Coming Home To Crimson

Maybe she was light-headed from lack of oxygen at this altitude, but she realized she not only had other options in life but wanted to explore them. To see who she could have become without the rigid constraints of the life her mom had orchestrated. Her mother had gone through her own emotional journey during her battle with cancer, one that had culminated with reuniting with the son she’d left behind. But Sienna wasn’t on the path of reconciliation, and certainly not with Kevin.

She pointed at her ex-boyfriend. “You have a saggy butt.”

The valet snickered as Kevin’s mouth dropped open.

Cole turned to her, one corner of his gorgeous mouth twitching with amusement. His honey-brown gaze held hers for a moment. “You went there,” he muttered. “Really?”

“I deserve better than you,” she continued, moving around Cole to go toe-to-toe with Kevin. “I deserve better than how you treated me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” he said, and she wondered why she’d never noticed that when he smiled it looked more like a sneer. “If you weren’t such a stuffy prude, I wouldn’t have had to find another woman to warm the bed. This is your—”

His head snapped back as her fist connected with his nose. She yelped, as surprised by the fact that she’d punched him as she was by the pain in her knuckles. Kevin cried out, covering his face with his hands.

“You saw her. Assault and battery,” he shouted through his fingers.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cole promised. He gestured to the valet. “Get him a towel and some ice.” Then he grabbed Sienna’s arm. “I think you’re done here.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“No more talking,” he told her, half leading and half dragging her across the street to his Jeep. “Let’s just get out of this town before you cause an even bigger scene.”

She stopped a few feet from the car. “Are you going to make me sit in the back seat?”

“I should after that stunt,” Cole said but opened the passenger door for her. “Get in. Your saggy bottomed ex has gone into the hotel. We should be gone by the time he comes out again.”

Neither of them spoke as Cole drove out of Aspen. The upscale shops and restaurants housed in historic brick buildings gave way to apartment complexes and other, newer structures and finally changed to open meadows as he took the turn onto the highway that led to Crimson. It was the third time today she’d driven this stretch of road.

As they passed a herd of cattle grazing in a field behind a split-rail fence, Sienna searched for the mama and baby she’d spotted earlier this morning. The young calf, which couldn’t have been more than a few weeks or months old, had been glued to its mother’s side as if that was the safest place in the world to be.

Sienna wished she could relate to that feeling.

“I don’t make scenes,” she said, finally breaking the silence.

Cole’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Then you do a great imitation of someone who does.”

“It’s not my fault he cheated,” she whispered.

Cole glanced over at her. “Say it like you mean it, sweetheart.”

“I do. I want to.” She clasped her hands tight in her lap. “He was right about one thing. My mother is going to be irked by this situation.”

“The part where he cheated or the part where you broke up with him because of it?”

“We were supposed to get engaged on this trip,” she said because she wasn’t ready to answer his question out loud.

“Then I’d say you dodged a bullet.”

She held on to that comment for a moment, cupped it between her hands—like a kid would with a firefly late on a summer night—and found she liked the light shining from it. So she tucked that light inside herself, the way she’d learned to do with anything that made her happy but would have disappointed her mother.

Sienna had learned early how to pick her battles with Dana Crenshaw Pierce, and most of them weren’t worth waging.

“Did you grow up in Crimson?” she asked, needing a break from talking about her own messed-up life.

It was a simple enough question but Cole tensed like she’d just requested he recount his first sexual encounter in graphic detail, then broadcast the story across his cruiser’s radio.

“No.”

“Somewhere in Colorado?”

“No.”

“Okay then.” When he didn’t add anything more, she threw up her hands. “I’m going to assume you’re some sort of super secret law enforcement guy and you’ve had your past wiped out by the covert government agency that basically owns you and if you breathe one word of where you came from or who you used to be, everyone in your family will die.”

“They’re already dead,” he said quietly.

“Oh.” She reached out a hand, placed it on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

He swerved off the highway to the shoulder, braking hard. The Jeep’s tires crunched in the dirt and gravel. Sienna tried to catch her breath as she was jostled in her seat.

“Let’s get a few things straight.” Cole’s voice was as jarring as fingernails on a chalkboard. “I don’t need or want your pity.”

