Always Mine: Honey Mountain Series ~ Book 1, page 1
always mine
Honey Mountain Series ~ Book 1
laura pavlov
Always Mine
Honey Mountain Series, Book 1
Copyright © 2022 by Laura Pavlov
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Laura Pavlov
https://www.laurapavlov.com
Cover Design: Hang Le
Cover Photography: Regina Wamba
Created with Vellum
contents
Dedication
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
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Other Books by Laura Pavlov
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dedication
Dear Lisa, Julie and Jen,
Thank you for being the best sisters around!
Love you, Laura
“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the
spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.”
– Isadora James
one
Vivian
I made my way up the path of my childhood home. On Sunday nights, no matter where we were, if we were in Honey Mountain, we attended family dinner. The crisp fall air surrounded me, and I was thankful that I’d pulled out my warmest down jacket this morning. I loved that the mountains were in view here no matter where you were. Honey Mountain was a small town right on the border of Nevada and California, and it surrounded a giant lake which was a huge tourist attraction. But it was the tall peaks that I was most drawn to. A white dusting covered all the tips, always the first sign that temperatures were dropping.
“Hello,” I said when I stepped inside.
I’d grown up here. It was an old farmhouse that my parents had restored over the years with a backyard to-die-for—seriously, you could have the party of all parties here, and we usually did.
“Vivi?” Ashlan yelled as she came barreling around the corner. She’d come home from college for the weekend, and even though we FaceTimed practically every day, hugging her in person always made me feel better.
“Hey, Ash,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her. It had only been a few weeks since she’d gone back to school, but my sisters were everything to me.
“Don’t make me dry-heave from all this gushing. The girl has not been gone that long,” Dylan said as she came around the corner and her head fell back in laughter.
“Humans have actual feelings.” Charlotte chomped on a carrot and chuckled. “Or didn’t your alien leaders teach you that?”
Ashlan was the baby of the family. Dylan and Charlotte were twins and two years older than her, two years younger than me. Our oldest sister, Everly, was two years older than me. She was currently living across the country out east while finishing a fellowship program as a sports psychologist for a professional NBA team. My oldest sister was the most driven person I’d ever known, and I was so proud of her. But I missed her as I didn’t get to see her often.
My mother had been an only child and wanted a big family, but I didn’t think she’d expected to end up with five daughters. She’d left this earth far too soon and we’d all rallied around our father ever since. The thought still made a lump form in the back of my throat, even all these years later.
“Bite me, Charlie,” Dylan said. “Come on. We need to get the plates out. Everyone will be here soon, and Dad’s having a conniption that nothing is done. Remind me why we decided to live at home again?”
I laughed. The twins had just graduated from college a few months ago, and they were back at home until they had enough money to live on their own. Charlotte taught kindergarten at the local elementary school, and Dylan was attending law school with plans to take over the world, her words not mine. She commuted to Bridgewood University three days a week, which was an hour away, and the other two days she was allowed to attend remotely. They were both saving a ton of money by living at home, so it was worth it.
However, they were both living under our father’s roof again, which meant lots of family dinners and their fair share of chores.
Dad was the Honey Mountain fire chief, and he’d always been strict but fair. He was my favorite person on the planet next to my sisters and my best friend, Niko, depending on the day… because they all drove me crazy as well.
“Well, I’m out of here in a few months. As soon as I save up enough for a down payment, I’ll be buying my own place like Vivi,” Charlotte said, winking at me over her shoulder.
“Girl, you know I’m moving in there the minute you find a place. If Vivi’s house wasn’t the size of a postage stamp, I’d be living there right now.” We all followed Dylan into the kitchen, and as she pulled the plates out, I went to the drawer to get the silverware. The smell of my dad’s famous mac ‘n’ cheese baking in the oven had my mouth watering.
“Hey, water views come with a price. I’ll take my postage stamp all day long.” I laughed. It wasn’t a lie. I’d found a small cottage on the lake, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Between the small business loan that I’d taken out to open Honey Bee’s Bakery and my mortgage, I was happy to just be surviving at this point.
“I’m not complaining. I just wish there was room for me.” Dylan shrugged.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get the mail,” Ashlan called out as she jogged out the front door.
“Please let her get that internship. She’s been checking the mailbox all day and I keep telling her that Beatrice is delivering later and later in the day now,” Charlotte said of our mail lady as she pulled glasses from the cupboard and set them on the counter as she counted out twelve.
