Page 83 of Close to Heaven

“After we make breakfast, I thought Avery and I could go Christmas shopping.”

“I almost forgot. It’s Black Friday,” Avery said.

“Are you staying over tonight?” Jax asked his sister.

“No. I have to get back to Knoxville.”

Avery eyed her curiously. “What’s the rush?”

Dakota ran a finger around the rim of her cup. “I have a date.”

“You do? Who with?”

“You know that guy who moved into the apartment above us just before you left?”

“The one who plays guitar?”

Jax almost laughed, but he restrained himself. His sister had a thing for men who sang or played instruments. As a teenager, her not-so-secret fantasy had been to marry a rock star.

“Yeah. I ran into him in the stairwell a few days ago, and we got to talking…”

“Did he break out his guitar and play a song for you?” Jax teased.

Dakota scowled. “You’re just jealous because you can’t hold a note to save your life.”

“That’s okay. I have a lot of other talents.” He said it just to annoy his sister, but Avery grinned at him and then quickly looked away.

“Anyway, we’re going out for coffee tomorrow.”

“Good for you,” Avery said.

“What about you guys?” Dakota said.

Jax tightened his grip on the coffee mug. “Huh?”

“Any new dating prospects?” Dakota looked from him to Avery and back again.

“No,” he and Avery answered in unison, and maybe a bit too quickly.

Avery popped up from the couch. “We should probably get started on breakfast so we can hit the stores. Plus, I have to go home and shower and change before we go shopping.”

Dakota threw off her blanket and stood up.

“You two don’t have to make breakfast on my account. I can be satisfied with coffee and a donut,” Jax said.

“It’s the least we can do for letting us stay last night,” Avery said.

“Speak for yourself. I’m his sister. He had to let me stay.”

The women laughed as they went into the kitchen.

“I’ll be outside on the deck,” Jax said. “Call me when it’s ready.”

He stepped outside with his coffee, leaned against the railing, and breathed in the fresh pine-scented air. Soon Smoky joined him, having picked up his scent from wherever he’d been roaming nearby.

At that moment, Jax felt a deep sense of peace from the view, his family, the warm coffee, his dog, and Avery. The realization knocked him sideways, and he gripped the railing for support.

Since when do I need a woman to make my life complete, and why this woman? It would have been so much easier if he’d fallen for a stranger who wasn’t connected to his family in any way. He should have known life was never that simple.

He and his siblings had learned about the complexities of life the hard way when the semi-truck had collided with his parents’ car. However, each of them had reacted differently. Jax had buried his grief in work, taking on more than his share of the responsibility for the resort. Still, he hadn’t complained, because work was the balm that helped heal him. It was his way of carrying on his parents’ legacy and honoring their name.

Cody had turned to more temporary forms of relief, mainly with women and partying. Thankfully, he’d mostly given up the partying, but women…well, he’d always been one to play the field.

Dakota had turned inward after the accident. She’d stayed in Knoxville rather than rejoin her brothers on the ridge, and she’d leaned on Avery to help her through. He was grateful to Avery for that and so much more. She’d shown up here with her joie de vivre and breathed new life into the place and not just as an employee.

He turned away from the mountain view and peered in through the sliding glass door. Avery’s back was to him, but he watched her dance around his kitchen, wielding a spatula in one hand. Dakota was looking at her and laughing in that unselfconscious way one laughed when they were with the right person.

The right person. Avery was the right person for him too. It took a special woman to see past his prickly exterior to the man he was underneath. She’d stripped him down to his natural state, literally and figuratively. She saw the real him, flaws and all, and she’d stuck around.

Suddenly, almost like she’d sensed he was watching her, she turned and locked eyes with him through the glass. She glanced at Dakota, who was bent over the stove, and then she blew him a kiss. Just like a fool in love, he blew her one back.

What the hell? Good thing nobody was around to witness it, especially Cody. He’d probably never hear the end of it.

Jax turned his gaze back to the mountains. The Smokies weren’t just something beautiful to look at. They gave him strength and an incredible sense of peace. No matter what the future held—and he wanted Avery to be a part of it—he knew he could always count on the mountains to be there too.