Chapter 20

TWENTY

DIANA DEVLIN

I love your fall foliage painting. I would have bought the original from your store if someone hadn’t beaten me to it.

Emily stared at the text from Diana in surprise. They hadn’t texted before, although they’d been increasingly friendly with each other over the past week since the fall festival. Truthfully, it was killing Emily a little bit to spend so much time with her without being able to kiss or touch her, even if Emily was the one who’d insisted they could only be friends.

Diana was irresistible when she put her energy into something, and she seemed to have fully embraced her new role as Emily’s friend. She often invited Emily to lunch, and she’d even joined the Adventurers for another hike over the weekend. And now, she was apparently stalking Emily’s website.

It wasn’t the first time she’d complimented Emily’s art either. Maybe Emily had thought Diana was just being polite before, but now she was starting to take her seriously. Diana might say something once to be polite, but she wouldn’t send a text like this unless she meant it. She was genuine that way.

I’ll save my next canvas for you!

DIANA DEVLIN

Or give me a heads-up to check your store the minute you upload it winking emoji

Emily smiled. There was no way she was letting Diana pay for it. They texted back and forth until it was time for Emily to get ready for work. Of course, that meant she’d see Diana in person soon. Diana was at the inn right now, probably training Paige, who’d started on Monday, but Emily was only working noon to four today.

She used a sunflower seed to lure Jack into his cage and then went inside to change. And then, since it was a gorgeous October afternoon and the foliage would be past peak any minute, she took the scenic route to work, meandering along the trail that ran through the woods and up the hill behind the inn, where some of the prettiest trees were.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and snapped a few photos. She could never get enough of the foliage, even though she lived right in the middle of it.

“Hey,” a familiar voice called, and Emily spun in surprise.

Diana was seated at one of the picnic tables she’d had installed along the edges of the field for guests to take in the view. She had a half-eaten sandwich in front of her and was wearing a burgundy wool peacoat that accentuated the red tones in her hair. She looked made for October in Vermont, like she belonged here, even though she didn’t .

“Hi yourself.” Emily walked toward her. “Taking a scenic lunch break?”

“It’s too beautiful to sit inside today,” Diana said. “I spent most of the morning showing Paige the ins and outs of the property.”

“How’s she doing?” Emily sat at the table across from Diana, grateful she still had ten minutes before she needed to go inside and start her shift.

“Really well. I think she’ll be ready to take over full-time managerial duties by the end of the month.”

Emily’s stomach dropped. “Which means you’ll head back to Boston.”

Diana’s gaze was steady as she nodded. “I might be back for a day here and there if she runs into any problems, but yes.”

Emily had known this. Diana had always planned to leave by the end of October, but suddenly, it all felt so much more real. So soon . “I guess you’re ready to go home.”

“I am, although I’ve enjoyed Vermont more than expected.” Her eyes were so blue right now. That burgundy coat really suited her.

Emily’s thoughts were spiraling. “I’ll miss you,” she blurted.

Diana’s expression softened. “I’ll miss you too, but you’ll see me again. If for no other reason, I have a feeling Carter’s going to be back up here to hang out with your friends. He’s quite taken with the adventure group.”

“Yeah, he is. I hope you guys do come back to visit. Carter’s in the Facebook group now. You should join too. That’s where you’ll find the calendar with our upcoming events.”

“Maybe,” Diana said. “I don’t use Facebook much.”

“I don’t either, aside from that group. And speaking of upcoming events, Alex just scheduled our annual hike to the summit of Crescent Peak. It’s on Halloween this year. People will probably hike in costumes. I…maybe this is my year. I don’t know.”

“It is your year,” Diana said, sounding as confident as ever. “Let’s do it together. It sounds like the perfect way to end my time in Vermont.”

Emily sighed. “I used to sign up every year, but something always kept me from reaching the top. One year, we got rained out. Another year, I had a migraine. The next year, it was right after Gram’s lumpectomy, and I was with her in the hospital. Eventually, I just felt like I wasn’t meant to reach the top, and I haven’t even signed up the last two years.”

Emily heard how lame that sounded. She knew those were just a bunch of excuses, that she was letting her insecurities hold her back. “I think deep down, I’m afraid, although I’m not really sure why.”

