Chapter 21

The next morning, as Jasper unlocked the café door, Liam was the first one to lumber in, even though he had a perfectly good coffeemaker at his own place.

“Mornin’,” he said, smiling. “Little late with the door, aren’t we?”

Jasper looked at his wrist, then shook his head. His watch must still be upstairs. “Slept through the alarm.”

“Uh-huh.” Liam slid onto one of the barstools while Jasper tried to double-time getting the percolators going. The pre-church crowd would be here any minute, and he had exactly zero coffee to serve any of them. “Any special reason we’re suddenly sleeping through alarms, when this door has been opened at the crack of five-thirty every day for four years now?”

Jasper turned away from him, scooping beans and measuring water. “Just tired.”

Yeah, tired. That’s what it was.

And he would be, later. But right now, after a night with Emma, all he felt was a ridiculous, heady mix of lust and satisfaction and…fun. After so long, it should have felt uneasy, or nerve-wracking, or just—hell—maybe a relief, but when they’d finally fallen asleep around four o’clock, he’d done so with a smile on his face and a stomach that actually ached from laughter.

It was so…easy with Emma. So sweet and tender and holy-shit hot, but she had a lightness about her that had made it all seem…right.

“Hey, Romeo?” Liam’s voice jolted him. “You gonna put those beans in the grinder? Or you gonna sniff them till you wake up?”

Jasper shook his head and dumped the beans, pressing the button to effectively drown out anything further Liam might say. Then he stopped the grinder.

“What’d you just call me?”

Liam raised his eyebrows. “Dumbass, I think.”

“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “That.”

“Well, I mean, there I am last night doing my rounds at the store, making sure everything’s locked up tight, and I look across to this place and see somebody’s rental car out front, and I say, ‘Huh. Must be the trail ride went pretty well, if they’re still out at Whisper Creek at nine o’clock at night.’ And then, I get up an hour ago and head out for a run, and what do you know? Same car. Still here.” He shrugged. “So, I mean, questions occur.”

“Maybe I dropped her back at the hotel.”

“Maybe.” Liam nodded like he was weighing the possibility against others. “But maybe you’ve got a stupid smile on your face that you can’t tamp down even though you’re trying. So maybe you’ve been up all frigging night with Emma, and maybe you’re pretty happy about that turn of events, and maybe you just want to come out and say so.”

“Nah.”

“Fine. Give me some coffee and I’ll be on my way, then.”

“Good.” Jasper rolled his eyes as he slid a mug across the counter. “And who hired you to be neighborhood watch, anyway?”

“I volunteered.” Liam sipped his coffee, then made a face. “Shit, this is terrible. What’d you do?”

Jasper pulled down a mug of his own and tasted it, then practically spit it out. What had he done?

Liam laughed as he slid the mug across the bar. “Might want to call in your teenagers to work this morning. You’re gonna kill someone with that tar.”

“Shut up.”

Jasper moved as fast as he could, dumping the carafes he’d already brewed, then opening the beans to start over.

“Hey, Jasper?”

Jasper looked over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“You need the money you’ll take in this morning?”

“Huh?”

Liam walked to the door and winked as he flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED, then pulled open the door and locked it before he stepped out.

“There. You’re closed. Go back to bed, man.”

Late that afternoon, Emma turned down the long, curving driveway that led to Whisper Creek, crickets doing gymnastics in her stomach. Jasper had previously offered to help Cole out with some sort of overnight-trail-ride thing, so she’d headed back to her hotel after a long, long morning in bed. But the longer she’d sat there in the industrial chair, looking at the industrial bed and industrial bureau, the more she’d itched to get out of there.

Before she knew it, she’d been headed right back to Whisper Creek, a tingly ask-forgiveness-later plan forming in her gut. She couldn’t spend ten more weeks in that hotel room, not when there was a place like this just five miles away.

She parked out in front of the main lodge, and before she’d even gotten out, Kyla came hopping down the steps.

“Wow! Nice car! That can’t be one of Smitty’s rentals.”

Emma smiled, practically petting the powder-blue car. “No. My rental conked out in front of Jasper’s this morn—last night. He had this one in his garage, so he said I could use it.”

“Re-eally.” Kyla nodded, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. “It kind of looks more like a you-car than a Jasper-car, don’t you think?”