“I wasn’t—” she began, but he held up a hand.

“We’re not friends,” he continued. “We’re not going to be friends. You were a mess this morning and I was taking care of my friend by taking care of you. If the ex-boyfriend is any indication, you need serious help with your taste in men. Maybe you need help in general.” He jabbed a finger toward her, then back at himself. “I’m not going to be the one to give it. I’m dropping you off at the rental car agency, and we’re done. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” she said, feeling as if she had ice forming inside her veins. She straightened her skirt, wishing it were a few inches longer so her legs weren’t exposed to Cole’s gaze. She could feel him watching her, although she refused to make eye contact.

She sat tall, shoulders back, her posture impeccable—the way she’d been taught in the five years of ballet classes her mother had wrenched out of her after Dana had married Craig Pierce and had the money to reinvent herself. To recreate both of their lives—a do-over of monumental proportions and one Sienna had never wanted.

Eventually Cole blew out a long breath, then started driving again. Sienna didn’t so much as twitch until he pulled into a rental car parking lot that was part of a strip mall a mile past the Crimson city limits sign. The rental car place shared the space with a grocery store, a hair salon and a sandwich shop.

As soon as the Jeep stopped, she unfastened her seat belt and opened the door.

“Thank you for the ride,” she mumbled over her shoulder, because along with perfect posture, good manners had been drilled into her. Oddly, she felt almost as angry with Cole as she was with Kevin, which was stupid because the sheriff didn’t owe her anything. He’d done her a favor this morning, but they weren’t friends. He was nothing to her, so why had her chest ached when he’d told her exactly that?

“Sienna.” He reached for her arm but she shrugged away from his touch.

“We’re done, Sheriff.” He winced slightly, as if he didn’t appreciate having his words thrown back at him. “I can handle things from here.”

She slammed the door shut and walked toward the building, telling herself she was glad to be leaving behind Sheriff Cole Bennett and this whole humiliating morning.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Cole pushed through the door of the mayor’s office on the second floor of the county courthouse. “Where’s Jase? He’s not answering his phone.”

“Good morning to you, too.” Emily Crenshaw inclined her head, then turned her attention to the computer screen. “Help yourself to fresh coffee. Not sure what’s got your boxers in a bunch today.” Her gaze flicked back to him. “Or is it boxer briefs? You look like a boxer brief type of guy, Sheriff. Definitely not tighty-whities, something for which we can all be grateful.”

“Emily.”

“Either way, grab a cup of coffee, then come back and I’ll give you a do-over on this conversation.” She lifted a brow. “I learned that trick from my job at the front desk of the elementary school. Some kids need help learning how to appropriately greet people. I guess you didn’t get that lesson or you’ve forgotten.” She flashed a wide smile. “I’m here to help.”

Cole felt his mouth drop open and quickly closed it again. What was it about this day and sassy blondes? But Emily Crenshaw was a force to be reckoned with and currently sat in the computer chair normally occupied by Jase’s sweet-tempered secretary, Molly.

Cole was developing a new appreciation for sweet-tempered.

He grabbed a mug from the cart positioned along the far wall and poured himself a steaming cup of coffee. “Good morning, Emily,” he said as he took a drink. “You’re filling in for Molly today?”

“Just for the morning.” Emily pushed away from the computer and smiled. “She had to take her mom to a doctor’s appointment, and Davey is in a Lego camp this week. It’s always a challenge to keep a first-grade boy occupied during the summer.”

“I can imagine,” he said even as he thought of how he and his brother, Shep, had run wild through the various army bases around the world where his dad had been stationed back in the day.

“Thank you for the pleasantries,” Emily told him. “Jase had a meeting with the city finance director, so I doubt his phone is on. They’re on the first floor, so he should be back soon.”

“I’ll wait.”

“What’s going on, Cole?” Emily’s big eyes narrowed. She looked a little bit like Sienna, now that he thought about it. Blond hair, blue eyes, beautiful with that certain shine that time spent in a big city gave to women. Sienna was a couple inches taller, her face more heart-shaped with delicate features.

