One Week in Maine (5 page)

“That sounds kind of cool!”

“It sure is. We can even arrest people for various infractions.”

“I had no idea.” Not that
I had ever given much thought to a game warden’s job description.

“Hey, what are you going to do
with your time while you’re here, waiting for your car?” he asked suddenly.

“I have no idea,”
I sighed. I refrained from mentioning that there didn’t seem to be anything
to
do in town.

“You could always hang out at Ginger’s a bit; she loves to gab and wouldn’t mind the company, I’m sure. I know Dottie’s not much company for you while you’re here, and I’ll be working most of the days of your stay.”

“I didn’t find Ginger’s to be exactly welcoming.” I explained how all conversations had ceased and all the men in the place had openly stared at me while I was there.

Will shook his head.
“I’m sorry. It’s not often that we get such a beautiful flatlander passing through town here.”

I
averted my eyes quickly to hide the flush of pleasure that ran through me when he referred to me as beautiful.

“‘Flatlander?’”
The term was unfamiliar to me.

“You
know, a flatlander. Someone from out of state, an outsider. We’re a tight-knit community around here and anyone passing through sticks out like a sore thumb, I’m afraid. They were just curious about you, I’m sure. If you went in there a few more times I bet you’d find people would be a lot friendlier once they recognized you.”

“Maybe.”
His reassurance did little to convince me to try Ginger’s again.

“I’m working tomorrow morning, but I’m off in the afternoon. I’ve got an errand to run the next town over, if you’d like to join me.”

“Thanks, Will, but it’s not your job to entertain me while I’m here.” Even as I declined the offer, I regretted it. Going with Will on his errand would break up what was sure to be a long, boring day, but I didn’t want him to feel like he had to babysit me.

“Nope, it’s not, but I’d enjoy the company, and I thought you might like to get out and see the area a bit. Besides, I think you and Janie would get along great.”

“Oh, okay. If you’re sure.” Janie had to be his girlfriend. It was unlikely that a guy like Will didn’t have a significant other. The news about his girlfriend shouldn’t have surprised or disappointed me, yet it did. No matter how hot he looked or how sweet he seemed, there was no point in getting my hopes up about Will Holbrook. Sounds like he was a taken man, and besides, I didn’t do long distance relationships.

“Great. We’ll head on over to her place mid-afternoon or so, if that works for you.”

“It’s not like I have any other plans!”

“Sorry to eat and run, but I need to go check on Dottie and get to bed. I’ve got to be up really early in the morning to stake
out a popular spot where some of the poachers like to hunt. Firearm season’s still a month away, but some of those idiots try to sneak in before bow season’s even begun.”

“No problem. Thanks for dinner, by the way. I
t was absolutely delicious!” I was sorry to see him leave, but glad for the distraction he had provided for me, even if brief.

“Just
stack your dishes by the sink and I’ll see you when I get home tomorrow. G’night, Calista. I’m just across the hall if you need anything.”

“Goodnight, Will,” I
replied softly as he walked away. What I really needed was a night of raw, steamy passion, but I kept that little tidbit to myself. I gathered up my dishes and placed them by the sink as instructed, but I didn’t feel right leaving a big mess for either Dottie or Will to clean up so I grabbed a sponge and went to work.

Will came back a few minutes later with Dottie’s plate.

“Hey, you don’t have to do that! I would have gotten them in the morning!” He slid up beside me and added Dottie’s plate to the stack of dishes I was working my way through. He tried to take the sponge from me, but I wouldn’t hand it over. “You’re a guest here!”

His fingers brushed over
my soapy hand, and a wave of warmth came over me in response to his touch. It was enough to make my breath catch in my throat.

“No, it’s okay…it’s the least I can do after yo
u cooked me dinner and all.” I sounded almost as flustered as I felt. “You need to be up early, so I’ve got this.”

“I’ll dry then,” he conceded.

