Finding Her Way Home: Voyageur Bay Chronicles

Chapter One

Isabella

The fragrant air surrounding me soothed my tense and strained muscles. Tonight, I’d need a long hot soak in the bath if I had any hope of wanting to move tomorrow. And I’d need to. So much still needed to be done before opening day, but at least the major work was complete.

The damp and dirty rag dropped from my limp fingers into the bucket with a splash, spraying my legs with a soapy wetness that cooled my overheated skin. Even with the door open to the night, the air remained overly warm. The water slid down my bare legs, leaving rivulets of cleanish skin amongst the dust and dirt. I was a right hot mess, but satisfaction thrummed like a soft purr in my chest. It had been tough, more work than I’d ever done in my twenty-two years on this earth, and I was proud of it. For the first time, I could say that I accomplished something on my own, without any help from my parents. I was standing on my own two feet and whatever happened—the successes and the failures—were my responsibility. It was a lot to have resting on my shoulders, but I welcomed it. Anything was better than the life my parents had planned for me. 

I took a step back and smiled. What had been a wreck of a library when I first toured the empty house on Fourth Street near downtown Voyageur Bay, now gleamed. The deep dark brown colour returned to the wooden shelving that stood ready to display the various tea pots, strainers, cups, warmers, and cozies that would be for sale. The shelves wrapped around to cover the back wall where I’d display the teas—both loose leaf and in bags—and books about teas. It matched the vision I had when I’d stood in this very room two months earlier with the local real estate agent, Julie. She’d told me that the house had been left vacant after Mr. Smithers’ heirs attempted to decide what to do with it after he’d passed away a few years earlier. And I’d been glad they’d fought over it, keeping it available for the moment I needed it.

The old rolling ladder sat oiled and ready for use. Something I needed to allow me to reach the upper four shelves. I loved my five foot three height, but sometimes it made reaching things a little difficult. At least the topmost two rows of shelves contained doors which made them the perfect spot to place my extra stock. 

Around me stood numerous open boxes. Ones I’d unpacked a couple items from for the display shelves. What remained needed to be placed up in the higher shelves before I could stumble up the stairs to my personal rooms. Another benefit to this house that swayed me in my decision to spend a little more was that it came with the second floor already converted to a separate suite, allowing me to live over my shop.

Well, let’s get this done. There’ll be time enough to rest when I die. I’d taken to talking to myself while working just to make me feel not so alone. A consequence of spending more on the building than my initial budget forecasted, I couldn’t afford to hire someone to help me with the set-up. While my bank account continued to contain a hefty balance, I knew it wouldn’t last long. Between the overhead for the store, the hiring of an employee to help me run the store, and the money I’d need to live on for the next year until the store hopefully started to make some cash, at the moment, I couldn’t afford to spend any extra. So for the past week, I’d worked round the clock with only the radio for human contact. The good news: I haven’t started to answer myself… then I would have been worried.

It was my sixth trip up the ladder, a heavy box under my arm and wedged on top of my hip—the only way I could carry the box and climb at the same time—when my right leg cramped up, buckling my knee. The box began to slip, and I lurched to keep it from falling, pulling it toward my chest. Not the thing to do while on a ladder nearly three feet off the ground. 

My feet slipped, dropping my body, and catching my right knee on the rung. The weight of the box pulled my body backwards, bringing my head closer to the floor or the wooden rails below me. 

A loud shriek left my throat as I scrunched my eyes shut, wishing I could do the same with my ears. The last thing I wanted to hear was the sound of my head smacking something hard. 

But before I hit, large hands grabbed me, stopping my fall. The body they belonged to stepped closer, sliding their hands down my back until they rested just above my hips, cradling my upper body on their arms. 

The box was yanked from my chest before it continued downward and slammed into my face.

You can open up your eyes now, sweet-tea. I’ve got you. The voice heated my blood with its richness. 

Light filtered into my brain as my eyes opened. Then I saw him… them. A pair of deep brown eyes that sucked me into their pool of melted chocolate goodness. They pulled back to be replaced by a pair of warm blue-grey eyes filled with compassion and framed by silver rimmed glasses. Holy crumpets!

Ben

Did you just say ‘crumpets’? As in tea and crumpets? I couldn’t keep the mirth from my voice as I stared down into the most beautiful honey-coloured eyes I’d ever seen. 

Her pale cheeks flushed. Um, yes I did.

That’s so cute. Caleb lowered the box he held to the floor as he stared at her knee and ankle. I could take the doctor out of the office and hospital, but I knew I couldn’t take the doctor out of the man. It was his nature to stop and help anyone who looked like they needed it whenever we were out. And tonight would be no different. Although I knew the moment he took a real look at the tiny slip of a woman in my arms, a look like a man and not a doctor examining a patient, he’d be helping her even if she didn’t need it. We tended to think the same things when it came to women, and she was everything my mother told me about her plus more.

Hold her still, Ben. I want to examine her knee and ankle before we help her down. 

When her eyes widened and her face lost what little colour it gained from her blush, I leaned over her, filling her view with my face. I gave her the wide smile I gave to my new students which never failed to make the female students sigh and develop a dreamy look on their face. Don’t worry. My friend Caleb is a doctor, and he can’t help himself. He loves to make sure that people are okay when they fall. Heck, once he even made me stop the car so that he could examine a bird that limped along the side of the road. 

Caleb’s chuckles filled the air, easing the tension in the body I held. Or maybe it was the touch of his hands as they trailed over her upper thigh heading down toward her hooked knee. Now don’t be telling her all my secrets, Ben. Over his shoulder, he winked at her. Then his eyes widened, and I knew at that moment he registered her honey eyes against the chestnut colour of her hair along with the soft kissable curve of her lips. Before the silence became uncomfortable, he rescued himself, giving her his sultry, panty-dropping smile. Or I just might have to spill some of yours.

As Caleb returned his focus to her leg, I stepped up my game, drawing her attention back to me. Don’t worry. I’ll continue to spill his secrets to you. I gave her a quick wink as I moved my fingers, massaging the small of her back. I’ve been his best friend since kindergarten, so I have a lot of dirt on him.

Her soft laughter rang in my ears, filling my soul with music. I wasn’t a stranger to women throwing themselves at me, but it wasn’t a daily occurrence either. For the most part, it tended to be women who heard that Caleb and I liked to fuck together and wanted to experience what it felt like to be the filling in our sandwich. Others were scared off by the prospect, which was fine with me. I didn’t want to waste my time with a woman where there wasn’t any future. Been there. Done that. Already owned the T-shirt. 

And while I didn’t know whether or not she would be willing to take on the two of us, for her I was willing to expend the energy. For the first time I felt that certainty deep within my soul