---

It had been a pretty quiet week for Chelsea.

In a strange kind of way, she’d gone from juggling two men almost full-time to barely hearing from either of them.

She’d agreed to talk with Scott at the Grizzly Paw the day before, but he’d never shown up while she was working and she hadn’t heard from him afterward. And besides a phone call that she’d missed, she hadn’t heard from Lucas either.

Chelsea missed them.

Both of them.

She knew she could call the guys. After all, there was nothing stopping her from picking up the phone to say hi. But then again, maybe the break from both of them was a good thing.

Maybe it would give her time to sort out her feelings.

Lord knew she needed some time.

Because the truth of it was, she did have feelings for both of them. Strong ones. And that scared the hell out of her.

But it didn’t change the fact that she was upset and angry at the both of them. Even though that probably wasn’t rational, she didn’t care. She was tired of being rational.

Besides, falling in love with two men at the same time wasn’t rational.

The thought stopped her in her tracks. Chelsea froze and stared out the window of Ian’s living room at the expanse of calm lake in front of her.

Love?

Is that what it was?

She shook her head because the truth was, it was love. It had to be.

The idea that Chelsea could be in love with two men at the same time was enough to make her run away screaming. But at the same time, it didn’t surprise her. Not really. After all, isn’t that what everything had been leading up to? All the time with Scott and Lucas…it made sense.

It also made her crazy. She had enough questions in her life, and it had been hard enough to balance spending time with both of them before she realized her feelings were so strong. Now…well, it seemed impossible.

And really, who fell in love with two men? Especially two men she was mad at?

It was definitely enough to make her crazy.

She grabbed her hair in her hands and, with the knowledge that she was alone in the house, indulged herself in a little tantrum. She screamed and stamped her feet just like she had when she was a little girl.

It felt good, even though it didn’t get her any closer to figuring everything out. So she did it again.

“Wow, didn’t expect to see a show when I came over today.”

Chelsea spun around to see her older brother Declan in the living room, watching her with a smile on his face. “Don’t stop on my account. I’ll just make myself comfortable.” Declan plopped down onto the couch and crossed his leg over his knee, waiting for her to continue. “You clearly have something you need to work out. Keep going.”

“No.” Chelsea shook her head and plopped into a chair opposite her brother. The tantrum only worked when she was alone. Even then, it wasn’t working.

Declan didn’t say anything for a minute. Chelsea knew it wouldn’t last long. Declan always had something to say when it came to her. Not that she minded. In fact, quite the opposite. Chelsea cherished her older brother’s advice. Always had. She waited.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Well? Are you going to say anything?”

Declan shook his head. “Chels,” he started. “I really don’t know what to say.”

No. She was not going to accept that. Sure, she hadn’t outright asked for his advice or his help, but she should have. And he should know that. And now that he was here, she wanted it. Badly. After all, she certainly wasn’t making any good decisions on her own. Hell, she wasn’t making any decisions at all. It would be good, better than good, to have Declan’s help. “Come on, Dec. I need your help. Don’t make me beg.” She dropped her chin to her chest and resisted the urge to cry. The truth was, she didn’t even know what she was talking about anymore. Did she need his help when it came to men, or just life? She no longer knew.

Declan didn’t say anything for a moment and Chelsea couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad. But finally he nodded and gave her a kind smile. “Chels, you know I love you.”

She nodded. She did know. And no matter what they’d been through, or how their older brothers had felt when they were younger, Declan had never kept it a secret about his feelings for his sisters. He’d adored both of them from the moment they met. Probably from the moment he’d heard about her. Chelsea had never lacked for love when it came to Dec. Their closeness was something she cherished a great deal.

“But you know I can’t make any decisions for you.”

“I don’t want you to make any decisions for me,” she said quickly and then wasn’t entirely sure whether that was true or not. It would be great if he could make all the decisions, but she did realize he couldn’t. “I just need your advice,” she said a little more desperately than she would’ve liked. “That’s all, Declan. I promise. I know I need to do this on my own. But I also know that everything, especially major life decisions, are easier when you have the support of family.”

Declan laughed. “I’ve taught you well. And you’re right, I can’t argue with that. I’ll give you advice. But that’s all. The decision has to come from you, agreed?”

Chelsea nodded. “Of course, and I promise I’ll make one. But first...I could really use someone to bounce ideas off of.”

Declan settled back into the couch and crossed his arms behind his head. “Okay. Go ahead and start bouncing. I promise to give you my honest opinion and what you do with that after that is totally up to you.”