Together we washed and dried the dishes and then put them away in their proper places so that the kitchen was spotless. Little conversation passed between us, and being in such close proximity to Will pushed memories of his naked body to the forefront of my mind. I did my best to shove aside the thoughts of his glorious naked form, but he kept moving close enough for me to catch his scent and feel the heat radiating from his body. It was absolutely maddening and I struggled to refrain from reaching out to him. I yearned to feel his strong arms around me, to press my slender frame against his solid, muscular one. Even though I knew my desires were not to be explored, they still distracted me from the task at hand.

There was a palpable tension between
us, I was sure of it. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who felt the spark between us, the simmering undercurrent of lust. But he had a girlfriend, I reminded myself sternly. It didn’t matter what attraction might be brewing between us because he was off limits.

My
primal hunger for Will unsettled me, so I tried to concentrate on cleaning up fast and efficiently. I was disgusted with myself; I was a grown woman, not some hormonal teenage girl, so why was this magnetic pull to him so hard to resist? The moment the dishes were done and the kitchen was all clean, I set the sponge down beside the sink and hastily bid Will goodnight again before scurrying off to my room.

I couldn’t get
there fast enough, and once I did I closed the door behind me and leaned against it with a sigh. It was the stress of the day, I rationalized. It had been a terrible, tense day and my body was just looking for a release, that was all. But that didn’t change the fact that my emotional attraction to him was swiftly catching up with the physical attraction I felt towards him.

It was only a week, I reasoned. I
could keep my hands and lips to myself for a week, no matter what kind of looks he gave me. At least, I hoped so.

-4-

I slept soundly through night after my long, stressful ride to Maine, and dreamed of a smoky-eyed warrior fighting his way through wave after wave of deer to reach me high on a mountaintop. I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping in a nearby tree as sunlight filled the room.

“Good Lor
d, now I’m dreaming about game wardens,” I muttered to myself.

After dressing quickly in a pair
of jeans and a light sweater, I went downstairs to see if I could find Dottie to say good morning. The bottom floor was silent so I moved softly through the kitchen and peeked into the little room directly off of it.

It looked like the room might have been a sitting room of sorts at one time but somewhere along the way someone had put up
a door at either end of the room and converted it into a bedroom for Dottie. The old woman was dozing in a recliner in front of the television, so I decided not to disturb her and closed the door softly behind me instead.

In the kitchen, I
found a note from Will.

Home around noon, we’ll grab some lunch and go run that errand afterwards if you
still want to come along. –Will

A quick look at the kitchen clock revealed that it was already 11:35.

Cursing under my breath, I took the stairs two at a time as I flew to my room to get ready. After emptying out my entire bag on my bed, I finally settled on staying in the clothes I was already wearing. They were nothing special, but the jeans looked good on me and the pale blue v-neck sweater hugged my feminine curves nicely. I threw on a pair of gold hoop earrings and rushed into the bathroom to put the finishing touches on my look.

As I
hastily applied my makeup, it occurred to me that I was being ridiculous. What did I care about looking my best for a man that was already spoken for, a man I couldn’t have anyway? It shouldn’t have mattered to me what he thought, but my desire to be found attractive by Will overrode my common sense.

Once
I had brushed my teeth and finished applying my makeup, I anxiously waited in my room by the front window for his arrival. Very little traffic passed by the Inn, but finally a warden’s vehicle came into view.

Even though
I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing aside from seeing Janie, I was eager to get out of the Inn. The days looming before me as I waited for my SUV to be repaired were bound to be excruciatingly boring so I’d take any diversion offered, including going to meet Will’s girlfriend. Besides, I was curious to meet the woman who had landed a man like him.

I
heard the front door close and heavy tread on the steps.

“Hey!” I
greeted him as I stepped out of my room.

“Hey.” He removed his warden hat and ran his fingers through his dark hair. “You still want to join me on an errand or two this afternoon?”

“You bet!” To my own ears I sounded overly eager, and I wanted to cringe with embarrassment but instead I consoled myself that maybe I didn’t sound as desperate as I feared. At least I hoped not.

“I need a shower and then we’l
l get a bite to eat, okay?” I nodded agreeably. “Have you seen Dottie today?”

“I looked in on her when I got up not too long ago, and she was asleep.”

