Over Her Head: Pine Cove

By Crystal Inman

Marisol Winters has the life she's always wanted.  Engaged to Daniel McDowell.  Ushered into the tight-knit family who love her as if she were their own. Then a freak accident changes her life forever.  Danny's helicopter crashes in the mountains of Colorado while on a cattle auction trip.  Rescuers search the mountains for survivors for months.
Marisol thinks her heart may be ready to give love another chance with Shawn, Danny's younger brother, as he begins to show an interest in her.  But her fiancé isn't dead.  Danny comes back into Marisol's life a year and a half later after a miracle rescue.  
Danny and Marisol meet again as different people.  This Danny is curt and hostile.  He wants nothing to do with Marisol or their engagement.  He wants her completely out of his life. Marisol tries to salvage their relationship but soon realizes she's in over her head.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crystal Inman
• Release date: Sep 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988322344

Crystal Inman

Crystal Inman is an eccentric and eclectic author of more than two dozen novels. She delights in writing Romance, Fantasy, and LGBTQIA+. Her first Erotic Romance, What He Wants, was the number one bestseller for her publisher three years in a row. Crystal read romance, Fairy-Tales, and Stephen King in her early adolescence. She is their unruly love child. You can keep track of Crystal on her website at www.inmanbooks.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Marisol shifted under the covers in the dark.  Sweat clung to her brow and trickled down her spine.  Another nightmare.  She opened her eyes and flung back the covers.  The air from the ceiling fan pushed down on her, making her shiver.  A sliver of light underneath her bathroom door assured her she was awake. 

There would be no more sleep for her this morning.  Barely four, and she rubbed her clammy hands over her hot aching eyes and tried to concentrate.  How elusive sleep had become.  Shawn was sure to notice the matching luggage under her dark green eyes.  He’d make noise which would mean Audrey would pay more attention, and she didn’t need the Matriarch of Clan McDowell worried any more about her than usual.

She swung her feet over the side of the bed and tried to pull up the heavy wave of auburn hair that clung to her neck and shoulders.  It usually fell in soft waves, but now it curled and clung to her bare shoulders and the small straps of her white tank top.  Marisol twisted it expertly and pinned it with a long needle she kept by the bed. 

A shower would be heavenly, and maybe she could wash away the bad dreams and rinse the sweat from her damp hair.  The house would stir soon enough with the hands feeding the cattle and horses.  Maude would be up in the kitchen slinging hash and cursing those same hands that dared to tarnish her meticulous kitchen with boots heavy with slime and dung.

Daniel had been the only one who could charm her.  He’d kiss her cheek and sneak the closest piece of bacon or toast with a triumphant laugh.  She’d call him a rascal and pat his cheek.  Anyone else would have lost a limb.

Marisol sighed and rubbed her forehead.  She’d buried him nearly a year and a half ago.  Thrown in the white carnations he’d always given her for their anniversary.  She’d smelled them only once since that day, and her stomach rolled immediately while bile filled her throat.  She had stood over a bare casket and sobbed until she’d been an empty husk. 

Starting her life over had hurt nearly as much as Daniel’s funeral.  She’d been lost.  They had nearly three years together before his plane crash.  Three years of laughter and love.  Promises made in the dark and kept in the light of the day.  Burnt pizzas and crazy cocktails.  Movies and mischief.  Cooking classes and hay rides.

Marisol stiffened her spine and stood slowly.  The nightmares seemed to come more frequently now.  She knew it was probably because his birthday was in a week.  They would have been married.  She lightly touched her stomach and couldn’t stop the tear from sliding slowly down her cheek.  They’d talked of a family.  Girls with auburn hair and boys with laughing brown eyes. 

But now Shawn, the younger McDowell, looked at her the way Danny used to, and she knew she could give her heart to him in time.  He was a decent man.  Danny’s little brother with short blonde hair and a quick tongue.  Bright blue eyes who’d charmed more than one lady around town.

Danny had taken after his Ma with dark brown hair and darker brown eyes.  He’d kept his hair long enough to brush his collar, and he stated how much he absolutely hated the curl at the end.  She’d secretly loved it.  Marisol would twine it around her fingers and give it the slightest tug to draw his attention. 

