The Scrooge Of Loon Lake

He shook his head, his dark hair falling across his forehead. “Unless you plan on letting the car run the entire time you’re there, you might need another jump.”

She fought the urge to brush his hair back, to touch it to see if it felt as soft as it looked. “That wouldn’t be good for the environment, would it?”

“No, ma’am, it wouldn’t.”

She snickered at his use of ma’am. “Aha, I see what you did there.”

“So it’s settled. I’ll follow you.”

She’d love for him to come along, but she didn’t want him to see her and Sam as a nuisance. Yeah, as if he didn’t already, considering the way she’d barged into his life with her demands for Christmas ornaments.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, aren’t you the one trying to convince me to support this enterprise?”

That did make sense. “Are you saying you might be so overcome by what you see, you’ll do whatever I ask?”

Des dropped his arms and snorted a laugh. “Too late for that.”

A flush of warmth spread through her and she couldn’t contain her grin. Was he saying he felt an attraction, too? Was that a possibility? Des might act all gruff and surly but she suspected beneath all that he was a caring man bent on protecting himself. Don’t go spinning fairy tales, she cautioned herself. Des might be a case of WYSIWYG—What You See is What You Get. Yeah, the problem with rainbow optimism was that you often got your heart broken.

On her wedding day, she’d assumed they’d happily grow old together, but two years later a stranger’s careless actions had taken Ryan from them and changed the course of their lives in an instant. Because of it, Sam would have to grow up without his dad.

Ryan had convinced her to drop out of college when Sam was born. He’d had a decent paying job at a tech start-up in Nashville so her degree hadn’t been a priority then. Now she understood how short-sighted she’d been.

As much as she needed optimism, facing reality was key to planning for the future.

She waited for Des to come back and climb into his truck before she put the car in gear and made her way to the therapy center.

Conflicting thoughts vied for space in her head during the drive to the stable. She hardly knew Des. Or what had happened to make him keep the world at arm’s length. Few wounds healed without permanent scars. She’d have to be crazy to even try bringing him out of his self-imposed exile. She had enough on her plate with Sam, finishing her degree and starting a career, as opposed to the lower-paying jobs she’d had since Ryan’s death.

Last year, she’d inherited her grandmother’s summer home, a duplex in Loon Lake. After careful deliberation, Natalie had decided not to sell the place, but to move to the quaint town she’d remembered and loved from childhood visits.

Thanks to the inheritance she lived mortgage-free plus collected rent from the tenant on the other side of the two-family home. That monthly rent paid her utility bills and helped with upkeep. With Ryan’s generous life insurance payout, she’d been able to spend time with Sam when he’d needed her during his recovery and rehabilitation. But now was the time for a concrete plan for their future. Finishing her degree so she could get a decent job was the first step. She’d set aside a portion of the life insurance for Sam’s college fund and had refused to draw from it. Next year, when Sam started school, she’d have more time to devote to online studies or attend classes at the nearest university.

She pulled into the packed earth parking lot of the hippotherapy center and chose two spots together in case Des needed to jump-start her car again. She smiled. It was nice to think someone had her back. Even though she’d lived in Loon Lake for a short time, many of the residents remembered her grandmother and were friendly and helpful, treating her as if she’d lived there all her life. But it would be nice to know she had someone more permanent to share life’s ups and downs with. What was she doing? She barely knew this man, so no more spinning fairy tales.

Once the auction benefitting the equine therapy center was over, maybe she could still take baked goods to Des. And maybe he’d have to take out a restraining order on me. She laughed at herself as she turned off her engine and got out and opened the rear door. Sam scrambled out of the car and she held out her hand. He dutifully took it, but she knew the day was coming when he’d refuse to comply. She’d gotten into the habit of insisting on holding his hand because he couldn’t answer if she called to him.

He’d gotten away from her once when he darted under a rack of clothes in a department store. She’d frantically called to him, despite knowing he couldn’t answer. After five agonizing minutes that felt like fifty, she’d found him, but from that day forward she’d insisted he hold her hand in public. She suspected that his seeing her anguished tears that day had scared him and he hadn’t fought holding her hand since then.

Turning to Des, who’d parked and was getting out of his truck, she said, “I’m going to take Sam in to get saddled up. Over there by the fence is the perfect spot to watch his session.”

He nodded and she took off toward the barn with Sam.

Des leaned against the fence and studied the dirt arena where the sessions were held. He’d used his laptop the second day Natalie had visited to look up information about how hippotherapy worked. At the time he’d justified learning more about it because he’d planned to give Natalie a cash donation for her auction. It had nothing to do with wanting to learn more about the woman who’d barged into his life with an endless supply of chatter and baked goods. But it wasn’t the sweets that had invaded his dreams every night. She and her crooked-toothed smile, her big blue eyes and that sweet voice had kept him company the past few nights.

