Only Just Begun Read online

  Only Just Begun

  Ryker Falls

  Lani Blake

  Contents

  Only Just Begun

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  A Promise Of Home

  Lani’s Books

  About the Author

  Only Just Begun

  By Lani Blake

  * * *

  An innocent hiding in the shadows

  * * *

  Living on the sidelines has always suited Mandy Robbins but all that changes when Ted Hosking challenges her to step into the light. For some reason the dangerously sexy Falls Lodge owner has decided to personally play a part in her metamorphosis. She is determined not to fall for the taciturn man who has “commitment phobic” written on his forehead, but Ted is the only man who has ever seen the real her beneath the quietness. As her past comes calling, she realizes that with Ted it’s not just her heart that’s at risk … it’s her life.

  * * *

  Her big, bad protector

  * * *

  Ted Hosking has no problem with hard work or living in the spotlight; it’s what he knows and how he’s built his business. He’s a take-charge kind of guy, so how is it possible he has no clue how to handle Mandy Robbins? She scares him. There’s no getting around that. Gentle, sweet, and shy, she’s Ted’s opposite in every way. There shouldn’t be any surprises in life, not for a man as jaded as he. But when he leaves her bed after their first night together, everything changes. What he feels for her has the power to change the very foundation he’s built his life on, and that shocks him to the core.

  * * *

  When danger looms and threatens Mandy, he knows that staying away for her protection is no longer an option. Their love has only just begun and he’ll fight with everything he has for her, no matter the cost.

  * * *

  The Ryker Falls Series

  * * *

  Somebody To Love

  From This Moment

  Love Me Tender

  Only Just Begun

  Hold Me Close

  Would you like to know when my next book is available? Sign up for Lani’s newsletter

  www.laniblake.com/connect

  Riley, Rosie, Ari and Mia

  Who knew I had a little space in the corner of my heart that needed filling

  with four of the most beautiful little humans ever!

  Love my grandbabies to the moon and back.

  Nana xx

  Chapter 1

  “Fast game’s a good game, Teddy Bear.”

  Ted Hosking closed one eye in an attempt to focus on the cards in his hand. He was fairly confident it was a three of hearts. Too many beers had made his head fuzzy. That was unusual for him, because control was something he never lost. He’d learned long ago what happened when he did.

  “I’m growing old here, bud.”

  To his left sat Jack, the middle Trainer brother. The one making all the noise.

  “I’m out.” Ted lowered his cards to a round of groans. “I’ll tell them we want food.”

  The groans turned to cheers.

  Across from him sat the reason for the man gathering, Cubby Hawker, sheriff of the town of Lake Howling, Oregon. He’d decided to have his bachelor party in Ryker Falls, at Ted’s lodge. Next to the lawman sat his friends.

  “I’m partial to pizza,” said the elder of the two Texans in the party, Ethan and Brad Gelderman. Wealthy, good-looking, they both had the smooth, polished looks of money, but to be fair, seemed like good guys.

  “Hot dogs,” Dr. Jake McBride hummed. He wore his father’s faded pink hat for luck. Next to him came Buster, “baker boy,” as his friends called him, Griffin. Lastly was Newman. Paul Newman.

  “Tried your Fig Newmans last week, bud,” Buster said. Newman smiled but didn’t add anything. Ted guessed he’d been taking shots like that most of his life and had rolled with them or fought a lot.

  “Food,” Joe Trainer said. “Some of that would be excellent, as I can’t feel my toes.”

  Jack’s brother, and the eldest of the three Trainers, he was a well-respected man in Ryker Falls. Unlike Ted, he’d been born and raised here. As had the man to his right, Dylan Howard, who’d been brave enough to marry into the Trainer family. Piper was a cousin and fiery as hell. Ted didn’t envy him…. Okay, maybe a little, but not often, and usually only when he was lonely.

  As if he knew Ted was thinking about him, Dylan looked at him. The awareness that passed between them was something they’d shared since Ted had told him about his sister, Emily.

  Thinking about her knifed pain through him, even twelve years after her death.

  She’d been murdered, and an FBI profiler like Dylan had helped find her body.

  Shut it out. Ted closed his eyes briefly, his fingers touching the two bands of small wooden beads around his wrist. They’d belonged to her.

  “You having a moment there, Hosking?”

  “All good, Luke,” he said to the youngest Trainer. This one was softer than the other brothers. “I’ll just get onto that food.”

  Ted walked out of the room he’d had set up for the card game and headed down the hall.

