CHAPTER TWO
The drive from Haven to North Dakota was one that Addy had taken several times now. Trent had been correct; there wasn’t really a reason for her to go again so soon. Other than her desire to get out of town.
In the past two years, she’d gotten used to traveling. She actually enjoyed it. She had her small travel trailer hooked up to the back of her Jeep and that was all she needed.
Since returning to Haven, she’d only seen her parents for half an hour, twenty-nine minutes of which she’d spent listening to her mother explain how many different ways Addy was ruining her parents’ lives and her own. She’d quickly excused herself and hadn’t returned to their massive house along the river since.
Addy was truly on her own. What her mother thought of her didn’t matter, nor did the disappointed look in her father’s blue eyes. One of the only physical traits she’d inherited from him.
Yet her parents were only part of why Haven was now in her rearview mirror.
It took almost eight hours, but she finally pulled into the massive parking area where small groups of people milled around. She knew there were well over a thousand people gathered there, but on a night like this, most were tucked inside their tents trying to stay warm. Snow had started to fall, which had made the last hour of the drive seem to go slower than the first seven.
It had taken her a while to get used to the kinds of people she usually saw when arriving at a location. This time, since it was still snowing, most were layered with thick, heavy jackets, hats, and blankets.
Two summers ago, she’d gone to a location to protest the sale of a lot of land by the beach in California. The buyer was a large company known for getting around laws prohibiting toxic dumping. They’d snatched up land directly next to a huge plot dedicated to California condor mating. Most of those protesters had been half-clothed or only covered in fake feathers.
The rest ran the spectrum—from shady characters to your average family person. Still, she’d learned not to let her guard down while on location. She’d heard a few protest horror stories about rapes, stabbings, theft, and even once, back in the eighties, a murder.
As Addy parked, a short, very thin, redheaded woman waved and started making her way toward her Jeep.
“What are you doing here? I thought Beau had you tied to Montana for the next few weeks,” Joy Garrett said as Addy opened the Jeep door.
“No, he told me I could come here,” she said, not looking at Joy directly in the eyes. She hated stretching the truth, but she didn’t feel like explaining that she had needed to get out of Haven. If for no other reason to prove to herself that she could.
“Addy, Beau isn’t going to be happy. He was going to call you later tonight.”
“About?” Addy climbed out of her Jeep.
When she’d first met Joy, who was a few years older than she was, Addy had assumed that she and Beau were an item, since Joy waited on the director of Friends Respecting Everything Environmental, FREE for short, hand and foot.
Addy had been hired on as program organizer almost two years ago, shortly after, completely against her parents’ wishes, dropping out of college. She’d tried school for a couple of years before finally walking away from her parents’ control.
To date, it had been the best decision she’d ever made.
“What’s up?” she finally said when Joy bit her bottom lip and remained silent.
“He’s gotten wind that there is a large land purchase in the works.”
“From?” Addy took a deep breath and tried not to get frustrated as Joy took her time relaying the news. She’d learned early on that she had to handle Joy with a delicate touch.
“Well, he’s heard that McGowan Enterprises, that company we went up to Montana in the first place for . . .” She paused and took a few breaths as she glanced around. Probably keeping an eye out for Beau. “They are purchasing over a hundred acres.”
“What?” Addy’s voice rose. “What for?”
“Well, we’ve heard that they’re going to start fracking for oil.”
“Where?”
“Just outside of Haven.”
Addy didn’t think the McGowan brothers could afford that much land. Sure, she knew that things had been going well for them since they had taken over the family business after their father’s death, but she didn’t know how well.
“Where did he hear this?” she asked, now gazing around for Beau herself. Perhaps she could corner him and get the information from the man directly.
“Well,” Joy sighed. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, but last week when we were there he talked to a man who’d told him about the purchase.”
Seeing the back of Beau’s dark, curly head down by the frozen water, Addy decided to forgo the rest of the slow conversation with Joy.
“I’m sorry, Joy, I have to . . .” She trailed off when Joy nodded in agreement.
“It’s good to see you again,” Joy called out as Addy made her way through the snow.
Beau was the skinniest, tallest, and hairiest man she’d ever met. The fact that he’d walked around all summer in California without a shirt and sun rays still never made it down to his pale skin said everything. Still, he had a heart of gold and really, truly cared about people and the earth.
Which, in her book, bumped him up several notches.
“Hey,” she said, a little breathless when she finally reached him.
“Addy?” He frowned over at her. “What are you doing here? I thought I . . .”
“Joy told me that you heard the McGowans are buying some land.”