Whichever firefighters weren’t working on Sundays always came to dinner.
I peeked my head out the back door. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hi, sweetheart. Did those slackers get the kitchen ready?” he asked as smoke billowed all around him. The man loved his grill, and my stomach rumbled as the smell of barbecue chicken wafted around me.
“I assume you’re referring to your daughters.”
“Sure am. One of the wonder twins has a big attitude about helping out lately.”
I laughed. “She mentioned that. I’ll get the salad ready.”
When I came back inside, all three of my sisters were huddled together, which was never a good thing.
Dylan looked up and shook her head. The girl had never been good at hiding her feelings, especially when she was angry. I walked to the fridge and pulled out a head of lettuce, some cucumbers, and two large tomatoes, and started rinsing them off in the sink.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder as I dropped the lettuce in the salad spinner and plunged down a few times while they all gaped at me.
Dylan yanked something from Ashlan’s hand and hissed at her. Charlotte was shaking her head and glaring at Dylan, as they clearly disagreed about telling me something.
“Listen, if you two think keeping secrets from Vivi is a good idea, you’re on your own. I’m a no-bullshit type of girl.” Dylan flicked at the card and didn’t hide her disdain.
“No kidding. And it’s not called no bullshit, it’s more like you have no couth.” Charlotte rarely got mad at her domineering twin, but when she did, I knew she meant it. The joke in town was that the twins looked nothing alike, and everyone thought Ashlan and I held the strongest resemblance.
“Couth is for the birds. Shit happens. I don’t believe in sugarcoating. And I never cared for that too-prim-and-proper, shady ex of yours.” Dylan extended her arm and handed me the card as I pushed down one final time on the salad spinner before drying off my hands.
“FYI, I make a living by sugarcoating things,” I said with a brow raised as I pulled the card out of the envelope.
I took a moment to process what was in front of me. A wedding invitation to Jansen Clark’s wedding. He’d been my one and only boyfriend as we’d dated our last year of high school, and then we’d been long-distance all through college. He wanted a life outside of Honey Mountain, and I didn’t. So… I’d surprised him with a visit to San Francisco to end our relationship in person, o
There’s a pang in my chest as I take it all in. I don’t know her outside of what he’s told me about her over the years. Not sure how much weight I can put on that, considering he said she was bossy and irritating, yet he slept with her and was now walking down the aisle with her.
My chest squeezed. It wasn’t sadness or heartache. Those were the things I should have felt the day I drove hours to have a face-to-face with him and found them together. It didn’t hurt the way it should have. Sure, I’d felt betrayed. But relief was the most dominant feeling I had when I got back in my car and drove all the way home. I’d rehearsed the breakup speech all the way there and then cursed his name as I drove back to Honey Mountain that day. But I wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t sting.
All in all, I would have appreciated a phone call or a text giving me a heads-up before he invited my entire family to his wedding. And the truth was—it hurt to be so easily replaced. Hell, he replaced me before we were even done. And this only happened six months ago. Since then, I’d gone on two horrible dates and not so much as kissed a man since Jansen. Yet he’d managed to date his mistress, get engaged, and plan a wedding. How was that even possible?
“Her name is irritating as all get-out, and it’ll be worse after she marries him,” Dylan hissed, taking the invite back from me. “Kathryn Clark?” She groans. “She sounds like a haughty, uptight politician’s wife. And she’s a skanky, cheating ho. So, there you go. You were way too good for him, and we all knew it.”
“Her name is actually Katie,” I corrected her, and she rolled her eyes.
I didn’t blame her for what happened. Obviously, I wasn’t a fan, but I didn’t know her. Jansen was the one who hadn’t had the decency to just end our relationship. He’d sent a few texts trying to apologize, but it was too little, too late. I hadn’t heard from him in months, and I was fine with it. But I certainly wasn’t expecting a wedding invitation to come in the mail.
“I liked Jansen before he cheated,” Ashlan said before slapping a hand over her mouth.
“He was never good enough for you.” Charlotte grabbed the cucumber from my pile and started peeling. “You deserve better.”
“It’s fine. He showed me his true colors six months ago. I guess I just didn’t expect to hear this way.”
