Lark Lake Lodge

Chapter Thirteen

Croissants and Conciliation

The next morning, I woke to a knock on the front door of the carriage house. The place was comprised of a large bedroom and full bath off of an open plan kitchen, dining room and living area so the knock was distant but still annoying. As I stretched, a sharp pain stabbed behind my eye—a reminder of all the wine Simon and I had polished off the night before.

Slipping on my fluffy VIP robe, I padded out of the bedroom and across to the door. There was no question who it was. As my fingers grasped for the knob, my squinty eyes scanned the wall for the clock. Eight a.m. In Harlan terms, that was sleeping in. As far as I was concerned, I could’ve used another three hours before I even began to feel human again.

The knocking started up again.

“Who is it?”

“Maisie, it’s me. Open the door,” Harlan said, his voice plaintive and raspy .

“No. Go away,” I said. I didn’t want to talk. I just wanted to sleep.

“Sweetheart, please! Open the door. I need to explain.”

“Don’t you ‘sweetheart’ me. You’re a damn liar, Harlan!” I raised my voice and regretted it as my temples throbbed.

“I’m not a liar! Please open the door so we can talk about this!”

“No.”

“At least let me give you this breakfast tray that Michael sent.” His voice shifted from pleading to annoyed with a touch of defeat.

My hands flew to the deadbolt. While my urgency had something to do with only surviving on cheese and nuts the night before, my true motivation was the likelihood that a Firebrand breakfast tray would be comparable to something you’d find in a fancy pants cookbook, replete with long backstories and foodporn photos for every recipe. I needed to know what magic was on that tray—even if that meant I had to face a guy I never wanted to see again.

I slid the lock open and pulled the door back. Harlan stood there holding the heaping tray of culinary delights. It was more than likely assembled by Simon as there was enough food for three people and my new pal was encouraging me, via delectable treats, to have a conciliatory breakfast with his crush.

The first thing that caught my eye was the crab benedict. Perfectly poached eggs sat atop mouthwatering hunks of crab over toasted English muffins. The whole thing was covered in a delightfully aromatic hollandaise sauce. A heaping pile of thick-sliced, crispy bacon sat to the side and a basket of freshly baked pastries gave off a yummy, warm, yeasty scent that made my knees weak. There was a ramekin of butter I was sure was churned on the premises, a jar of homemade peach jam, a carafe of coffee and a tiny Easter basket with an ornately decorated egg and lots of candy .

In the chaos, I’d forgotten it was Easter Sunday. After ogling the bountiful tray, my gaze rose to the tall, unhappy man holding it. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes.

“You look like hell,” I said.

“I feel like hell.”

He walked past me and placed the tray on the table in the dining area. I closed the door and when I turned to face him, he was glaring at me from across the room. This wasn’t his usual assessing or smoldering stare. Oh my God. Was he pissed?

“Do you have any idea how worried I was last night? You took ten years off my life with your disappearing act. I thought you were floating in the lake or lost in the woods. You couldn’t even be bothered to let me know you were safe.”

Wow . That wasn’t how I expected this to begin. I was the injured party here, not him. He didn’t get to start things off by admonishing me.

“Well, reporting my whereabouts to you wasn’t really at the top of my list once I found out that everything between us was a lie!” I snapped.

“Oh, come on.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Harlan? Why would you keep this from me? The only thing I can come up with is this was all some big plan to get your family’s lodge back.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his gum. There was no clearer sign that I’d gotten under his skin than him chomping on gum.

“I’m not kidding. It suddenly makes so much sense. It’s why you live so close to the place. Or why you were always there with friendly advice on what needed to be done.”

I remained by the front door. I couldn’t get close to him. My anger and hurt ran deep, but they weren’t strong enough to completely overpower my attraction to him.

“I was trying to help! You needed help.” He let out a groan and slumped onto one of the dining chairs .

“And then there’s the way you were so adamant that I shouldn’t sell to Simon. Well, news flash! You could have just as easily romanced it out of him as you did with me!”

