Page 34 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

Gifts of the Heart

After dating for over six months, Kevin is looking for more than casual fun and flirting with Edison. Only his colourful butterfly of a boyfriend is commitment phobic, and Kevin isn’t about to hurt the most tender-hearted, sweetest, and sexiest man he’s ever met by pushing boundaries.

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Which puts holiday gift giving squarely in Edison’s corner. Can Edison push past his fears and find a very Kevin and Edison approved way to admit he’s ready for more?

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Starring: Kevin Robb (psychiatrist at High Water) and Edison Whorlen (nurse at the Heart Falls Community Health Clinic).

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Featuring: The High Water crew: Aiden & Petra Skye and their newly adopted teenage daughter Jinx. Tansy & Jake Skye and their son Jeffrey. Sydney Jeremiah and Declan Skye. Plus Fern Gabrielle and random people around town and the crew at the firehall Christmas party.

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Basically, a lot of Heart Falls came out for this one!

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Timeline: This scene is set in December after the end of A Cowboy’s Claim.

1

Early December, High Water ranch

The weight of the day slid off his shoulders as Kevin Robb settled to one side of the double-wide Adirondack chair. He stretched his legs toward the fire pit as dusky smoke twisted on the air. It was oddly satisfying to have successfully lit the fire and have flames licking over the wood like bright, dancing sprites.

Coming to work at High Water ranch nearly a year ago had been just what the doctor ordered. It had given Kevin time to recover from the unexpected attack he’d survived from an unruly patient. Given him time to get his own head on straight and be ready for when life gave him something better than lemons.

Over the next half hour, the rest of the ranch strolled up in ones and twos and found spots to relax.

Aiden and Petra arrived with Jinx in tow. Or maybe it was the other way around as the seventeen-year-old imperiously pointed to chairs on the right side of the fire, and her newly official parents happily sat as ordered.

“Hey, Kev.” Jinx curled up in the chair to his left, Dixie the golden retriever at her feet as always. “Nice fire.”

“Thanks. Better than the last time I was in charge when it spent more time smoldering than burning.”

She nodded, wiggling her fingers in greeting at the two ranch hands—aka, the current guests taking advantage of High Water’s secret halfway house.

The men dipped their heads politely then sat on the opposite side of the fire.

Were they staying away from Jinx? Or staying away from him?

Kevin wasn’t sure. Not everyone felt comfortable around him, thinking maybe his psychiatric training meant he could read their minds.

Nope, although there were times he wished he could.

Another of their core group arrived. Sydney settled into her chair with a happy sigh. “Declan and Logan are on their way as soon as they finish the dishes. Tansy and Jake are staying at her sister’s after supper, so they and Jeffrey won’t be here tonight.”

“Is Edison joining us?” Jinx asked Kevin.

“Hope so,” Kevin told her.

He and Edison had been dating since last February, more frequently since the summer. Only in the last month or two had Edison finally accepted the invitation to join the High Water family for dinner or the evening afterward.

Petra and Jinx pulled out crochet projects as Aiden tuned his guitar. When Declan and Logan arrived a few minutes later, Edison walked beside them.