Ready To Fall Read online

  Copyright © Daisy Prescott 2013

  ebook edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  ISBN: 978-0-9894387-2-8 (epub)

  Cover Design by ©Sarah Hansen at OkayCreations.com

  Interior Design by Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats

  First Digital Edition December 2013

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  GEODUCKS ARE FOR LOVERS

  To Shawn

  For showing me how sexy a man can be in flannel

  A HIGH PITCHED wailing entered my dream. Slowly, I shook off the warm breeze and sunshine from the catamaran and opened my eyes to my bedroom. It took a minute or two for me to determine the sound wasn’t from my dream, but coming from next door. From Maggie’s house. Her smoke detector was going off.

  From where he stood on the comforter facing the window overlooking the beach, Babe’s barks drowned out the noise. Tossing the comforter and blankets off of me, I leapt from the bed, followed by Babe, and headed downstairs. Kelly rolled over and put the pillow over her head, grumbling about it still being dark out and what the hell was wrong with me for waking her up. Ignoring her, I grabbed my jeans and thermal from the floor, and raced from the room, not bothering to zip my jeans.

  I reached the door to the deck where Babe pawed to get outside. The second I opened the door, he bounded out and barked at Maggie’s cabin.

  I peered through the pre-dawn gloom, but couldn’t see any flames or smoke. As far as I knew, Maggie was in Portland with whatshisface. There shouldn’t be any reason for her smoke detector to be going off. The battery could be dying, and if that was the cause for the ruckus, I’d give her an earful about changing her batteries with the time change next time I saw her.

  The breeze shifted and I could smell the distinct scent of smoke coming from her cabin. Where there was smoke, there was fire.

  I ran across the narrow yard separating our properties. Luckily, I knew she hid a key under a frog at the foot of her steps. Searching for the damn frog, I bent over, peering into the dark when the door to the deck flew open and slammed into the wall.

  What the hell?

  A petite brunette I’d never laid eyes on swung a throw blanket over her head while she attempted to chase the smoke pouring from the door.

  Who the fuck is that? I stared at her. Now she ran around the living room, opening windows as the smoke detector continued to squawk its annoying beeping into the sleepy morning.

  The smoke appeared to be coming from the wood stove. Miss Blanket Waver probably hadn’t opened the flue. She must not be from around here.

  Walking through the open door, I coughed and waved the smoke away from my face as I headed toward the stove.

  Without introducing myself, I said, “You forgot to open the flue.”

  The woman stood at the kitchen sink, trying to open the window, and jumped at the sound of my voice.

  “Cheesy Rice and Joseph!” she shouted and turned to face me, clutching her hand to her chest. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Leaning over, I swung the lever to open the flue on the chimney stack. “I’m the neighbor. Who the fuck are you? Cause I know this isn’t your house.”

  With the doors and windows open the room began to clear of smoke, but the smoke alarm continued its piercing cadence. Where the hell was the damn thing? I stared at the ceiling and followed the beeping until I spied the red-lighted beast in the hallway. I reached up and knocked it from its perch, removed the batteries, and set it on the kitchen counter.

  “Ah, silence,” I said. Observing the woman, I noticed she had wrapped her blanket weapon around her shoulders. Sticking out below the blanket I could see a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and mismatched socks. “You going to tell me who you are and what you are doing in my friend’s house? Or am I going to call the sheriff?”

  She tightened the throw around her shoulders and glared at me, but not before I noticed her eyes linger at my waist and my jeans hanging off my hips.

  I smiled at her to let her know I’d caught her staring before closing my jeans.

  She didn’t blush or glance away, but continued to glare at me. “Do you always barge into people’s homes at the crack of dawn?”

  “I do when the alarm wakes me up and smoke fills the air.” I crossed my arms and waited.

  “I’m renting the place for a few months. Arrived on the ferry last night.”

  She didn’t tell me her name. Nope, definitely not from around here.

  “Well, that explains what you are doing here, but not who you are. I’ll go first. I’m John Day. I live next door. The yellow lab out on the deck is Babe. Your turn.”

  “Diane. Diane Watson. Well, Woodley, but Watson soon.”

  “Nice to meet you, Diane Woodley-but-Watson-soon. Is that hyphenated?” I stuck out my hand to shake hers, figuring it was the polite thing to do.

  She laughed, but it sounded hollow, not a real laugh. Somehow the smile didn’t reach her brown eyes. She shook my hand and said, “Just Woodley. Watson is my maiden name. I’m thinking of changing it back.”

  “No more Mr. Woodley?” I asked.

  She scowled. “No more Mr. Woodley. Or there won’t be soon enough.”

  “If you are planning on murdering your husband, don’t tell me. I don’t want to be an accessory. I’m here to open the flue and prevent you from burning down my friend’s house.” I smiled at her. “Plus, it’s way too early to hear all the gory details of your personal life.”