He fell silent for a while, scanning the crowd before turning back to her. “Yeah.” He took her arm gently and drew her a few steps away from the nearest clump of people. “Not just any land, the land directly east of the Flathead Reservation.”
Addy sighed and tried to brace herself for what she knew was coming.
“We’ll need you back there as soon as possible. We’ve got our hands full with everything here.” He looked around the campsite, temporary home to the thousands of protesters braving the snow to fight against the pipeline. “I’m really hoping you’ll take the lead on this since you know the place and the people involved there. Kind of like an insider . . .” He shoved his hands in his pockets as Joy walked over to them.
“Did you tell her?” Joy asked.
“Not yet.” Beau’s eyes dropped from Addy’s.
“What?” Addy steadied for another blow, but then Joy smiled.
“We’re getting married.” Joy held out her small hand, and Addy noticed the freshly inked tattoo. Green vines wrapped around her ring finger, and Addy could see an outline of a large flower near the top knuckle. “We’ll get it finished on our honeymoon.” Joy smiled.
“Wow!” Addy couldn’t think of anything more to say. She knew they were both against mining, so it made sense that tattoos were their preferred way to show their dedication to one another.
She watched Beau wrap his arms around Joy, who was almost half his size but fit perfectly next to him.
“Congratulations,” Addy said, almost stammering it out.
Personality wise, they were a perfect match. Joy was soft-spoken, sweet, and extremely smart. Beau was everything any normal woman would dream of. Yet . . .
Addy wasn’t a shallow person. Really, she wasn’t. She’d spent most of her childhood being made fun of since she’d been skinny and taller than most girls and hadn’t grown boobs until . . . she stopped herself from looking down at her barely B cups. All that, plus the ugly glasses and the haircut Trent had ever-so-thoughtfully brought up. She’d been teased so many times she’d lost count.
But just looking between Joy and Beau, no matter how antimaterialistic you were, you couldn’t miss their size differences. He was six seven, rail thin. She was five one and very petite. She knew that others in camp talked about the pair behind their back. She also knew that neither of them cared what others thought. Something Addy still struggled with personally.
Addy wondered how it would work physically between them. Then she realized she was thinking about their sex life in front of them and her face heated. She had to turn away before they noticed her pink cheeks.
“We’re hoping to get married this fall.” Joy gleamed at Beau.
Addy could see the love in their eyes, and she knew that any physical differences between them fell away once they looked at each other.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she said with heartfelt honesty.
Then Beau turned back to her. “I’m sorry that you just got here, but I really do need you back in Montana.”
Addy sighed heavily. “I’ll get a few hours of sleep and head back.” She turned and started walking toward her Jeep and trailer.
“Hey, Adrianna.” The use of her full name made her jaw tense—and the fact that she knew who had said it doubled the force of her clenching.
“Hi, Brian. I thought you were still in Montana.” She’d been avoiding him there recently.
“Nope, came down here a few days ago after those McGowans almost killed me.”
“They didn’t lay a finger on you,” she started to say, only to have him interrupt her.
“I’m thinking of hiring a lawyer and suing their asses. Breaking and entering. They tore up my stuff, not to mention had me arrested . . . twice.” His blue eyes narrowed. “We have to protect our own.” It was a statement he used all the time. She doubted he even knew what it meant.
“What do you want, Brian? I need a few hours of sleep. I’ve been on the road—”
Once again he interrupted her.
“Oh, man. You just got in? Yeah, sorry, I won’t keep you long. I was just wondering if I could catch a ride with you back to Haven when you go? I caught a ride with Reed out here since my car had been acting up.”
“I don’t know, Brian. I’ll probably need—”
“It’s just a ride.” His tone instantly turned and she knew it would get even worse if she didn’t just agree. The man constantly interrupted her. It was one of his patterns. One that always had her on edge whenever she was around him.
“Sure,” she sighed. Visions of a nice, quiet, peaceful drive back to Montana fled her mind. “I’ll probably get a few hours of sleep, then head back first thing in the morning.” She started walking again toward her trailer.
“That’s cool. So I was talking with Ricky, anyway, um, he’s hooking up with Kitty tonight and . . . I’m kind of out of a place to . . .”
“No,” she said, continuing to walk. “We’ve been over this.” She sighed again when he fell into step next to her.
He reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. She glanced down at his hand. “Listen, I don’t mind giving you a ride, but I don’t let anyone stay with me. Is that clear?” She tried to jerk her arm free, but his fingers tightened.
“I’m not asking to fuck you, just to bunk with you. You’ve got that big trailer all to yourself.”
