Page 11 of Beck & Coll

The next day, Collins wasn’t scheduled for any adventures, which I thought was best. After falling while hiking and falling while fishing, a break from the wilderness was right on time. Since I still wanted to see her beautiful face, I met her for lunch in between tours.

I took her to The Butterscotch Café , a diner in Chinook Woods with delicious food.

“So, do you work for Manor at Sienna Sunset Resort ?” I asked in between bites of my corned beef sandwich.

“What?” She giggled. “No. Why would you ask me that?”

“Because I heard you were in town recruiting yesterday.”

She laughed aloud. “Who told you that?”

“Malaysia Reid, the woman you gave your business card to and asked if she’d be interested in working at the lodge.”

“I guess what they say about small towns is true. Word travels fast.”

“Yeah. Especially since her husband, Hunter, is one of my closest dudes. Malaysia called me up and asked if we had a new recruiter on staff. I didn’t know what she was talking about.”

“After we had lunch yesterday, I took the property tour with your mom. When she showed me the defunct hair salon, I couldn’t help but to ask her about it.

When she told me what it would take to get it up and running again, I guess it stuck with me.

Then I saw your friend’s wife in the bakery.

And her two little girls had the most unique and intricate French braid styles.

” She picked up a fry. “I’m a businesswoman, Beckham.

I’ve approached women about their hair and their skills for over ten years.

It comes natural to me, and I guess the businesswoman in me just came out. ”

“I thought it was dope that you were looking out for my mom like that.”

She swallowed the French fry. “Your mom also told me that I could buy into the hair salon . . . not the lodge.” She giggled.

“She made sure to stress that. I’ve been on the fence about reopening my own salon in Chicago , Posh Moments .

But something about the thought of owning part of a salon here, in the Pacific Northwest .

. . intrigued me. It opened up my mind to the possibilities. ”

My sandwich stopped in midair, halfway to my mouth. “You would be willing to relocate to Oregon?”

“I don’t think so.” Her face was frowned, like she was deep, deep, deep in concentration. “I mean, I have a whole life in Chicago. My family’s there. My salon… if I reopen it, is there. My house is there. My life is there.”

I nodded before changing the subject. “Aye, tomorrow, you’re doing horseback riding.”

“I know. I don’t know how to feel about it. I mean, I’ve fallen at every activity. I can’t afford to fall off a horse.”

“You won’t fall off a horse. I’ll have Stanton keep an eye on you.”

“Who is Stanton?”

“Horseback riding is a group adventure. Stanton is one of our employees. He takes up to eight guests out on horses at a time.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “It’s not with you?”

I shook my head. “Nah.”

“So, I guess I won’t see you at all tomorrow unless we sneak away for lunch like we did today.”

I couldn’t help the smirk that blossomed across my face. “You look sad about that.”

She eyed me. “I am a little. I feel like there’s a slight attraction between us.”

“A woman who speaks her mind. Yeah, I’m here for that all day. And there’s definitely an attraction between us. I felt it that first day. When I picked you up to take you to the lodge for dinner. As soon as you came out of the cottage, I looked at you and thought, ‘Well, dayum!’”

She blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind an ear.

“And that, that right there.” I leaned across the table toward her, my eyes blazing with the heat I felt for her. “How you manage to look all innocent and sexy at the same fucking time.”

She put another French fry in her mouth, and I sat there watching her lips move.

“You should let me make dinner for you tomorrow night,” I told her.

“You cook, Beck?”

“Let me rephrase that. You should come through tomorrow night and let me feed you.”

She dissolved into giggles. “So, you don’t cook?”

“Man, I do all right, but I wouldn’t really feel comfortable feeding you a ‘Beckham’ meal. But my brother, Brewer, is the head chef at Good Ashes . I’ll have him put something together.”

She lowered her eyes to the table, before glancing back up at me. “Sounds good. Just tell me the time, and I’ll be there.”

My three brothers, Brewer, Bayliss, Brighton, and I sat at a table in Good Ashes having a late dinner that night.

Brewer took a sip from his craft beer. “This is the chick with the green hair, right?” he asked, after I told him about needing him to prepare a dinner for two the next day.

“Yeah. Her name is Collins.”

“Green hair?” Bright repeated. “Yeah, I saw her around the lodge.” He arranged his expression into an appreciative grimace. “She’s thick as hell.”

“She is.” I nodded my head in agreement.

“She’s bad as hell,” Bright commented.