  Falls Lodge was his baby. Elegant but not uncomfortable, it was something he was extremely proud to have achieved.

  He’d brought in the best designers to do what he had no clue about. Decorate. Natural tones had been the key, according to Claudette, the lead designer. Bring the outside in. And they had. Huge fires roared in the winter months, and massive glass windows showed spectacular vistas of the snow-clad mountains locals called Phil and Roxy after the founding fathers, twins.

  “Can I help you, Ted?”

  “Just ordering some food, Lenny,” he said to one of his managers. “Everything running okay today?”

  “No problems anywhere.”

  “No way? There’s always a problem.”

  Lenny gave him a smile, and Ted wondered if he’d ever been that enthusiastic. He felt like his soul had been stained since birth. That tended to happen when you were raised in the spotlight, and all the other shit he’d had to deal with.

  “Not today… well, so far, anyway.”

  “Excellent. Well, I’m just going to get some food for the bachelor party.”

  “I could do that.”

  “No, I need the walk. Thanks, Lenny.”

  He headed down the stairs, checking things as he passed. A scuff mark that needed cleaning. Moving a painting that hung off center.

  Ted was a perfectionist, and that’s what made this place one of the top tourist locations in this area.

  Tripping on the last step, he nearly face planted. He needed fresh air, fast.

  Heading into the kitchens, he still got a buzz out of knowing this place was his… all his. Maybe at one t
ime it hadn’t been, but it sure as hell was now.

  Each pot and implement was the property of one Ted Hosking, and he was damned proud of that fact.

  As usual, the kitchens were in a state of well-organized chaos.

  “Ted.”

  “Kirby, can we get that food for the Hawker party now.”

  Kirby had been his head chef from day one, and he’d never regretted employing her. Built like a small armored tank, she was a ball of muscle and worked out daily. She could quell an insubordinate with a look. She and Ted had an understanding. She was the boss in here, but they pretended he was.

  “Right away,” she snapped out like the ex-military girl he knew she was.

  He nodded, then walked through the kitchen and out the rear door. The warm, sultry air settled around him, and Ted took a deep breath in, then exhaled slowly. Nowhere smelled like Ryker Falls at dusk.

  Summer held the small town in its grip, and the scents from the extensive herb garden that provided Kirby with everything she needed to create magic in the kitchen lured him that way.

  He’d bought this piece of land six years ago when he’d been passing through Ryker on his way to god knew where. He’d been pretty much driving aimlessly since Emily’s death.

  The minute he’d stepped foot on this place he’d known he had to have it. He’d had to ask his father for the capital, and Ted had repaid every cent with interest.

  The plants brushed his legs, sharp scents filling the air. This was Ted’s favorite time of day. He’d just walked down the path and was about to head back now that his head felt steadier, when he saw her.

  “Mandy?”

  She was on her knees in the herbs, butt in the air, with Joe Trainer’s large shaggy dog, Buzz, at her side. A small squeak told him he’d surprised her. She leaped to her feet, shoving her hands behind her back. The dog got to his feet, showing none of her shock, and trotted up to greet Ted.

  “What are you doing in my gardens?”

  “Kirby said I could come here,” she said quickly.

  He’d tried to understand this urgency he felt whenever he saw Mandy Robbins. She was not the type of woman he usually dated; in fact, she was so far from it, she could be another species entirely.

  The top of her head would come to his chin, and she had mousey brown hair, usually pulled back in a tail. Her eyes were brown too and framed with black lashes and brows. There was absolutely nothing about this woman that should intrigue him.

  Most days she tried to fade into the background. Her clothes were baggy, and she was frightened of her own shadow, and definitely his. She never spoke unless she had to and was pretty much just always there if anyone cared enough to look.

  Ted cared, and that really pissed him off.

  “But why are you here in my herb garden?”

  “Mrs. Taft needed some herbs for her pie.”

  “Which still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

  “She asked me to get them for her.”

  He’d noticed that about her too. She tended to be the go-to girl for everyone’s errands.

  “Is she sick?”

  “No.”

  “Then why didn’t she come?”

  “She asked me to do it.”

  “And you never say no, do you, Mandy? Always the go-to girl for those too lazy to do something themselves.”

  She stepped back as his voice rose, and that just pissed him off more, because he’d never hurt her.

  “Why do you do that?” Frustration got the better of him.

  “What?” She wanted to back up a few more paces, he could see it in her eyes.

  “Look like you want to run when I’m close. Like I’d hurt you or something?”

