Vacation (54 page)

He was more than enough.

Chapter 30

Finn

I'd been with lots of girls, but no one
made me feel the way Chloe did. She made love to me the night before with
passion like nothing I'd ever seen. It wasn't about getting off or seeing who
could make the other person scream more, but about taking her time to show me
the depths of her heart with her body.

I shivered at the remembrance of how good
she felt against me. After dreaming about her half the night, I woke around two
and pressed myself back inside of her from behind, taking my time to make love
to her sweet body once more. She stayed curled up, her back against my chest
and her ass pressed tightly to my thighs.

She took me so well, and we came again
together.

A groan lodged in my chest as I watched
her sleep early that morning, unable to help myself again. My father would be
expecting me at church, but I wasn't sure she would be willing to go.

"Baby," I whispered and brushed
her hair out of her face. Her eyelids fluttered and I ran my fingers down her
flawless cheek. I had to wonder if she would keep her tan if we stayed in
Colorado. The sun was warm enough to keep her sun-kissed, but the cold air might
keep her from ever getting in it.

My heart contracted painfully at the
thought of her leaving and heading back out West. I was willing to go with her,
but there was always the off-chance that she might not want me to go. She was
young and had just finished school. Maybe she wanted some time to explore what
life really had to offer, and she might not want someone tagging alone for the
adventure.

"What are you thinking about?"
She wrapped her fingers around my wrist, and I realized she was watching me.

"You. Us." I smiled. "My
father expects me in church in an hour. You good with going, or you want me to
tell him we ate something bad?"

She laughed and scooted closer to me,
wrapping her arm around my waist and popping my ass.

"We're going. I brought a sweater
dress in my bag just in case we went out today. If your father expects us in
church beside him, then that's where we'll be." She kissed my nose and
started to move, but I caught her arm and pulled her back down.

"We have time for another round in
the sheets, don't you think." I nipped at her lips, loving the way she
groaned at my aggression.

"No, I want to be pretty for
church."

"Done. You're always drop-dead
gorgeous. No need to make the other girls jealous. That's not real nice."
I kissed her again and lamented as she pulled away from me and walked across
the room to get her bag. She was the finest thing I'd ever seen. I needed to go
to church. I had to make a deal with God. If he gave her to me and let me keep
her forever, I'd do anything he wanted.

"Get up, handsome. We need to grab a
cup of coffee on our way out this morning."

"I have coffee in the kitchen. I'll
get up and make you a cup." I moved to the edge of the bed and stretched,
almost forgetting about my cast.

"You don't have creamer, and it's the
holiday season. My peppermint hot chocolate will be gone soon." She sat
her bag down next to me, and I couldn't help but reach out and run my hand down
her back and over her rear. I leaned over and kissed her hip a few times before
she playfully pushed me away.

"You want a peppermint hot chocolate,
that's what you'll get." I got up and hopped over to my crutches, not at
all worried about being naked in front of her. I planned on being with the
woman behind me for the rest of my life; I just wasn't ready to share that with
her yet. No reason to scare her, but I smiled at the thought.

She got dressed quickly, and I texted my dad
that we would be at church. He was thrilled that there was a "we" to
it.

Chloe helped me into my jeans from the
night before and we bumped heads during the ordeal, laughing it off after we
got over the initial sting of it.

"This is almost as bad as that night
that poor girl made you bleed from your skinny jeans." Chloe helped me out
the door as she teased me.

"I was bleeding that night.
Ain't
nothing funny about
that.
"

She turned to me and looked like she was
going to say something, but she just winked.

"Oh yeah?" I had to egg her on.
"Did you look it up in the dictionary and see that you're wrong?

"About what, baby?" She sounded
as sweet as sugar.

"About
ain't
being a word."

"
Ain't
isn't a word. Get in the car, and let's get going." She chuckled and got
in the driver's side, leaving me to figure out how to get up into her jeep with
only one working leg.

"I see how it is." I turned and
pulled myself up by my arm strength, and then tugged the crutches in with me. I
turned to see her mouth open as she stared at me. "I'm impressed."

"Yeah?”

“Honestly, that was wicked hot. I'd like
to see you do that without your shirt on."

