The corner of her mouth hooked up. “You interrupted me again.”
“I learned from the best.”
She laughed. “I wonder who it was.” A wistful sigh left her. “Do you have popcorn?”
“Nope.” The same food had been in my cupboards for years.
“A sweet wine or maybe a Summer’s Summit?” She lifted her brow. Summer’s Summit was the line made for her. Darin Bailey had made all his kids a special blend.
Cold shrank my good humor. “I don’t have alcohol in the house.”
“Oh.” She made herself tinier in her corner. “I’m sorry. I should’ve...” Squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m so sorry.”
Me and my big damn mouth. “Like I said, I know Copper Summit isn’t to blame. I used to be on meds that I couldn’t have alcohol with. Now, I can’t tamper with my balance.”
She gave me a placating smile and turned her attention to the TV, but her expression was introspective. She wasn’t seeing the show.
I reached over and snatched the remote out of her hand. After pausing the movie, I leaned over. “You’re going to stay out of that cunning brain of yours, quit second-guessing everything you do, and we’re going to enjoy the movie.”
She studied me for several long heartbeats. Shesucked her lower lip between her teeth and pulled it back out. “And you said I was bossy.”
Summer
I set my bag by the door to the garage and stepped into my slippers. They were stained gray from sprinting through the parking lot.
Jonah crowded into the nook by the back door and stuffed his feet into his boots. “Is that all you have to wear?”
I straightened. I was in my fourth flirty floral dress. At least I had leggings for this one. My other dresses were dirty and all I had left clean were my bikinis and beach wraps.
I shrugged. “I’m Bali ready. It’s fine.” The trip to Mama’s house would only take twenty minutes.
“It’s cold out.”
“I came here in a wedding dress.” Admittedly, the wedding dress had more fabric, but I wasn’t putting that thing on again.
His eyes darkened. “Wait here.” He disappeared into the garage.
Several minutes ticked by. I had no phone to scroll through, only the silence I’d appreciated during my stay. My condo in Bozeman was quiet. Sort of. My neighbors were mostly working professionals who kept to themselves, but it wasn’t like living in the country. Sounds of traffic and people talking invaded the space. There were no sounds of nature unless a storm rolled through.
When Jonah returned, he had a pile of winter clothing in his hands. He handed me a pair of blue ski pants. “Everything’s cold. I don’t keep the garage heated. A waste of money when I have the shop to work in.”
I eyed the pants. “I could wear these as overalls.”
He grunted and hung a black winter coat up on the wall next to me. “Try them on.” Underneath the clothing was a pair of mud boots. “These were for turkey season.”
I would swim in it all, but the gust of cold air that had come in from just the garage was enough to spur me into action. “You must have a lot of extra winter clothing.” I had my fun winter wear and my winter work gear. I didn’t throw away old coats. They were rotated into the ranch clothing.
“These were for my . . . old hobbies.”
Old hobbies. He had let it all go. He spoke like he had to, yet he’d been outside doing manual labor half the time I’d been here. Building furniture wasn’t an office job. Why’d he given everything else up?
The snow pants swamped me, but I tugged them all the way to my chest and cinched them. He handed me the coat. My fingers were lost inside the sleeves, but he zipped the front for me.
“Guess I won’t need gloves,” I said, holding a droopy sleeve up.
“And it has a hood. Now try the boots.”
I stepped out of my sandals and into the boots. They were cool, like the rest of the gear. Lifting a foot, I giggled. I had to keep my toes tense to take a step without walking right out of them.