“Seems a little… city slicker for you,” Bayliss mumbled.

“Yeah, you tend to attract and be attracted to the ones who aren’t really interested in this lifestyle for more than a quick visit, little brother,” Brewer reminded me. “

“Ma asked her if she wanted to buy into the hair salon and get it up and running again.”

“What? Say word,” Brighton told me, setting his glass down on the table.

“Ma offered her a buy in?” Brewer looked dubious.

“Not into the lodge, just into the hair salon. Collins owned a hair salon for over ten years. It recently burned down, and she’s on the fence about rebuilding it.”

“So, Ma thinks she might be open to relocating to Jackson Falls and running the lodge’s hair salon?” Bright surmised.

“Something like that. I wasn’t there when they had the conversation,” I admitted. “But something about Ma’s offer had Collins in town recruiting potential hair stylists. Maylasia Reid called me up, talking about Collins stopped her in Second Street Sweets and asked her about hair braiding.”

“Damn, that was very… entrepreneurial of her,” Bright told me.

“Yeah.” I chuckled. “Malaysia said she was a little pushy, too.”

“All good entrepreneurs are a little pushy,” Bay commented.

We all agreed. Then we fell into silence.

“Is she outdoorsy… at all?” Brewer probed.

We all laughed.

“I feel like she wants to be, but it’s tough, seeing as she’s clumsy as hell.

She fell on the hike, and she fell in the fishing boat.

” I cut my eyes at Bay, who was the veterinarian over the horses on the ranch.

“She has horseback riding tomorrow. I’m praying she doesn’t fall off the horse.

If you run into Stanton, give him the heads up that she’s clumsy.

I need him to keep an extra eye on her.”

We all laughed again.

“I got you,” he assured me.

“Is she open to the idea of Ma’s offer?” Bright asked.

“I don’t think so.” I shrugged my shoulders. “When we touched on it, she told me that her life is in Chicago. I doubt that she’s willing to pick up and move here. Jackson Falls is a different world than where she comes from.”

My parents owned over 360 acres in Jackson Falls, Oregon. The lodge and its outbuildings covered a little less than half of the acreage. With the remaining land, my parents built their home on fifteen acres and parceled out fifteen acres to each of their sons.

When I chose my plot of land, I chose a plot that was close to the main road, so that I could get in and out relatively quickly.

While I didn’t consider myself a “city slicker,” I could admit that there were times when I needed to get out of Jackson Falls and have more cosmopolitan experiences.

I liked to hike and camp, but I also liked to travel and catch a professional football or basketball game, too.

My single-story home reflected my appreciation for modern amenities, clean lines, and minimalism.

Even though I lived close to the main road, the word “main” was relative. I lived in rural Oregon. The area was rural. The road was a country road. It wasn’t paved with concrete, nor did it offer streetlights. I picked Collins up, so she wouldn’t be forced to try to navigate it after dark.

She stepped outside of the Sunset Cliff Cottage wearing a long, flowy sundress, a jean jacket, and sandals. I got out of the truck and met her at the landing of the porch.

“Hey.” I pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. She was soft in my arms, and she smelled good enough to eat. “You look beautiful.”

“Hey, you.” There she went, blushing and pushing hair behind her ear. “You look very handsome.”

I took her hand and led her to my truck. We made it to my house about ten minutes later.

“Wow. Your home is very you, Beckham.”

Since that was my entire goal when I had the house built, I took it as a compliment. “Thank you. My brother, Brighton, built it to my specifications.”

Her eyes widened. “The same one I met today at the ranch?”

“Nah. That was Bayliss. You haven’t met Brighton yet.”

“Okay. He’s very talented, I see.”

“That he is. I would offer you a tour, but you can basically see everything from here.” I gestured with my hands around the open-concept space.

The living room, dining area, and kitchen were all visible from where we stood.

My home was a modern log cabin inside and out. The exterior was crafted with wood and steel beams. As the owner of an adventure business, I loved nature, loved being out in it, and loved looking at it, which was why so many of the windows in my house went from the floor to the ceiling.

“Wow,” Collins commented, “your windows are huge, and the views make you feel like you’re in the middle of nature.”

“That’s the feeling I was going for. When I was describing what I wanted to Bright, I basically told him that I wanted to feel like I was in a tree house.”

“He definitely understood the assignment.”

I led her toward the kitchen. “There’s a bathroom there.” I pointed. “If you want to wash your hands. Brewer had the food delivered right before I picked you up.”