“What do you know about Scott and Lucas?”

“Oh no!” Declan threw up his hands and shook his head. “Forget it. There is no way I’m going to weigh in on this.”

“But you said you’d give me advice.”

“That’s when I thought you were looking for advice on what to do with the rest of your life. Not what to do with men.” Declan shook his head harder. “There’s no way I’m saying anything. It’s none of my business.” Declan crossed his arms over his chest and wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Dec, please.” Chelsea hadn’t realized just how important it was to hear Declan’s opinion until he’d steadfastly refused to give it. And now, she absolutely needed to hear it. She tried a different approach. “I just need you to listen. You don’t really have to say anything.” Declan raised an eyebrow. They both knew she was lying. “I’m really confused. Dec, I really think I’m in trouble here.”

That got his attention. He sat up in his seat. “What do you mean you’re in trouble? What kind of trouble? Because if anything—”

Chelsea stopped him before he got too carried away with that line of thought. She shook her head and held up her hand. “No.” She cut him off. “It’s not like…what I mean is… I think I’m in love.” It was the first time she’d said it out loud and now that she had, she realized it was so completely true. She really was in love. Somehow saying it out loud made it all the more real and she couldn’t take it back.

Her brother sat back hard against the couch with a shake of his head. “Well, I can understand how that would be stressful. As much as it’s awesome, love is also kind of stressful.” He chuckled a little. “But unless you’re being really dramatic, I don’t see how this means you’re in trouble. I guess the real question will be…is it team Scott, or team Lucas?” He laughed a little at himself using their siblings’ terms for her confusing love life.

But Chelsea wasn’t laughing. In fact, nothing about the situation was funny. The pent-up emotion from the last few days—hell, the last few weeks—burst out of her and tears cascaded down her cheeks. She stood by the window, letting the sobs crash through her, as the emotion ran its course. Because that was the only thing that could be done.

To his credit, Declan didn’t say anything, although he must’ve been terribly confused at the turn things had taken. He also knew her well enough to let her have her cry without trying to interfere. A fact Chelsea was grateful for. She wasn’t sure she could handle it if he tried to hug her at that moment.

Finally, when the tears had exhausted themselves, she scrubbed a hand over her face, blinked hard and looked at her brother. “That’s the whole problem,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I’m in love with both of them. And as crazy as it is, it appears as if I am on both team Scott and team Lucas. And I don’t know what the hell to do about it.”

Only after she calmed down did Declan stand, cross the room and give her a hug. The warm arms of her big brother around her was exactly what she needed. Because as hard as it was to finally say it out loud, it was also incredibly liberating.

Despite that, she still wasn’t any closer to knowing what to do about the whole situation.

Together, they moved into the kitchen and Chelsea made a pot of tea. It wasn’t until they sat at the table with their steaming mugs in front of them that Declan said anything about the situation.

“So, I think the first thing you need to figure out is if you truly are in love with each of them.” He held up a hand to stop her protests before they came, and then continued. “Because I can understand that you like them both. They’re both very different but despite that, I think they’re both great guys. And I also know that my little sister is not going to give her attention to a man who isn’t worthy. Which is why—I’m sure you noticed—I didn’t choose a team.” Declan made air quotes with his fingers and shook his head with a little laugh. “I know that no matter who you choose, it’ll be a good choice for you. So that’s not what I’m worried about.”

He paused and took a sip of his tea. Chelsea tried not to rush him, but the more he spoke, the more she realized she wanted to know what he thought. Declan was the kindest, smartest man she knew. She valued his opinion a great deal. Besides, it would be nice to have any opinion to go on. Because even if Declan trusted her judgment, Chelsea was no longer sure she did.

“But that’s the problem, Declan,” Chelsea finally said. “How do I make the choice? Especially since everything that’s been happening around town lately has left more questions in my mind than anything else. I mean, did you hear that Scott was taken into questioning about the vandalism? And is Lucas only a member of the hiking club for show? Is he lying to me?”

“Is that what you really think?” Declan looked at her carefully. “Do you really think Scott is the type of man who would vandalize the construction site to get what he wanted? Even if he thought that the ends would justify the means? I think that’s the real question, Chels. Because if you really believe he is capable of that type of thing, then I’m willing to bet that you know he’s not the right man for you based on that knowledge alone. And we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation. Would we?”

Dammit.

Declan had a point. Declan always had a good point. He was exactly right. If Chelsea really believed he was capable of that type of behavior, then there was no way she would respect him, never mind love him.

