Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

H utton

I slept like the dead after I got off the phone with Mama. The long drive, plus all the emotions of discovering I was leaving Snowhaven for a life I didn't even want anymore, had plain tuckered me out. Dom's fist pounds on the door and wakes me at an ungodly hour. I'm not sure what day it is or where I am. All I know is I can't smell Rae's sugary scent and that pisses me off. The soft bed and warm sheets are pulling me back in. When his fist hits the door for another round of knocks, I groan and shove the covers back. He won't go away. And there's shit I need to do.

When I stumble to the door and open it, Dom barrels in, shoving a large to-go coffee in my hand and spreading his stuff out on the coffee table and couch like he owns the place. I blink away the sleep and take a fortifying sip of the black coffee before I blow up my life. Dom's not going to like this, but considering he works for me, he'll eventually get on board.

"Hey, Dom," I interrupt his run-on sentence. He looks over at me like he just now realized I hadn't followed him to the couch.

"What? Did they get your coffee order wrong?" He frowns, already grabbing for his phone to fix the problem. Sad thing is, the coffee isn't the problem. It's much, much bigger than that.

I come over, wishing I would have stopped for a shirt before I answered the door. Sitting on the dainty chair next to the couch, I sink into it and cross my ankle over my knee. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, I know. There's so much to catch up on, which is why I'm here before our meeting."

I hold up my hand and he stops talking again. "I need to update you on some things before we get into all…that." I wave my coffee hand at all the paperwork spread across the coffee table. Dom, bless him, finally stays quiet. "I'm ready to semi-retire, so you and I need to discuss what that's going to look like."

Dom flops back on the couch and stares at me, a range of emotions flashing across his face. He abruptly starts laughing and I frown. "You fucking met a woman in some little town in Idaho and now you want to marry her, don't you?"

I roll my eyes. "Seriously? You already talked to my mama?"

Dom jumps to his feet and starts pacing, the laughter long gone. "I talk to Caroline every day, yes. She's been more like a mother to me than my own mother."

I snap my mouth shut. Well, crap. I didn't know that. I thought he was just calling her to check up on me and get an inside scoop on things I wouldn't readily tell him. I nod. "Well, I'm glad you have her. She's one of a kind."

Dom nods, then sits back down on the couch. "So, you're serious? About this girl?"

I grin just thinking about Rae. "She's a fully grown woman, and yes, I'm serious about her. It's more than that though. Henry and I had a chance to experience life in the slow lane and we both really liked it."

"Yeah, must suck to have millions of fans and just as many dollars in the bank," Dom says sarcastically.

I shake my head at him. "Come on, it's not like that. I appreciate everything we've built, but there comes a time in a man's life when he needs to evaluate what he's doing. Course correct, you know?"

"Snowhaven, Idaho, is what you want?" Dom asks wryly.

I tilt my head back and forth. "Yeah. Family, community, the town activities, nature, the way everyone supports each other. And definitely Rae."

Dom grins. "Ah. I finally get a name. Rae, huh? Tell me about her."

So I do. I spend a ridiculous amount of time explaining in great detail everything we did while in Snowhaven. By the time I'm done, my coffee's gone and Dom's put all his papers back in his bag.

"I blame Morgana," he grumbles.

I bark out a laugh. "I can see the appeal of that place and why she took a similar route seven years ago. Sadly, I'm not sure where I stand with Rae. She told me she loved me and I didn't answer back. I need to figure that out, but first, I have to tie up loose ends here."

Dom reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. "I can help with that. How about you get dressed and we'll go out to breakfast to put together a plan?"

"No meeting with the record executives?"

"Nah. I'll cancel and move it to later this week. We have some details to work out first. You have to have everything set in stone or they'll push you into something you don't want. You're a big dollar sign to them."

"Am I to you?" I ask carefully, gauging how pissed he might be that I'm going to be making less music, fewer tours, less money in his own pocket.

Dom studies me, his perfect hair and clean-shaven cheeks making him look younger and sharper than me. He's been with me a long time. We basically grew up together in this industry.

"I've always believed in you, Hutton, supported your career any way I could. Not because of the money, but because of your talent. I wanted the world to hear your voice and your words. And we've done that. If you want to slow down now, that's your right. It's your life and I firmly believe you should live it the way you want. I'm your agent, whether you work like a dog putting out songs every other week, or once a decade."

We share a moment, neither of us saying a damn thing, but knowing we appreciate the other person more than words can say.

"You should come visit me in Snowhaven," I finally say, injecting some levity into a tough conversation.

Dom scoffs. "Fuck that. I know what would happen. I visit and, next thing I know, this magical town will have me giving up my Lambo and handing half my wealth to a wife. Count me out!"

We both laugh at the ridiculous idea of Dom in a small town. I head for the bedroom to get dressed so we can head out. We come up with a lengthy plan at breakfast, including calling a family law attorney and drafting an offer for Holly that I hope she won't be able to refuse. Next is a vague schedule of song writing that feels good and doesn't leave me stressed out just thinking about it. The only thing I haven't figured out is what I'm going to say to Rae to make her understand that I love her back. That I was a dumbass to leave her behind in the first place.

It takes days to execute everything on my plan, but Dom and I get it done. I also place several phone calls to key people in my life, asking for advice. By the time a week rolls around, I check out of the hotel feeling like a new man and head for the airport to get back to Idaho as soon as I can.

