KEPT: A Small Town Second Chance Romance Novella (Reckless Falls Book 0) Read online

  "You're not meeting with my grandfather, though.“

  "No. Family representative, though. Is it your uncle?"

  I felt like everything was crashing down over my head. "No, Cole,” I said, suddenly tired. "It's me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cole

  "Mornin’,” my brother mumbled as he walked past me without looking, scratching his belly on his way to the coffee pot.

  I snorted. "Merry Christmas, Wreck."

  My brother didn’t turn when he heard his nickname, but I did see his shoulders shake, just a little. Derek had earned that nickname quite legitimately after he totaled his third car in three months back when we were teenagers. Even our uncle, the head mechanic at the hoity-toity foreign car dealership that catered exclusively to the vacationer market had no idea how he did it. "Boy, I will pay you money to stay outside of a mile radius of my garage," he opined that Christmas a decade ago. "You are like Armageddon for cars."

  “Car-mageddon?" I had asked, thinking myself pretty clever, but only earning withering stares from both my uncle and my brother.

  Derek finished pouring his coffee and turned around to see me sitting there at the kitchen table with my empty coffee cup. He startled a little. “Well,” he said, as casually as could be. "You look like crap."

  I leaned back and dragged my hands down my face. "I feel like crap," I said.

  "Too much partying last night?" My brother swore he had no judgment for those who still partook, but there was always just a little smidgen of judgment in his voice when he asked me these sorts of questions.

  "I was up too late,” I corrected him. "Only had two beers."

  "I thought I heard you come stumbling around three in the morning."

  "Sorry about that."

  "No worries, you had some reconnecting to do. Been too long since you came back here, little bro."

  I winced. Every single person in Reckless Falls seemed to be conspiring against me to remind me of that fact. "Yeah,” I sighed. “I had some reconnecting to do."

  I could still feel Autumn's skin against mine, the slide of her silky smoothness again my own skin seemed to be burned into my core. I was afraid to shower, because it would be erasing the sensation that still lingered there.

  But maybe I needed to do exactly that. When I had left last night, she wasn't talking to me, sitting in stony silence in the driver’s seat, her beautifully plump lips pursed tightly like she had tasted something sour.

  I hadn’t understood why she was so pissed at me and I kept trying, trying as hard as I could, to knock down the wall she’d thrown up between us. After all, it was good that my firm had business in town. It would mean I was coming back. A lot. And if we worked together to get her grandpa the best price, well then, what could possibly be wrong with that?

  “Cole,” she’d finally said as we pulled into my brother’s darkened drive. "Stop."

  "Stop what?" I’d demanded. I felt my voice rising, I had this desire to fight something and I didn't know what it was. I had just found her again, just found her after missing her for so long. I had just realized, just then — with the revelation still fresh in my brain — that she was the one. The one for me.

  And now she was telling me that something was standing in our way?

  I never took well to being told I couldn't have what I wanted.

  I realized with a start that my brother was waiting for me to finish talking and that I had sort of trailed off in mid-sentence. I took a deep breath. Fuck it. “I was with Autumn,” I finally blurted.

  Derek's raised eyebrows were the only indication of his feelings.

  “She's pissed at me."

  "No kidding," Derek deadpanned.

  "I mean, she’s pissed now, but she wasn’t, uh... she wasn’t when we were....”

  Derek cut me off. “Oh shit.”

  I leaned back again. “Yeah."

  “So why is she pissed? Did she find out you only came back to try to lowball her grandpa on that piece of property that’s been in their family for generations?"

  I looked up sharply. "Who ever said anything about lowballing?"

  Derek spread his hands. “Well? Isn't that what you guys do down there in your fancy offices in New York? You guys aren’t local, you don't know the history of that land or what it means to the town to have it stay undeveloped. All these people coming in and snatching up pieces of the lake, erecting barriers so the rest of us can’t enjoy the view that’s been ours since our ancestors first settled here. You guys just want to come in and carve it up for a profit.”