And she did.

“And the same goes for Lucas.” Declan picked up his tea mug. “If you didn’t think his intentions were genuine, even a little bit, you would already know that he wasn’t the right man for you. If it’s one thing I know, it’s that you don’t fall for bullshit. Not since…I don’t need to remind you.”

He didn’t.

“And this situation is no different,” Declan finished.

He was right. So right. Somehow she had gotten lost in all of the bullshit that had been going on and she’d spent way too much time listening to all the “he said-she said” stuff, that she’d lost sight of what she already knew to be true.

“See?”

“You’re totally right.” She smiled, but she still wasn’t happy. “Talking to you really helped.”

“Good. Then let me help a little bit more,” Declan said. “I am going to give you some excellent advice, since you asked earlier.” He chuckled but then his expression turned serious once again. “Whatever you do decide—and I do think you should make a decision soon, both for your sake and for theirs—but whatever that decision is, you need to make it for you and only you. Not for anyone else.”

Chelsea shook her head. “No,” she said. “Of course I wouldn’t. The decision will just be for me, not for them.”

Declan held up his hand. “That’s not what I meant. What I was trying to say was don’t make a decision on who you want to be with based on what you think you should do with your life.”

Chelsea shook her head. She didn’t understand what he was saying. On her life? That didn’t make any sense.

Or did it?

She stood and walked to the sink as she let his words sink in for a moment. It really did make sense. Scott represented home. Safety. Cedar Springs and the future. Family.

Lucas represented the exact opposite of that. He represented excitement. Seeing the world, following your heart and chasing a dream. Passion.

When she stopped to think about it, really stopped, everything became so clear. It wasn’t love she felt for both men. It was the idea of what they represented for her.

There was definitely love in her heart, of that there was no doubt.

And there was also no doubt about the man she felt it for. Laughter bubbled up inside her with the completely unexpected realization.

“You’re right, Dec.” She shook her head. “Oh my God, you are so right. It’s so simple when you break it down like that. I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”

“That you didn’t see what?”

“I didn’t see that the answer was totally in front of me. In fact, I think I’ve always known.”

Declan looked confused. “Known what?”

Chelsea pulled her brother into an impulsive hug. She squeezed him tight and laughed. “Everything.”

---

---

The last few days had been crazy, and if it hadn’t been for the promise of cold beer, a little bit of relaxation, and the thought of seeing Chelsea later, the last thing Scott would want to do was go to the Grizzly Paw for a Halloween party. But he did want to do all those things. Mostly to see Chelsea.

And that desire overshadowed the desire to go home and hide.

But before he could even get to the party, he had one other thing to take care of.

“Deanna?” Scott knocked on the door of his new friend’s house before walking in the way her text message had instructed him to. “It’s Scott.” He announced his arrival. “Thank you for agreeing to see me tonight.” He walked into the living room. “I know you’re probably getting ready to go to the big Halloween party, aren’t you?”

“She is.” A man appeared and stuck out his hand. “You must be Scott. It’s nice to meet you.”

Scott shook his hand and smiled. “I am,” he said. “You must be Marcus. Thank you for letting me borrow your girlfriend for a few minutes.” He took in the man’s Peter Pan costume and raised an eyebrow. Marcus just shrugged. “You’re obviously getting ready to go to the party, too.”

“Don’t worry.” Deanna came into the room wearing a Tinker Bell costume. “We definitely have a few minutes before we go. Besides, I cannot believe that Rhys pulled you in for questioning. That’s bullshit. You’d never be involved in vandalism. He must know that?”

Scott shrugged. He would’ve assumed that his friend would know he couldn’t have anything to do with the vandalism of the construction site, but after the last few days of questioning, and what could only be described as interrogation by the officer, Scott wasn’t so sure.

What he did realize for sure was that Rhys was just doing his job and it was definitely a case where he had to take into account all possible leads. Scott didn’t begrudge him that, although he could’ve done without spending so much time at the police station. “He was just doing his job,” Scott told them. “And I’m sure now he believes that I didn’t have anything to do with it. But I’ll tell you what—and this is why I wanted to talk to you—I didn’t realize how serious of a matter this is.” Scott ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. Talking to Rhys at the station and listening to all the questions that had been fired at him had definitely changed Scott’s perspective on the issue. And he finally understood the gravity of the situation. And why everyone was taking it so seriously. The vandalism was a big deal, and even if the Friends of the Lake Society didn’t like the location of the condo development, it was an important development for the community. And nobody in Cedar Springs wanted to risk seeing the development stop, before it really began.

