“I wish Kaitlyn shared that same sentiment about Rafe,” Sara said.
One glance showed Kaitlyn and Rafe laughing it up with a few of Rafe’s friends.
“That’s a disaster waiting to strike,” Gabby agreed.
Just then Randy caught her eye. “Hey, Gabby! Come on over here,” he yelled. There was another cluster of guys, probably friends of the groom’s, all laughing and talking. A couple of them looked up when Randy shouted across the lobby.
“Sara,” Gabby said, grabbing her sister’s arm, “if anyone asks, tell them I’m seeing someone, okay? Promise me.”
Sara chuckled. “You might meet someone really nice who’s not in Rafe’s firefighter group,” she said, but she must’ve seen the threat of death in Gabby’s eyes because she relented. “Okay, okay. Don’t panic. I’ve got you.”
“Gabs!” Randy came running over and enveloped her in a big bear hug and spun her around. That certainly didn’t attract any attention.
“How’s my second baby brother?” she asked, trying to stress the brother part as she tried not to get squeezed to death in his viselike arms.
“You’re so easy to pick up,” Randy said with a big, booming voice as he set her down. “You’re not heavy enough to give a guy a good workout.” Randall was six four and stocky, with the arms of a lumberjack. “Rafe told me you haven’t got a plus one. What do you say we hang out later?”
Gabby looked to Sara for help, but she’d already turned away and into the arms of her loving husband.
One of the other guys in the circle had turned around as a result of the commotion. He had his hands in his jeans pockets, and he was laughing at something someone had said. He had a long, lean frame—a runner’s build, but strong, and turned with an ease of movement that indicated athleticism. His hair was dark and wavy and…freshly cut. And he was staring at her.
Holy Hell. No. Impossible. Those same stunning hazel eyes, the same determined jaw, those dark brows that tended to give him a sexy, brooding look—all these features were familiar. Except she barely recognized him because he was smiling. It was none other than Cade Marshall—talking and joking with a bunch of buddies, showing that same side of him she’d seen before with his daughter.
The reaction slammed into Gabby all at once—hitting her straight in the abdomen—no, lower. A blush crept hotly into her face and made her forget she was gripping on to Randy tighter than a steering wheel on a slick road.
“Gabby?” Randy said. “You okay?”
“Oh, hey, Randy,” she said. “It’s great to see you. My…my date’s calling me,” she said, patting him on the arm and smiling. It was just a little white lie. She was counting on enough liquor flowing freely between all of those guys and enough shenanigans going on that that he wouldn’t really notice who she was with.
Randy looked puzzled. “Rafe told me you weren’t bringing a date.”
“Last-minute decision,” she said with a shrug and kissed him solidly on the cheek. “Catch you later.”
By the time Gabby reached Cade across the lobby, he was deep in conversation with another guy. That guy noticed her and smiled, and she gave a polite smile back. Before Cade could turn around, she tapped him on the shoulder, then wished she had a camera for the please-God-no expression on his face when he turned around. Except there was something else beneath the torment, a flash of something hot-blooded-male-dangerous in his eyes, but it was gone in a flash.
“Hi, Teach,” she said with a grin.
He rolled his eyes.
He smelled…amazing, like some foresty, piney-scented cologne that seemed to fit perfectly with the natural setting outside. Suddenly she wondered if he was the kind of guy who would look for a wedding hook-up, something she was certain many of Rafe’s single friends were doing.
She hoped so. Not! She hoped not. Oh, what was she thinking?
“Cade, who’s your friend?” the guy next to him asked. A cute guy, Gabby noted, with sandy hair and nice blue eyes.
She smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Gabby. Gabby Langdon.” She shot Cade a look, thinking that turning her attention to someone else would make him happy, but he was scowling.
“Well,” Cute Guy said, “I’m Jack. And are you here with a date, Gabby Langdon?” He was not letting go of her hand. “Because there’s a bunch of us who all came stag, and we’d love some company tonight.”
Cade reached over and tugged Gabby closer. So close she bumped into his side, which happened to be as solid as a barn door. Heat seemed to radiate off of his muscular body, and the feel of his fingers on her elbow felt…warm. Possessive. Make that hot. “Back off, Jack,” Cade said, practically growling. “She’s taken.”
Something inside her melted. One, because the crazy nuclear reaction that had begun from the first moment she’d seen him in class—make that the parking lot—was continuing, and it was even worse now that they were touching. Plus, he’d said she was taken. Taken, as in by him?
She nearly missed what Cade’s companion said next.
“I can’t talk much about books like Cade can,” Jack said, his gaze flicking up and down her, “but I know all about the human body. Much more interesting.”
“He’s a doctor,” Cade said, his mouth quirking up slightly but his eyes still narrowed down to pounce. “Studying to be a gastroenterologist.” To Jack he said, “Trust me, she doesn’t want to hear about people’s butts.”
