Tansy snuck down the stairs to the main floor of the lodge.
Sleep had eluded her for much of the night for so many reasons.
Sam was sleeping in the next room. It wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a roof before. They’d shared the foster home for years.
But this was different.
They were older. They were alone.
And she was going out of her mind with lust.
The lust was balanced out by the worry. Which had been the reason she hadn’t knocked on Sam’s door and thrown herself at him.
Okay, maybe not the only reason.
Fear of rejection was up there. Way up there.
And embarrassment.
She’d told him she was still dealing with an ex who was attempting to steal her work. She’d admitted she was hiding out because she couldn’t handle real life.
Sam had found her hiding out so many times over the years.
This wasn’t anything new, but it was well past time to be an independent grown up who faced her problems head on. Even when it was so much more fun to dive into an experiment and focus on something else.
Tansy pulled her sourdough starter from the fridge and mixed up a batch of bread dough.
Once it was rising, she moved to the living room and looked out at Midnight Lake. The sun wouldn’t be up and over the trees for a few hours, but the streaks of rose and gold were brightening up the eastern sky.
Her favorite time of day for a run.
She stoked the pellet stove to warm the space and looked around for a way to leave a note for Sam. It had been a long time since she’d had to tell anyone where she was, but she wasn’t going to make Sam worry.
Tansy didn’t use paper much. Her notes were mostly filed in her head and on the computer she kept in the cabin.
Did she even have a pencil?
There must be something in the basement she could use.
Before she could move in that direction, Sam walked into the room. “Morning.”
His rumbly morning voice had her shivering despite the warmth from the stove.
“Good morning. Did you sleep okay? Was the bed all right?”
A sexy eyebrow shot up, and he gave her a small smile. “I’ve slept in much worse places. Any coffee?”
Tansy shot up her own eyebrow and waited.
It only took a few seconds. “Shit. I forgot. You’re the only human who doesn’t require coffee. How the hell do you function?”
“I’ve got tea.”
“Of course you do.”
His heartfelt sigh made her laugh, and the nerves she’d been feeling melted away. This was her Sam. One of her favorite people on the planet.
Even if she was lusting after him, he was still her Sam.
“I’m going for a run. I’ll grab you the tea choices before I go.”
“A run at zero-dark-thirty without coffee and with slushy-mud-snow-crap on the ground.” Another sigh rumbled up from his toes. “Give me five and I’ll join you.”
Sam turned and headed back up the stairs, leaving Tansy smiling. He was as fit as anyone she’d ever met. He loved to run, cold or not.
For a moment, Tansy considered adding coffee to her shopping list, but she couldn’t do it. Not in good conscience. He’d have to buy his own.
She didn’t know much about growing coffee. There had to be people working on making a replica that didn’t cause such tragic deforestation of the rain forests.
Maybe she could source some ethical coffee for Sam while she converted him to tea.
The planting zone here in Vermont was fine for growing chamomile and mint. She’d grow more this year, but her stash was big enough to get her through until fall.
Once she built the greenhouse, she could use a corner to experiment with coffee growing. Could she do something hydroponically?
“You figure out how to grow coffee beans in New England yet?”
Sam’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.
“I don’t know enough about the process yet. Do you know if the beans work in hydroponic gardens?”
Sam laughed. “I’m not awake enough for that question. Got your keys?”
“Keys?”
That brought a bit of fire to his eyes. “For the lodge. To lock it up when you’re not in it. Basic security protocol, Tansy. I can’t believe you’ve been leaving it unlocked this whole time.”
Obviously, she wasn’t awake enough either, or she wouldn’t have walked into that one.
Instead of answering, she turned to the front hall, hoping she’d dropped the keys in the little bowl she kept on the table.
When she found them, she made a show of holding them up for him to see. He snagged them out of her hand. “I’ll get duplicates made when we head into town.”
“We probably have enough food for another day or two.”
“But we don’t have coffee.”
“Poor baby.”
Sam growled and headed out the door. He waited for her to exit, then locked up. “Tell me you don’t have a regular run. Tell me you switch it up daily and aren’t predictable.”
His grumpy orders made her laugh. “I don’t have a regular run and I switch it up daily. It’s easier now that the snow is mostly melted, but I remember all the lessons you guys drilled into me.”
As FBI agents, Joe and her foster brothers had gone from over-protective to wacky in their desire to keep her safe.