Shawn’s looks were lighter and brighter as their father had been.  Though both men were stout and muscular.  Danny had two inches and five years on his brother, but they were closer than close.  Mac and Audrey raised them to respect the land, the hands, and each other.  Marisol had been so happy to be a part of that.

And Audrey, God bless her, insisted she stay on the land after Danny passed.  Marisol protested at first, until her mother succumbed to a case of ovarian cancer that advanced so quickly, she died within two months of her diagnosis.  Her father passed years before, and she had no other family.  She’d simply donated her mother’s clothing to the local thrift store and stored all her furniture in a unit in town. 

Her family home became a rental to a beautiful couple with a six-year-old little girl for the past six months.  Marisol loved knowing her mother’s plants and home were being taken care of by the renters.  They had ooh’d and aah’d over the small greenhouse behind the three-bedroom home, and Marisol felt her heart swell in her chest. 

It’s okay, her mother’s voice seemed to whisper.  They will take care of what once was mine.  Marisol had drawn the papers up immediately and hadn’t regretted it a bit.  Eventually, she’d go through the storage locker, but she knew it wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Losing her mother so soon after Danny hardened something inside her.  A person can only take so much pain before he or she walls it off to function.  Audrey had been her lifesaver.  She’d always wanted a daughter but only had two hardheaded sons.  The older woman opened her home and heart to her grieving son’s fiancée.  They had survived.  The two women who’d known such a keen loss leaned on each other through the grief.

Shawn wept openly in the beginning.  When he would go to check on the cattle and remember the day that Danny had nearly been run down by a pissed-off heifer when Danny tried to move between her and her calf.  When he would take his pole down to the pond for fishing, only to remember the day Danny pushed him off the dock and then nearly fell of laughing afterwards.  The old treehouse over the first hill where the woods started at the back of the land.  Both boys carved their names into the wood.

Marisol admired Shawn as she watched him grieve and heal.  He’d always been the open one.  Quick to laugh and poke fun at himself.  First to admit a mistake he’d made.  Shawn was an open book.  And now that open book wanted her.

It wasn’t as if she set her sights on the younger brother.  She had, in fact, avoided all men for well over a year.  Her heart remained closed off.  She had no want or will to ever be in a relationship again.  And it wasn’t fair to anyone to encourage something that would never amount to anything.

But Shawn had been quietly persistent.  When she decided to stay on the land, he’d immediately gone and bought a pair of custom-made boots for her work on the farm.  He’d planted irises below her window when she confessed one time that they were her favorite.  He’d asked Maude to add biscuits and gravy to her Sunday morning menu because the meal reminded Marisol of her mother. 

Marisol didn’t encourage any of it.  She’d always thought of Shawn as little brother.  Danny was thirty-one when they started dating.  She’d only turned thirty the month before.  Shawn was in his mid-twenties and the King of Casual Dating.  He’d had dinner with them usually once a week where he talked of his latest girlfriend and their outings.  She and Danny never met any of them since they rarely lasted more than a week or two.

Around a month ago, she and Shawn had been out late watching the sky and chatting about nothing in particular on the front porch of the big farmhouse.  It was a clear night where all the stars were etched brightly in the Oklahoma sky.  They swung slowly back and forth on the old porch swing.  Marisol had been tucked under a light blue blanket she kept at the foot of her bed.  Shawn wore a crimson hoodie and sweats.

They’d talked of nothing in particular until their thoughts ran out.  And still they rocked.  Marisol was about to excuse herself when Shawn leaned over and kissed her.  The sheer shock kept her eyes wide open.  Her heart pounded as his blue eyes searched her dark green ones.  Then he cupped her cheek and brought her lips to his.

She’d shut her eyes then.  No one had touched her in over a year.  Her body craved the physical intimacy Shawn now offered to her.  No.  He wasn’t Danny.  But he was a good man with strong hands who traced their way over her body.  Her moan surprised her, and Shawn growled low in his throat as his hands worked under her sweatshirt to cup her breast.

Marisol threw her head back as Shawn nipped at her throat, and she arched her body into his.  Her hands found the bare skin of his hard stomach, and she dug her fingers into muscles that clenched at her touch.