“Bye, Jack,” she said with a little wave as Cade pulled her away. “I’m not taken,” she protested to Cade, just in case he thought she would fall at his feet at his suggestion that she might be his date. Which she was afraid she totally would, but still. “I’m single, and he was cute. And I think butts are very interesting.” They stopped next to a big sign in the middle of the lobby announcing kayak tours, bird watching expeditions, and hiking trails.
“Are you always so difficult?”
She shrugged.
“You think butts are interesting?”
“Not all butts. But I liked his butt,” she said, then lifted her brows, waiting for his reaction. And to that he shook his head and laughed, a big, resonant kind of laugh, which she loved because she knew she’d gotten to him. There was a warm-blooded man under that deathly serious veneer. She kept seeing peeks of him, and she suddenly decided it was going to be her mission to make him laugh more. “I’m just enjoying how easy it is to get a rise out of you. And also, you have friends. Shocker.”
He laughed again, a soft chuckle this time. That was when something happened inside her chest. Her heart cracked open just a little more. Damn him anyway.
“Don’t do that,” she said. The rush of adrenaline coursing through her was making her giddy.
“Don’t do what?”
“Laugh. It makes you far too appealing.”
He didn’t laugh at that. Instead, their gazes caught, and for a second, Gabby saw pure, undisguised heat there. Her breath hitched.
“Um—why are you here, anyway?” she asked. “Do you know Stephanie too?”
“In my case, it’s Everett. I’m a friend from college.” He took his eyes off of her to scan the big rustic lobby. “You seem to have a lot of male admirers here.”
He tipped his head to where Randall was leaning against the check-in counter, looking their way.
She put her thumb and forefinger close together. “One of my brother’s friends has a tiny crush on me. I’m sure it’s temporary.”
“Those guys are all waving at you,” Cade said. Gabby looked over to see a group of Rafe’s friends had gathered around Randall.
“All firefighter friends of Rafe’s. I’ve known them forever. We all used to hang around together. I was much more…carefree then.” When he raised a brow, she sighed. “Okay, I was a little bit of a flirt. Before I knew better. Now I’m not nearly as much fun as I used to be.”
Nearby, a good-looking guy in an expensive suit was talking with a beautiful woman dressed in a silky strapless dress and heels. “I used to be that woman—with a handsome, shallow boyfriend.”
“What saved you?” he asked, leveling his quietly assessing gaze on her.
“Turning thirty. Finally waking up and deciding I deserved better.”
He looked…interested.
“Well, that must’ve been a big improvement—getting rid of the bad guy.”
“I grew up. Made partner. Now I’m serious.” She tried to pull a serious face.
“You seem a little sad about that.”
She shrugged. “In some ways, my life didn’t turn out to be the exciting adventure I thought it would be. But I’m working on that.”
“Life isn’t a fairy tale, Gabby. It’s hard.”
“I understand that but we all make certain…choices. Sometimes we make the wrong ones. But that doesn’t mean we can’t correct them, right?” At least she hoped she could. Before it was too late and she was stuck at Lock ’em, Stock ’em, and Fleece ’em forever.
“Life is going to be difficult regardless.”
“You sound like everyone I know. My family, in particular.” She shrugged. “I just don’t share your cynical view. Does difficult have to mean joyless?”
“I’m all for pursuing what makes you happy. It’s just that the older you get, the more people depend on your good decisions.”
“True, but I also like to believe that sometimes you get a second chance to figure out what makes you happiest.”
Before he could answer, Sara walked by. “Hey, we’re going to get settled in our cabins now. Kaitlyn said to tell you she’s going to pick up your key, and you’re in cabin number seventeen.”
Across the lobby, Kaitlyn waved. “I better go,” Gabby said. “See you tonight?”
“You bet,” he said. His slightly sarcastic tone didn’t match the flare of desire so evident in his eyes.
“I don’t know about you,” Gabby said, “but I’m really looking forward to seeing you act like a normal person.” She started to walk away but slowed her steps. “Oh…you don’t have a date, do you?”
He shook his head carefully. “Nope. No date. And since you don’t either, I guess you can’t get out of dancing with me.”
Her heart tripped. Did he just…? He did. He’d asked her to dance. Gabby’s mouth fell open. “I love to dance,” she said.
“Somehow I would’ve predicted that.” Cade winked before he turned away, leaving her standing there in the middle of the lobby with a silly grin on her face. But only the moose saw.
* * *
Gabby rolled her suitcase out of the lodge and down the long, winding driveway that led to the cabin area. Kaitlyn had gone ahead to the cabin she was sharing with Gabby, but Sara walked alongside her with her own suitcase.
“So, Rachel pointed out your professor,” Sara said. “He’s cute.”
Gabby couldn’t think of anything to say to that that wouldn’t be incriminating, so she stayed silent.
