My Greatest Joy (Maplewood Falls #2)

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

LEVI

Since one of the biggest storms of the season is supposed to hit this evening, I spend most of the day helping my parents at our Christmas tree farm. After I chop a fuckton of wood for them, I go to my twin sister Lucy’s house and do the same for her.

“Thanks, bro!” She waves, already dressed in her pajamas.

I look at my watch. “It’s barely four.”

“So? It’s a pre-snow day.” She shrugs. “Thanks again for the wood.”

“Welcome. Couldn’t let ya freeze. Check in with me after the blizzard passes,” I tell her, knowing I need to get home to do the same. “Come on, Dasher,” I say as my golden retriever begs to go inside with her.

“He wants to stay with me,” she teases. “It’s because he likes me more.” She pets him, bends down, and kisses his head.

“Dasher!” I whistle. He bolts toward me, hopping through the snow, making sure he’s wet and filthy before getting in the truck. I give my sister a wave, then drive the couple of miles to my place.

The temperature is steadily dropping, and over the next few days, we’ll get pounded with over twenty inches of snow along with harsh winds. Most of Maplewood Falls and grocery stores have already shut down. I enjoy winter storms and don’t mind being stuck inside with Dasher. It’s Mother Nature’s way of making me rest during one of the busiest times of the year. While it might slightly hurt profits, it’ll pick up again, and we’ll be swamped once we reopen. Last-minute tree buyers aren’t that uncommon.

Once I’m home, I park my truck on the side of the house closest to my shed. Dasher gets out and chases a rabbit to the edge of the woods, and I have to yell at him to come back. He does, then I unlock the door and grab him a few treats for being a good boy on the farm today. Once he’s gobbled them up, we go out to the shed to start working. All my extra wood is stored here, and I chop it year-round to keep it stocked for winter.

I keep a small heater on the floor in here for him while I work. Dasher loves the snow and cold, but he’s also a baby and likes to be warm. As soon as I turn it on, he lies in front of it, watching me with his big eyes.

“This won’t take me long,” I explain, grabbing my axe, and then chop the trunks into smaller, more manageable chunks. While my house runs off propane, I still use the fireplace.

After thirty minutes, I take a quick break. My muscles are sore from working most of the day. Dasher stares at me, and I chuckle. He’s ready to go in and relax, too.

As I look out across the pond in front of my house, I can see the blizzard moving in. Visibility is terrible. I’m not sure how long I’ll be snowed in, but I plan to catch up on some sleep. Then after it passes, I’ll be on plow duty. Once I’ve caught my breath, I continue until I’m finished.

“Okay, boy. Let’s go.”

I turn off the small heater, then grab an armful of wood to carry inside. Dasher leads the way, and as soon as I turn the knob, he sniffs around and starts barking.

I place the logs in a small stack next to the fireplace and notice one of the reindeer in my town scene on the mantel is turned the wrong way. Furrowing my brows, I move it back to where it was.

Dasher races upstairs, still barking his head off as I undress on my way to the shower. I’ll deal with my wet-ass dog after.

I slip off my jeans, push my boxers down, and open my bedroom door, naked. Unbeknownst to me, a woman lies in my bed.

I make eye contact with her as Dasher rushes forward. Quickly, I try to cover myself, not particularly wanting this stranger to see my dick, but I have more questions than answers. Neither of us knows what the fuck is going on. I try to say something, anything, but she screams in horror. She grabs something next to her, then points it at me. Everything happens so fast that I barely have time to react. Pepper spray shoots across the room and hits me directly in my eyes.

“Fuck! You maced me!” I stumble, trip over something hard, and then fall on my ass.

“I’m calling the police!” she shrieks as Dasher sniffs me and continues to bark at the woman.

I press my palms into my eyes as the burn gets worse. “Please do! Tell them you broke in and assaulted me!”

“Broke into your house? I don’t think so. The last thing I’m going to do is let some man murder me in the middle of nowhere.”

I wish I could look at her, but my eyes are stinging so fucking bad that I can only wait it out. She starts coughing, which means she probably got some residuals from the spray.

“What are you talking about, woman?”

“I’m talking about how you broke into my rental.”

“Listen to me!” My voice booms as tears roll down my cheeks. I have no idea what the fuck she’s talking about.

“Ugh! Get your filthy dog off me.” I can hear the mattress squeak and know he jumped on the bed.