She didn’t need a psych degree to understand they were all dealing with their losses in their own way. While Nico Rivera, who had several psych degrees, had been the one living with his parents, he knew all their stories, felt all their losses.
These men were a tight group, even when they were spread around the country doing their own things.
“Lead the way. End up at your fort. I want to check it out.”
Tansy stopped in mid-stretch to look at him. “My fort?”
Sam stared at her blandly. “Your fort. Your projects and your experiments. They’re not in the lodge, the sawmill is too close to the road, and the garage doesn’t feel right. You’ve got a fort somewhere.”
Tansy laughed. “There are a dozen cabins on the property.”
“Let me guess, your fort is in the one that’s got the best hiding spot.”
Still laughing, Tansy started off on their run. It was nice to have someone know you so well. Someone who knew your quirks and didn’t think you were looney because of them.
She’d show him just about anything. But she’d start with the fort.
Sam followed Tansy as she ran through the bush. She obviously knew where she was going, but she didn’t follow any defined trail.
Which meant she hadn’t been fibbing. She hadn’t been running the same route every day.
Unpredictability was the key to not being followed.
He didn’t know if Asshole Ex was trying to find her or if he was the type to hide behind the computer and whine.
Either way, Sam would figure it out and then he’d take care of the problem.
Meanwhile, he kept an eye on their surroundings for any signs of other people. He also kept his eye on the lithe body in front of him, mostly because it was impossible not to look.
She was a beautiful woman, inside and out.
The surrounding land was beautiful too. Tansy’s route took them through thickly packed trees where the snow sat thickly on the ground. In the sparser areas, the snow had melted and sunlight started filtering through the canopy.
“Are we still on your property?”
“We are. I haven’t been all over it yet because the snow’s been too thick, but soon. There are a few streams leaving the lake, and I’m hoping one is suitable for another waterwheel.”
That made him grin. She was always on the lookout for ways to increase natural energy production without abusing the land. He’d seen the first waterwheel attached to the sawmill, but there hadn’t been a stream, so it was useless.
Neither Joe nor Tansy had told him exactly how much land they’d inherited, but it had to be at least a dozen acres. He’d get Tansy to map it out for him.
The place was a perfect area for a training ground. And creating a training facility for bodyguards and private security personnel was something that had been tickling the back of Sam’s brain for a while.
Instead of chasing after the assholes who took kids, he could focus on ways to keep them safer in the first place.
Not just the rich people who needed bodyguards, but regular people who wanted to improve their personal awareness and skills.
If Hayley Armstrong’s mom had been trained, she might have been able to fend off her ex when he’d beaten the crap out of her and then taken his daughter. Only to drop her out of a third-floor apartment.
“Watch the logs here, they’re hidden under the snow.”
Tansy’s words brought his focus fully back on the ground in front of him. He leapt the logs and caught up to tug on Tansy’s ponytail.
“Don’t forget you promised to show me the fort.”
“Almost there.”
That had him searching their surroundings. No obvious trails. He knew the lake wasn’t far off to the left. He’d caught glimpses of it through the thinning trees. She’d probably have a view of it from her cabin.
Within a few strides, he spotted a roof not far ahead. He sped up to move in front of her, but she wasn’t having any of that.
They ended up racing the last hundred yards and burst into the clearing together.
He took in the area while he walked and stretched.
The log cabin wasn’t large, but bigger than he’d expected. Looked to be a little older than the lodge, maybe as old as the sawmill, which had probably been around for more than a century. And closed for half of that.
“You think this was an original cabin? Before the lodge?”
She looked pleased at his statement. “I think so. I don’t know enough to date it properly, but my best guess is it was built around 1910.”
Tansy’s best guess was better than most experts’ assurances, so he assumed she was close.
“Any insulation?”
She shook her head. “The original owners knew what they were doing with the building. Some of their original chinking is still in place. I’ve got Aisling coming up in another month. She’s going to help me fix up all the buildings. I’d like to replicate the original chinking if I can. If it’s worked for a century, it’s good enough for me.”
He was pleased when he saw the new locks on the door, including a good deadbolt. Of course, she took more care with her experiments than with her own safety.
“You’ve got the keys, Sam.”
Right. “Is there a place in town to make copies? You don’t mind if I have my own set, do you?”
That brought a genuine smile. “Of course I don’t mind. You’re always welcome.”
The warmth in her smile and her words eased some of the ache in his heart. It was nice to know he would always have a place.