  She laughed this time and it was real. “No, no murder. Not that it hasn’t crossed my mind. Sorry about the smoke detector. I thought I knew how to build a fire. The fire part I figured out, but not the flue. Obviously.”

  “Obviously.”

  “Thanks for coming over and saving the day.”

  “No problem. I keep an eye on the house for Maggie, it’s what neighbors do around here.” I surveyed the quiet beach. “In January, not many of us live down here on the beach, we have to band together.”

  “I appreciate it. I’d hate to have the fire department show up on my first morning here. Sorry to wake you so early. I guess I’m still on east coast time.”

  “Honestly, no prob
lem. Nice to meet you,” I said, backing toward the door. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. You probably want to change out the batteries on all the detectors. Who knows the last time Maggie changed them.”

  She looked forlorn standing alone in the living room with the blanket falling off her shoulders. The Soon-to-be-not-Woodley blinked at me before remembering her manners.

  “It was nice to meet you. I don’t know anyone on the island, so it’s nice to meet my neighbor. I hope to see you around again.”

  “You probably will. Island’s a small place, and the beach especially. Give a holler if you need anything.” I turned when I opened the door. “And don’t forget to open the flue when you start a fire.”

  She seemed embarrassed, but smiled. “Thanks, John.”

  I gave her a wave and headed back over to the house with Babe on my heels. It was weird to have someone besides Maggie living in the cabin. Diane appeared nice enough, but she was no fiery redhead like Maggie.

  I crawled back into bed after shedding my jeans. Kelly rolled over and curled into my side, mumbling about barking dogs and smoke. I stayed awake for a while, thinking about the woman next door and the expression on her face as if she didn’t have a friend in the world. I’d have to text Maggie later to let her know about the wood stove. And find out more about her new tenant with the sad eyes.

  AN HOUR LATER I woke up alone and smelling of smoke. Wood smoke to be specific. When I stirred, Babe shook his collar, rattling his tags to indicate he wanted out. Glancing around the room, I didn’t see any signs of Kelly. No note, nothing of hers left behind. Her perfume lingering on the pillows reminded me she slept here last night, but the scent of smoke overpowered the sweetness of her. Right. Maggie’s new tenant almost burned down the cabin earlier. I needed to call Mags and tell her she rented her place to a potential pyro.

  Stretching, I scratched down my chest. I let my fingers wander the path of hair from my pecs down over my stomach. Morning wood lay heavy against my hip, but I had no inclination to do anything with it. Kelly kept me more than satisfied last night. One thing always clicked with us. Sex. I’m sure we had other things in common, but it was too early in the day to try to remember what they were.

  Coffee and a shower were needed. I rolled over to peer at the clock. 6:00. Kelly got up and out of here early. It was Wednesday. I knew she had to commute to her salon over in town. She might stay over a few nights a week, but still had her condo in Seattle. We didn’t live together. Far from it.

  Speaking of work, I needed to drive up to the job site after stopping in the office this morning. I would have to call Maggie from the road.

  The coffee machine dripped a steady stream of dark, nearly black liquid into the pot while I shoveled a bowl of cereal into my mouth, staring out at the bay. The water reflects the same slate gray as the sky. Across the water clouds hung low, obscuring the mountains and much beyond the immediate shoreline. As I swallowed the last bite of cereal, my gaze settled on a note on the counter in Kelly’s handwriting:

  “Don’t forget dinner with my parents tonight in Coupeville.”

  “Great.” I rolled my eyes. Dinner with the parents. How the fuck did we get to the point of dinner with the parents in a few short months? It wasn’t like I’d never met them before. The joys of growing up on the island. You knew everyone. Kelly’s brother, Mark, played on the varsity soccer team with me. I’d known the Gordons since I was fourteen. Fourteen, all limbs with big hands and feet. I had an early growth spurt, but couldn’t put on muscle to save my life. Gangly. That’s what my mother called me. Awkward was more like it. No wonder Kelly never gave me the time of day in high school. Obsessed with soccer, I lived and breathed making All-State as a goalie. I definitely hadn’t perfected my flirting ability back then. Amazing what a summer of weight training before college could do for a guy’s image and confidence. I smiled at the memory of showing up for training camp at college fifteen pounds of muscle heavier.

  I ran my hand over my beard and then scratched the back of my head, snapping myself back to the present. Dinner with the parents. Kelly and I hadn’t had one of those “talks” where we confessed our feelings and planned for the future. What was up with this parent shit?

  The coffeemaker sputtered out the last of the brew and went quiet. Grabbing one of my travel mugs, I filled it and set it next to my keys. I had time for a quick shower before leaving. No time to dwell on Kelly and dinner plans.