I looked at my watch. "We got time
now?"

"Yes, but we need to make sure we
have time for what's going to happen afterward." She slid her hand down my
thigh and squeezed as she pulled out of the driveway.

"I think I need to hear more about
this, but after church. You remember how the doctor joked around with us about
me being turned on by you?"

She chuckled and glanced at me sideways.

"Yeah, my dad isn't going to think
that shit is funny." I paled at the thought. "Not in the
slightest."

* * * *

I was surprised to see Milly seated on the
other side of my father when we arrived to the little white church house just
before the service started. I pressed my hand on the small of Chloe's back and
guided her into the pew to sit by my father.

He turned and smiled at her, and even more
surprising than Milly being there was when Chloe leaned over and kissed him on
the cheek. He blushed and Milly reached around and squeezed Chloe's hands.

"Have you met Milly?" I asked,
leaning around to shake hands, too.

"Yeah. I'll tell you the story
later." She snuggled in beside me, and I couldn't help but let my eyes
roll over her. Her dark blue dress hugged her waist and flared around her
thighs, cutting off above her knees. The dark brown boots she wore stopped
below her knees and her neck was adorned with a pretty set of brown beads. She
smelled like heaven, and I wanted to tug her closer and press my lips to her
neck.

I didn't hear a damn thing the preacher
said because I was too busy planning out every detail of my life with the
beautiful girl next to me. He asked us to bow our heads, and I was all too
grateful for the service being over. I was pretty sure the rest of the
congregation was in trouble for sinning outside the church, but there had to be
a special place in hell for those of us doing it in the church...during a sermon.

"You kids want to come back to the
house for lunch? Milly put on a roast this morning for the two of us." He
looked over at Milly and winked at her.

I glanced toward Chloe and lifted my
eyebrow. Maybe we didn't have much work left to do. Seemed the two of them were
already getting together and doing domesticated things.

"You want to, baby? You free or you
need to get home?" I reached for her hand, pulling her closer to me and
wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I need to get home in a couple of
hours. I'd love to have lunch with you guys first."

"Good. You can help me put up my tree,"
Dad chuckled. "I know.
It's
tomorrow, but I don't
have it up yet."

"How fun." Chloe looked over at
me. "Dad didn't put one up this year. I honestly just realized that."

"Should we do one at my dad's and
then yours?" I asked. There were few things in life that I hated more than
putting up a Christmas tree, but I was willing to do just about anything to
spend more time with my girl.

"No. It's too late. I'll get him next
year. It's just a good reason to give him tell over something this year."
She moved to my side, and I waved over my shoulder to my dad, promising that we
would stop by the house for clothes for me and then come over for lunch.

We drove back in silence as Christmas
music played over the radio. There were so many things I wanted to say, but I
wasn't sure how to start the conversation. The last I'd heard, Chloe was
staying until Christmas and then heading back home.

Christmas was tomorrow.

"You want me to run in and grab you
some sweats and a t-shirt?" She turned to look at me after putting the car
in park outside of my cabin.

"I would love that. Can you grab the
large red bag by the bedroom, too? It's got all my gifts in it that I've picked
up for everyone."

"Sure. Anything specific on your
clothes?"

"No. Anything will work. It's just me
and my dad."

"And me." She reached over and
squeezed my hand. "You're okay with me coming out to your dad's tomorrow
after I open presents with Parker, right?"

"Of course. I hate the fact that we
can't spend the night together tonight. Seems a shame." I turned to look
out the front window and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"I'll be right back." She got
out of the car, and I turned to look out the other window, not sure how I was
going to get through the idea that last night might have been our last time to
make love together. It seemed absurd, like that couldn't possibly be our
outcome, but it could.

She got back in the truck a few minutes
later and laid a small bag at my feet. She sat down the bag of goodies she made
me beside it. "Take these to your dad's and let him enjoy some of them.
You were so damn greedy about them the other night."

"I still am." I turned to her
and took her hand. "Chloe, I just want you to know that I meant what I
said last night. I know it doesn't make sense, and it's only been a few weeks,
but I love you. I don't want to lose you, and I need you to think about if that
matters to you."

"Of course, it does." She
reached out and touched my face.

