I nod. “And I’ve gotten to kiss you. I’m dancing with you in the kitchen.”
“Easy to please,” she jokes.
“Just someone who’s grateful for what he has.”
She pulls back and stares at me, questions floating in her eyes that she doesn’t voice. Instead, she goes up on her tiptoes, her lips ghosting over mine before she says, “Breakfast is ready.”
We spend the next four days finding new things to keep us occupied. Stealing kisses but never taking it further. I want to respect the boundaries Annalise put in place, even if they kill me more and more every time I kiss her and want nothing more than to take her upstairs to bed. I understand and respect her decision not to jump straight into anything, especially after we haven’t seen each other in years.
Sitting at the table for breakfast, Annalise cosy in her pyjamas as she slowly works her way through her eggs, I say, “I was thinking about checking the driveway and maybe heading into town today, if you want to. I know you love wandering and experiencing the small town holiday vibe.”
Her eyes light up before her smile even hits her face.
“Really?”
“I’ve got four-wheel drive, so as long as it’s not too bad, I’m sure we can make into town.”
Her excitement is palpable. “That would be amazing! I resigned myself to no trips into town because of my car and I’m not a fan of driving in heavy amounts of snow.”
I mock salute her and say, “At your service.”
She leans over the table and kisses me quickly before clearing our plates. I will never get over the way she kisses me. I grin as I watch her hurry around the kitchen, her mind moving a mile a minute. When she heads up stairs to change, I poke myhead outside to assess the state of the driveway. It hasn’t snowed much since that storm that trapped us here. It’s definitely going to take some shovelling, but I think I can get us out of here, and hopefully the rest of the roads have been plowed at least enough that I can get us to town and back. Bundled up, I grab the snow shovel and get to work.
EIGHTEEN
ANNALISE
Ican’t contain my excitement at the thought of going to town today. The way it was snowing on my way here, I knew there was going to be a lot of it while I was here, and I don’t like driving in it. In the city, it’s wet snow. It melts and freezes overnight, and we end up with sheets of black ice. The snow never sticks around long enough to truly learn how to drive in it. The last big snowfall we had where it didn’t all turn to complete slush after twenty-four hours was before I was driving age.
It’s amazing how I’ve gone from thinking having Sebastian here was the worst thing that could happen to this trip to thinking it’s the best. I may not have completely moved on from the past. He hurt me, but after learning that it was all because of my idiot older brother, it’s easier. Walker may only be a year older than me, but he’s always been overly protective, as though his sole duty in life is to hover over me and ensure my safety. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother. He’ll always have my back, and I’ll have his. But he takes it too far at times. When I get back to the city, I need to have a chat with him about what’s appropriate and what isn’t.
I quickly change into more appropriate clothes and head outside, where I find Sebastian shovelling the driveway. Evenunder his layers of clothing, I can tell he must take care of himself, because he’s moving large chunks of snow that must weigh a good amount. He’s halfway done when I join him. We only have one shovel, and I have a feeling that if I were to offer to take over, I’d get a death glare. Instead, I settle for keeping him company, talking.
Eight years is a long time, but it’s as though because we’re experiencing it, we don’t perceive how much time has passed. But as Sebastian tells me about the last eight years of his life I missed, it hits me just how much we’ve both experienced since we last really spent time together.
Neither of us has had major relationships; nothing has felt right for either of us. Sebastian is making enough that he’s been able to help his mom out, and she’s been able to cut back on some of the insane hours she worked when we were teenagers. The relief in his voice is evident. I remember the weight that would come over him when he talked about her growing up. He was always so appreciative of everything she did for him, but he saw the toll it took on her. She wouldn’t let him work, no matter how many times he offered or how much he wanted to, because she wanted him to focus on his studies.
While so much has happened in the last eight years, it’s amazing how much we’ve stayed the same. His sense of humour is one that still has me laughing until my stomach hurts, and there’s still something about him I can’t put my finger on that makes me feel wholly safe with him.
When he thinks he’s shovelled enough that he can get out of the driveway, we load up in his truck. Music fills the air, continuing from where the song left off when we were dancing in the kitchen. The thought has a blush hitting my cheeks. I’ve always thought it would be nice to be so at ease that you dance with someone you love in the kitchen while preparing food, but I’ve never experienced that; at least not before today.
I have the time of my life in town with Sebastian. He holds my hand, and we wander up and down the freshly shovelled sidewalks, popping into different stores. I can tell that browsing knickknacks and Christmas decorations isn’t Sebastian’s thing, but he never complains, smiling at me as I get overly excited about the most mundane things. He’ll point out things he thinks I’ll like, more often than not hitting the nail on the head.
I manage to grab a few things without Sebastian noticing, tucking them inside my jacket or into my pockets after paying.
The sun is setting, casting a glow over the mountains in the distance and we’re walking hand-in-hand when a realization settles over me. As much as Sebastian was the cause of my pain eight years ago and all the time it took to get over it, I’ve never been as content as I’ve been the last few days. People may shit on soulmates and unspoken connections with someone, but the way we’ve been able to fall back into a sense of comfort with one another so quickly has me starting to think it all may exist.
I stop us in the middle of the sidewalk and step in front of Sebastian, facing him. His brow furrows as he looks down at me, but I reach up and smooth it with my thumb as I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him. His shock quickly dissolves, and his arms wrap around me, holding me close. I melt into him, loving the feeling of being wrapped in his arms.
When we finally break apart, he smiles and asks, “What was that for?”
I smile back and shake my head. “Nothing. I’m just glad you chose to come.”
He tucks a piece of hair that escaped my toque behind my ear, his touch soft. “Me too, Lise.”
“You ready to head back? I was thinking maybe some hot cocoa, a movie, and a cuddle on the couch.”
His smile grows, and he nods. “Sounds perfect.”
