“We need to make a list,” she said.“Salvage what we can.Inventory what’s missing.Maybe there’s still time to reach out to the sponsors.”
Dasher nodded, stepping up beside her.For a moment they worked in silence, stacking the few toys that could be saved.His presence was too large, too familiar.And every time his hand brushed hers, she felt the static.
“So this is what you do now?”he asked after a while.“Toys and bake sales?”
“It’s called giving back,” Ellie said.
He grinned.“Still fiery.”
“And you’re still infuriating.”
But she was smiling, just a little.Against her better judgment.
“You look good,” he said.“Happier.Stronger.”
She hesitated.“I had to be.”
They met eyes then, and something passed between them.A memory.A thousand of them.Late nights on his bike, the wind in her hair, her arms around his waist like nothing in the world could touch them.She hated that it was still there.
The moment stretched too long, too charged.She stepped back.“We should finish up,” Ellie finally said.
Dasher nodded, but his gaze lingered on her.“We will.But Ellie...”
She paused, fingers still on a crushed box of Legos.
“I don’t know if we can fix what broke between us.But maybe we can do some good together.Just for now,” he said.
Her heart pounded.She didn’t trust him.She didn’t trust herself.But for the kids, for this town...
“For now,” she said.“That’s all this is.”
He didn’t push.Just gave a nod and got back to work.But Ellie knew better.One look in those eyes, and she knew: this wasn’t over.Not even close.
Chapter Two
Dasher sat at the backcorner table of Maple’s Café, his fingers wrapped around a chipped white mug that had long since gone cold.He didn’t care.He wasn’t here for the coffee.He was here for Ellie.