"Right. So, here's the deal. I want
to keep working on us and see where this goes. If that means that we make this
work long distance, or you stay here, or I go with you...it's whatever. I just
don't want to give up when we've just started. I'm too far into you."

She nodded. "I love you, too. Let me
think about what the best answer might be tonight, and we can talk tomorrow
about it."

"Okay. I'll hold you to it." I
sat back, feeling better that she loved me, too, but still torn up over what
our end result would be.

"I hope that's not the only thing you
plan to hold me to." She wagged her eyebrows, and I couldn't help but
chuckle.

"Anything you want, baby. All you
have to do is ask."

Chapter 31

Chloe

"Get up! It's Christmas!" Parker
jumped on my bed and shook me awake like he did when we were kids.

I threw my arm in the air, trying to swat
him off of me, but missing entirely.

"What time is it?" I rolled over
and groaned. "Parker,
It's
five in the morning.
We're not kids anymore."

"I am. Get up. It's time to open
presents." He jumped on my bed again, and this time I got him, grabbing
him and rolling over on top of him.

I pinned him to the bed and breathed in
his face.

"Dad! Help! Dad!" he screamed,
and I rolled off, grabbing my robe and trying to trip him as we ran down the
hall.

I couldn't remember all of a sudden why in
the world I hadn't been home for Christmas for the last few years.
Me
and Dad being at odds was one thing, but my little
brother was growing up alone without me. I shouldn't have stayed away, and I
never would again.

"Chloe, what are you doing to your
brother?" Dad looked up from his stance in the kitchen with a mysterious
look on his face.

"What are you doing in the kitchen is
the real question." I moved up to him and pulled him into a hug. "Are
you cooking something?"

"Yeah, Parker and I figured out your
mother's old breakfast casserole recipe. We ran to the store and made it while
you slept on the couch."

"You guys didn't watch
The Grinch
?" I turned and lifted my
eyebrow at Parker.

"What do you care? You were snoring
at nine-thirty." He laughed and started organizing the presents by the
fireplace.

"Why do you guys not have a
tree?" I looked back at my father.

"I don't know. Just seemed like
another thing to do, and Parker never asked for one." He handed me a cup
of coffee. "Why? You want one? We'll go get one after we open
presents."

"No, it's too late this year, but
next year you're going to have to put up a really big one to make up for this
sadness." I pointed to the empty living room.

"So you're coming home next
year?" He turned to me and smiled.

"I'm not leaving. I think this should
be home from now on."

"Are you shitting us?" My
brother stood up from the other side of the bar, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Parker. Watch your mouth, boy,"
my father reprimanded him and then turned back to me. "Are you sure this
is what you want?"

"Well, a really cute guy in town told
me that if things didn't work out here, it wasn't the end of the world. You
just move onto the next place and start something new." I reached out and
brushed my hand over my father's arm. "Can I stay here with you
guys?"

"Forever." He pulled me into a
hug and kissed the top of my head. "Now, get in there, and let's open up
presents."

I fixed my coffee and sat beside my
brother as he tore through far too many packages. Every electronic that had
come out that year was sitting at my brother's feet by the time the morning was
over. I almost said something, but I didn't have room to talk. I had gift cards
to most department stores, a few sweaters, several new pairs of shoes, which my
father did really well on picking out, and a set of keys to a brand new jeep.
The old one was getting traded in, or so my father thought until Parker begged
for it.

"Is that it?" Dad asked and got
up, leaving as the timer on the oven beeped over and over. "Breakfast will
be ready in ten minutes. It needs to cool."

"I'm going to try out these new
games. Save me a piece." Parker piled everything in his arms and
disappeared down the hall.

I stood and pulled one of my new sweaters
over my head, wondering if I couldn't make something better that had pockets.
The thing was so cute, but functionally defunct.

"Chloe, can you come here for a
minute?" Dad moved to the kitchen table, and I realized I hadn't gotten
his nontraditional gift yet.

"Sure." I sat down and took a
quick sip of my coffee before giving him my attention. "What's up?"

"I still have two things for
you." He smiled and pushed two cards toward me.

"Dad, you've already gotten me way
too much. I don't need anything else."

"Yeah, but these are more than
Christmas presents. Consider them a graduation gift, too."