  Babe rode shotgun next to me in the truck. The roads sparkled with ice, but it would thaw. It wasn’t raining, but more than a mist. According to the LED on the rearview mirror, the outside temp hovered at freezing. That meant we could finish clearing out the first site today. Not ideal work conditions for logging, but not the worst. I was glad I wasn’t still a grunt out there in the woods every day. Sure I got sawdust on my boots, but being management had its perks.

  After pulling into the parking lot, I dialed Maggie’s cell. I figured I’d leave her a voicemail since she rarely remembered to keep it with her.

  “Hi,” she answered after the second ring. Startled she picked up, I forgot to speak. “Hello?”

  “Hey. Hey there, Maggie. It’s John.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I said hi. What’s up? Cabin okay?”

  “Why do you think it’s about the cabin? Can’t I just call to see how you’re doing?”

  “Want to talk about your love life? Or mine?” she asked, laughter breaking up the last of her words.

  I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Sure. How’s whatshisface?”

  “You know his name is Gil. You’ve hung out. And Gil is fine. Portland’s great. Writing is going well. It’s nice to be amongst the living during the winter months.”

  “Are you calling the islanders zombies? You’ve only been gone a month.”

  “Everyone grunting greetings and shuffling around in their fleece and rain boots makes me think of zombies. I forgot how much I missed the city. Whidbey can be so quiet in the gray months."

  “Glad you’re happy, Mags. Us zombies miss you.”

  “You do? That’s sweet. How’s Kelly? The two of you still fooling around in my outdoor shower?”

  I blanked for a minute. There was no way she could know I used her outdoor shower. I always double and triple checked to make sure nothing was left behind.

  “Aha! Your silence tells me everything,” she said. “I suspected you borrowed it from time to time, but now I know there’ve been shenanigans. John Day, you are a Romeo.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. It was good to talk to her. I missed our morning coffees. I told her as much.

  “I miss you, too. Biscuit misses the beach. He’s not bulimic anymore now that he’s not drinking seawater. And he pines for Babe. I think they had a real bromance going on there.”

  “Well, you won’t be gone forever. Speaking of the cabin, how long will you be away?”

  “Until May. Gil and I are going to move back for the summer after his semester finishes. Have you met Diane yet? I meant to tell you she’d be arriving this week.”

  “Yeah, met her this morning, in fact. That’s why I’m calling. She almost lit the place on fire when she didn’t open the flue. Set off the smoke detector and filled the downstairs with smoke.”

  Maggie sighed. “Ugh. Seriously? Honestly, I can’t blame her too much. She’s a city girl. Probably never lit a wood stove before today. So you went over and saved the damsel in distress, huh? I’m sure she swooned all over the big, hunky neighbor rushing in to save the day,” she said before falling into a fit of giggles.

  “Sounds about right. Although, there was no swooning. She acted pretty put out by some strange man bursting into the house. What’s her deal anyway? Not the friendliest of types.”

  “I don’t know her to be honest. Quinn and Ryan knew the cabin would be empty and asked if a friend/client/patient of theirs could rent it for the winter.”

  “Ah, New Yorker. Should have guessed by the
attitude and stranger danger,” I said. “Figures.”

  “From what I got out of Ryan, she’s going through an ugly divorce. The ex-husband is a finance guy, lots of money and mistresses apparently. She was totally blindsided and still might be reeling.”

  The pieces dropped into place as Maggie spoke. The defensive posture, the hopeless expression. The mismatched socks. Emotional wreck. Danger.

  “You should be nice to her. I’m sure she could use a friend on the island as she recovers. She can be the new me. Maybe less flirting, though.”

  “She could never replace you, Maggie.”

  “You’re sweet. I knew there was a reason I liked you. Be friendly. Bring her fish. Chop some wood for her. Take off your shirt and give her a show while you do it. She might be anti-love, but no woman is anti-eyecandy.”

  I had to laugh. “Right. Bring her wood, give her a show. Got it. I’ll be her dancing bear in a tutu. Anything else?”

  “Do you own a tutu?” Maggie asked, sounding genuinely curious.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “I’m guessing no unless Kelly is into role playing. And my gut tells me she isn’t. How are things with her?”

  “We’re having dinner with her parents tonight.” I scratched my beard out of habit.

  “Oh. Sounds serious. Is it serious?”

  “It does sound serious. And it isn’t. Or at least I didn’t think it was. Her divorce isn’t final, how serious could it be?”

  “Surrounded by divorcees. Poor John. Maybe she finally knows what she has and doesn’t want to let it slip through her fingers.”

  “We’re not you and Gil.”

  “Aww, you said his name. I knew you’d come around.” Her happiness echoed in her voice.

  I glanced up when Jeff’s truck pulled into the lot a few spaces from mine. “Yeah, he’s not too bad as long as he makes you happy. Listen, I need to get going. I’ll be nice to your tenant. I promise.”

  “You’re the best. And thanks for keeping an eye on the place. Give Babe a scratch for me.”