“All right, that’s not unusual at this time of day. I’ll check in on her again before we go. Give me a few.”

“No problem.”
The small smile he gave me as he moved past me in the hallway on the way to his room made me look forward to our afternoon together even more–until I remembered his girlfriend.

I
waited in my room and tried to get into the book I had brought with me but it was impossible to stay focused on it. My excitement about spending time with Will quickly turned to anger. Why, after all these months without a man in my life, did the perfect one have to fall into my lap when I couldn’t do a darn thing about it? He was drop-dead gorgeous, considerate, responsible and sweet…and he lived in the middle of nowhere and was already taken. It felt like one more slap in the face on this miserable trip.

If it weren’t for Janie, maybe things would be different. While
I’d never been one for casual sex, Will could have been the exception. We might have shared a week of crazy, passionate sex, our own little contained affair with no strings attached, if not for his girlfriend. My mind wandered off into thoughts of hot, wild sex with Will night after night that ended when my SUV was fixed and I went back to Hartford. No fuss, no muss, and no one would ever be the wiser about my wild fling with a hot game warden from Maine. It was a crazy idea. While not a prude, I had never been one to do anything so spontaneous. I didn’t have sex with men I wasn’t committed to, but I think I could have overlooked that to have Will in my bed. Since he had a girlfriend, my fantasy would never come to life, but it was still enjoyable to daydream about it anyway.

“How about we grab some lunch at Ginger’s?”

I had been so distracted by my fantasies about bedding Will that I hadn’t even heard him in my doorway until he spoke. He looked delicious with his damp hair and his flannel button down shirt and jeans. I quickly averted my eyes, worried he might see the lustful thoughts behind them if I met his gaze.

“Yeah, um, sure.”
I rose off the bed and crossed the room to meet him but continued to avoid his gaze. I followed him out of the Inn, and out in the driveway, he opened the truck door for me.

“Sorry it’s not nearly as nice as your car, but the Big Blue Beast’
s all I got,” he joked as I climbed into the ancient, beat up truck.

“It’s fine, really.”
To my relief the seatbelt appeared to be in good working order. Based on the condition of the rest of the truck, it wasn’t a given.

The engine sputtered noisily to life, and
Will offered me a smile. “Ready?”

“Ready. But where are we going, anyway?” He still hadn’t explained this mysterious errand to
me.

“You’ll see,” he answered cryptically.

It only took a moment to reach downtown, and Will parked the truck in front of the café. Even though I would have preferred to never set foot in there again, I would endure the stares from the locals again if he was by my side.

“
Hey, look who’s back!” Ginger proclaimed loudly when I walked into the café. Once again all conversation ceased and all eyes were on me. I saw some people’s eyes widen in surprise when Will walked in just behind me and placed his hand on the small of my back to gently guide me forward. I found it fantastically distracting, but it ended quickly. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even realize he had touched me like that. It sent tiny tremors of need throughout me nonetheless.

“Hey, Will.”

“Ginger.” He nodded politely to her and motioned to a nearby table. “C’mon, we’ll sit here.”

Even once
we were seated, all eyes were still on us, but now I caught some of the quiet murmurs from nearby tables. Will handed me a menu and I stared at it blankly as I overheard what the locals were saying about me.

“…a city girl, from New York City, I heard…”

“…didn’t even know the animal she hit was a deer, stupid city folk!”

“…probably thinks she’s better than us…”

The nasty comments made me self-conscious, and Will caught my discomfort.

“Don’t worry about them! You’re the most exciting thing that’s happened here in a long time, I guess.” He reached across the table and gave
my hand a quick squeeze before releasing it.

Suddenly it wasn’t so bad. I
would listen to a thousand insults and rumors if he would just touch me again. I needed to get a grip.

“So what can
I getcha?” Ginger asked when she came over to take our orders.

“Go ahead.” Will
encouraged me.

“A turkey club and a Coke, please.”

“I’ll take a reuben and Coke, thanks.”

“You got it. I’ll have those for you in just a few minutes.” Ginger wandered off to put
our orders in.

“Hey Will,” a man somewhere behind
me called across the little café, “hear ya got some meat to pick up down at Bernie’s.”