“We need to find out who’s behind the vandalism, because whether we like it or not, the society is definitely the prime suspect. In fact, I think everyone involved in the society is under suspicion.”

“Really? That’s not okay.”

“No,” Scott agreed. “It’s not. But if they don’t find out who’s responsible, I don’t think it will be long before we’re all brought in.”

They talked for a few more minutes about what options they had, and when it became clear that they weren’t going to get anything solved that night, Scott stood and made his leave.

“We’ll see you at the party?” Marcus asked him before closing the door.

“I’ll be there.”

“You don’t have a costume, don’t you?” Deanna peered over Marcus’s shoulder. “You have to have a costume, Scott.”

Marcus gave him a look and shook his head. “He doesn’t.”

“Get back in here,” Deanna ordered. “We’ll get you a costume.”

Scott knew that there was no point arguing about it. Besides, they were right. If he was going to a Halloween party, how lame would he be if he didn’t have a costume?

After another ten minutes, Scott was finally on his way home to get ready, one of Marcus’s old costumes in hand.

Scott stopped at home long enough to have a quick shower and slide into his costume. He took a peek at himself in the mirror and had to laugh. Batman wouldn’t have been his first choice, but it worked. And he had to admit, he didn’t look half bad. Hopefully Chelsea would like it.

Just thinking of Chelsea made him happy. It had been too long since he’d seen her, and he was more than ready to lay his eyes on her sweet smile that made his heart sing. He was also ready to finally take their relationship to the next level. Which, as far as he was concerned, was getting some kind of commitment out of her. He’d been a patient man, but he was sick of sharing and he wanted to get serious and have a life with her. She hadn’t said as much, but he was positive she wanted that too. He could see it in her eyes. He could feel it in her kiss. She wanted a life with him. They were perfect for each other but they couldn’t move forward until he had that commitment from her.

And all of his feelings about Lucas aside, this wasn’t about him. It was about Scott and Chelsea. Just the two of them, nothing else. He knew Chelsea was working the Halloween party, but he was confident he’d be able to steal her away for a few minutes and finally tell her exactly how he felt about her.

By the time he made it to the Grizzly Paw, the Halloween party was in full swing.

He’d been tired and worn out by the week, but just hearing the music pulsing from inside and feeling the energy of the pub and a town that he had made his home had Scott feeling reinvigorated and ready to go.

As soon as he walked in the door, he was greeted by people he knew. More and more, Cedar Springs was becoming home, and the people in the town were his genuine friends. He stopped to talk with almost everybody, but the entire time he was chatting, he kept his eyes peeled for the one person he really wanted to see.

Scott had to scan the busy room a few times before he finally saw her. She was beautiful and, just like it always did, his heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He had to laugh a little at her costume choice. He knew right away who she was supposed to be in her blue dress and white apron topped with a long blonde wig. Chelsea made a very cute Alice in Wonderland. Scott excused himself to the couple he was talking to and made his way through the room until finally her eyes met his.

“Hi.” She pulled him into a hug and instantly he felt better. It had been strange not seeing her or barely even talking to her for the last few days, but just having her in his arms melted any of that strangeness away. Of course, he wished the hug could go on forever, but it wasn’t the time or the place. Besides, there would be lots of time for that in the future.

“You look great,” he said when he pulled back. “You are the perfect Alice.” He admired her costume again. “In fact, you’re probably a better Alice than the original Alice.”

She laughed and pointed to his costume. “And you.” She didn’t bother to hide her amusement. “Batman? Interesting choice.”

“I’d like to say I could take credit for it, but I can’t.”

“Well, from what I hear, you are definitely an avenger of justice these days.”

“I don’t know if that’s true.” Scott shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was get into it all again. “But what I do know is I’m certainly happy to see you.” He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she turned her head at the sound of a cowboy letting out a whoop in the corner of the room.

She laughed. “I should probably get over there before Malcolm starts lassoing people. It’s been an interesting night so far and I have a feeling it’s just getting started.”

He agreed with that but not in the way she was referring to. Chelsea turned to tend to her customers but Scott reached out and grabbed her arm before she could slip away. “Can I steal you away later?”

