Green Mountain Collection 1 Page 24

  “I think,” he said, continuing to play with her hair, “that leaving you at home was his loss.”

  “Maybe,” she said, as if it didn’t matter, but how could it not?

  The overwhelming need to give her everything she’d been denied took hold of him. Once again, he had to remind himself it was far, far too soon to be having such thoughts. But he was also painfully aware of their limited time. “Could I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “I know you just moved in with Hannah, and I’d love it if you could continue to spend time with her. But … Would you consider staying here with me for the rest of your time in town?”

  “I … What will Hannah think of that?”

  “She’ll be happy for us.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “What about them?”

  “Wouldn’t it be weird for them to know I’m staying here with you while working on a project for the store?”

  “Your personal life is no business of theirs, and neither is mine. Nothing shocks them, and besides, they’re all focused on Max and Chloe. They probably won’t even notice.”

  “They’ll notice.”

  “Who cares? We have thirteen days before you have to go home. I want to spend as much of that time together as we can. Don’t you?”

  “You know I do.”

  “But?”

  She rolled her lower lip between her teeth as she pondered his offer.

  “I want this time with you.”

  She was on the verge of caving when he unleashed that potent smile.

  “Please?”

  “Okay.”

  “Yes! It’ll be so fun. I promise.”

  “I have no doubt it’ll be fun.”

  “Another question for you. Have you ever been skiing?”

  She knit her brows at the sudden change of subject and said, “I tried it once a long time ago in St. Moritz.”

  “You’ve skied in Switzerland?”

  “What I did in Switzerland wouldn’t be considered skiing by anyone.”

  “You haven’t lived until you’ve skied in Vermont.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Uh-huh. And lucky for you, you’re sleeping with a world-class skier, former instructor, past Olympic contender … extraordinaire.”

  “You just had to add that last part, huh?”

  “I thought it summed things up nicely. So what do you say? Do you want to go skiing with me?”

  “Will you still like me if I totally suck at it?”

  “You won’t totally suck,” he said, kissing her nose. “And I’ll still like you. I suspect I’m going to like you for a really long time.”

  She reached up to caress his face, and he turned to press a kiss to her palm.

  “I don’t have anything to wear for skiing.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll fix you right up.”

  “Will there be coffee before the skiing?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Cameron totally sucked at skiing. No matter how hard she tried to follow his precise instructions, her skis still crossed, and she ended up on her backside—over and over and over again, until her poor, abused bottom couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Uncle,” she said, laughing as she looked up at him while flat on her back in the snow. She wore Hannah’s snow pants and parka and was using her downhill skis. Although Hannah would probably cry sacrilege if she could see her skis being so badly abused.

  Will tried but failed to hide his exasperation when he reached down to give her a hand up—again. “I’ve heard it told that every instructor eventually encounters a student who can’t be taught. You’re not really going to ruin my perfect record, are you?”

  “I’m afraid so. My bum can’t take any more.”

  “I’ll give you a massage when we get back to my place. We’ll work out all the kinks.”

  “As appealing as that sounds, it may be time to declare this outing the disaster it is before you forget you promised to still like me even if I sucked at it.”

  He curled his arm around her neck and brought her in for a lingering kiss. “I remember.”

  Cameron lost herself to the kiss and forgot she was on skis, which sent her flying once again, this time taking Will with her. They landed hard in a pile of limbs and skis and poles.

  Even though everything she had hurt, especially after acting as a landing pad for him, Cameron busted up laughing. She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face. The glower he directed her way only made her laugh harder.

  “I have a reputation to maintain around here, you know.”

  When she tried to reply to that, she cracked up again.

  “That’s it,” he said. “I give up. You, Cameron Murphy, suck at skiing.”

  With her arms stretched out at her sides, she howled with laughter. “I tried to tell you I would, but noooo,” she said when she could speak again. “You’re a former instructor, Olympic contender, state champ, extraordinaire and all that business.” She wiped the tears from her frozen cheeks.

  “I hope you know that the scene you’re making here is going to get even bigger play in town than your encounter with Fred.”

  “Nice try, but it’s still hilarious.”

  “I’m glad the ruination of my reputation as the best skier in this valley is entertaining to you.”

  That sparked another round of hysterical laughter. She laughed so hard her ribs began to ache almost as much as her rear end did.

  And then he smiled at her and shook his head, clearly amused even if he’d die before he admitted it.

  “So, Mr. Olympic Contender Extraordinaire, how do you propose to get me down off this mountain you insisted on taking me to?”

  “This,” he said disdainfully, “is a bunny slope. That, over there, is a mountain.”

  “Bunny slope, mountain, they all look the same from my point of view. How about I make a sled out of the skis and go down that way?”

  “How about not?” He reached over to unbuckle her skis, leaving her in the rigid boots that snapped into the skis. “You’re lucky we’re due at my mom’s for dinner, or I might have to take you home and spank your sore butt for knocking me over and then laughing at me on my mountain.”