Emily was a Crimson native who’d moved away, then back with her young son early last year. She was different from Sienna in one major way—Emily radiated happiness. It had been hard earned, he knew, and was glad that she and Jase had worked out their issues.

She stood, and he was reminded of another significant difference between the two women. Emily was seven months pregnant, which made her seem somehow more intimidating than usual. Give Cole a bar fight to break up or even an underground drug bust rather than be stared down by a heavily pregnant woman.

He shrugged and gave her his don’t-mess-with-me law enforcement face. “I need to talk to him. Sheriff’s office business.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on her round belly. “Do I look stupid?”

So much for intimidation. “Um...no.”

“It seems like somebody’s in trouble with my better half.”

Cole turned, profoundly grateful to see Jase Crenshaw standing in the door to the outer office, one side of his mouth curved as he looked between Cole and Emily.

“The sheriff wants to talk to you,” Emily told her husband.

“Okay,” Jase answered and walked forward, leaning over the receptionist desk to kiss her, while gently placing a hand on her baby bump.

Cole quickly turned and refilled his coffee mug, uncomfortable with the easy show of affection.

“But he’s acting suspicious.” Emily frowned at Cole. “Something’s up and I want to know what it is.”

“It’s nothing,” Cole insisted and flicked a help-me glance to Jase.

“You might as well say it.” Jase shrugged. “If she doesn’t find out now, I’ll have to tell her later.”

“What if it’s confidential?”

Emily sniffed. “I’m his wife. He tells me everything.”

Jase nodded. “It’s true. I’m not an expert on marriage, but I do understand that honesty is a pretty important foundation.”

Anger spiked in Cole’s chest, familiar to him as his face in the mirror. Not at Jase or Emily but at memories of his own father’s lies and deceptions—the ones that had torn apart his family.

He blew out a breath, forcing his emotions under control. “I clocked a woman driving twenty miles over the speed limit coming into Crimson this morning.”

“An out-of-towner, I assume?” Jase asked.

Emily scrunched up her nose. “What does that have to do—?”

“Her name was Sienna Pierce,” Cole interrupted.

Emily immediately placed a hand on Jase’s arm, almost the same way Sienna had done with Cole in the car earlier. He’d overreacted to the gesture but couldn’t seem to stop himself from freaking out any time he was forced to talk about his family.

It was one of the reasons he’d first applied as a sheriff’s deputy in Crimson five years ago. No one knew him here and it was easy to keep his conversations about his past vague—just the way he liked it.

“You gave my sister a speeding ticket?” Jase asked, his tone almost unnaturally calm.

“Not exactly,” Cole answered. He’d planned to share with Jase the details of his morning run-in with Sienna but now the words wouldn’t come. As reserved as she pretended to be, he knew Sienna had been humiliated by her cheating ex-boyfriend. He doubted that was information she’d appreciate being used as her calling card in Crimson. “More like a warning.”

Emily raised a brow at Cole as her hand tightened on Jase’s arm. “Is that what this is?”

“I thought you’d want to know she was here,” Cole told his friend. “I got the impression she hadn’t called first.”

“Hardly,” Jase said with a small laugh. “I haven’t talked to Sienna since the night my mom drove away with her.”

“Because she refused to see you when you visited your mom last Christmas.” Emily came around the desk and laced her fingers through Jase’s. “She made it clear she wanted nothing to do with you.”

“I wonder what changed,” Jase murmured, almost under his breath.

Her whole world from the looks of it, Cole wanted to answer. It’s what he should have shared. But instead he only shrugged. “I don’t know her plans but thought you’d want to know, and your dad...”

Jase groaned. “This is going to rock his world.”

“She has no business showing up out of the blue.” Emily reminded Cole of an Amazon warrior getting ready for battle or a grizzly mama standing between a pack of coyotes and one of her cubs. “If she upsets Declan—”

“I’ll take care of it.” Jase wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t get riled up, Em.”

Emily only rolled her eyes. “I love you, Jase Crenshaw, but you know me better than that. Telling me not to get riled up is like telling a retriever not to fetch the ball.”

Cole laughed, then tried to cover it with a cough when Emily gave him one of her looks. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “But you compared yourself to a dog.”