He’d work on expanding that place to include her bed.
Yanking his thoughts back to her fort, Sam opened the door and immediately backed away. The smell was like rotting skunk and mold, with maybe some sewage mixed in.
While he struggled not to gag, Tansy laughed and started to move in.
He immediately snagged her arm and tugged her back. “Hang on. That smells like something died in there. Or is dying. We’ve got to be careful.”
Tansy patted his hand. “It’s fine. I know exactly what it is. And I want to get it out of the cabin as soon as possible.”
He didn’t let her go. “What is it?” He couldn’t imagine any circumstance where Tansy would have an animal in there, but the smell was too close to rotting flesh.
“An experiment gone wrong. I think I can eliminate tree bark as a option for fire-retardant clothing.”
She patted his hand again and when he released her, moved into the cabin.
The smell was worse inside.
Tansy moved to a sink and pulled out a large glass container with separated sections. Each held murky liquid and what he now assumed was tree bark.
She moved to the door and took the container outside and to the far side of the clearing. Her eyes were sparkling with fun.
“Chock that experiment up to a giant No. Maybe even a Never Again. At least I can tell Bella that line of thinking is a waste of time.”
Sam shook his head. “There’s someone else wacky enough to think trees were a good source for fire-retardant clothing?”
Tansy laughed again. She never minded a failure in her search for answers. She always said failure was simply a way of eliminating possibilities.
He still thought she’d make an excellent analyst for the FBI.
Or any other job on the planet.
“Sometimes the answers are in the exact last place you think you should be looking. You can’t dismiss an idea until you try it.” She moved back to the cabin with a shrug. “It was fun to try it out.”
They moved back inside, and Sam moved to the windows. “Do these open?”
Another shrug. “I doubt it. I’ve only been here since December so I haven’t had a reason to try. But they look old. I figured Aisling would know the best way to get them working without breaking them.”
“Is Aisling the carpenter from back in Sacramento? The one who helped you when you bought your lab?”
Tansy nodded. “She’s now specializing in restoring older homes and using reclaimed wood and other materials. She’s talented and I’ve talked her into spending at least a few months working here.”
Because people only had to listen to Tansy speak to buy into her hope and vision for the future.
For now, though, they’d simply have to leave the door open and hope the smell drifted away.
The cabin had a large open space with a kitchenette along the side wall. Furniture almost as old as the cabin filled the space. Dining table for six, couch, and a couple of chairs.
A pot-bellied pellet stove sat on one wall. One corner was closed off, probably a bedroom. No bathroom.
“Outhouse nearby?”
She grinned. “Yep. And that was the first thing I cleaned. The spiders were big enough to ride tricycles.”
Bugs had never bothered Tansy. She found all of nature fascinating. But he was glad it hadn’t been his job to clean the outhouse.
“It’s outfitted with a new seat, its own solar panel, along with interior light and heat now.”
Sam laughed and looked around at all the projects on display. Here was Tansy’s fort.
He spotted the laptop and tablet on the dining table along with wires, tools, glass and metal pieces of all sizes and shapes.
There were crates of nameless equipment everywhere and open areas on the table and floor for her to work.
The coffee table in front of the couch brought a smile, along with good memories.
“What’s the latest TeenySaur going to do?”
Tansy walked over and sat on the edge of the couch. She picked up what he thought was an unfinished stegosaurus.
The protrusions sticking out of its back ruffled as she drew her finger over them. Sam sat beside her and did the same. The bits weren’t metal, but they weren’t fabric either. Almost a mix of the two.
“I want this one to help a kid make a craft. I’m hoping to get this one to knit. Or make pompoms.”
Sam laughed. “A knitting dinosaur?”
She grinned. “Some kids never get a chance to see those kinds of skills in action. Most kids like making things. I need to make another TeenySaur who will thread the yarn onto the steg’s back.”
Because all of her dinosaurs were cooperative, they encouraged kids to realize they could accomplish more when they worked together.
“How’s it going so far?”
Tansy shrugged and pointed at another stegosaurus with yarn wrapped around its entire body. She touched the bits that stuck out of its back in a line. “Getting these scutes to the right angles so they can move to the correct rhythm is a challenge. But, I’m getting closer.”
Sam picked up the strangled dinosaur and grinned. “Your mind is an interesting place, Tansy. Glad to see that hasn’t changed.”