“Sure do. We’re going to get it after lunch, in fact.”

“Damn game wardens, always getting’ the out of season pickins!”

“Quit you
r hollering, Blue, and come say hello!”

I
braced myself as I sensed someone approaching our table from behind. The last thing I wanted to do was socialize with these bumpkins, but I’d be friendly for Will, even if the townsfolk hadn’t given me the same courtesy.

Blue was an older fellow dressed in a warm flannel shirt, jeans, and work boots. He had a wild mane of shockingly white hair and kind blue eyes that crinkled around the corners when he smiled at
me. Despite his age, his posture was tall and strong, like he was a young man trapped in an older man’s body.

“You must be Calista. I’m
Blue, pleasure to meetcha.”

“Hi, Blue.”
Words past that escaped me.

“So you’re the one that dumped all that venison in Will’s lap, huh?” he joked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Excuse me?”

“The deer,” Will cut in apologetically. “Some of the meat was ruined, but there was a lot still good on it, so I had our local game butcher, Bernie, process it for me. I called him on my way to pick you up so he could run out and grab it.”

“You’re the one who took the dead deer?”

“Well, Bernie, technically, but at my request.”

“Bastard beat the rest of us to it!” Blue lamented.

“But why?”
I didn’t care what kind of road kill it was, the thought of consuming meat from it was repulsive.

“Because there’s no sense in letting good meat rot on the side of the
road!” Blue explained incredulously, as if I were stupid.

“It’s a common practice out here, and that was a lucky find. With the cool weather the meat hadn’t started turning yet, seeing as how it was a fresh kill and all.”

“Hard to get your hands on fresh venison outside of hunting season, and a lot of folks are running low on last year’s batch,” Blue added.

“Out of my way Blue!”
Ginger bumped him with her hip as she laid out our meals.

“I’ll catch you kids later!
Better go back to my seat before Ginger here puts the hurt on me!” Blue gave me a little teasing wink, and I decided I liked the odd local guy after all.

Conversation in the café had resumed to normal levels, and as
I overheard bits of people’s current conversations, I was relieved to hear they were no longer discussing me.

“B
lue seems like a good guy,” I told Will offhandedly.

“That he is. He’s one of the best hunters around, too, and he’ll tip me off to anything
hinky he finds out there.”

“Kind of like a snitch
?” I teased.

Will
laughed at the comparison. “I’m not sure I’d label him as a snitch, exactly, but I’m sure some of the poachers and baiters sure see him that way! Nobody messes with him, though. As nice as he is, he’s got a hell of a temper.”

Will insisted on paying the bill for
our meal, and I reluctantly allowed it.

Back on the road again, he explained a bit more about the deer meat.

“I didn’t want to explain it all back there at the café in case anyone was offended, but I know you think it’s disgusting. What you’re not considering is how poor many people are in this area. Hunting and scavenging’s been a way of life up here forever. People do what they need to do to get by, and sometimes that includes things outsiders might consider gross.”

“People seriously do a lot of that kind of thing?”

“I mean, don’t think we’re all combing the roadways for smashed raccoon, but if someone hits and kills a deer, and the meat’s usable, you bet. Bernie’s keeping a bit of the venison from your deer for himself as payment for processing it, I’ll take a little bit home to the Inn, and Janie’ll get the rest. It’ll feed them for a few months, if she stretches it a bit. And Bernie’s got a large family–he’s happy to do the work for me if it means they have meat on the table for a while.”

“
So it’s helping people, really.” I could deal with the idea of it if I could spin it that way in my own mind

“Yup, you got it. You hitting that deer
was a blessing in disguise. Maybe not for the deer,” he added, “but at least for two households in need of a helping hand.”

So his gi
rlfriend was poor. Not that I looked down on those in lean times as my checking account wasn’t exactly overflowing at the moment, but this news surprised me.

Bernie
lived in a prefabricated house at the end of a long, lonely dirt road. He was younger than I had expected, maybe in his late twenties at the most.

“
Hiya.” He put me instantly at ease with his friendly demeanor.