“No more free coffee for you,” she said, but her lips twitched as she said it.

“Thank you, Cole,” Jase said. “I appreciate the heads-up.”

“You bet. I’ve got to check in at the station. Call if you need anything.”

He placed his mug on the cart and walked out of the office, rubbing a hand over his jaw as he stepped into the warm June sunshine. Several people waved and Cole forced himself to smile and greet them in return, even though the sick pit in his stomach was growing wider by the second.

He didn’t owe Sienna Pierce a thing. So why did he feel like she was the one who needed protecting in Crimson? Jase had Emily and his dad and the whole town in his corner. From what he could tell, Sienna had no one.

Cole could relate, and the strange connection he’d felt to her this morning had somehow taken root inside him and refused to let go.

Ten kinds of trouble, he’d told her, but wondered if he’d underestimated even that.

Chapter Three

Sienna stared at the house tucked amid the pine trees, then checked the GPS on her phone one more time. She’d made a reservation at The Bumblebee Bed and Breakfast at 1 Ivy Lane on a whim after picking up an adorable business card at the counter of the grocery store next to the rental car agency.

Normally Sienna stuck to luxury hotel chains. She gravitated toward sleek decor and modern conveniences. But something about the colorful flowers and cheerful bees drawn on the card appealed to her. She needed some color and cheer in her life.

But she also wanted a hot shower and a toilet that flushed. Nothing about the plumbing van sitting in the driveway of the dilapidated house at the end of the long, winding drive gave her confidence she’d find either at The Bumblebee.

If her mother were here, she would have been happy to enumerate the ways Sienna had managed to mess up her life—all of them in one day. Dana Pierce loved making lists.

The only thing on Sienna’s to-do list right now was getting back in the compact car she’d rented and finding a decent hotel.

“Sienna!”

She turned back toward the house, surprised to hear her name shouted out like a long-lost friend had just spotted her.

“You’re Sienna, right?” A tiny pixie of a woman ran toward her, appearing from the trees like a woodland sprite. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The woman stopped, clasped a hand over her mouth. “Scratch that last part. It sounds like the start of some creepy horror movie.” She waved her hands in the air as dark curls bounced around her face. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she repeated in a deep, melodramatic voice. “You know what I mean, though. I’m excited you found us...me, rather...The Bumblebee, that is.”

“You must be Paige,” Sienna said, reaching out a hand.

“Who else?” the woman asked, bypassing her outstretched hand to give Sienna a tight hug. The innkeeper might be small, but she was strong, practically squeezing all the air out of Sienna’s lungs. “You’re my first guest. We’re going to have the best week.”

“This isn’t summer camp,” Sienna said quietly, making Paige laugh.

“I know, silly. But I just got the sign up today.” She pointed behind her to a hand-painted piece of cardboard that read The Bumblebee B&B. It leaned against the edge of the porch rail. “Not quite up,” Paige admitted. “But you still found me.” She scrunched her winged brows, emerald green eyes zeroing in on Sienna. “How did you find me anyway?”

“The business cards you left at the grocery.”

“I remember now.” Paige nodded. “I picked them up from the post office on my way to buy food for dinner. I told Rodney—he’s the manager at the Shop & Go—not to put them out until next week.”

“Apparently he did anyway.”

Paige squeezed Sienna’s arms like they were best friends. “Lucky for both of us.”

“Are you sure?” Sienna inclined her head toward the plumbing truck in the driveway, then pointed to the various pieces of furniture sitting in the front yard. “It looks like you might need a bit more time to get ready.”

Paige gave her a brilliant smile. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Terrifying, Sienna thought to herself.

“Then why the plumber?”

“A leak in the first-floor bathroom,” Paige said, spacing her first finger and thumb a tiny width apart as she held them up to her eye. “But your bedroom is upstairs.”

“That’s good.”

“Only now,” Paige said, wrinkling her nose, “I’ll be sharing it because mine is downstairs.”

“Not so good.” Although Sienna had a brother right here in Crimson, most of her life she’d been an only child. Her mother liked to tell her she wasn’t good at sharing, and Sienna had no reason not to believe it because she’d never had to.