  Cameron sputtered with outrage that quickly morphed into something else altogether when she caught a glimpse of the teasing glimmer in his eyes. “You mean your bunny slope, don’t you? And, PS, if you get to spank me, I get to spank you right back for not listening to me when I told you this was a bad idea.”

  “Don’t get me all hot and bothered when I’m trying to be pissed with you.”

  She smiled angelically at him as he helped her up once again.

  “Do. Not. Move. Got me?”

  “Yes, your extraordinary-ness.”

  “Smart-ass.” He gathered up her skis and poles and maneuvered so he was in front of her. “Hop on.”

  “You gotta be freaking kidding me.”

  The look he tossed her over his shoulder told her he was dead serious.

  “I don’t know about this, Will.” Bunny slope or not, it was still a long way to the bottom. “Can’t I just walk down?”

  “No, you can’t walk down. Do you trust me?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “No buts. Jump on and hold on. Remember when I told you you’ll always be safe with me?”

  “This is what you meant?”

  “I meant always. Now, are you coming with me, or are you going to subject me to the further humiliation of sending the snow patrol after my girlfriend?”

  She stared at him, stunned. “I’m your girlfriend?”

  “Well, yeah. What did you think you are to me after last night?”

  “I didn’t really know.”

  “Now you do. So are you going to trust me or what?”

  Because she did trust him and didn’t want him to doubt that, she scampered onto his back and curled her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

 
“You’ve got to do all the holding on because I’m carrying your skis, okay?”

  She tightened her hold on his neck to an official death grip. “Um, okay,” she said, even though it was totally not okay.

  Over his shoulder she watched him arrange her skis and poles and his poles into a bundle that he held against his chest with both arms. “Here we go.” He turned the tips of his skis toward the incline, and they took off like they’d been shot out of a cannon.

  “No screaming,” he said before Cameron could do just that. “And you might want to close your eyes.”

  As visions of the luge in her dream came back to haunt her, she closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder while trying very, very hard not to scream as they flew down the slope. Holding on as tightly as she could, she felt the play of his muscles as he navigated the hill using only the skis and his body. Despite her fear, it was sort of cool to experience how naturally skiing came to him.

  He snowplowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill. “You can let go now, sweetheart.”

  Cameron’s entire body was aching from falling a hundred times and from holding on for dear life. Her legs didn’t seem to want to work when she landed, and she nearly fell—again. Thankfully, she was able to maintain her balance.

  Adrenaline pumped through her system, making her feel breathless. She wasn’t sure what had been more exciting—flying down the hill on his back or having him refer to her as his girlfriend. The latter, definitely.

  “Hey, Abbott, did you finally get a student who couldn’t be taught?” a guy skiing past them asked.

  “Bite me, Kyle.”

  Kyle skied off, laughing as he went.

  “Sorry,” Cameron muttered.

  “Don’t be. He’s a dickhead. I don’t care what he says.” He leaned in and kissed her nose and then her lips. “You’re awfully cute in that getup.”

  “So you don’t see your sister when you look at me in all her stuff?”

  “I definitely do not see my sister when I look at you.”

  Cameron felt a shiver go through her that once again had nothing at all to do with the cold.

  “Let’s get a move on so we’re not late to my mom’s. Dinner is at three every Sunday year-round.”

  “That’s a really nice tradition,” she said as she followed him into the lodge where they’d left their belongings.

  “Her mother did it before her, and when my grandmother died, my mom continued the tradition without missing a week.”

  “How long ago did your grandmother die?”

  “Nine years. That was a tough one. She was like our second mother. My mom would tell you she never would’ve survived having ten kids if her mom hadn’t been there to help out. She was a big part of our lives and our cousins’ lives. That was the first really big loss for all of us. And then Caleb … That was something else altogether.”

  “I can’t even imagine.”

  “Horrible. Worst thing ever.”

  Cameron sat on a wooden bench, and he knelt in front of her to help her out of the ski boots. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair but refrained since they were in public.

  “Losing my grandmother was rough, but she’d been sick awhile, so we knew it was coming. She told us not to cry for her. She’d lived a good, long life and had no complaints.”

  “She sounds like a wonderful person.” Cameron slid her feet into the welcoming comfort of the boots he’d given her.

  “She was. I miss her a lot.” He looked up at her. “She would’ve liked you.”

  Cameron smiled at him, warmed by the compliment.

  “Caleb, on the other hand … That was so shocking, you know?” With her boots removed he joined her on the bench to take his off. “I mean we all knew it was possible when he went to Iraq, but he was so tough and almost invincible that I don’t think anyone thought it would actually happen. Especially Hannah. It was a nightmare. Worst day of my life.”

  Cameron rested her hand on his back, wishing she could say or do something to offer comfort.

  He glanced at her. “What you did last night, getting her to go to the dance, that was a big deal to all of us. So thanks.”

  “I was glad to see her having a good time. I wonder what happened with Nolan.”