I smiled, realizing that one of them was
most likely the money to start my new clothing line. One thing that I realized
was that I could still create something new and exciting for people living in
California without having to live there, too. It was a convenience I would
miss, but there were so many more reasons for me to stay in Colorado for now.

"Open the pink one first." He
smiled, and I shoved the white one back. "Okay, now remember, if you're
not interested in it, just give it back. It's a project, but I think you'll
love it."

I opened the card and unfolded the deed to
a property. "The Vanning Place. What is it?"

"It's a beautiful old mansion at the
edge of town. It's been here since I was a boy. Clark and I used to always talk
about gutting it and turning it into a ski lodge for families. I've wanted to
do it since I was little, but time just got away from me. I figured if you were
staying here, you might want to start investing in something of your own. It's
a beautiful building and I should have bought it year ago, but it never felt
right until recently." He smiled and tapped the table. "If you're not
comfortable with all the work that nee..."

I cut him off. "Daddy, I love
it."

He pushed the other card toward me, but I
was breathless over the first gift. I hadn't seen the place, but if my father
thought we could build a lodge out of it, then Finn would probably feel the
same way. I couldn't wait to tell him.

"Open this one now."

I opened it and found a check for half a
million dollars. I handed it back to him. "I don't want this. It's
ridiculous."

He slid it across the table back toward
me. "It is not. I told you that if you did what I asked you to do that I
would give you the money to start you own clothing line. That's it."

"It can't cost that much." I
picked up the check and balked at it.

My father had been wealthy for most of my
life, which meant that I hadn't ever really wanted for much, but it was his
money, not mine. This was a check made out to me. It seemed like it was way too
much.

"It does and sometimes more." He
reached out and touched my hand. "I love you so much. Forgive me for all
the years of being bitter. I didn't even realize how bad I'd gotten until you
ripped my heart back open this last week. I'm so sorry."

"Me, too." My vision blurred,
and I figured it was as good a time as any to ask for a few more favors. Seemed
my father was in the giving mood. "Dad..."

"What, pumpkin?"

"Can I use this money to help
renovate the property?"

"Of course. It's yours. Do with it
what you like."

"Are you okay with me still designing
under your line?"

"Yes. I'll start buying the designs I
like off of you, and that can be a way to help support your spending habits,
too. You might want to eventually get your own place, so we'll work out a deal
between us, and I'll introduce you to a few of the other guys in our line of
work. You might find yourself with more business than you can handle. But, it's
a good place to be."

"One more thing." I smiled,
already so insanely overwhelmed by how generous my dad had been.

"What?"

"I know you don't like Finn, but he's
been wanting to build a lodge for families his whole life, too."

He smiled. "He gets that from his old
man. It was our dream as boys."

"Can I split this with him? It will
still be mine, but can we draw up papers to give him half of it?"

My father stiffened, and I realized I was
asking a lot of him, but I loved Finn and knew that this would light his world
on fire.

"You really believe this boy is going
to become your husband? The father of your children?"

"I have no doubt at all." I
picked up the deed. "Can you help me with it?"

"Well, it is yours to do with it what
you want, and you're a grown-ass woman."

I laughed, and he joined me before we got
up and finished getting breakfast together. After we shared one of our favorite
meals that my mother use to make, Dad and Parker went to his room to work on a
new robot that Dad got him and I packed a bag.

I stopped by Parker’s room and leaned
against the door. "I'm going over to Mr. Warner's."

"Have fun, Sis. Merry
Christmas." Parker looked up and then back toward his pile of screws and
metal parts.

"Be safe. Take the old jeep until I
can get chains around the tires of the new one." Dad stood, walking toward
me and pulling me into a warm hug. "Tell them I said hi, and make sure
Clark knows that I'll be coming over this week. Okay?"

"Thanks, Dad." I lifted on my
toes and kissed the side of his face.

"No. Thank you, baby. For giving me
parts of my life back."

I nodded and walked from the house, wishing
that I would have expressed my heart like I should have. It was me who should
be thanking him. His bossy, overbearing nature brought me to Colorado and
because of it...my whole life was changed, and I couldn't be more thrilled to
see where it was headed.