“Dasher.” I snap my fingers. “Downstairs.”

I hear a thump, followed by the pads of his feet trotting as he makes his way to the bottom floor. “I’d love to keep having this ridiculous conversation with you, but I need to rinse my eyes.” They feel like they’re melting out of my skull.

I manage to gain my footing while keeping one hand over my junk.

“Maybe I should’ve tased you instead.”

“I’ll deal with you when I get out of the shower,” I growl.

“Fine!” she snaps. “But you touch me, I’ll call 911 immediately.”

Carefully, I take blind steps toward my bathroom. Once I’m at the sink, I spend fifteen minutes splashing cold water on my face to dilute the capsaicin she attacked me with.

Then I immediately get in the shower and wash every part of my body with soap to try to break down the oils from the spray. I stand under the stream, letting it run over my sore muscles, annoyed that I’m dealing with this bullshit.

I’ve lived here all my life and know almost everyone in the area, and she’s definitely not a local.

After I rinse off, I get dressed and notice her shampoo, conditioner, and sea breeze-scented bodywash are on the edge of my tub. She fully helped herself to my house while I was gone. Guess I’m going to have to start locking my door.

Once I’ve composed myself, I walk into my room, where she’s still sitting cross-legged on my bed with her laptop. She quickly grabs her pepper spray when she hears me.

“Do not do that again.”

“Or what?”

I don’t have time for these games. “Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?” I finally ask. Though more specifically, my bed .

She narrows her beautiful green eyes at me as if I’m the intruder. Then stands a good five feet from me.

“I’m Fallon Joy, a journalist for a magazine based in Seattle. I’m writing a center page article about Maplewood Falls and rented this place for two weeks while I’m here.” She grabs her phone, then shows me the itinerary along with photos of the outside of my house. That smirk, paired with her confidence, tells me she believes she’s proved her point.

I meet her gaze. “Well, Fallon Joy …” I repeat her name and chuckle at the irony.

“What’s funny?”

“The fact that your last name is Joy , and you seem anything but joyful.”

Her lips purse into a line so tight, it looks painful.

“Anyway, I’m Levi White, and my family has owned this property well before either of us has been alive. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but?—”

“Why did you put this cabin on a vacation rental site if you weren’t going to vacate?”

“I didn’t. I’ve never rented it out.”

“So this isn’t your cabin you listed?”

“It is, but I didn’t list it.”

“Is this some kind of scam? You take all my money, then kick me out as soon as I get here?”

Her accusatory tone annoys me even more.

“Look up White’s Christmas Tree Farm , and you’ll see I’m not lying. Go ahead. I’ll wait,” I taunt, crossing my arms over my broad chest.

“Well, Levi ,” she mimics my tone, spitting out my name like it’s poison. “My assistant booked this reservation, and I’ve already seen the charge on my company card. There must’ve been some sort of miscommunication with the website,” she continues to run her mouth.

“Please tell me you’re not that na?ve. You were scammed . Someone put up my cabin on that website, stole your money, and left us to figure it out.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Go to the listing now and see if it’s still there. A hundred bucks says it’s gone.”

She furiously types on her phone. When the color drains from her face and her nostrils flare, I’m convinced she might self-destruct. I’ve never seen someone get worked up so quickly. But I try to give her the benefit of the doubt because I’m sure this is stressful for her, too.

“Motherfucker,” she mutters, inhaling a deep breath as if she’s contemplating throwing her phone out the window.

“I’m sorry someone took advantage, but you can see I’m telling the truth. This happens in touristy small towns sometimes.”

She gives me an unamused death glare. “ Great . I’ll grab my things and leave. I’m sure I can find another place.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s a full-on blizzard out there, and the road conditions are bad in this whiteout. You can sleep in my guest bedroom tonight. There’s a bathroom down the hall you can use, too. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

“Fine.”

She slams her laptop shut, picks up her phone and weapons, and snatches the handle to her suitcase. Without saying another word, she storms off. Seconds later, a door slams shut, and I think she locks it.

Shaking my head, I call Dasher up to give him a quick bath. As I scrub soap over his back and belly, I think about the crazy events that happened and wonder how the hell I’m going to navigate having a stranger in my house.

When I woke up this morning, the last thing I expected to find was a beautiful woman in my bed who thought I was there to kill her.

Who knows, with her salty attitude, I might want to before she leaves.