  “If I know Hannah, I’m sure she danced with him and then gave him the polite brush-off, but dancing with him was progress.” He stood and picked up the duffel containing their ski boots and held out a hand to her. “Let’s go find out what happened.”

  “Thanks for trying to teach me to ski.”

  “We’ll try again. I’m not ready to give up on you yet.”

  “You’re a glutton for punishment, and besides, I don’t think my poor, injured bum could take any more.”

  He released her hand to pat her bottom. “I’ll take care of your poor, injured bum when we get home.”

  Intrigued and aroused, she let out a groan when her bottom made contact with the seat in the truck. “How long do we have to stay at dinner?”

  “Long enough to eat and run.” He leaned in to kiss her. “And then it’s home for a massage followed by some hot-tub time.”

  “You have a hot tub?”

  “Yep.”

  Cameron moaned with anticipation. “I think I just died and went straight to heaven.”

  “Not yet you haven’t, but you will later.” After another quick kiss, he closed the passenger door and walked around to the front of the truck.

  Watching him, Cameron was elated and giddy and happy. For the first time in her entire life, she was honestly and truly happy. “Oh God,” she whispered in the seconds before he opened the driver door to join her. “I’m in love with him.”

  CHAPTER 15

  He’s bigger than life and twice as handsome.

  —The gospel according to Elmer Stillman

  An hour into the gathering at the Abbotts’ barn, Cameron realized she wasn’t just in love with Will. She’d fallen for his entire family. Max had brought Chloe, and everyone had been extra nice to her, congratulating her and making her feel welcome. Even Molly and Lincoln had greeted her warmly, which had brought tears to Chloe’s eyes. Her relief was obvious, as was Max’s devotion to her. Cameron had a feeling the two of them would make a go of it.

  Lucas and Landon had been called out to a house fire in Derby, but everyone else had made it to dinner.

  Seated next to Will’s hilariously charming grandfather at dinner, she had been treated to a running commentary from the delightful Elmer Stillman.

  He was in his mid-eighties with wispy white hair, twinkling blue eyes and an easy smile that was full of the devil. Like most of his grandsons, he wore a flannel shirt with faded jeans and was absolutely adorable.

  “Now tell me about this so-called website you’re making for my store.”

  “Dad, you’re monopolizing Cameron,” Molly said as she served dessert after a delicious roast beef dinner.

  “I am not. I’m getting to know her, so leave us alone.”

  Molly sent a sympathetic look to Cameron, who smiled to let Molly know she was enjoying her time with Elmer. Mindful of the fact that he’d only recently acquired a television, she gave him a basic description of the website and how it would work once it was finished.

  “So anyone can go on this Interweb thingie and get information about the store at any time of day or night?”

  “That’s right. Essentially, you’ll be open around the clock, even when the store is closed.” To her left, she noticed Lincoln feeding table scraps to Ringo and George, who had waited patiently throughout dinner.

  “That’s mighty clever,” Elmer said.

  “I like to think so.”

  “You need to come over to my house. I have pictures and all kinds of stuff from way back when we first opened the store that you might find interesting.”

  “I’d love to. I’ll ask Will to bring me over one day this week.”

  “Let me know when, and I’ll make lunch for you.”

  �
��It’s a date.”

  “Gramps, are you moving in on my girl?” Will asked from his seat to Cameron’s left.

  “No one told me she’s your girl, William,” Elmer said indignantly. “And now that she’s met me, you might have some competition on your hands, young man.”

  “That’s right,” Cameron said, wrapping her hands around Elmer’s arm and leaning her head on his shoulder.

  Elmer’s guffaw delighted her as did the laughter of the entire family.

  “Watch out for the old man, bro,” Colton said as he finished a third helping of mashed potatoes while everyone else ate apple pie. According to his mother, he’d consumed enough food for five people. “He’s still got game.”

  “You know it, boyo,” Elmer said.

  Cameron insisted on helping to clear the table, even when Molly told her she didn’t have to.

  “You’re our guest,” Molly said. “You don’t have to work.”

  “I don’t mind at all, and it helps me to move around. I’m super stiff after my skiing lesson this morning.”

  “You’ll discover all new muscles you never knew you had.”

  “I’ve already discovered that sitting is excruciating.”

  Hannah laughed as she joined them in the kitchen. “Does that mean it didn’t go well?”

  “It was a disaster of epic proportions,” Cameron said. “I spent most of the time on my rear end.” While the others went to fetch more dishes, Cameron took advantage of a moment alone with Hannah. “How did the dancing go last night?”

  “Fine,” Hannah said shyly. “It was fun.” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “I let him drive me home.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing. I danced with him, and I let him drive me home. That was enough for one night.”

  “I’m glad you went.”

  “I am, too.”

  Ella brought a stack of plates to the kitchen. “Why do they always manage to get out of kitchen duty?” she asked of her brothers, who had scattered at the first mention of the word dishes.

  “We don’t need them,” Charlotte said. “We can’t gossip with them around anyway.” She turned and zeroed in on Cameron. “So you and Will, huh?”