Then his mouth met hers again, and she didn’t know where her bra went and didn’t particularly care as he lifted her sweatshirt and brought one nipple into his mouth while her body strained to move closer.  She felt his arousal against her leg, and she wanted him.  He’d taken his hoodie and shirt off in one motion and then pulled her sweatshirt off to throw it under the swing.

Shawn lay back in the swing with Marisol on top of him with her breasts pressed into his bare chest.  Her blue blanket over both of them while he tasted her mouth and his hands learned the curves of her body.  She lay in the vee of his legs and couldn’t stop her body from moving against his.  It had been so long.

He wound his fingers through her hair, and she trembled.  Then his hands moved down to her hips, still clad in jeans, and he rocked against her.  Marisol was too far gone.  She ached for release.  Her legs shook as Shawn sped up his movements, and she gasped as the first wave washed over her.  He brought her mouth down to his and swallowed her cry as her orgasm slammed through her.

Their ragged breathing the only sound outside as even the crickets seemed to hold their breath. 

I’m sorry, Marisol stuttered and tried to move from on top of him.  She hoped the dark hid her blush as she tried to extricate herself.

Shawn shook his head.  I’m not.  He held her against him and set the swing to rocking.

Shawn, she began.

Don’t.  His voice whispered against her hair.  Don’t think.  Don’t worry.  Lay here with me for a bit.

She’d sighed then and relaxed against him.  They rocked for another half hour or so before she reclaimed her sweatshirt and bra.  Then she awkwardly wrapped her blanket around herself and hurriedly walked to her bedroom.  When she looked back, only once, Shawn started rocking again.

The next morning, she woke with a headache and guilt. 

Her hormones were needy little bitches she needed to take control of, obviously.  She took a quick shower and then dressed in her jeans, old T-shirt, and her brown boots.  Marisol stiffened her spine and grabbed her jacket from the closet.

An apology in the light of day should work wonders for the awkwardness of last night.  Or at least, she hoped so. 

The kitchen bustled with half a dozen hands seated around the large oak kitchen table while Maude worked the double oven and stove with expert hands.  Marisol’s mouth watered at the sight and smell of the eggs, pancakes, and bacon spread across the table.  Orange juice, coffee, and milk waited on the island behind Maude.

You could hear laughter and silverware scraping plates as the hands gave each other hell before starting their day.  Shawn sat at the head of the table, at the end.  The morning paper placed in front of his plate.  He sipped his coffee and poured thick syrup over a stack of pancakes.  His eyes met hers when she entered the room, and she hoped she didn’t look as guilty as she felt.

Morning, Marisol.  Shawn lifted his cup of coffee, as if to toast her.

Shawn.  She picked up a small mug and poured skimmed milk into it.  Maude immediately grabbed some homemade sourdough bread and popped it in the toaster. 

All the hands greeted her and then went back to their conversation.  It surely wasn’t silent in the kitchen, but she didn’t know if she should say something now or wait.  She sighed and grabbed her toast that Maude plated and moved to sit by Shawn.

Marisol sat down and forked two pieces of bacon onto her plate.  A couple small spoonful of scrambled eggs joined them.  She cleared her suddenly dry throat and took another drink of milk.  She looked up to see Shawn studying her.

I’m sorry, she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear.

His light blue eyes studied her mouth and then moved up to meet her gaze.  I’m not.  Then or now.

I don’t think... she began.

Shawn shook his head.  Too much thinking.  He took a sip of his coffee.  How about keeping an open mind at least?

I don’t want to hurt you, she blurted.

He arched an eyebrow.  As an adult male, I assure you that I can take care of myself.

Damn it, Shawn.  You know what I mean.  She narrowed her eyes at his flippant tone.

Oh.  The fact you loved my brother and would have been my sister-in-law?

She flinched.

I’ve no underhanded plot to trick you into my bed.  Though I think, after last night, we’d both enjoy it.  He paused and studied her still.  I like you, Mari.  And I’m not going anywhere.  He smiled.  Now eat your bacon and quit scowling at me.

Asshole, she muttered.