“It will only be for a day or two.” Paige flashed a bright smile that only wavered slightly. “Maybe.”

“I don’t mind finding a normal—I mean regular—hotel in town.”

“Good luck with that. The rodeo’s at the county fairgrounds this weekend. Everything’s booked from here to Grand Junction. Unless you want to stay in Aspen.”

Sienna shook her head. “I don’t.”

“Huh. No offense, but you look like the Aspen type. Other than the mustard stain on your blouse.”

“Why would I take offense to that?” Sienna picked at the dried mustard on the front of her shirt.

“Did you get a hot dog at the Shop & Go?” Paige asked instead of answering the question. “They’re yummy.”

“It was tasty,” Sienna admitted. The hot dog had been the best thing she’d eaten in ages. Normally she stuck to a high protein, low-carb, all organic and very little fun diet. The hot dog had been another small act in the process of reclaiming her life. Or claiming it for the first time, since it had never truly felt like hers.

“Do you have luggage?”

“Yes, but not here.” Sienna had left her suitcase with the hotel’s bellman in Aspen this morning. She supposed it was still there and figured she’d have to drive back over at some point to retrieve it. But she wasn’t ready for another potential confrontation with Kevin. “I picked up toiletries at the grocery store.”

“I can lend you some clothes.”

“That would be interesting.” Paige was at least four inches shorter than Sienna and curvy like some throwback pinup girl from the forties. “Since you’re new at this whole innkeeper thing, I should tell you that in normal circumstances you wouldn’t offer your clothes to a paying guest.”

“Not to assume too much,” Paige said, inclining her head, “but do you think these are normal circumstances for either of us?”

Sienna blew out a breath. “No.”

“Please stay,” Paige said, then gave a nervous laugh. “That sounded desperate. I don’t mean it like that.” She laughed again. “Except I sort of do. This was my grandma’s house.” She gestured to the ramshackle but still charming lodge with faded rough-sawed logs notched together and deep green shutters bordering the windows on the front. “My mom inherited it when Grammy died last year, and I convinced her to let me get it up and running again.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Sienna said automatically.

“Thank you,” Paige whispered. “It’s beautiful out here...but also quiet.”

Sienna nodded, looking around the cul-de-sac. There were a few houses at the top of the street, where she’d turned onto Ivy Lane, but The Bumblebee’s property was clearly the largest and most private.

“Grammy had five acres,” Paige said, as if reading her thoughts. “It borders the old ski resort in back. We even have a view of the main chairlift. It hasn’t operated for years, although some developer bought the property recently. My grandma fought like crazy with the old owner about selling this place and making it part of the resort. I’m hoping the new owner will be more friendly and that The Bumblebee will be in the right place to cater to skiers or families vacationing in Crimson.”

“Smart move,” Sienna murmured.

Paige beamed at her. “Thank you for saying that. My family thinks I’m crazy. I’m not exactly following the path they expected me to take.”

There was something in the woman’s gaze—a combination of hope and fear with a healthy dose of uncertainty and pride mixed in—that Sienna imagined she might see in her own eyes when she looked in the mirror.

“I’ll stay,” she said. If Sienna was going to forge her own way in life, she had to start taking some risks in order to figure out what she wanted that life to be. Somewhere between Kevin’s butt and the ride in Cole’s Jeep, she’d decided the time had come to take charge of her life on her own terms.

And Colorado, far away from her mother, seemed like a better place to spread her wings than in Chicago, tethered by the constraints of her regular life. Maybe she’d actually forge a relationship with her dad and brother instead of the awkward face-offs she imagined. The thought made panic spike in her belly, and she pressed a hand to her stomach. One step at a time.

Whether a risk or an adventure, coming to Crimson as the inaugural guest at The Bumblebee B&B seemed like the right move on her new journey. It would be interesting to see where it took her.

* * *

“One more refill.”

Sienna grabbed the red plastic cup from Paige’s hand and filled it to the brim.

“Too much.” Paige grimaced, shaking her head. “You could put a Russian under the table with the amount of vodka in that.”

“It’s mainly lemonade,” Sienna argued, then hiccuped. “I swear.”

Paige rolled her eyes but took a sip. “It’s good.”