“Yes!” Emma laughed. “I was just thinking that!”

It was a gorgeous car, with its gleaming paint job and cute round headlights. It was a convertible, even, so it’d probably be useless in snow, but it sure was fun to drive on a sunny, 75-degree day.

“So are you here for another ride? Because I’m sure we could get somebody saddled up for you.”

“Actually,” Emma took a deep breath, “I was wondering if maybe, possibly, you might have any guest rooms free? I know you’re probably booked solid, and this is totally out of the blue, but I just can’t help asking.”

“Better views here than your hotel room?” Kyla winked.

“By views, you mean—”

“The mountains, obviously.” She smiled, motioning Emma toward the lodge. “Come on in. Let me see what we can do.”

Emma felt her stomach go jittery at the possibility of actually living here, on this glorious property, for the next little while. Kyla hadn’t said no, so maybe, maybe Emma could call one of those sweet little cabins home for the next couple of months?

“Ma, look who’s here!” Kyla called as they walked into the kitchen. “Emma’s wondering if we might be able to put her up here for the rest of her stay.”

Ma turned from the sink, her hands soapy and her cheeks pink. “Really, now? You willing to put up with this crew for that long?”

Emma laughed. “Absolutely.”

“Because if I give you a deal on a cabin—which I’ll do because Bette’s one of my best friends—I’ll expect some labor in return.”

“Oh. Okay?” Emma nodded carefully. When in the world would she have time to work here, as well as at the nursing home? “What kind of labor?”

“Well, Honeydrop doesn’t get ridden nearly as much as she needs to, so I’ll need you to take her out at least a few times a week. You up for that?”

Emma smiled. “I think I could handle that.”

“And I’ve got a few older folks staying here now that I could use some advice with. You happen to be an expert in that area, far as I know, so if you could maybe give me some help, that’d be appreciated.”

“Absolutely.”

Ma nodded, turning back to the sink. “And you know what? I’m not leaving this earth without teaching one of you women to cook. You have to learn to cook while you’re here. Not optional.”

Emma cringed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Or you pay the going rate.”

“What’s the going rate?”

Ma looked at her, then turned back to the sink. “Two grand a night.”

Kyla made a strangled sound, then laughed. “Ma.”

“That’s my emergency corporate rate. It’s that, or I’ll match the hotel rate if you come help me make dinner three times a week.”

Emma traded a glance with Kyla, whose eyes were sparkling with amusement. “Okay. Deal.”

“Good. I knew you were a smart girl. Kyla, give her Willow. I think she’ll like it. We’ve got a couple coming in on the first of October to stay two weeks, but we can move them.”

Emma saw a look pass between them but couldn’t read it. She could definitely read the smile on Kyla’s face as she pulled a binder from the desk and paged through it, though.

“All right.” Kyla snapped the binder closed and grabbed a set of keys from the rack above the kitchen desk. “Let’s go see your new cabin!”

Emma followed her out the door and down the gravel pathway that led to the cabins, counting five adorable porches before they came to one with a wooden sign that said WILLOW. On its porch was a wide wooden swing and bright pillows, looking straight at one of the paddocks, and she sighed happily.

“I can just live on the porch. That’ll be fine.”

Kyla laughed as she hopped up the stairs and unlocked the door. “You say that now, but wait till you see the inside.”

Emma stepped into the cabin and felt her blood pressure drop twenty notches. “Oh, Kyla. It’s so sweet.”

“Better than a hotel room?”

“Oh, maybe a little.” Emma clasped her hands in excitement as she walked around, taking in the sunny yellow walls, the super-comfortable-looking couch, and the soft pastel rugs. Through one doorway she could see a four-poster bed with a patchwork quilt, and through another, one end of a claw-foot tub. The kitchen area was small but efficient, and big windows looked out on both the stables and the mountains.

“I hope it suits you?” Kyla looked unsure, which Emma found sort of unexpected and sweet.

“Are you kidding? It’s amazing. It’s fantastic. I’m in love.”

“Oh, good.” Kyla laughed. “You can move in anytime.”

“I’ll be back in an hour.”

Kyla laughed again as she handed Emma the keys. “Hey, the girls and I are going to do a ride later this afternoon. Want to join us? Just a couple of hours, probably.”