He let out a deep breath and stared at the floor. “Is that what you think I did? Is that what you think this is?”

Hurt colored his nearly whispered reply. If I hadn’t been so fired up and convinced I deserved to drag him over the coals, I would have noticed he wasn’t fighting back. But I had the momentum of someone running downhill, so foolishly, I leaned into my rant.

“And maybe this is why you were so buddy-buddy with Uncle Randy. Maybe you hoped it would be like Antiques Roadshow and if you were nice enough to the old man next door, he might leave you something really valuable.”

He popped out of his chair and stormed to me. “Take that back.” He stared at me icily. I’d gone too far. “Take it back, Maisie. That man was the best friend I ever had and I was destroyed when he died.”

Nauseating regret shot through me like a lightning bolt. I looked down. “I know you cared about him.”

He hooked a finger under my chin and tipped my head back so I was forced to look at him. “When Randy got sick, he wanted to leave the lodge to me, but I refused him,” he said, and then walked back to the table and sat back down.

His statement shattered all of the awful hypotheticals I’d crafted about him.

“You what?”

“He said I was like the son he’d never had and that he wanted to restore my family legacy. He was the best of men. But I said no, because I didn’t want him to think our friendship had been borne out of me angling to get the lodge back. I didn’t want him to think exactly what you’re thinking about me right now.”

My guts churned and the throb in my temple intensified. How could I have accused him of the thing he feared most? Jerk move, Carver. Maybe I presumed that a guy as amazing as him had to have an ulterior motive to go for a girl like me. Still no excuse, though.

“Harlan, I—“

“It’s my turn now,” he said. I snapped my mouth shut. I’d already said too much and his gruff tone stopped me in my tracks. “I didn’t tell you about the lodge’s history at first because I didn’t want you constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering if I was scheming. If you thought I was hanging around to snoop and sabotage, you’d never let me near you. And I had to be near you. You…you have this effect on me. I just want to be wherever you are. I want to help you. I want to protect you. I want…so much.” He dropped his face in his hands for a second, and then ran his fingers through his hair. “After a while, it was too late to say anything. Once we’d started having our nightly talks, I felt like I missed my window. It’s been eating at me for a while now. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone told you. It’s not exactly a secret.”

“Yeah, that’s what Michael said.” I took a few steps toward him.

“It’s also embarrassing. I’m the heir to a kingdom gambled away by the king. It kinda fell in the possum category because it was humiliating.”

I took two more steps toward him. “ You didn’t lose the lodge! You weren’t even born yet.”

“I know. But it’s tough to grow up not knowing your dad and constantly being told what a loser he was,” he said with a shrug.

My heart shattered for him. What a turnaround. A few minutes before I was filled with venom and rage. And now I just wanted to hold him. He stood and walked to me, closing the gap between us.

“Maisie, I know I should have told you everything, and I’m sorry I didn’t. But I didn’t offer you that partnership for me. I wanted to do it for you. I wanted to open the place with you. I want to be with you.”

A rush of mushy, warm affection flowed through me. This guy had gone from dreamboat, to enemy, to dreamboat all over again.

“I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions and bolted. I guess…I was a little triggered by the thought that you were deceiving me. I had a real problem with a major deception in my marriage and I’m a little sensitive about that,” I said as I wound my arms around his middle and pressed my cheek to his chest.

He held me tightly. “I wouldn’t know. Your marriage has always been strictly possum territory,” he said, before kissing the top of my head.

“It won’t always be. I promise. You have a way of making me spill my guts.”

“Likewise.”

We stood there for what felt like eons just holding one another. The fog of my physical desire for him masked that our bond was formed over a different kind of need. We both needed someone to depend on. Someone who wouldn’t betray us. Someone we could trust to share our deepest secrets with.

