Keeping Secrets in Seattle - By Brooke Moss Page 0,29
into that rocking chair for my mom.” Landon gestured over his shoulder at a chair resting on the back porch behind us. It was gleaming in the light from the fire, and intricately carved across the back.
“That’s beautiful,” I breathed. “You made it?”
Landon nodded. “Sure did. Helped him finish this house, too.” He pointed to the awning above the back door. “I did that section myself. I work for a contractor right now, specializing in carved woodwork and inlays, but I hope to make and sell my own furniture someday.”
“Your work is very rustic. I’m sure you’ll have a lot of customers around here.” I nuzzled his neck and breathed in the aroma of campfire smoke. “People who build up here in the mountains are going for that very look.”
“Exactly.” He pulled the blanket up over my shoulders. “My parents had to search all over the country to find an antler chandelier, and now they sell them all over the place.”
“Were you raised around here?” I stretched lazily, then settled down against Landon’s side.
“I was born in Colorado, but we moved here when I was little. I was raised here in the mountains. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Grinning against his shirt, I closed my eyes. I’d been born and raised in Seattle, and adored my rainy city on the Puget Sound. The sound of cars and trains lulled me to sleep at night, and drizzly, damp weather lifted my spirits more so than sunshine. I loved my city.
“I really hope to buy a portion of my parents’ land so I can build my dream home in the woods and live close to them,” he went on, his whiskered chin bumping my head as he spoke.
My eyes popped open. Landon wasn’t talking about Seattle? He was talking about living in the woods?
“I really want to raise my kids out of the city, away from the noise and bustle of a metropolis. I want them to run around in the woods for hours and hours without meeting another soul, except the scattered doe or elk.” I could hear the joy in Landon’s tone and bit my lip. “I’ll teach them how to hunt and fish, like I did when I was a kid.”
“Hunt? You mean, with a gun?” I stared at the flames, picturing a gaggle of children running through the woods, rifles in hand.
When Landon chuckled, his chest bounced. “That’s generally how it happens, yes. Unless we hunt with bows and arrows.”
I fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “Something tells me that you know how to do that, too.”
He pressed a kiss against my messy hair. “Yup. My dad taught me.”
I looked up at him. “Wow…interesting.”
“You seem a bit freaked out.” He brushed a thumb along my cheekbone. “Not much of an outdoorsy girl, are you?”
“Oh, I love the outdoors.” My voice came out squeaky. “I like going to outdoor concerts in Gasworks Park or going to Alki Beach.” I listed off some of Seattle’s outdoor sites, hoping I would sound way more well-rounded than I actually was.
“Those are a far cry from out here. This is the Pacific rainforest, Violet.” The cry of a coyote punctuated Landon’s sentence, and I hunkered down under the blanket a bit more.
“Are we safe out here?” I winced as soon as the words left my mouth. Take me to any neighborhood in downtown Seattle, and I walked around like I was the founder, but stick me in the woods with trees and wild animals and I was skittish as hell.
He pulled me closer. “Of course we are. Coyotes won’t come close to this place, especially with a fire going. Bears are a different story, though. Last year, my dad shot one right off the back porch.”
I tugged the blanket tighter. “Not helping.”
Landon released another deep laugh. “Such a city girl. Don’t worry. We’re just fine. You’d better get used to it out here, though.”
I looked up at him. “Why’s that?”
He squeezed me. “Can’t imagine not sitting next to a campfire with you again.”
It was easy to get caught up in the fairy tale. Landon was talented, rugged, and hella sexy, especially while cooking steak and potatoes on an open fire like some sort of tattooed cowboy. But still…an avid hunter? And the rugged lifestyle of future cabin living?
I gulped. I was a city girl. There was something comforting about the fact that I was able to run down to the corner market at three a.m. for tampons and a jumbo fountain pop