A Maverick under the Mistletoe

“I know she was. Of course, she didn’t mention the fact that Clay didn’t even know Delia was pregnant until she showed up on his doorstep with the baby—or the fact that Delia turned around and hightailed it out of town only a few days later.”

“Leaving your brother with the son he never knew he had—which, to me, proves that he does understand family values. He stepped right up to be a daddy to Bennett and never tried to pawn him off on anybody else.”

He smiled, just a little. “I wish you’d been at the store with me.”

But of course they both knew that such an occurrence would have generated gossip of a different kind.

“Anyway, you shouldn’t worry about Ginny—everyone knows she’s just an old busybody.”

“Unfortunately, she isn’t the only one who’s been talking. Even the minister in church the other day was talking about wedding vows and that ‘till death do us part’ needs to mean till death and not until one of the spouses decides he or she has had enough.”

“Pastor Alderson has never made any secret of the fact that he’s opposed to divorce.”

“And Dallas is divorced—but he only took the step to end his marriage after his wife walked out on him and the kids.”

“I think most people around here know that the divorce was instigated by Laurel’s abandonment.”

“Do they?” he challenged. “Or do they see it as proof that the Traubs don’t reflect the traditional family values that are a cornerstone of Rust Creek Falls?”

“Collin has to pick his battles,” Paige said reasonably. “He can’t expect to win every argument on every issue, so he should focus on what he’s doing and not worry about rumors.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to do,” Sutter admitted. “The purpose of his national online initiative to help rebuild Rust Creek Falls was designed to give people a reason to look past the devastation and focus on the positive.”

“‘A vote for Collin Traub is a vote for success and prosperity for the future of Rust Creek Falls,’” she quoted.

He grinned. “You’ve been reading our press.”

“I’ve been reading everything in the press,” she clarified. “I like to make an informed decision.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, stunned by the abrupt change of topic. “How is that any of your business?”

“Maybe it’s not,” he admitted. “But I heard that you’ve been keeping company with a foreman at the lumber mill, and I want to know if it’s true.”

“It’s true.” She started walking again. “I’ve been dating Alex Monroe for a few months now.”

“Is it serious?”

“Again—none of your business,” she said, because she wasn’t going to admit to Sutter that her relationship with the other man wasn’t anywhere close to being serious.

Alex was a great guy. He was attractive and well mannered and she enjoyed spending time with him. Unfortunately there was no real spark or sizzle between them, nothing to make her think that their relationship would ever progress to the next level.

Her sisters, Lani and Lindsay, claimed that Paige wouldn’t ever be able to have a serious relationship with Alex—or any other man—so long as she was still carrying a torch for Sutter. She, of course, denied that was true, because she’d given up hope that Sutter would come back to her a long time ago.

But standing beside him now, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the memories of what they’d once shared, and she realized that maybe she had been comparing other men to “the one who got away.” But she didn’t think that was so unusual. After all, Sutter had been her first love and her first lover, and she couldn’t imagine any subsequent relationship having that same depth and intensity.

And she wasn’t going to waste even another minute of her time worrying about it tonight. She started walking again, and he fell into step beside her.

A few minutes later, she paused outside a two-story saltbox-style house with steel-blue clapboard siding and wide white trim around the front door and windows.

“This is mine,” she said, and felt a familiar thrill when she spoke those words. Two years earlier, when she’d put in her offer for the house, she’d been excited—and then absolutely terrified when it was accepted. Gradually the terror had subsided, beaten back by endless weeks and months of intense manual labor to scrub and shine and prep and paint until she felt as if it was well and truly her own.

He gave the house a quick once-over. “Nice,” he said approvingly.

She didn’t want or need his approval, but she found herself smiling anyway. Because it was nice. More important, it was hers.

“Are you going to invite me in for coffee?” he asked.

“No.”

His brows lifted. “Just no? You’re not even going to make up some kind of lame excuse as to why you can’t invite me in?”

“I don’t need to make up an excuse,” she told him. “The fact is, tomorrow is a school day and I have lesson plans to review.”

The smile that flashed across his face actually made her knees weak.

“For a minute it was almost like we were back in high school,” he said.

She’d thought the same thing as soon as the words were out of her mouth. There had been a lot of times when Sutter had tried to convince her to stay out with him instead of going home to finish her homework or study for an upcoming test. And a lot of times when she’d let herself be convinced. And when he’d finally walked her home, they’d still been reluctant to part, so they’d stood in the shadows of the back porch of her parents’ house and kissed good-night. He’d spent a lot of time kissing her good-night.

Obviously he was remembering the same thing, because he took a step closer and said, “Are you going to let me kiss you good-night?”

“No.” Though she knew she should hold her ground, she took an instinctive step back.

Sutter smiled knowingly. “Are you busy Thursday night?”

This second abrupt change in topic made her almost as wary as his previous request. “Why?”

“It’s election night,” he reminded her. “And the candidates and their supporters will be gathered at town hall for the results. Since you’ve declared your support for Collin, I thought you might want to be there.”

She did believe Collin was the best candidate and he was definitely going to get her vote, but hanging out with his family and friends at town hall meant being around Sutter, and she wasn’t sure if that was something she could handle.

“I’ll think about it,” she finally agreed, because once he’d made the offer, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to not think about it. But she also knew that there was no way she could go.

The only hope she had of protecting her heart was to stay as far away from Sutter Traub as possible.

* * *

Since it wasn’t an outright refusal, Sutter decided not to press Paige for a firm commitment. He simply waited until she’d unlocked her door, then he wished her a good night and headed back to town hall. He hadn’t realized how far they’d walked until he had to make the trek back again without the pleasure of her company.

He’d enjoyed walking and talking with her like they’d done so many times before. But that was the past. He retraced his steps as he’d lived the past five years of his life—without her. And he tried not to think about everything they’d once meant to one another, and everything they’d lost.

Paige Dalton had been his soul mate and best friend. His heart had belonged to her, wholly and completely. She was the one woman he’d imagined spending the rest of his life with. He’d even proposed marriage before he’d left town, but she’d turned him down and turned her back on him, and he’d gone to Washington alone.

The transition from Rust Creek Falls to Seattle hadn’t been an easy one, and for the first several months Sutter had doubted it would be a successful one. He’d tried working at various office jobs in the city, but he never found one that seemed to fit. Or maybe he was just too restless to sit behind a desk all day. It was only when he heard about a job opening for a horse trainer at a local stable that things began to turn around for him.

He’d always been good with animals and he’d quickly established a reputation for himself with the local horse set. After a couple of years working for someone else, he had both the money and the confidence he needed to venture out on his own.