He bent down and gave me a kiss that could only be described as important. This wasn’t like our past kisses, overflowing with pent-up desire. It was a pact, a reassurance that what we’d started to forge wasn’t broken. His lips held promise, and I knew him well enough to know he never made promises lightly. I worried for a split second about my morning breath, but thought screw it . If my disappearing act and ranting accusations hadn’t scared him off, a little sour wine flavor wouldn’t make him recoil.

In the midst of this impactful moment, my stomach decided to make the most unattractive gurgling sound, protesting the fact that there was a delicious breakfast on the table and I wasn’t eating it. Harlan laughed as I plopped down onto a chair, ready to dig in .

“What about the puppies? Don’t they need to be fed around now?” I asked as I tore into a huge, flaky croissant.

“I called Miguel in early. Paid him extra and told him he could shoot as many damn videos of the dogs as he wants,” he said through a mouthful of bacon. “I’ve cleared my schedule for the day. I’d prayed that I hadn’t lost you for good. And that if we worked it out, we could spend the day making up.” He gave me a crooked smile that sent a jolt through my lady parts.

“Sounds like fun. What did you have in mind?”

I loaded up my fork with the perfect bite of crab benedict and when I ate it, I thought I might pass out from deliciousness. Harlan laughed and took a huge bite out of a cinnamon roll.

“To be honest, as much as I’d love to tear that robe off of you and carry out a very detailed inventory of your cute little self, I’m completely exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep last night. And once I knew you were safe, I drank a little too much. What would you say to starting off with a little nap?”

“A nap sounds divine. I just have to check one thing.”

I ran to the bedroom and grabbed my phone. Simon and I had exchanged numbers at the height of our tipsiness the night before. I dropped him a text.

What time is checkout?

I didn’t have to wait long for his reply. After a night at The Firebrand, it was obvious Simon and Michael were tireless and always on. No one waited long for anything with them.

Ooh. Let me guess. You’re debating over “making up” here or back at home?

Man, he was sharp. A flush rose in my cheeks at the embarrassment of being so seen.

No comment. What time do we have to head out?

Whenever you want my dear. Go and bang Harlan until the cows come home.

Jesus, Simon !

My cheeks flushed even redder. When I looked up, Harlan was eyeing me with a cocked eyebrow and a wolfish smile. My heart fluttered and I pressed my thighs together tightly. I was going to have actual sex, probably really good sex. I suddenly wanted to shout about it from the rooftops.

Okay, fine. I’m going to have hot animalistic sex with Harlan all day.

YAAAAAAAAASSS!!

Thanks for the room ?

It’ll cost you. I want deeetz

Forget it

We’ll see. Bye bye hot mama

Bye

I told Harlan, “We’ve got the room for as long as we want.”

“Bit of a long conversation just to find that out. Must’ve been Simon.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, you know, Simon has a little crush on me. I expect he’s doing a little vicarious living through you.”

My mouth fell open and I laughed. Harlan always eschewed the idea that so many women—and men—thought him attractive. He pretended he wasn’t the stunning, god-like creature he was. This was the first time I’d seen him admit it, and it was hilarious to watch him preen.

“Look at your face! You are so smug right now!” I stood up and took a step around the table so I was beside him. “So cocky and so sure that everyone in Saugatuck and Douglas is completely crazy for Harlan the Hot Hermit.”

He looped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his lap. He smiled at me and said, “There’s only one person in Saugatuck and Douglas I care about. Nobody else matters.”

Mic. Drop.

I was speechless, which was just fine because he leaned in and kissed me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck just as he hooked his forearm under my knees and stood, carrying me to the bed. No one had ever done that for me before.

He set me on my feet next to the bed. His blue-gray eyes regarded me with such adoration, I thought my heart would punch open my chest and float away as though tethered to countless balloons like the house in the movie Up. My throat swelled with emotion as I pulled open the tie on my robe and took it off, sliding under the covers. He ditched his boots and flannel and crawled in beside me.

We kissed and talked, but not for very long. Exhaustion, full bellies, and mild hangovers knocked us both out. In short order, I turned onto my side away from him and he wrapped himself around me. We probably each took three deep breaths before crashing.