Suddenly Last Summer

“It was an obvious site for a café. The building was already here and it had become a safety issue.” She turned, her eyes glowing with pride as she looked at the Boathouse.

Sean remembered the shaft of light that had shone through the hole in the roof onto his textbooks.

Science had excited him the way a steep slope had excited Tyler. While his brother had been executing eye-wateringly difficult feats on the snow, Sean had been indulging his fascination in the development of surgery in prehistoric cultures. He’d learned about the Edwin Smith Papyrus, the earliest known surgical text, which showed that the Egyptians had had a scientific understanding of traumatic injuries. He’d greedily devoured everything he could find about the history of surgery, reading about the Greek Galen, the work of Ambroise Paré, a French barber surgeon, and studying Joseph Lister’s contribution to reducing infection rates during surgery.

The potential of surgery to change and save lives excited him in a way that living a quiet life at Snow Crystal didn’t.

At seven years old he’d known he wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. It was a burning ambition inside him and he knew then he didn’t want to die here with those rings inside him, showing how long he’d spent in the same place doing the same thing. He didn’t want to spend his days mending leaking roofs and maintaining trails so that tourists could churn them up again. He wanted to fix people’s bones and help them walk again. How cool was that?

“We spent a lot of time on this lake growing up.”

“Jackson told me about the time you all sank the boat.”

“That was Tyler. He was the one who sank the boat. We built it from scraps of wood lying around the place. It wasn’t what you might call completely watertight. Tyler couldn’t help standing up in the thing and rocking it. Jackson was yelling at him to sit down but Tyler never did anything anyone told him. Damn boat sank to the bottom of the lake and we all took a soaking.”

Her eyes danced. “Growing up here must have been very special.”

Special?

“It didn’t look anything like this back then.” He leaned back against the railing, remembering. “This place was a wreck. Perfect for playing pirates. We used to scoop up spiders to take to Mom.”

“Poor Elizabeth. It is a wonder she is sane.”

“She’s good with spiders. We taught her to be.” Looking at the Boathouse, he saw that its position was perfect. Nestling in the sunshine on the edge of the lake, the wooden structure blended with the forest so that at a single glance you might not even notice it. It had been beautifully restored, the work in keeping with the original structure although hardly any of that remained. But the real charm was the wide deck that almost circled the Boathouse, allowing for alfresco eating. The wide deck that wasn’t finished.

He dropped to his haunches and ran his hand over the planks, feeling the grain under his palm and hearing the gentle lap of the water beneath. “He’s using marine grade wood. It’s a nice job. Zach has improved since the days when we built your lodge.”

“You built Heron Lodge? I didn’t know that.”

“The five of us, with the occasional intervention from Gramps.” But never his father.

His father had vanished on one of his many trips and when he’d returned the job had been done. Sean frowned, wondering why of all the memories he’d banked, that was the one to come to mind.

“You three and Zach makes four. Who was the fifth?”

“Brenna.” Sean straightened, pushing away thoughts of his father. “She pretty much did everything we did. I guess she was the little sister we didn’t have. She climbed the same trees we climbed, scraped her knees right along with us and skied down everything we skied down. She and Tyler were inseparable. The two of them were so close it was impossible to find one without the other.”

It seemed ironic to him that the one relationship that wouldn’t have needed sacrifice and compromise had never happened. Tyler and Brenna both shared the same love of Snow Crystal and the land around it. They were both athletic, outdoor types, perfectly matched. Both of them had built a life around lakes and mountains.

There had been a time when they’d all assumed their relationship would naturally progress, but then Janet Carpenter had come along and all that had changed.

And now Tyler had Jess living with him, which narrowed his life choices more than his damaged knee. With a thirteen-year-old daughter, he’d had to give up his party lifestyle.

That had to be the ultimate compromise for love.

“So now that I know you all built Heron Lodge, I need to know if I should be nervous.” Élise finished her coffee. “When I lie in my bed at night, should I worry that the lodge will collapse under me?”

“It’s a sound structure. Tyler tested it out on the first night by kicking a football around the bedroom. We had to replace the window but the rest of it survived.”

Smiling, she took his empty cup from him. “Thank you.”

Distracted by the tiny dimple that appeared at the corner of her mouth, he lost focus. “For what?”

“For cheering me up. And now I need to go home and take a shower and then make those calls to cancel the party. I can’t put it off any longer. Merde—” She ran her fingers through her hair, the sweet smile fading and the dimple disappearing. “I keep hoping for a miracle.”

“Why can’t you just fix another date?”

“Apart from the fact we’ll have to pay cancellation fees to the band that we can’t afford, the date was set months ago. It was my mistake.” Her shoulders drooped and she looked utterly beaten.