Her smile was so genuine that he knew he was doing the right thing by finally telling her how he felt about her. In fact, it felt so right that he just couldn’t wait any longer. It wasn’t how he’d planned to do it, but it didn’t matter. “Chelsea, I need you to know…I’ve been wanting to tell you…” He swallowed hard and laughed a little at his nerves. “What I’m trying to say is…I think you’re great and I’ve really enjoyed the time we’ve been spending together.”

“Scott, I’ve really enjoyed it too.”

Relief washed through him. “I’m so glad you said that because I’m totally and completely in love with you.” Once the words were out of his mouth, he knew he’d done the right thing.

“Oh Scott.” She grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes. “I—”

A crash from the far end of the bar distracted her from whatever she was about to say and she dropped his hands. “I should—”

“Go,” he said. “We’ll talk later.”

“We will.” She took one last look at him before she rushed off.

After his confession, everything seemed lighter and brighter and Scott was no longer tired or ready to get away from the party. In fact, as far as he was concerned, it was the best night he’d had in a long time. And he’d only been there ten minutes. Ready to have a good time, he headed to the bar to find a drink.

Scott had just ordered a beer when he was joined by a familiar-looking sheriff.

Woody, from Toy Story, stood next to him. “Nice costume choice,” he said to Rhys with a roll of his eyes. “You don’t get enough of the badge when you’re on duty?”

“Oh come on. You should know by now.” Rhys shook his head with a smile. “I’m never off duty. Not really.” He lifted his bottle of beer to prove that he was in fact off duty. “Besides, Kari wanted us to be a couples costume this year.”

“So she’s…Jessie? Cute.”

“She is.” Rhys wiggled his eyebrows and took a slug of his beer. “Damn, I needed this after this last week. I need you to know that it wasn’t personal. You do know that, right?”

Scott nodded and accepted his own beer from the bartender dressed as a bat. “I do, but it doesn’t piss me off any less.”

“I know. It’s definitely not my favorite part of the job. Especially in a small town. But this case is making me crazy.”

Scott knew that feeling. The case was making him crazy, too. Only in a completely different way. “So, there are no leads?” The two men turned so they were leaning against the bar, surveying the crowd. Scott let his eyes travel to the very cute Alice in Wonderland. He watched her with a smile. The worries of the last week had all but completely melted away now that he’d confessed his love. Almost. “Didn’t you say Lucas Lee was installing cameras?”

“He did. But cameras aren’t always foolproof. But he did catch someone on camera.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Rhys tipped his bottle toward him. “There’s more than one reason why you’re standing here and not in jail right now.”

“Mainly that I didn’t do it.”

“You know I know that. But when I get a tip…”

“Yeah, yeah. We don’t need to go through it all again.”

“No, we don’t. And I think I am narrowing down the suspect list.”

Scott turned to his friend, suddenly more invested. The entire investigation had taken a much more personal turn than it ever was supposed to. And despite himself, Scott found himself actually caring who was doing the vandalism at the construction site. Even though he couldn’t care less whether it made Lucas Lee’s life hell. No, that wasn’t true. He didn’t like the man, and he really didn’t like being blamed for something he had nothing to do with. But what he liked even less was crime occurring in his town. And it was his town. More and more, as every day passed, Scott thought of Cedar Springs as his own. And he would do what he could to defend it from crime. Maybe it was the Batman suit, or maybe it was the long week, or maybe even it was the love of good woman. Whatever it was, there was no doubt that Scott was invested.

“Who’s the latest suspect?”

Rhys shook his head. “You know I can’t tell you that. But I’m definitely working on a few things. In fact, I was hoping to see Lucas here tonight. Not that I really want to mix business and pleasure, but at this point, I just really want to catch this scumbag and move on.”

Despite being new friends, Rhys knew Scott well. By the time they finished talking, Scott was almost ready to go looking for Lucas himself. Almost.

He still wasn’t ready to make nice with Lucas Lee. Not yet. But now that things were finally moving in the right direction with Chelsea, it wouldn’t be long before he was finally ready to put all that behind him. And move on with a much more positive attitude about everything, even Lucas. Although Scott couldn’t imagine Lucas was going to be very happy with him. Not now that things were finally changing between him and Chelsea.

With perfect timing, Chelsea waved at him from across the room and gestured toward the back room. He wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. If she had a moment, no matter how small on her busy night, he was going to take it.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” he said to Rhys.

His friend’s eyes followed his to Chelsea and he laughed. “You go do what you have to do. We’ll talk later. Besides, I know better than to compete with a woman.”

Scott didn’t have to be told twice. He put his beer down on the bar behind him, and all but jogged toward the back room.