Addy glared at him. “If you don’t let go of my arm, I’m going to have to report you.” Before she could get her phone out, his hand had dropped. “Now as I’ve stated on many occasions, I don’t bunk up. Go ask Beau, he’ll arrange for you to bunk with another man for the night.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she turned on her heel and headed back to her trailer.
Home sweet home, she thought as she climbed in and locked the door behind her. A massive king-size bed occupied the entire back of the trailer. Bookshelves lined both sides of the cozy nook, filled with books of all shapes and sizes. Most of which she’d read at least three times.
The bathroom and kitchen were near the front. A small, one-person dining area connected the kitchen and the bed area.
Pulling off her boots, she set them on the drying rack she had built herself. Hanging her coat on one hook, she pulled off her hat and hung it on another. There was a place for everything she had, and she was meticulous about keeping her space, no matter how tiny, tidy.
Being organized was something she had found out she loved early on in life. It had nothing to do with her mother or the drive the woman had to run Addy’s life. Instead, she found great pleasure in knowing exactly where everything was.
When she climbed into the overly soft, expensive mattress she’d splurged on, she sighed and closed her eyes. Instantly Trent’s brown eyes came to mind.
Turning over, she tried once more to fall asleep. This time, she heard his chuckle, which jolted her body to full sexual alert. Damn that man for consuming her thoughts. Then she heard the soft chuckle again.
Her eyes opened and she frowned. Turning once more, she punched her pillow and closed her eyes. Only now she heard what she could have sworn was Trent’s low voice.
This time, she sat up and glared at her front door. There was no way she was really hearing him outside her trailer.
She sat still for almost a complete minute and, when everything was silent outside, decided she needed more sleep than she’d thought. However, the second she closed her eyes, that voice returned.
She jumped from her bed and swung her door open, almost knocking Trent over as he reached up to knock. His smile bloomed.
“There you are. I was just—”
“What in the hell are you doing here?” she said through gritted teeth. The fact that her knees went weak at the sight of him standing in the parking lot, fresh snow dusting his eyelashes and the long, curly hair that peeked out from under his hat, didn’t matter. She tried to ignore what the man’s presence was doing to her body as she glared down at him.
Instead of being offended at her sharp tone, Trent just smiled more widely.
Okay, so Trent supposed he could see how this looked from Addy’s point of view. The word stalker popped into his mind. Still, he doubted she’d give him time to explain exactly why he was in North Dakota, in the same town, in the same parking lot as her and more than a thousand other people who some would describe as his enemies. Seeing as he was from an oil family, and everyone here was . . . well, against his kind.
Her blue eyes narrowed at him, and her hands were firmly placed on those trim hips of hers.
“Would you believe me if I said I came here to see a man about a moose?” he said.
Her faced turned a sexy shade of pink, then before he could say anything more, she stepped back and slammed the door on him. He couldn’t help it. He laughed.
Less than a second later, her door flew open again. “Why are you here?” Addy asked. “The truth.”
“I really am here to see a man about a moose . . . it’s a kind of tractor.” Trent nodded toward the parking lot, where a large semi sat a few yards away. On the back of the flatbed trailer was a massive blue tractor. What he didn’t share was that he’d selected the meeting place. To be fair, Joe, the man with the tractor for sale, had suggested North Dakota, about a hundred miles from their current location, but that town didn’t have a runway for Trent’s Cessna. So Trent had picked this place himself.
He turned away from her and smiled at the tractor. “I’m going to call her Bessy. I think I might be in love.” He sighed as he looked at the machine.
This time Addy was the one who laughed. He turned back around. Something close to an electric feeling flooded his body. The light from inside her trailer cast a halo around her long hair. It wasn’t in the braid she’d had it in every other time he’d seen her lately. Now it fell over her shoulders, and she looked even more beautiful than before.
“How did you get here?” She crossed her arms.
“I flew.” He moved a little closer as a strong wind blew up his back. “Landed about an hour ago at the airport. Any chance I could come in for a minute?” He looked around her into the trailer.
“No.” She blocked his way and closed the door slightly.
“Why? Aren’t you alone?” His smile fell slightly.
Her eyes narrowed again. “It’s none of your—”
“Addy, it’s freezing out here, and I need to talk to you about something I overheard.” He glanced around, not wanting to say more.
“About?” She drew the word out.
“Something you’ve just been told.” He really hated being out in the open. Not to mention he was freezing. He’d stood outside for the past hour, waiting for the truck with Bessy on it.
She was silent for a moment.