“Oh, really?” Dylan oozed sarcasm. She claimed it was her second language and I could attest to the fact that she’d been fluent in angry sarcasm from the moment she’d said her first words, which were: I got it. “You didn’t expect a wedding invitation in the mail after wasting years of your life on that cheating jackass? That would require him having any amount of decency, which he doesn’t.” Dylan shook her head and tossed the invitation on the counter.
“What’s Grumpy Smurf ranting about now?” Niko walked into the kitchen with his niece, Mabel, in his arms. My best friend was all gruff and intimidating on the outside, but he was all sweetness when it came to Mabel. He adored his little niece so much.
“Oh, you know. That…” Dylan walked over to Niko and placed her hands over Mabel’s ears as she kissed her cherub cheek. “That asshole Jansen is getting married to the skank Vivi found him in the sack with. And he had the audacity to send an invitation here, to the Thomas family. He’s lucky he doesn’t live here anymore. I wouldn’t mind a minute alone in a dark alley with that wimpy, scrawny…”
“Okay. We get it. You don’t like him,” I groaned. I wasn’t in the mood for a Dylan life lesson and when the girl got on a tangent, there was no end in sight. “It’s fine. He’s known us his entire life, so it’s not that shocking that he invited us.”
Niko studied me as Ashlan pulled Mabel from his arms and took her out to the living room probably to pull out the toys that we kept there for her. His shoulder-length hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, and a few pieces fell out around his face. He was almost a foot taller than me at six foot four, with broad shoulders and piercing gray eyes. Every girl in town fawned all over him, but he’d always just been my best friend. My rock. He despised most people, but for whatever reason, we connected when we were young, and it had never changed. He leaned down and studied my eyes.
“Stop. I’m fine. I’m not even upset.”
“Bullshit, Honey Bee.” His voice was deep, and his warm breath tickled my cheek, which made me chuckle. “I told you that dude wasn’t good enough for you. I knew it and he knew it too. And he best not show his face around here for a while.”
Niko had been calling me Honey Bee since we were kids and I’d ended up naming my business after the silly nickname.
“Who needs to be hiding from Niko?” Dad said with a laugh as he came through the back door.
Before anyone could answer, all the guys started filing in one by one. There was Big Al, my dad’s best friend who also worked at the fire department, and his wife, Lottie, followed by three more firefighters, Rusty, Samson, and Tallboy. Everyone always got nicknames at the firehouse aside from Niko. They briefly called him Hero after he saved an elderly woman who’d been trapped in her attic bedroom two years ago during a house fire, but he’d put the kibosh on that immediately.
“Where’s Jace?” I asked. Jace King was a firefighter too and he was Niko’s closest guy friend.
“Karla’s out again. He’s home with the girls.” Niko looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. Jace’s wife was a train wreck, and everyone knew it.
“She’s unbelievable,” I whispered. “He could have brought the girls.”
“He wanted to spend some time with them and get them to bed early. But stop deflecting. We’re not done with this Jansen conversation. You want to go to Beer Mountain tonight?” Niko asked as he bumped me with his shoulder and popped a tomato in his mouth.
“Sure. But I’m fine,” I said with a shrug. Beer Mountain was our favorite bar in town. I wasn’t much of a drinker, and I had to be up early for work, so I wouldn’t normally go out on a work night.
But maybe blowing off some steam wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
“You’re always fine, Honey Bee.”
I nodded. Because he was right. I’d been through worse than Jansen Clark cheating on me and inviting me to his wedding.
I would be fine.
I had to be.
two
Niko
I dropped Mabel at home with my mom and my sister, Jada. I tried to get her out of there on the nights I wasn’t working at the firehouse. My sister thought I was doing it to give her a break, but the truth was, I was doing it to give Mabel a break. My mom and Jada were too much for me on a good day. My mother hadn’t been coping with reality since my dad went to prison, and my sister was far too young to be a mother, so together, they weren’t a strong combination.
“She needs a bath. She painted over at the Thomas’ house, so you’ll need to clean her up.”
“Oh, man. I need to train you to bathe her too,” Jada said as she lay on the couch with a tub of ice cream resting on her chest.
I rolled my eyes. She knew I had my limits and naked babies was one of them.
“Mama, I want some scream,” Mabel said as she made her way toward my sister with her rosy cheeks and her curls springing out of her ponytail. The girl was so damn cute it was painful.
“Didn’t Uncle Niko give you some dessert? Vivian always has the best treats,” Jada said.
“I don’t think so.” Mabel looked at me with wide eyes.