  He’d surprised her. They never talked like this, about anything personal; actually, they never talked at all. Maybe there was that one time, but that had been a kiss, and hell he’d been paying for it ever since. Those lips of hers were built for sin, which was ironic really considering how she avoided men.

  “I’d never hurt you, and it annoys me that you’d think I would.”

  Maybe it was the beer talking, but he felt better for saying the words he’d kept inside for so long.

  “I’m not frightened of you.”

  He made a disbelieving sound and dug his fingers into Buzz’s fur to stop reaching for her. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to shake her or touch her. Smooth the frown lines away and reassure her everything was okay… whatever the hell that meant. He didn’t even know if she was okay. Hell, he didn’t know anything about this woman, but he wanted to.

  “Yes, you are.”

  Mandy was a closed book, her face usually showing little emotion. That pissed him off too. But her body language gave her away.

  Buzz woofed his appreciation at the head scratch. The dog was pretty much universally loved in town, and most people kept his favorite biscuits in their cupboards. Ted had to admit he was no different. Even his cat, Branch, seemed to like the animal.

  “Why are you afraid of me, Mandy?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are. You look at me like I’m going to do you bodily harm.”

  If he hadn’t been watching her closely he wouldn’t have seen her flinch.

  “Why did that make you flinch?”

  “It didn’t.” She backed up another step.

  “Now that’s a lie, and we both know it.”

  “Ted, please stop.” The words were whispered, but he heard them clearly because the pleading in her voice made his gut clench.

  “I won’t hurt you, Mandy. Never. Why can’t you see that? I would sooner hurt myself than you.”

  She didn’t look away, so he saw the tears as they started to roll slowly down her cheeks.

  “I-I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” He wrapped his hands around her arms, pulling her closer. “What are you sorry for? From where I’m standing, you haven’t done anything but take a few herbs.”

  Her sigh was dredged from deep inside her soul.

  “I’m sorry if you think I’m scared of you, Ted.”

  Mandy spoke in a way that suggested she’d thought carefully about her word choice. Ted knew a few people who could take a lesson from her in this.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, Mandy. It’s really annoying.”

  “I really am sorry. It’s just the way I am. It’s hard to change what you’ve always been. I know, believe m-me, I’ve tried.”

  She’d surprised him; he’d never heard her speak that way before. Open and honest.

  “I don’t buy that.” He decided he’d be the same. It was well past time this woman entered the world. Ted had no idea what the hell had made her the way she was, and wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He had enough demons of his own, he certainly didn’t want to take on anyone else’s. “If you want to change, then take steps to do that.”

  Her laugh held no humor. “You don’t think I’ve tried?”

  “We all have reasons to want to hide, Mandy. All have things in our past that have tested our strength. It’s about how you rise above them.” He tapped her forehead gently. “Be strong in here. Don’t let the past dictate who you are anymore.”

  “You sound like one of those blog posts I read continually.”

  “They haven’t worked.”

  She sighed again. “I know.”

  Ted didn’t know why she’d chosen to speak like this with him, now. Especially considering they’d been uncomfortable with each other since he’d kissed her. But he went on gut instinct because from the start he’d seen a little of himself in Mandy. She’d been hurt deeply, but unlike him, she hadn’t fought hard enough to rise above the pain.

  “I-I don’t know how to change, Ted. I’ve lived this way for so long now, I’m just comfortable being in the shadows.”

  “I don’t think so. If you were comfortable, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

  “I’ve tried to change.” He heard the frustration in her voice now.

  He l
ooked at her, wondering if he should say what was inside his head.

  “But do you want to… really?”

  Ted had always had to be strong. It was that or be molded by his family and everything they stood for. He didn’t usually have time for people who didn’t take control of their life. Excuses weren’t something he had time for either.

  Strangely, he felt different about Mandy.

  “You live in this town, with your aunts, and from what I can make out it’s a good life. So, what’s stopping you from changing?”

  Even in the dwindling light he saw the color in her cheeks that his words had put there. Anger was a real emotion, and Ted was pleased to see it.

  “I’m asking you again, Mandy. Do you really want to change?”

  “Yes…. Damn you, yes!” Her brown eyes fired up at him.

  The force behind those words surprised him, and her.

  “I hate who I am.” She was more subdued now. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

  “Sometimes it just feels right?”

  “I’m not sure why it would be right with you.”

  At least she was honest.

  “Let’s move on from that kiss, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “So, let me get this straight. You want to change from Mousey Mandy, but don’t know how to?”

  “I’ve always hated that name.”