He caught movement in his peripheral vision and turned as Natalie made her way over to him. His heart kicked as it always did when he saw her, but her face lacked its usual sunny expression. The sight of her distress was like a blow to the chest with a two-by-four.

He wanted to reach out but forced himself to stand still, keeping his arms along the fence to keep from pulling her into his arms and crushing her against him. “What’s wrong?”

She heaved a sigh. “I found out the program’s financial situation is worse than I thought. The owner is close to being evicted from this place.”

“If they lose the lease, what will happen to the horses?” he asked, her unhappiness weighing on him.

“I don’t know. But without the horses, getting the lease paid up-to-date or getting the business on sound financial footing won’t matter. This place relies a lot on volunteers, but there are two part-time employees, in addition to the owners, who would be affected. I’d hate for anyone to lose their job. Not to mention, the nearest therapy center is three hours away.” Her bottom teeth scraped her upper lip in what appeared to be a nervous habit. “Driving that far for twice-weekly sessions would be out of the question.”

He shoved aside his urge to soothe that lip with his tongue. He needed to concentrate on practical matters, like finding out what sort of business operation was Natalie getting involved in? “How did this place get into such a financial bind to begin with?”

She gave him a sharp look. Yeah, his tone had been gruffer than he’d planned, but he didn’t want her getting hurt. Financial or otherwise.

“From what I understand, the owners are going through a contentious divorce,” she said.

“So raising money might not even help?” His instinct was to interfere in order to safeguard Natalie and Sam. But he had no right to feel the protective feelings that rose up. They’d known one another a short time. They weren’t even friends, just acquaintances.

“I had hoped raising funds would keep the horses safe and in place until something better could be figured out.” She waved at Sam, who was smiling proudly as he sat on his horse.

Sam looked at ease atop a seal-brown gelding with one white rear leg. Des considered Sam a sunny, happy child, and he could see how much pleasure he got from riding the horse.

Des cleared his throat. Did he want to bring this up? It was none of his business, but he’d be damned if he stood by and let her be harmed in any way. “You haven’t done anything other than organize this auction, have you?”

Her head snapped back and she narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about infusing this place with cash…as in, your own cash.” He curled his hands into fists on top of the cross posts for the fence, waiting for her answer.

She shook her head and raised a hand. “I would never ever do anything to jeopardize Sam’s future by putting money into a failing enterprise. And I don’t appreciate the inference that I would.”

He took her hands in his and winced at how cold they were. He rubbed them to try to warm them up. “I’m not accusing you of anything, Natalie. I wanted to understand what we’re dealing with.”

“Thanks. I’ve had a lot of support from family and friends ever since the accident, but sometimes, late at night when I’m alone, I second-guess all my decisions.” She grimaced. “I didn’t mean to snap, but sometimes guilt—warranted or not—makes me a bit defensive.”

He squeezed her hands. “I was worried about you pouring your own cash into a dying business.”

“No chance of that.” She shook her head and visibly relaxed. “I’ve been extremely frugal with our finances. I take my obligation to Sam seriously. I want him to be happy, but not to the point where I might jeopardize his future. I’m the parent and need to make the hard decisions.”

He let go of her hands. He barely knew Natalie so his relief at her answer was disproportionate to the situation. If she wanted to go bankrupt supporting a failing business that was her problem, but he admired her fierce protectiveness toward her son. As a kid, he would’ve given anything to have had a mother like Natalie. Heck, he would’ve been thankful for one who’d taken any interest at all. He cleared his throat. “What if nothing can be figured out?”

She frowned. “Are you always such a pessimist?”

“I’m a realist. I would think you’d be one, too.” He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. “Look, Natalie, I—”

“No, you’re probably right.” She turned to face the dirt track and Sam. “But I can’t think that way. I have to choose optimism. If that’s rainbows and unicorns, then so be it.”

When he didn’t respond, she brought her gaze back to him. “No comeback about my choices?”

He gave in to his urge, running his fingers across her cheek and tucking strands of silky hair behind her ear. “No glib comebacks. Sam’s one lucky guy to have you for his mother. Not all mothers practice the kind of unconditional love you have.”

“I like to think I’m the lucky one.” She smiled at Sam before turning her gaze back to Des. “So you believe not all mothers practice unconditional love? What makes you believe that?”

“I know they don’t,” he said, thinking of his own. He’d always known Patrick was the golden child but it wasn’t until after his brother’s death that—