Emma thought of the pile of paperwork on her hotel desk, thought of the ten piles of paperwork at Shady Acres…then heard Jasper’s voice in her ear, urging her to do anything but work.

“You know what? I would really love that. Thank you.”

“Excellent!” Kyla headed back out the door. “Let us know if you need anything, and I’ll tell the guys to get Honeydrop ready for you later.”

Three hours later, Emma was at the dinner table at Whisper Creek for the second night in a row, but this time, it was just her, Kyla, and Hayley eating because by the time they’d gotten back from their ride, everyone else had scattered to their various homes and cabins. Emma hadn’t expected to be included in dinner—she had a little kitchen in her cabin, after all—but Kyla had insisted there were too many leftovers to put back in the fridge, so she had to help eat them up.

Hayley passed mashed potatoes her way, then stabbed a pork chop from the platter in the middle of the table. “So how are things going up at the graveyard?”

“Hayley!” Kyla laughed. “That’s terrible.”

“Sorry.” She rolled her eyes, handing Emma the green beans. “How are things at the venerable Shady Acres retirement paradise?”

Emma laughed. “They’re good. I think, anyway. It’s so hard to know this early.”

“So you’re actually running the whole place?”

“Well, the nurses really run the place, and that’s perfectly fine with me. I’m kind of a figurehead right now, I fear.”

Kyla handed her a basket of rolls. “I’m sure you’re far more than a figurehead, though I imagine the nurses would love to hear that you firmly believe they’re in charge. Lexi would love to work there in the winter when we’re less busy here, but there hasn’t been an opening in forever, she said.”

“I’m not surprised.” Emma smiled. “Bette’s retention rate is one of the best in the country.”

“She left you some big shoes to fill,” Hayley said. “But it sounds like you’re up to the challenge, so let’s move on to more exciting things and talk about Jasper.”

“Hayley!” Kyla widened her eyes in warning. “Honestly!”

“Oh, come on. She’s dying to talk about him, and we’re dying to hear about him, so…win-win!” She snapped a green bean and playfully chomped it. “Someone here needs to steer the conversation in the right direction.”

“You’re going to scare the girl back to her hotel, Hayls.”

“Nah. It’s too nice here. She’ll never leave.” Hayley smiled, turning her attention to Emma. “So? What’s the scoop with you two?”

“No scoop.”

“Oh, there was definitely a scoop twenty-four hours ago. The two of you skittered away from that campfire like you couldn’t wait to—”

“Hayley.” Kyla’s voice was soft this time, and for some reason, that tone actually shut Hayley up. She looked at Kyla for a long moment, then sighed, poking a piece of pork chop into her mouth.

“Sorry. I was sadly born without a self-censor button, and therefore I can be completely obnoxious and nosy, but it’s because I care. I promise.”

She made a hurt-puppy face that had Emma shaking her head, laughing quietly. “It’s okay. I know he’s your friend, and here I came out of nowhere, scooping him off from a perfectly nice campfire so I could jump his bones.”

Kyla dropped her fork.

Hayley choked. “Kyla, I don’t think I need to be careful around this one. She’s broken, too.”

“You didn’t.” Kyla’s mouth hung open as her fingers tried to find the fork. “Did you?”

“I’ll admit to nothing besides my intentions, because I respect his privacy.” Emma took a bite of her roll, purposely delaying. “But those were my intentions, yes.”

“And you are extremely smiley today.” Hayley nodded. “And found the sky bluer than blue, and the birds tweetier than usual, and the air just so gloriously fresh.”

Emma laughed. “Not sure I said all of those things.”

“You were thinking them.”

“Maybe.”

Kyla’s smile was wide as she squeezed Emma’s shoulder. “We have been hoping for so long that Jasper would find someone to give him a second lease on life.”

“Well, it’s a temporary lease.” Emma sobered. “So that’s—well, it’s certainly not my normal MO.”

Hayley bounced her eyebrows. “But he was just so damn irresistible you couldn’t stop yourself?”

“Have you seen this man?”

“Are you kidding? Every woman in Carefree has made excuses to go get coffee at one time or another—even the ones who don’t drink coffee. But as far as we know, he’s never done anything more than, well, serve coffee to them.”

Emma laughed, feeling her face heat as she thought of all the things he’d done to her last night. She got a secret thrill knowing maybe he hadn’t done them with anyone else in a long, long time.