That kicked off a month of Shawn seemingly showing up wherever she happened to be working.  He’d hand her a hammer if she needed.  Or the bag of feed.  Or dirt for the small garden she kept behind the house.

Then, a week ago, he didn’t hand her anything.  He simply found her behind the big barn and pulled her to him.  His mouth sealed over hers, and she didn’t bother thinking.  Marisol plunged her hands into his hair and pressed her body to his.  Shawn’s hands found the bare skin between the waistband of her jeans and the ratty orange T-shirt that rode up when she lifted her arms.

They kissed for a small eternity.  Shawn finally broke the embrace and strode off, whistling.  She damn near chunked a brick at his head.  Marisol took a full ten minutes to calm down before she attempted to rejoin civilization.  He’d ambushed her.  She allowed herself a smile.  It had been wonderful.

Maybe she could move on.  Maybe her shattered heart could take another chance.  It was both exhilarating and terrifying.  And what would Audrey say?  Marisol cringed at the thought of hurting the older woman.  Engaged to one son and now moving onto the other?  Her stomach rolled.  She would need to take this slow, if she intended to take it at all.  Marisol touched her mouth and remembered Shawn’s. 

She moved into the shower and washed the nightmare off with sure strokes.  She was allowed to still grieve Danny, especially around his birthday.  And after the remembrance they chose to celebrate every year, she would seriously consider Shawn and their mutual attraction.

Marisol pulled her wet hair up in a tight bun that didn’t help her headache at all, but she didn’t feel like blow-drying and dealing with it at all.  She wore faded jeans and a dark green Henley with her farm boots.  Marisol popped a couple of pills for her headache.  Her stomach felt sour, but she dressed and went down to the kitchen for breakfast, just the same.  The morning crew loud and happy this morning as Maude filled the table with dozens of buttermilk biscuits, sausage patties, gravy, and hash browns.

It had been a good thing she started to help more around the farm.  Eating Maude’s breakfast with no exercise daily would mean she’d outgrow her clothes within a month.  But all the chores helped her increased caloric intake and had finally even helped lose a few pounds.

Marisol grabbed a plate and grabbed a biscuit, one patty, and slathered gravy over both.  She glanced at Shawn out of the corner of his eye, and he winked.

You’re impossible, she muttered.

Audrey walked into the kitchen, and all commotion stopped.  Danny and Shawn helped around the farm and took on more duties, but it was Audrey and Mac’s baby.  Everyone knew it.  She was in her mid-sixties but looked two decades younger.  Barely five foot four with silver gray hair wrapped tight on her head and piercing brown eyes, she wore her work overalls and heavy brown boots.  She still had a bit of the brogue she brought with her as a child

I’ve been watching the weather, and I think we’re in for a rough night.  Make sure the animals have enough feed and muck out the stalls and horse stands.  We’ll put everyone up for the night, especially our girls with calves.  Make sure the pigs have enough slop in case it gets dicey tomorrow morning.  Check on the chickens and make sure Rita Mae doesn’t lead the other ladies into temptation.

Rita Mae was a Rhode Island Red hen who was the worst influence in the coop.  She had her sisters laying eggs anywhere and everywhere but where they should.  It was always a bit of an Easter egg hunt when she was wound up, and she absolutely hated storms.

Duke won’t like it, but make sure that he and Winston are penned up in the barn, also.  Damn dog thinks he needs to be out in that mess.

Duke and Winston were silver German Shepherds that watched the farm and made sure everything was up to their standards.  Storms always upset the livestock which upset the boys.  But if they got ahead of this, then the entire farm would simply ride through it as they had before.

Marisol knew it was the beginning of storm season in Oklahoma, and they all watched the weather closely.  Damn tornadoes were unpredictable as they could be.  Meteorologists basically sat on the right-hand side of God in this state.  Good news is that they should have plenty of time to take care of the farm before the weather blew in.  That was a blessing.

Everyone finished their breakfast quickly as Audrey sat and polished off hers.  Marisol would pull a makeshift cover over her small garden in the back.  Maude actually had the bigger garden to the side of the house, but Marisol felt the need to have something of her own.  The last thing she wanted was her tender plants being beat to death by hail or straight-line winds.