“Are you afraid of me?” Trent asked, not sure of what he’d do if she said yes. There was one thing you could say about the McGowan brothers: they may be known for chasing women, but they respected every single one of them.
He watched her chin rise slightly. “Of course not.”
“Then . . .” He nodded to the inside of her trailer as another burst of cold air hit them both. He shivered noticeably.
Addy stepped back and held the door open. “Five minutes,” she warned as he entered.
His mother hadn’t raised a fool. To his credit, when he saw how tidy her small space was, he removed his boots and set them on the drying rack next to hers. He hung his jacket next to hers, then moved farther into the small space, ducking his head since the ceiling of the trailer was about six inches too short for him. He noticed her head cleared easily as she shut and latched the door behind them.
She stood back and frowned as she watched him.
“Do you have anything to drink?” He looked around. “I spent the last few hours in the air, then an hour out in the open trying to . . .” He took a deep breath. “Never mind.” He shook his head, remembering how the negotiations to get Bessy home had gone.
“I have tea.” She moved, and when she bumped into him, nodded to the small table. “Sit.”
He edged around her slowly, his head tilted at an odd angle to avoid the low ceiling. He smiled when he heard her breath hitch as he brushed against her. When he sat down, he rolled his shoulders and enjoyed the warmth of the trailer.
He watched her handle the small space like it was the biggest kitchen. She took two coffee mugs down from hooks, filled a small glass container with water and set it down on a black disk, then hit the button to start the warmer.
“That’s pretty cool,” he said about the glass kettle.
She smiled as she pulled two packets of tea down from a cupboard. “It heats water up in under a minute.”
He could tell she was trying to stay busy until the water was hot. She got out some crackers and put a slab of cheese on a plate and set it in front of him.
Instantly his stomach growled. The sound echoed in the small area, causing Addy to look over at him. She frowned again, and he could tell she was debating what to do with him.
“Like I said, I had to rush here to meet Joe.” He took a cracker and shoved it into his mouth.
“I can heat up some soup, if you’d like,” she said, watching him take another cracker.
“I don’t want to put you out,” he said automatically.
“It’s not a problem, actually. I’m kind of hungry myself.”
He nodded and nibbled on the crackers as she went to work on her new task.
“Why do you need . . . Betsy?” she asked as she glanced over her shoulder.
“Bessy,” he corrected.
She shook her head and turned back around. “Why do men always name their machines?”
He chuckled. “Because we can.”
“Why do you need such a big tractor?”
“I’m clearing my land, and since I still have the blisters from helping Tyler clear his land for his house, I figured I’d be smarter than he was. Besides, I found out I love driving one.”
Addy set a bowl of tomato soup in front of him along with a chunk of French bread.
“Why did you have to pick it up here?” she asked, sitting next to him with her own soup.
“I’m not picking it up. I’m flying back home. I just came out here to inspect it and sign off on it so he could drive it out to me,” Trent said between spoonfuls of hot soup.
“You flew all the way out to North Dakota to buy a tractor?” she asked.
He nodded.
“In a snowstorm?”
“Well, it wasn’t snowing when I left Montana.”
She peered out of the windows next to the table. “You should probably fly out tomorrow. It’s really starting to come down out there.”
He looked out too and held in a curse. “Can’t. I have a meeting tomorrow morning.” He sighed and finished off his soup. “Besides, I’ve flown in worse.”
“You’ve . . .” She turned and looked at him, then shook her head. She set her spoon down. “What did you want to tell me?”
Trent took a deep breath. “I know that your boss . . .”
“Beau,” she supplied, and he nodded.
“I know he’s gotten wind of my family’s plan to purchase the Lenz family’s land.”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “How did you . . .”
“It’s not what it seems,” he added when she didn’t finish her sentence. “I overheard him telling you about it.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “What is it, then?”
He shifted his feet under the table. “I can’t tell you anything about it yet.”
She pushed her half-empty bowl away. “Then why say anything to me at all?”
“Because I don’t want you to get all worked up about something that’s . . . nothing.” He smiled again when he noticed her brows arch. “You don’t believe me?” he asked.
“I don’t believe half the stuff you say to me,” Addy said with a smile.
“Why?” He leaned closer. “What did I ever do to you that would give you the impression that I am anything but trustworthy?”
She laughed, and he realized he enjoyed the sound. Soft, yet caressing. The way her eyes changed when she was enjoying herself was mesmerizing. What would they look like in the heat of pleasure?
She stood up. “It isn’t what you did to me, more like . . . I’ve seen every smooth move that you’ve used over the years with all those other women.”