“He really hasn’t dated anyone since he moved here?”

Kyla shook her head slowly. “Not that we know of. And it’s not like he’s a hermit or something. I mean, he was when he first got here. It took him almost a year to renovate the café and finally open it, and I’m not sure anyone saw him for most of that time. But then he opened, and since then, he’s done all sorts of things for Carefree.”

“Like what?”

“He’s my go-to foster dad, for one.” Hayley winked. “That man will take in anything and nurse it back to health.”

“I met the kittens.”

“Careful. You’ll want to sneak one back with you on the plane if you get too attached.”

Emma smiled but felt a weird, muted thud in her chest when she pictured leaving. And then she felt ridiculous, because come on. They’d had a few dinners and one glorious night together. That was it. They both knew it was temporary, and for her to be thinking right now that it could ever be anything but that was nuts.

“Why’d he leave L.A.?”

Kyla and Hayley both stopped their forks on the way to their mouths—just for a millisecond, but Emma caught the motion, and it pinged an alarm in her stomach.

“What do you mean?” Kyla asked.

“Well, I know he had an apple-pie childhood, and I know he was an attorney, but I don’t know why he gave it all up to come here. I also can’t quite figure out how a man like him is still single.”

Hayley and Kyla looked at each other again, and Emma knew—she knew—Kyla was sending a secret shut-up signal to Hayley.

Why, though?

Did he have secrets everyone out here knew, and that’s why he was single? Was there something in his past that sent women running, once they knew what it was? Was there a mugshot somewhere?

Possibilities flew through her brain at warp speed, and she closed her eyes to try to stop them. It didn’t matter, right? He was just temporary, right? He was just her little I-can-do-whatever-the-hell-I-want fling—her chance to prove she wasn’t all work and no play.

Yeah. Right.

She could totally ignore the fact that she’d changed her route three times on Friday to try to walk by his father’s room to see if he was there. She could totally ignore the way he’d made her laugh yesterday like no one ever had. She could totally ignore the way he’d ignited every single nerve ending in her body last night—in bed, in his glorious shower, in that decadent tub.

It was just temporary. His backstory was none of her concern. His baggage—if there was any—was none of her concern. She’d be gone before they ever got to a point where it could even rightfully be her concern.

Finally, Hayley spoke, and Emma couldn’t possibly miss the way Kyla’s eyes widened in warning as she did so. “I think—he’s just sort of too good to be true.”

Emma saw Kyla’s shoulders fall a notch as she nodded. Apparently she approved of Hayley’s safe answer. “Exactly. And he seems perfectly happy, just the way he is—not like a guy on the hunt, you know?”

Hayley nodded. “Right. He’s just that guy—like, you know he’s just waiting for the perfect woman to come along, and he won’t settle for anything less.”

“Right!” Kyla smiled like she was immensely relieved. “You nailed it, Hayls.”

Emma looked from one to the other of them, but neither of their smiles cracked.

Dammit.

“So no deep, dark secrets? He’s not a cult leader with a harem of other wives?”

“Nope.” Hayley laughed. “But not for lack of volunteers.”

“No criminal past? He’s not in witness protection?”

Kyla shrugged. “Guess we wouldn’t know, would we?”

“Not if he was doing it right, no. Guess not.” Emma frowned. “So let me just ask you this—if your best friend came out here and wanted to date him, would you encourage her? Or discourage her?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Hayley wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Mostly because we are big on the whole best-friends-dating-the-cowboys-and-moving-here-forever model.”

“He’s not a cowboy. Just saying.”

“Eh, he’s close enough. When he puts on a Stetson and gets on a horse, he looks better than most of the real cowboys out here. Am I right, Kyla?”

“Well, as the wife of one of those real cowboys, I take a little bit of exception, but yes, he’s pretty ridiculously hot, Stetson or no.”

“So? Dating?” Emma raised her eyebrows.

Kyla ran a finger around her water glass. “I’d say yes, without hesitation, but also with a tiny bit of caution.”

“Okay?” Emma swallowed nervously.

“There are a lot of layers to Jasper, and I think so far, you’ve probably only seen the top one. Maybe more.” She put a hand on Emma’s knee. “There aren’t any bad layers, but…there’s some pain in his past that isn’t the kind you just get over. Just maybe go lightly until he’s ready to show you all of the layers.”