Diana reached out and took her hands across the table, staring at her with all the intensity that had caught Emily’s attention in the first place, that aura of confidence she wore like a cape. “You know what I say? Fuck fear.”

Emily looked down at their hands. “It’s not that easy.”

“I never said it would be easy, but sometimes you have to feel the fear and do it anyway. Ever since I saw that bear in my driveway a few weeks ago, I’ve been terrified every time I go out for a run, but I still go. I’m nervous as hell the whole time, but I refuse to give in to the fear.”

“Black bears really don’t want any trouble.” Emily looked up. Diana was still watching her intently, and they both knew this conversation wasn’t about bears. “The first time I tried to climb to the summit, I was ten. I was with my mom, and I was so excited that we were doing this together. About two-thirds of the way up, I sprained my ankle, and she went on without me. Not long after that, she moved to Paris with her boyfriend and left me here with my grandmothers, and…I don’t know. Somehow, I have a mental block about that hike now.”

“Fuck,” Diana murmured. “That would definitely mess with your head. She just left you here for her parents to raise?”

“And never looked back.” Emily tried to shrug, but her shoulders felt stiff. “They aren’t her parents, though. Mary and Eva took her in when she was sixteen and pregnant with me. She’d run away from home and had nowhere else to go. Then, after she left, they took me in too. They became my legal guardians when I was ten.”

Diana’s eyes warmed. “They really are special, aren’t they?”

“They’re the best,” Emily agreed. “My mom, well…I guess she wasn’t ready to be a parent. She lives in Las Vegas now, but she moves around a lot, always a new man on her arm, always convinced he’s ‘the one.’”

“I’m sorry,” Diana said. “That’s rough.”

“It is what it is…but somehow, this is the result. I can’t seem to get up the mountain.” Or leave town. She was just stuck here, like she was still that ten-year-old with the sprained ankle, waiting for her mom to come back for her.

“All the more reason to go for it this year,” Diana said. “Let it be your excuse to push yourself out of your comfort zone, the way I did when I left Devlin Hotels and started Aster. Take a risk. Aim big. Fuck fear. What do you say?”

Emily exhaled. “All right. Let’s do it. Let’s hike to the summit together.”

Emily was already regretting her decision by the time she made it to the front desk. She’d made peace with not reaching the summit. If she tried again this year and failed, it would hurt even more than usual, because this year had already shaken her confidence. Her grandmas had sold the inn. Emily was pining after yet another woman who loved living in the city.

It was so much easier to stay on the well-trodden path.

She forced a smile as she greeted a happy family checking in for a much-anticipated vacation. They were already exclaiming over the foliage and asking for recommendations on the best places to take in the views. Emily loved sharing recommendations with the guests, but somehow, it felt different now.

She felt different.

She loved this inn as if it were an actual member of her family, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life working at the front desk. Now that her grandmas had left to see the world and Diana was preparing to return to Boston, it was time for Emily to move on too. It was time to stop hiding behind the safety of this desk.

It was time to stop saying she’d focus on her art career tomorrow.

“Hi, Emily.”

She turned to find Paige standing beside the desk, watching her with a thoughtful expression. “Hi, Paige. Can I help you with something?”

“Diana wanted me to spend a few hours shadowing you this afternoon to get a handle on the software and see our policies in action with the guests. I want to learn everything inside and out before she leaves.”

“Oh, yeah. Perfect.” Emily moved over, gesturing for Paige to join her behind the desk. “How are you liking it here so far? You’re brand-new to Vermont, right?”

“So new I’m still living out of my suitcase,” Paige said with a laugh. “I’m from Saratoga Springs, New York. I’d been looking unsuccessfully for a job in hotel management there for a while. I’d just been through a breakup, and I’d always wanted to live in the mountains, so when I saw the listing for this job, it just felt like the right thing at the right time, you know?”

Emily didn’t know, but she understood that others sometimes liked a fresh start after a breakup. She couldn’t imagine ever leaving Crescent Falls. “Must have been a bad breakup.”

“Not really. We just kind of grew apart, but it felt like the right time to make a change. So, here I am.” Paige gestured around herself.