“Aha, so you do think he’s cute.”
Incriminated anyway. “Of course I do, because he is good-looking. So what?”
“I thought maybe you’d be off somewhere with him, exploring the grounds—or each other.”
“It’s not like that,” Gabby said, not laughing. “This isn’t a joke. This guy’s on the straight and narrow. He won’t step over the line to date a student.”
“Well, that sounds responsible. I like him already.”
“Last week you were warning me not to go near him.”
She shrugged. “That was before I found out he fixed your bike.”
“What about his complicated past—the ex, the book scandal?”
“Maybe it’s not that complicated.” Sara looked at her kindly. “But that might also mean it’s better to wait until you’re done with his class.”
“I thought you were all for me dating simple guys without a lot of history. You do know Rachel’s fixed me up with the new minister, don’t you?”
“She’s really excited about that. Try to keep an open mind.”
“I have an open mind. I’m not judgmental.”
“I always thought that was part of your problem with Malcolm. You seem to accept everyone without considering their faults. I’m kind of the opposite. I had a lot of preconceived ideas about Colton.”
“What changed your mind about him?”
Sara shrugged. “Mostly, he was irresistible.” She smiled. “But this isn’t about me. You’re a kind, loving, spirited person.”
Yes, spirited. That was the part that always got her into trouble.
“Love is going to happen to you too. I just know it.” Sara gave her a big hug. “You know what Grandpa used to say.”
“What’s for you will find you.”
“I’ve always interpreted that to mean just live your life. Be yourself and the rest will follow, you know?”
Gabby laughed. “But you and I both know, nothing comes to anyone who does nothing—which is straight out of Nonna’s mouth.”
“So maybe the strategy involves a little of both, right?” They’d reached the cabin area, where a double row of the little wooden buildings stretched out on both sides with a grassy space in between. Before Sara turned off to head to her own cabin, she said, “I need to ask you a favor.”
“Sure. What?”
Sara paused and clutched the handle of her rolling bag with both hands. “I just see this thing between Kaitlyn and Rafe ending badly. I—I don’t know, I just have a horrible feeling that Kaitlyn’s going to get her heart broken.”
“Kaitlyn understands how Rafe is,” Gabby said. “I’ve tried to talk with Rafe about this. Truthfully, I think they’d be cute together, but he won’t hear of it. I’m going to stay out of it.”
“I just feel really nervous,” Sara said. “You know how people get carried away at weddings.”
“They’re adults.” Gabby edged her suitcase in the direction of her cabin, eager to leave the sidewalk and the conversation. “It’s not our business.”
Just as she started backing away, Sara said, “Say something to Rafe.”
Gabby halted. “What? No! I’m not his babysitter. If you feel that strongly, you talk to him.”
“I’m always the older sister with him. He tunes me out. You have a…rapport with him. Tell him to be careful. She’s rebounding from her breakup and I don’t want him to take advantage of that.”
“I don’t think she’s rebounding. I think she dumped Steve because it wasn’t the relationship she wanted.”
Sara sighed. “Rafe is never going to get serious, and I’m afraid he’s going to break her heart. Please, just mention it to him. One time. For me.”
“I’m not sure interfering is a good idea.” But she could already hear the wheels on Sara’s wheelie bag bumping along the crude asphalt walkway as she fled the scene. Then suddenly the cabin door before her opened. Rafe appeared, wearing tuxedo pants and suspenders and no shirt. Half of his face was covered in shaving cream. And he held a razor in one hand. “Hey, Gabs. I thought I heard voices out here.” He looked in one direction, then another, then gave her an assessing look, his eyes brightening. “You’re not here to iron my shirt, are you? Because that would be great.”
Gabby walked into the cabin, which had a retro vibe consisting of knotty pine paneling, an oak dresser and matching bed, floor-length floral curtains, and stock watercolors of trees and rivers and waterfalls. It was cute in a rustic kind of way, but she preferred something a little farther from bugs and critters, which she was certain were plentiful here.
Gabby flopped down on one of the beds while Rafe went into the bathroom. When he returned, the shaving cream was gone off his face but a towel was wrapped around his neck.
Rafe sat down on the bed opposite and stretched out his long legs. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
“Rafe, I—” Oh, this wasn’t going to be easy. “You know I love you.”
His ruggedly handsome face paled. “Oh, this is bad, isn’t it? What happened?”
“Nothing happened. I just want to have a little sister-to-brother chat.”
Rafe didn’t have frown lines, but he did have a few little maturing crinkles around his warm brown eyes, which women seemed to find fascinating. “The last time you started a talk with I love you, you guys warned me you were going to tell Dad I was sneaking out of my bedroom window after curfew. And then you did it.”
“Oh, come on,” Gabby said. “You were only grounded for a year.”
He lifted his brow pointedly.