  "What the hell, man? I grew up here just as much as you did."

  "And you left as soon as you could."

  "I had a scholarship! I went to college!”

  "Yeah, I know. I was really proud of my little brother. First one our family to actually go and get that piece of paper. But I didn't think it would give you amnesia."

  I turned back to my coffee, hurt and angry beyond anything I had expected to feel. “Fuck you, Derek,” I spat.

  ”And Merry Christmas to you too, Cole.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Autumn

  Four days later

  He was parked at the far side of the lot, leaning against the hood of a rental car, looking out over the icebound lake. Little rivers of melt water ran underneath the surface of the ice, spreading out patterns that always reminded me of fireworks, fingers and tendrils that looked so beautiful, but carried a hidden danger underneath. There hadn’t been any deaths this year, or the year before that, but the year prior, Casey Langley's dad punched through the ice during a midnight ice-fishing run. Some said it must have been a suicide, why else would an experienced guy like Mike go out after a thaw like that, but Casey swore her dad would never do such a thing, leave her mom like that.

  It was one of those mysteries that tugged at the seams of a community, little tragedies that made up the fabric of our town. Woven in sorrows and joys too. Like when I'd come down here to my Grandpa's property with Cole, the night we both graduated from high school. He’d spread my blanket out on the sandy shore — much like he'd done on Christmas Eve — and laid me down beneath him. It had been the first, and the last time we’d made love, right up until a few days ago. And I'd always remember the look on his face as moved above me, a mixture of pure animal rawness and almost reverent desire.

  He’d looked at me that way Christmas Eve, too.

  He hadn't seen me pull up yet, which gave me a moment to take in his long figure. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his peacoat and he had a gray scarf wrapped around his neck. It looked expensive. Like cashmere, or maybe silk. I couldn't tell, I couldn't afford those types of fabrics on my kindergarten teacher salary. I tried very, very hard not to get angry about that cashmere scarf, and instead chose to be angry at him again. And angry at myself for letting him in again. Eight years had gone by and I was still having to cut Cole out of my heart the way you slice a bruise off an otherwise good apple. How could he forget everything he came from? And worse, how could I keep making excuses for why that was all okay?

  As I watched, he snatched the woolen cap off of his head and ran his fingers through his air. The weak sun filtering through the tree branches was enough to enliven the highlights of auburn that hid like secrets within his chestnut hair. My mother had crowed so much about that hair. “You and that boy," she’d said. “You’re gonna give me grandbabies with the most beautiful hair in the world." She’d said that as she played with her own ditch water blonde locks. "Sure as hell ain't fair for hair like that to be wasted on a man."

  “Wrong, mama,” I whispered in my brain. “It's not wasted.”

  I took a step forward, and as my boot crunched down, he slid off the hood of his car and turned to face me. With a start, I realized that I hadn't yet seen him out in full daylight. Our only meetings had been in the flickering fluorescent light of the convenience store, the dark shadows of Reese’s Pub, and then the flickering firelight as we made love. As we
had sex, I mean. As we fucked.

  Yes. That.

  In the full light of the winter sun, he was beautiful. There is no other word to describe the way he looked. Even in his winter gear, with nearly every inch of his skin hidden, there was still no mistaking the power of the body underneath. I wavered for a moment, wondering if he looked better with or without clothes. It was a disturbing choice to have to make.

  I opened my mouth to greet him, wish him a Happy New Year, get down to business with the real estate deal, be civil, be professional and all that...

  But he beat me to the punch.

  "I know why you’re pissed at me," he called across the lot.

  I stopped short and nearly tripped over my own feet. It was shades of the convenience store all over again. Thank God I had no eggs in my hand. "Why?" I called, for lack of any better way to respond.

  "I get it,” he said, striding towards me. The edges of his unbuttoned coat flared out like a cape behind him and I suddenly saw him as a superhero. Or super villain. I wasn’t even certain any more. “I understand,” he went on. “And I'm going to fix it.”