The right time to make a change. Emily didn’t know what that felt like either, but she was still thinking about it when her shift ended at four. She’d enjoyed working with Paige. Paige was enthusiastic about the inn and seemed dedicated to learning her new job from the ground up. Emily respected that and thought it boded well for Paige’s success as the new manager.

She’d have to text her grandmas tonight and give them an update. Their cruise had ended, and they were in Norway right now. Their Facebook feeds were full of stunning scenery, waterfalls and fjords and Scandinavian architecture. They were even hoping to see the northern lights while they were there.

They were making a change in their lives, just like Paige. And Diana.

And here was Emily, right where she’d started.

Fuck fear .

Diana’s words came back to Emily as she logged out of the system and turned the desk over to Mariah. What would happen if Emily just…went after what she wanted? If she did the scary things she’d been avoiding, took a leap of faith the way Diana and Paige had done?

She knew what her first impulsive action would be.

Without giving herself a moment to change her mind, Emily strode down the hall to Diana’s office. The door was open, and Diana sat behind her desk, squinting at her laptop as she typed rapidly on the keyboard.

“You might need glasses,” Emily blurted from the doorway, then winced, because that wasn’t what she’d come here to say.

Diana looked up in surprise, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Is that so?”

“You’re always squinting at your laptop, but…I have no idea why I just said that.”

“I suspect glasses are somewhere in my near future, but I’m not quite ready to go there yet.” Diana tilted her head, studying Emily. “Was there something you needed?”

“Yeah, I…I wanted to tell you something.” Her heart was pounding, adrenaline tingling in the pit of her stomach. Fuck fear . Emily turned and shut the door to Diana’s office, giving them privacy.

Diana’s expression changed, all traces of her earlier teasing gone as she tried to figure out what Emily was doing. Diana rose behind the desk to face her.

Emily crossed the office, doing her best to project the confidence she’d embodied that night in June as she placed both hands on Diana’s waist and kissed her. It was just a quick kiss. She released Diana’s lips as soon as she’d claimed them, meeting her startled gaze to check in with her and make sure this was okay .

“That was unexpected,” Diana murmured, licking her lips as her gaze explored Emily’s face. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’m going after what I want, taking chances like you said earlier.”

“I’m what you want?” One of Diana’s hands was on Emily’s ass now, the slight pressure of her fingers bringing their bodies closer together.

Emily nodded, breathless, a warm ache already growing between her thighs. She wanted Diana so much, she could hardly breathe. How had she kept her at arm’s length for the past six weeks? “You’re the first thing I want.”

Diana’s pupils dilated, a pink flush spreading over her cheeks, and her fingers were digging into Emily’s ass a bit more firmly now. “What’s the second?”

“I want to quit my job at the front desk.”

Diana drew in an audible breath. “Fuck fear, indeed. You’re going all out, aren’t you?”

Emily nodded. She couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs. Her head was swimming. “Not right away. I need to try to get my art earnings up first, but maybe I can plan to quit at the end of the year?”

“Consider it done,” Diana said with a firm nod. “I mean this in the kindest possible way when I say you’re easily replaceable as front desk staff. Your art, on the other hand, is irreplaceable, and I wholeheartedly support you making it your full-time career.”

“Okay,” Emily whispered. Tears had welled in her eyes, and she wasn’t sure why. She’d come in here to seduce Diana, and somehow, she’d gotten carried away and quit her job instead. It felt right, though. Terrifying, but right.

She stared at Diana. They were still standing close, hands on each other’s bodies, both breathing hard, but they’d only shared that one quick kiss right after Emily shut the door, and now she wasn’t sure how to get them back on track.

“I’d like to explore this kissing thing further,” Diana said as if she’d read her mind. Her voice was a little bit deeper than usual, evoking memories of their night together. This was how she sounded when she was aroused.

Emily gulped.

Diana surged forward, her hands sliding up Emily’s back to tangle in her hair, bringing their mouths together for another kiss, this one as wild and hungry as the first one had been tentative and questioning. Diana’s teeth nipped at Emily’s bottom lip, creating a sting that was echoed by a throb of need in her core.

Just as quickly, it was over. Diana released her and took a step back, turning to shut down her laptop. “But we can’t do this here, and Carter’s at my rental house.” She gave Emily a questioning look.

“My place is closer…and private.”

Diana picked up her purse and led the way toward the door. “I’ll drive.”