His car was parked a few steps away. His keys were in his pocket. His plans didn’t include hanging around Snow Crystal any longer than was necessary. His grandfather had made it clear he didn’t want him here. He’d looked at the test results himself and could see he was making a good recovery.

His brothers seemed to have everything under control. There was nothing to keep him.

Nothing except his conscience and the look on Élise’s face.

Sean tried to move, but his feet were glued to the deck. The part of the deck that was finished. The unfinished part of it glared at him accusingly.

“How is Walter?” Élise smoothed her hair behind her ear, making a visible effort to be cheerful. “Any change overnight?”

“He’s doing well.”

He tried to kill the idea forming in his mind.

No.

“So you’ll be going back to Boston.”

He opened his mouth to tell her the same thing he’d told Jackson. That he had work backing up and patients to see. That he had to take it a day at a time. That this place made him think of his father and he wouldn’t be hanging around a moment longer than was necessary.

“I’ll finish the deck for you.” He couldn’t quite believe he’d said it and clearly she couldn’t either because she stared at him, as if checking the meaning of each word.

“You’ll finish my deck? How? You’re a surgeon, not a carpenter.”

“I’m good with my hands.”

Color streaked across her cheeks. “Is this a game you are playing or is it a serious offer?”

“It’s a serious offer.” He watched her mouth, hoping the dimple would reappear. “Never let it be said that I walk away from a maiden in distress. I have a free weekend. It’s yours if you want it.”

“What’s your price?”

“We’ll negotiate that later. So I assume that’s a yes? You’d like me to do it?”

Suspicion was replaced by joy. “Yes, of course, yes!” She sprang at him and wrapped him in a tight hug that almost cut off his air and his blood supply. “Thank you. Oh, thank you. I will never again shout at you even when you say Snow Crystal isn’t important.”

The scent of her wrapped itself around him, making him dizzy. Her hair was soft and silky against his jaw. “I didn’t say it wasn’t important. Just that you don’t need to have a nervous breakdown about the café opening late.”

“Thanks to you it’s not going to open late now. It’s going to be on time. What about clothes?” She released him. “You cannot work on a deck in your suit.”

“I have a pair of jeans in my car and I’ll borrow everything else from Jackson.”

“Vraiment? You would do that?” She stared at him for a moment as if she couldn’t quite believe what he was saying and then her eyes filled. “Now I think you’re a hero.”

More used to being cast in the role of the bad guy, Sean felt a flash of unease. “Élise—”

“Zach’s tools are locked inside.” She smiled and the dimple peeped from the corner of her mouth. “I’ll show you where. Then I need to take a shower and call Kayla to stop her canceling the party. She will be so happy. So will Jackson. It is very kind of you, I think.”

Sean dragged his mind and his eyes from Élise’s lips. He wasn’t sure what his motivation was, but he was fairly confident kindness hadn’t played any part in his decision making. “No problem.”

CHAPTER FIVE

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS later Élise stood on the deck of the café and wondered why it hadn’t occurred to her that accepting Sean’s offer of help would mean he’d be working here, under her nose.

Why was she so impulsive?

Why did she never think anything through?

After her daily run around the lake, she’d spent the morning in the restaurant, working lunchtime service, discussing menus, meeting with her team. She’d met with two new local suppliers and interviewed a kitchen assistant. And if all that conspired to keep her away from the Boathouse, she told herself it was coincidence, nothing more. It was everything to do with pressure of work and nothing to do with the fact that Sean was working on her deck. And she told herself that pressure of work was also the reason she hadn’t responded to frequent text updates from her new sous-chef, Poppy.

Hi boss, the view from the Boathouse is better than ever today.

And five minutes later.

It’s scorchin’ hot over here J

And now she was back at the Boathouse and could see it for herself.

Concentrating was impossible.

“What is it about a guy using power tools?” Poppy grinned as she balanced a stack of boxes in her arms on the way to the kitchen. “I just look at him and want him to nail me to the deck. He is insanely good-looking. I’m taking my lunch break outside today, Chef.”

Élise gritted her teeth. “Did everything arrive?”

“One chair was damaged but they’re replacing it. Oh, dear God, he’s taken his shirt off. How does a man with an indoor job get muscles like that?” Eyeing Sean, Poppy almost dropped the boxes. “Sorry, but honestly you just have to look.”

“I don’t have time to look! We are snowed under with things to do before the party next weekend. Poppy—” Sensing she was losing her audience again, Élise sharpened her voice. “Focus!”

“Yes, Chef. Sorry.” Poppy dragged her gaze from the deck to Élise. “I’m going to get these unpacked. I’m on it.”

“Good!” Exasperated, she watched as Poppy wound her way through the newly arranged tables, bumping into at least two as she stole a final look at Sean.

Teeth clenched, Élise walked to the kitchen, grabbed a glass and jug of lemonade from the fridge and strode out onto the deck to see for herself what all the fuss was about.