  I stopped and waited for him to reach me. He came right up to me, only stopping short when I raised my palm and pressed it against his chest. I needed him to stay at arm’s length. It was the only way... “I’m not testing you,” I told him firmly.

  "You are," he said casually. Like that was a normal state of affairs. "And that's okay."

  I blinked, and my hand fell away. “Because you're going to fix it?"

  "Exactly."

  I sighed in exasperation. "Honestly Cole? Why bother?”

  My words seemed to cut him more deeply than I meant them to. "Why bother?" he echoed. "Because you promised me."

  "Promised you what?"

  "That we were starting over." There was a haunted look in his eyes that hadn't been there a second ago.

  I took a deep breath in, held it, clenching my fists and then released it like I'd learned in yoga class. "Cole. Baby. I was in the middle of having an orgasm. I would've promised anything. I didn't even know what I was saying."

  "But you said it. And you meant it. And I meant it too.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m not interested in a long-distance relationship with the guy who's coming to poach my grandpa's land,” I lashed out in a sudden outburst that caught me by surprise. So much for being calm and professional. "I'm not looking to renew a relationship with a man who’s forgotten what happened down on the beach and what it should mean to him."

  "It means everything to me. And I am telling you that I will buy your grandpa’s land. Me. Not my firm.”

  “What?"

  "This has been a long time coming, but I've only just realized that now. My board, they don't know what they're doing. I'm tired of having to justify the kinds of deals that are actually going to make the kind of long-term, sustainable growth I’m after. So I’m going it alone. As of today.”

  “Cole, I don’t understand any of this.”

  He took my hand and raised it to his lips. ”Autumn, I’m ready to buy. That is, if you're still selling."

  "Won’t your company hate you?"

  "I put in my notice this morning."

  "You did what?”

  He kissed my hand again. "I sent my driver home to his family and got this rental until I can buy my brother's truck. I also arranged with a realtor to sell my apartment. Housing is so cheap here. I’ve been on the phone all week, and I just found the perfect place to sublet for the season. Once the sale of my apartment goes through, I can buy my own place right in town. Or even up in the hills, with lots of land, and lots of room for guests.”

  I felt like my brain had turned to mush. "You're coming back?"

  He nodded and there wasn’t a hint of joking in his eyes. ”I was serious when I said I was starting over. My Christmas present was finding you again. Being with you would be the best possible start to the new year. What do you say, Autumn?"

  "What do you want to do with my grandfather's land?” I whispered.

  He nodded and started ticking things off on his fingers one by one. “Open space. A gazebo, a pier for fishing. Playground for the kids. A town park with just a small parcel off over there,” he pointed, "for cafes and gift shops. That row of shops will be the flagship building for the start of Granger Development."

  “Holy shit.”

  He took my hand again. “You said you wouldn’t sell to someone who didn’t remember the meaning of this land. I want to make it available to everyone. Does that satisfy your conditions for selling?”

  My mouth was completely dry. ”I think so, yeah."

  "Good. I’ll have my lawyer draw up the paperwork and we can go tell your grandpa together. It'll be nice to see the old guy. I wonder, does even remember me?"

  My powers of speech recovered slightly. I smiled and reached up to run my fingers through his hair. It really was just as silky as I remembered. ”Of course he remembers you,” I said. “Everyone does. It's a small freaking town, Cole. There are no secrets here.”

  "Then I'm going to start spreading the word. ‘Autumn and Cole are back together again.’ I figure everyone will probably know within a day or so, right?"

  I smiled and snuggled up to him. “It's cold, people are staying in their houses more. Give it two days at least."

  He kissed the top of my head. "Two days then,” he repeated. "Happy New Year babe. I'm so excited for it to start."

  Epilogue

  Autumn

  Of all the men standing there on the shore in their rolled up shirtsleeves, Cole looked the most at home holding a shovel.

  He also looked adorably ridiculous in his ill-fitting hard-hat, but I decided not to tease him about that too badly. At least not today. Today was his day, after all.

