But she was hardheaded and tougher to crack than a macadamia nut. The only time he’d ever been able to talk her into something she had her mind set against was if he made a bet out of it.
By the time Hudson pulled to a stop in front of his family’s cabin, he’d run through a dozen different possible scenarios with Kenna. The only trouble was, he had no clue which one was the right one.
“Honey, we’re home,” Hudson said, shifting the truck into park.
Caleb stepped out, shutting the door behind him. “Nice place.” He didn’t lift his sunglasses, but he didn’t have to for Hudson to know he was assessing everything about the location, just like he would on any mission. “It’s quiet. Private.” Caleb turned around and lifted his chin toward the heavily forested area at the back of the property. “That yours too?”
Hudson nodded as he walked toward Caleb. “Some of it.”
“Any climbing trails back there?”
Hudson tossed him a quick grin, knowing exactly where he was going with this. “Used to be. Not sure how they’ve fared since Kenna and I’ve been gone.” He lifted his eyebrows and jerked a thumb into his truck bed. “You wanna take a stab at it? I’ve got some tools in the back.”
“Thought you’d never ask.” Without another word, Caleb grabbed his backpack from the truck bed and strode off toward the blanket of trees, a pair of loppers hanging at his side and a determined hitch to his gait.
Hudson took quick stock of the exterior of the property, making a mental list of the items that were deteriorating or in need of repair. For the most part, the cabin was exactly how he remembered it, although it was a little worse for wear now. His momma and Lilah hadn’t spent much time there with the bakery keeping them busy all hours of the day.
While he’d been gone, he’d hired someone to take care of lawn maintenance, as well as a basic cleaning once a month to make sure no critters moved in to the cabin. But hiring people for upkeep on superficial things didn’t do much for the loose railing on the porch or the peeling exterior paint or the window screens that needed to be replaced.
He slid his key into the lock and opened the door, walking over the threshold and immediately sinking into memories made of quicksand. So much of his childhood had been spent here—with his family, of course, but also with Kenna. She’d been a near-constant fixture on their weekend trips to the cabin when they’d been young.
And then when they’d gotten older, they’d used it as their own personal getaway—a place to sneak off to and get up to all kinds of shit he hoped to God neither of their parents ever found out about.
He walked through the cabin, his eyes landing on every place he’d had Kenna’s lips on his. In the kitchen, at the dining table, against the wall in the front entry. When he got to his bedroom, he was already half hard, but seeing the bed and remembering their last hours in it had him at full mast immediately.
Bracing his hands against the doorframe, he hung his head between his shoulders, closing his eyes and remembering what it’d been like to sink inside her for the first time—thetruefirst time. When there wasn’t a bet or an ulterior motive between them. They’d both agreed to lose their virginity together, and while it had blown his fucking mind being inside a woman for the first time—especially since that woman had been Kenna—it was nothing like it’d been when they’d slept together of their own volition. For no other reason than they’d been attracted to each other. They’d wanted and needed each other. They’d loved each other.
He hadn’t said the words back then—she’d stopped him before he could—but he’d felt them. A thousand times over, he’d felt them. Had for years prior to that weekend before he enlisted. Had for years after his enlistment too.
A rumbling motor pulled Hudson out of his thoughts, and he strode to the living room to peer out the window. Edna’s old beater Jeep that she used for mail delivery was sputtering down the gravel driveway before the engine cut off and the car crawled to a stop right in front of the cabin.
He stepped outside and jogged down the porch steps toward the car. The windows were down, and Edna was either talking to herself or she had company.
“Hey, Edna, you all right?” he asked as he leaned down and braced his forearms on the Jeep’s doorframe.
“Well, hey, sugar,” she said, reaching out to pat his arm, but he couldn’t focus on that or the rest of the words that came out of her mouth because the person sitting in the other seat drew his attention immediately.
Kenna.
She wasn’t even looking at him. Instead, she glared daggers at Edna, though the older woman either didn’t notice or just didn’t care. Hudson let his eyes roam over Kenna, from her hair carelessly pinned on top of her head, to the low dip of her undershirt and the way it hugged her breasts, to her well-worn and ripped jeans. He wanted them all gone—every last article of clothing off her body so he could worship her skin like he’d been dreaming about for too damn long.
He cleared his throat and kept his arms braced on the doorframe, hiding his inconvenient and obvious erection from Edna’s scrutinizing gaze. “Did you just stop to chat, or do y’all need some help?”
“This damn truck,” Edna said without any heat. But then she seemed to realize how it sounded and slammed her hand on the dashboard to illustrate her anger. Anger that was totally vacant from her stare as she met Hudson’s eyes. “Always breakin’ down on me! Would you be a doll and give us a ride into town so I can grab Frank and get him to come out and look at this pile of junk again?”
“Of course. Long as you don’t mind squishin’ together in the cab of my truck.”
“Oh, I’d have no problem at all snugglin’ up to you,” Edna said, her eyes alight with mischief.
“Edna!” Kenna hissed. “Why are you such a dirty old woman? My God.”
All Hudson could do was laugh. The attention he’d been getting from the ladies of Havenbrook—from all walks and ages—was certainly something he wasn’t used to here. The last time he’d been home, he’d been only nineteen and wasn’t exactly on anyone’s radar. Seemed the lady folk in town had gotten thirstier since he’d been gone.
“Oh, come on,” Edna said. “Don’t ruin an old lady’s fun. Sittin’ next to all that muscle is the closest I’ll get to it. Earl may be packin’ in the nether regions, but he’s a green bean everywhere else.”
Hudson barely covered up his snort with a cough at the same time Kenna said, “You’re the absolute worst. I hope you know that.”
Edna gave a definitive nod. “No disputin’ it. C’mon now, I’ve still gotta take care of that squirrel situation, so let’s get a move on. Go on. I’m gonna grab a couple things right quick.”
