Sometimes Moments (Sometimes Moments, #1)(72)

Then his hands were at her waist as he picked her up, her legs wrapping around him. His hands went to the back of her thighs, holding her securely. She panted at the intensity in his eyes.

“God gave me you and I gave you up. He gave me a small window to make this time count. I’m going to make sure that I don’t waste my time with you. Until we can’t take it anymore, I’ll keep making love to you,” he promised.

She warmed all over as her heart throbbed at his words. She blinked once before her mouth founds his, needing to feel him on her and in her. Needing every little bit of him.

Lie. God gave me you to love you twice as hard as last time, if not more.





“Are you sure you’re okay?” Callum asked just before they walked down the small hill to the lake.

Peyton stopped, her hand shaking. Callum was right. Last night, it hadn’t sunk in. The hotel had caught fire. She didn’t know if anything remained. The firefighters on the scene had done nothing until Callum and Graham had stepped in. It was then that Peyton had understood how much power Jay held in their town—the same power that could have minimised the extent of the damage.

“You look tired,” she pointed out. The exhausted look on his face confirmed it.

Callum shook his head and took her hand in his. “I’m okay. Just got a little dizzy,” he said as they walked around the lake towards the hotel.

She refused to look at the sky for the hotel building. Instead, she watched each step they took. Carefully examining the way their steps had been in sync. Then suddenly, Callum pulled on her hand and stopped her. She felt him tense, gripping her hand harder. Peyton closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she slowly opened them. Then her breath caught in her throat as she took in what little of her hotel was left. The large Victorian building had completely burned to the ground. The fire made it possible for her to see right through where the hotel had once stood. It seemed that the fire hadn’t spread; the dance floor and posts outside the hotel had remained unharmed.

Just seeing the dance floor had her sighing in relief. Nothing else was damaged. The firefighters had contained it. It looked nothing like the large hotel that once had stood where burned wood, furniture, and ash lay. The smoke was still in the air, enough to make the situation feel so real.

“Peyton,” Jenny said.

Turning her head, she saw the hotel’s operations manager walk towards her, a phone in one hand and an iPad in the other. It was just after eight a.m. and Jenny was already working.

“How’d you sleep?” Jenny asked the moment she stood next to Peyton.

“Fine, considering,” she answered.

“The reporters will be here soon. I have Darryl coming in. He’ll make sure they don’t harass you. I’ll handle the media.”

Peyton turned and smiled at her co-worker. “I’m glad you married a constable.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “He’s glad he married me is more like it. Don’t worry. I have the insurance paperwork going. I have a list of guests I’ll call soon, too. I’m so sorry this happened, Peyton. The County Authority will be here soon to investigate the cause of the fire.”

Although she wanted to know the cause, Peyton didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at where her hotel had once been located. It looked like the remains of a bushfire that had rolled into town. There was nothing else to do but rebuild. It would take months, but she’d see it through. She had grown up within the walls of the hotel and she wanted to rebuild it and make it her own. No town to hold her back. The community had turned their back on her. Last night had made it obvious.

After letting go of Callum’s hand, she walked up to the sign that had previously been bolted above the hotel’s entrance. The ‘Dayle’ had burned, and all that remain was ‘Spenc.’ Crouching in front of the sign, she wiped away the ash and debris from her surname. One of her fondest memories was when they had hung the sign her mother had spent months creating above the hotel’s main entry. Her mother and father had stood back a few metres from the door and smiled at the sign that signalled their hotel.

Peyton wiped the tear that ran down her cheek. Rebuilding the hotel was more than just for her. She wanted to do it for her parents. She wanted to take a step back and watch a brand-new sign being bolted up on the new hotel.

Upon turning around, she was met with a tired and concerned Callum Reid. She gave him a small smile. “Do you think you could talk to Oliver and Marissa? If I talk to some of the businesses I’ve previously worked with in Creswick, we can have the guests stay there. The dance floors are almost complete, and I could get Nigel to build anything else we need for the wedding. I know it’s not what they would have liked, but if they want to go elsewhere, I’m more than happy to refund them the entire wedding out of my own pocket.”

Callum dug out his phone from his pocket and said, “They don’t care about the money, Peyton. Believe it or not, Marissa is very much in love with Oliver. She just wants to marry him. I’ll call now.” He turned and walked down the path away from her and Jenny.

She watched him talk on the phone, aware that, somewhere down the line, she’d blink once and he’d be gone. That was all it would take.

“I saw the fear in his eyes last night, Peyton. He was scared for you,” Jenny said.

Peyton spun and looked at her before she gave Jenny a tight smile. If anything, she was scared for him. He had punched Jay last night, and that was something she couldn’t forget. Callum had never been a violent person. But she understood why. With a sigh, she looked up at the clearing sky to see specks of blue through the lingering smoke. It amazed her how pure and beautiful the world was once it had taken something away from you. It played innocent. Acting oblivious to the mess it had made.