Sean was doing something to a plank of wood. Something that required him to stretch forward, displaying his torso. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw all the female staff lined up in the doorway.

Catching her eye, they grinned and slunk back to their jobs.

“Sean!” Torn between exasperation and irritation, Élise thumped the jug of lemonade down on the table next to him.

He glanced up and rocked back on his heels, his smile slow and sure. “Is that for me? You’re a lifesaver.” Putting down the plank of wood, he stood up and took the glass from her.

She watched as he drank. Sweat glistened on his forehead and his wide shoulders. It reminded her of that night in the forest. She’d ripped at his clothes. He’d ripped at hers.

Thinking about it raised her temperature another notch and she gritted her teeth. “You need to put your shirt back on.”

Raising his eyebrows, he lowered the glass slowly. “I beg your pardon?”

“Your shirt. You need to put it back on.”

Blue eyes held hers.

Heat built inside her. Her insides melted.

“Care to tell me why?” His voice was soft and suddenly she wished she’d just let her staff carry on falling over tables. What were a few bruises compared to the effects of standing this close to Sean?

“You are distracting my workforce.”

He glanced over her shoulder. “They seem to be working pretty hard to me.”

“Now. But two minutes ago they were all staring at you. They can’t concentrate while you’re working out here half-naked.”

“It’s a hot day and I’m doing manual labor.” He drained the glass and ran his hand over his mouth.

“That’s why I brought you a cold drink. Are you done?” Everything about him was physical. Sexual.

“Why? Are you having trouble concentrating, too?”

“No.” Why hadn’t she sent Poppy out with the iced lemonade? “I couldn’t care less if you’re totally naked on my deck, but I have a deadline to meet and I can’t have my staff distracted. Let me know if you need anything else.” She took the glass from him and was about to walk away when his fingers closed around her wrist and he pulled her back to him.

Caught off guard, she lost her balance and fell against him. She put her free hand on his chest to steady herself, met his eyes and almost drowned in a flash of intense blue, heat and raw desire.

“Sean—”

“You asked me to let you know if there’s anything else I need.”

“I didn’t mean—” She couldn’t breathe properly. The attraction was so shockingly powerful it almost knocked her off her feet. “You promised you’d finish the deck.”

“You’ll get your damn deck.” His voice was rough. “You think about it, don’t you?”

“What?”

“You know what.” His eyes were on her mouth. “Last summer. Us.”

All the time. “Rarely.”

He smiled. “Yeah, right.”

“Arrogance isn’t attractive.”

“Neither is pigheadedness. Want me to remind you what happened? Who cracked first last time?”

Her heart was pounding. “I didn’t crack.”

“Honey, half of that shirt I was wearing is still lying somewhere in the forest. We never did find it. Maybe next time we shouldn’t let it build up.”

“It’s not building up. I make that sort of decision with my head, not my hormones.”

“Really?” His eyes were back on her mouth. “In that case your head was in one hell of a hurry to get me naked.”

“Having made the decision, I didn’t see the point in hanging around.”

“A decision I supported wholeheartedly. And would again.”

The heat was intense. Suffocating.

There were people working around her, members of her team, no doubt trying to lip-read and probably reading too much into the fact that their boss was currently up close and very personal with the dangerously attractive Sean O’Neil.

“More than one night with the same woman, Sean? That doesn’t sound like you. You should be running.”

“Normally I would be.” His mouth curved into a sinfully sexy smile. “But you don’t want a relationship any more than I do, which makes you my perfect woman.” The words managed to snap the spell in a way that her fading willpower hadn’t.

“I’m not anyone’s perfect woman, Sean.”

She wasn’t the person he thought she was. She was deeply damaged, with secrets even Jackson didn’t know. She’d put herself back together, piece by piece, and now she protected herself carefully.

Aware that her staff were probably watching and speculating, she extracted her wrist from his grip.

“Put the shirt on. That way there will be something to rip off should I ever decide to go down that route again.”

TWO DAYS LATER, Sean drove Walter home from the hospital. His grandfather clutched the car seat and stared straight ahead.

“This car should be on a racetrack.”

Sean drove gently, nursing the Porsche around the bends so that his grandfather didn’t even shift in his seat. The car purred like a tame lion. “It’s engineering perfection. There is no such thing as a bad day when you’re driving this.”

His grandfather grunted. “You could have bought a Corvette.”

“I didn’t want a Corvette.”

“It doesn’t even have cupholders.”

Sean tried to imagine what would happen to a cup of coffee as he accelerated away and waltzed around corners. “But it does have a super sharp throttle response. You can’t drive this car and not smile. If you ever want to give it a try, let me know.”

“If I want to kill myself I’ll just stand in the middle of the road.”

Sean slowed down as he took a right and drove past the sign for Snow Crystal Resort and Spa.

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