They left the kitchen as a group and stepped out the side door.  Marisol smelled the storm in the air, and it looked like the rest of the hands did, too.  They hurried quickly to do Audrey’s bidding, and Marisol went to cover her tomato, zucchini, and okra plants in the back.

The wind picked up a bit, and she cursed under her breath as she pulled the tarp where she wanted it and staked it down quickly.  She thought she heard a car pull into the driveway as she finished pounding in the last stake and fastening the blue cover.  There was an unearthly silence followed by a commotion that had her heart beating faster.  Maybe they thought the storm would come in sooner?  Marisol glanced up at the sky and noticed the quickly moving grey clouds.  She shrugged and walked around the side of the house to go help whoever needed it and suddenly stopped.

An OSBI van parked in the driveway made her mouth run dry, and her ears ring.  It was the same type van that delivered the news of Danny’s accident.  All the hands crowded around the side of the van door that she could now see was open.  She could see the top of Shawn’s head but couldn’t see what was going on. 

Marisol sighed and put her hands on her hips.  Audrey! she yelled.

The workers parted like the Red Sea, and Marisol had no time to say anything else before the sight set in.  Audrey stood by the van with her arms wrapped around her older son, Danny.

Chapter 2

Marisol’s throat worked but no sound came out.  Shock rolled over her in waves, and she trembled in the warm morning.  Audrey wept openly against Danny’s tan button-up shirt while Shawn had his arm slung around his older brother and hugged him tightly with tears rolling down his cheeks.  All the hands held their hats and welcomed Danny back home.

She noticed several things at once.

He was thinner now.  His skin a great deal darker than it had been before.  Sharp cheekbones below incredibly short brown hair.  She could see a scar across his right cheek.  She noticed that he didn’t return his mother’s or brother’s embrace.  He simply stood there looking at her.  Into her.

Cal Williams moved toward Marisol and smiled.  I’ve brought your fiancé back.

How? she whispered.

I’ll let him tell the story.  Cal hugged Marisol and whispered in her ear.  Be patient with him, Mari.  He’s been through a lot.

She nodded against Cal’s cheek and stepped back. 

There are days I love my job.  He walked back to the van and shook Danny’s hand.  Good to see you Danny and know you’re home. 

Danny stood and moved away from the van.  He watched one of his oldest friends shut the side door and drive off.

Audrey kept her arm around her older son but moved to his side where she was now tucked under both her sons’ arms.  She slung her other arm around Shawn.  I’m taking my boys inside to catch up.  Once you’ve done your duties, you’re more than welcome to shut it down for the evening.

The hands all moved away, smiling and chatting amongst themselves, eager to finish their chores and happy that one of their own was back home.

Tears slid down Audrey’s face.  Can you believe it, Marisol?  She put her head back against Danny’s chest.  Can you believe it?

I don’t think I would have recognized you.  Danny’s gravelly voice carried over to her.  You look different than I remember.

She’s been helping around the farm, Shawn responded and wiped his eyes.

Has she?  Danny tilted his head to the side.  Interesting.  He paused.  No hug for your fiancé?

Marisol’s hand flew to her mouth.  I’m so sorry.  I didn’t want to interrupt Audrey and Shawn.

She walked over on stiff legs to the trio.  Marisol stopped and put her right arm around Danny’s neck and hugged him from the side, careful not to squish Audrey.

Danny was a great deal leaner than she remembered.  He’d always been stout before, and now all she felt was muscle.  As with the others, he didn’t return her hug.  She stepped awkwardly away.

Maude is going to fix you the best breakfast you’ve ever had.  Audrey looked up at him and kissed his cheek.  I can’t believe you’re actually here.  She paused and sniffled again. 

Mother.  Please don’t cry.

Shawn frowned at his tone.  I think she’s a bit allowed, don’t you?

I suppose.

Those dark brown eyes met hers again.  No tears?

She’s in shock.  Shawn frowned.  She’s white as a sheet.  He disentangled himself from Audrey and walked over to Marisol. 

Are you alright, Mari?  His gentle blue eyes searched her wide green ones.

She only trusted herself to nod.

Audrey kept her arm around