“And besides, you found other ways to sneak around and see Claire,” Gabby said. As soon as the name of Rafe’s first love was out of Gabby’s mouth, she knew she shouldn’t have mentioned it. His grin instantly faded, and the same old hurt entered his eyes. The fact that he still couldn’t bear talking about her after all this time spoke volumes.
Still, he made a valiant effort to pretend it didn’t matter. It frightened Gabby that, after all these years, it was pretty apparent that it still did. In the back of her mind, the romantic in her hoped that Rafe would overcome his grief and see that Kaitlyn was a fantastic person. But now she wondered if Rafe’s wounds just went too deep.
“I came to talk to you about Kaitlyn. About your relationship.”
“Um, I don’t have a relationship with her,” he said defensively. “We’re friends. You know, like family friends. I mean, she’s been hanging around our house so long she’s practically one of us, right?”
Gabby frowned. She was pretty intuitive, and Rafe was red under his collar, a sure sign of discomfort. He was also rubbing the back of his neck and not making solid eye contact. The years had taught her he wasn’t telling the full truth.
She walked over to the bureau where a six-pack sat among his car keys, wallet, and room key. He was probably planning to spend the night reunited with his guy friends, reminiscing about old times. He wouldn’t have much time to spend with Kaitlyn, much less have a romantic rendezvous with her. Sara was probably worrying about nothing.
On the other hand, he and Kaitlyn had been pretty chummy in the lobby earlier. And there was just something about the way Rafe looked at her that made Gabby think…
Made Gabby think of the way Cade had looked at her across the lobby. After the initial shock had worn off, of course. It was like the professor-student thing had vanished, and he’d seen her simply as a woman. A woman he’d thought was pretty hot.
“We love Kaitlyn,” Gabby continued. “I just want to make sure you…behave like a gentleman. She’s not someone to fool around with, Rafe. Don’t do something stupid that will ruin what you have with her. Plus, you’re right. She is part of our family.”
“Why are you warning me about this now?”
“Because it’s a wedding. Because we all know what happens at weddings. There’s fun and shenanigans and drinking, and one thing leads to another…”
The picture in her head was not of Rafe and Kaitlyn getting carried away. It was of a flash of dark hair, the image of Cade laughing with his friends and then turning to look at her, of feeling his gaze follow her across the room, burning a trail along the way.
“I get it,” Rafe said, not protesting at all, which Gabby thought was odd. Rafe rarely took forced advice from anyone without fighting back.
At a loss about what else to say, Gabby looked around. There was a pair of navy boxers on the floor beside Rafe’s suitcase, and his wedding tux was laid out carefully on his bed, the shoes at the foot. His suitcase was jumbled, but an object lying in the middle of the clothes caught her eye. There, mixed in with the scattered items of clothing, was a box of condoms. Like any decent sister, she reached down and plucked it out. “What is this?”
Rafe reached her in two strides and snatched the box out of her hands. “Sorry if you haven’t seen these in your own life in a while, but it’s none of your business.”
She crossed her arms. “I know what they are. But a box, Rafe? Of thirty-six?”
“There are lots of bridesmaids,” he said with a devilish grin.
“Rafe!”
“I’m joking,” he said, holding out his hands in defense. “Will you chill, please?” He tossed the box on the bed. “Randy threw it in there as a gag. You used to be fun, but now you take everything so seriously.”
Whoa. It was one thing to admit this to herself, but to hear it from Rafe took her aback. What had happened to the person she used to be, someone spontaneous, excited about life? She used to look forward to having adventures, letting loose a little, but it was like someone had come in and turned the volume down on her life. Way down. Becoming an adult had dampened more than her sense of fun…it had dampened her spirit too.
“Life is short,” Rafe said. “YOLO, you know?”
You Only Live Once. “Life isn’t all YOLO, Rafe. Life is responsibility. Settling down. Doing the right thing.”
“But settling down doesn’t mean settling.”
Ouch. Rafe could always hit the bull’s-eye on her biggest fears. That had been exactly her thing with Malcolm. Settling. She’d literally talked herself into believing that he could be the man she wanted. She made every excuse for his behavior to give him the benefit of the doubt. In fact, she’d tried so hard to do just that, she’d almost believed it herself.
“Look, Gabby,” Rafe said, “don’t get hung up on your past. Have a little fun. Loosen up.” He massaged between her shoulders at the tense muscles there. “Everything will work out, you’ll see.”
Rafe steered her to the door, and before Gabby knew it, she was standing outside again on the tiny covered porch, next to where she’d left her suitcase. “I’m going to finish getting dressed,” Rafe continued, “then I’ll see you at the wedding. You need anything?”
“I’m fine. Thanks, Rafe.”
As he shut the door, Gabby shook her head to clear it. What had just happened? Wasn’t she the one supposed to be giving him advice?