  A makeshift podium was set up in the gravel parking lot above my grandfather's marina. Strung with garlands and gussied up with a slapped on decal of the new town logo that had just been approved, it was waiting for Cole to step up and make his prepared remarks. He'd been practicing them all this past week, standing in the living room of the rambling old Victorian farmhouse he'd bought for us. It was a good speech, full of love for the town he was raised in and the people who made it what it was. I wasn't nervous for him in the slightest. He had this.

  A warm breeze wafted in from the south, bringing with it the smells of mulch and the machine oil from the waiting heavy machinery ready to reclaim the first parcel of land for the Town Park. It was the first part of a very long process. Nothing moves quickly in Reckless Falls. That's part of its charm, I suppose, and I tried to explain that to Cole as he sat tearing his beautiful hair in frustration as he filled out yet another permit application.

  There were still permits to be acquired and demolition to undergo. The rusted shell of my grandfather's marina lurked ominously in the background down at the water's edge, but up here at the groundbreaking, everyone was all smiles.

  And Cole's smile was the widest.

  "On the count of three!" the camera man instructed, Cole bent his knees at the ready, and I felt my cheeks stretching into a grin even before he and the mayor and the Town Planning Officer all dug in and scooped up their ceremonial dirt clods. I raised my phone over the head of the official photographer and snapped my own photo of Cole's big day, then looked down at the screen to see he was smiling right at me.

  Then I looked up and laughed. "What are you doing over here?" I giggled and then whooped as he caught me up in his arms. "Oh my god!" I laughed as he whirled us in crazy circles around the gravel lot. "You're making me dizzy!"

  "You're making me dizzy," he retorted with that cocky little dimple flashing and I was only pretending to beat my fists against his chest when he caught me up in that kiss. I really didn't mind it at all.

  Breathlessly I broke away and looked at him. "Don't you have hands to shake? Palms to grease and all that?"

  "Nah," he shrugged. "I'm too excited. Come on over to the car, I want to show you something."


  "Ooh, did the permits clear for the storefront?" I asked, eagerly following him over to the massive country-boy pick-up he'd recently acquired. He yanked open the door for me and held out a chivalrous hand to help me climb in.

  Then looked over his shoulder really quickly before he leaped in after me.

  "Ah!" I squeaked as he landed on me. The squeak of feedback from the microphone echoed across the lot, and I heard the mayor clearing his throat. "Your speech!"

  "Can't think about that now. Something I have to do first," he murmured, yanking up the long maxi skirt I'd chosen for the occasion.

  "Cole, I...oh..." His warm mouth was already on me, teasing my suddenly aching clit through the thin fabric of my panties. "What's gotten into you?"

  "You Autumn. It's always been you."

  I inhaled sharply. "They're going to be looking for you."

  "Then you'd better come quickly," he rumbled against my thigh. "Or we're going to get caught."

  I squeezed my eyes shut and suddenly I was transported back over eight years ago, to the parking lot of our high school and the afternoon he told me he'd be leaving. Everything had worked out the way I'd planned after all. Even if it had taken longer to get there than I wanted.

  The memory of that afternoon was so clear that in my mind I could almost hear the clack of Mrs. Collis's shoes as she stalked past us to her car.

  Then I opened my eyes and realized that wasn't a memory at all.

  "Cole!" I hissed as I stared out the window on to the top of the real estate broker's head. "It's Fiona! She's looking for you!"

  "I'm busy," Cole murmured, yanking aside my panties. "Got some things I need to do right now."

  "Oh Jesus," I moaned, sliding down as his tongue found my center. Instantly I dissolved into a puddle of mindless mush, as everything fell away except for Cole's expert mouth.

  Who else but Cole could have me panting in an instant? Who else but Cole could have me mindless and quivering for him even as people looked for him five feet away? Who else but Cole could bring me to the very brink and all the while keep smiling up at me with that dimple blazing? Who else but Cole could do any of these things? The answer was no one. Which was why my left hand finally, finally sported his ring.