Little known fact about Snowhaven that I didn't know until today: there's only one rideshare driver in town and it's Hig Lindley. He gives me a shit-eating grin as he steps out of his car at the curb in front of the airport and shakes my hand. It's cold here, the puff of air I see as I step out of the airport reminds me of my days spent with Rae. The chill is invigorating. Knowing I'm just a few hours from Rae is also getting my heart pumping.

"I knew you'd be back." He takes my suitcase and throws it in the back of his expensive SUV. He's got that stupid pretentious belt on again. He takes in my frown. "Good thing too. I was about to swoop in and wife up Rae before you pulled your head out of your ass."

I step forward, red coating my vision and hands clenched into fists, but he darts into the driver's seat with a laugh that pisses me off some more. I growl at the side of his head and reluctantly pull open the door to the back seat. I planned to sit next to him up front, but not now. That jackwiesel can cart my fancy ass around like a chauffeur.

"To Rae's house," I snap.

He shakes his head and smiles at me in the rearview mirror. "Can't do it."

"Why not?" I'm about ready to get out and walk all the way there. Anything's better than this guy's company.

"She's at Havenkirk today." He winks at me and pulls away from the curb.

There's stony silence for the first twenty miles or so. Then Hig takes his life in his own hands and starts to ask me questions to draw me out. By the time we reach the county line, I've warmed to him again. When he admits he doesn't have an actual interest in Rae romantically, I can admit that I like this guy. If Rae lets me hang around Snowhaven with her, I can see him and I being friends.

"I assume you have some big swoony moment planned to win her back?" he asks as we pull up the long driveway to Havenkirk Lodge.

His question has me right back to being irritated. I know it shouldn't. I know there's nothing going on between Rae and Hig and yet I could see them together in my head all too easily. Who wouldn't want to be with Rae and be surrounded by all that sweetness?

"Don't you worry, princess. I've got the swoon covered." I offer him a wink that would make the lady fans scream. Hig just shakes his head and laughs.

"For your sake, I hope so." He gets out to get my suitcase out of the back, but I beat him to it. It's a man thing. I can't let him get my suitcase.

His knowing smile tells me he knows exactly what was running through my head. "See you around, Calder." He gets in the car, and right before he closes the door, he adds, "Or not."

I flip him off as he drives off. He's a good guy. I just don't want him anywhere near Rae or she might see she could have chosen better. I'm not naive. There are a lot of obstacles Rae and I will have to overcome to make a relationship work. Even with me slowing down to part-time, we both have our art and I will soon have Henry, which will make travel and time management for both of us tricky.

The door to the lodge opens with a jingle. Morgana stands in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest like she doesn't plan on letting me in. She doesn't look too pleased to see me, even though I told her I was coming.

"Look what the reindeer dragged in," she drawls.

My boots crunch over the gravel that turned slushy from the snow melting. I was only gone a week and already the place has changed. "Rae here?"

Morgana nods, pursing her lips. "Yep."

I dig into my jacket pocket and pull out a CD. "Got something I want to play for her."

Aksel appears at her side and slides his arm around her waist. "A CD? Who the hell has a CD player anymore?"

Morgana shoots me a smug smile. "Definitely not me. Looks like you're out of luck, Calder."

"Oh, now you're calling me Calder too? Wow. I see how it is."

Morgana shrugs. "You hurt my girl, you get the cold shoulder."

"You're letting all the warm air out, you fools!" Dagny's voice cuts through the tension. I see a weathered hand slide between Aksel and Morgana until the old woman pops her head out. Aksel frowns and steps back, making room for her. Morgana rolls her eyes.

"Oh, it's you. Come on in, sexy." Dagny wags her eyebrows, making me nervous. I'd prefer Aksel and Morgana's standoffishness over Dagny's flirting. When we spent Christmas Eve here at the lodge, she went so far as to grab my butt when she served homemade pot pies, then acted like nothing happened. She's fast for her age. I need to keep an eye on that one.

Morgana lets me in, though she gives me the stink eye the whole time I walk in and take my jacket off. Dagny snatches the CD from my hands before I can guard all my body parts.

"You stupid millennials. I have a boombox in the kitchen. Follow me."

Considering she has the equipment I need, I have no choice but to follow behind the lady while Aksel and Morgana argue about actually being Generation X. My neck is on a swivel as I ignore them to look for Rae, but so far, I haven't seen her. Nora and Imogen come running over to offer me hugs, which is a far warmer reception than what I got from their parents. At least someone is happy to see me. Rudolph barks his head off until I scratch behind his ears. Then he trots along with us following Dagny.

She disappears through the swinging door to the kitchen. I catch the door and let the kids go through first. Rudolph trots through and then I step into the hot kitchen. Rae's sitting on a barstool at the island, her back to me, chatting with Ingrid while they snack on some grapes and cheese Dagny must have put out. My feet freeze in place and everything in me relaxes at the sight of her.

Rae swivels on her barstool and nearly wobbles off when she sees me standing there. Her eyes go wide and her pretty mouth pops open. Damn, she's beautiful. Her black jeans are torn to shreds and her leather boots have a spiked heel that looks dangerous if you piss her off. Her long blonde hair is threaded into a series of Viking braids that trail down her back. The red sweater hanging off one tattooed shoulder combines with everything else to give off the air of a tough girl, but I know her sweet heart underneath. I'm just hoping I still have a place in that heart.

"Rae," I say on a sigh, completely forgetting the speech I've worked on for the last week.