Dirk: A Stepbrother Romance(97)

There was still about twenty minutes from the dock and Lois spent the time repacking the few things that she had pulled out of one of her bags. She hadn’t brought much considering her plan to stay on for at least three months, so she was able to carry all of her things off the boat on her own. She walked two blocks to an old garage where she paid to keep her truck and visited with the owner, Old Merl, before she took off to the boarding house on the other side of town. Burrow was quaint; she loved everything about its rugged, small town charm.

Lois parked her truck and walked toward an old two-story house.

An older woman hurried out onto the porch, opening her arms toward her. “Oh! You’re finally here! I heard there’s a terrible storm coming and I was afraid you would get caught in Ketchikan.”


Lois set her bags on the ground to embrace the nearest likeness to a mother she had left in the world. It was as if this woman had been placed in her life long ago for a future that had already been set in stone.

They walked into the old house together and the familiarity enveloped her. It was exactly like it had always been. Her hand softly ran over the back of one of the couches. “It never changes. That’s why I love it here so much, Miss Beth.” Lois was looking around, soaking up the memories that hung in the air, thick as the scent of the large spruce beams that met overhead in the homey living room. “Do you have a lot of visitors right now?”

“Oh just you and one other, Jeffrey, he’s in town for some hunting I think. You know how those men are, they get all riled up to kill something with a gun. He is kinda cute, maybe you two will hit it off…” Beth turned away slightly, trying to stay casual.

Lois raised her eyebrows in amusement. “I doubt that,” she smiled dryly. “And how do you know I’m single?”

“’Cause I know. You don’t have that glow about you yet, but just wait, it will come in time.” The older woman thought herself something of a matchmaker, and though Lois knew Beth’s successes had been due to the miniscule population of Barrow providing little opportunity for ideal prospects, she wanted to believe her. At twenty-two, she had yet to be in a substantial relationship that went beyond a few dates and awkward kisses. It was long past time for her to get serious, but she found it hard to get close to many people.

“We’ll see, I guess. When it happens, it happens,” she resolved out loud.

“That sounds well and good dear, but sometimes you gotta get out there and take what you want. The hell with trying to wait for it to fall in your lap, go find it.”

Lois was surprised by the advice, but more surprised by the gumption in Beth’s expression. She considered the last few men she had written off after hardly taking time to know them. She weakly attempted to reassure herself that they hadn’t been worth her time. She could keep an open mind without changing what she wanted in a man, after all. He was out there somewhere, but she was becoming impatient.

“What are you thinking about, dear? You’ve got the strangest look on your face,” Beth interrupted her thoughts.

Lois blushed and started up the stairs towards her room. She knew it would already be ready for her, probably had been for a week. “Nothing, just my love life,” she laughed absently, “Maybe you’re right, Miss Beth. I need to get out more, and I will, after I get back home this fall. You know there aren’t very many men out here, even at this time of year.”

“You never know,” said Beth with a twinkle in her eye.

Lois nodded and promised to be down in a bit for dinner after she cleaned up. She felt tired and dirty from an entire day of travel. She had ended up sleeping in an airport during a storm in Chicago that delayed her flight, and a shower was in order. As she climbed into the relaxing steamy water, her thoughts were still on her non-existent love life and the older woman’s words. It sounded like something her mother would have said. Lois had never truly imagined allowing someone beyond the barriers she had placed between herself and the men she knew in the past. She realized the only thing that held her back from new experiences was fear of the unknown. Looking down at her body, slick with water and suds, she wondered what a man would think of her if she were indeed to open herself up to knowing someone on a deeper level.

The hot water was a blessing and she was soon feeling human again. Throwing her shoulder-length hair in a bun, she tiptoed down the hall with a towel wrapped around her. There was a tall man in the hallway next to her open door and she could tell he was looking in. He hadn’t noticed her and she almost backed into the bathroom, but she did not want to put the old clothes that reeked of fish back on after her shower.

“Excuse me, I need to get through,” she said hurriedly. The man turned around and his blue eyes held hers for several moments before the words seemed to reach his brain enough for him to move. She thanked him and walked into her room, shutting the door softly behind her. Her heart thudded as she looked down at herself and was thankful that no part of her had been sticking out. The towel certainly exposed a bit more than she would have liked for a first meeting.

As she was getting dressed, she couldn’t help but think about the man in the hallway. She tried to remember if Beth had given her his name, then she recalled it was Jeffrey. He was blonde and blue eyed, with broad shoulders, surely over six feet tall. It was the way in which he had looked at her and his set jaw that caused her to think about it for the rest of the evening. She really did not care for hunting, but with Beth’s words in mind, she figured she could go down to dinner with an open mind.