4
IVAN
The frozen pipeisn’t hard to locate. I soak a towel in hot water and wrap it around the cold metal while North watches curiously from the bathroom door. I’d hoped it would take a while to find the frozen section—a task to occupy my mind. But no damn luck. Found it immediately. Now there’s nothing to distract me from the pretty little redhead staying in my rental cabin, no task I can lose myself in to forget those thick curves.
Fuck.
A crazy part of me wants to head straight back to the rental just to see her again. I could think up some excuse, some dumb pretext for being there.
Goddammit, old man.
Control yourself.
I shouldn’t be losing it over a stranger half my age. Ruby looks like she’s barely into her twenties, and I turned forty-six last month. Hell, with all my gray hairs and lines, I look even older. She’s young enough to be my daughter, for fuck’s sake.
So why the hell can’t I stop thinking about her?
Why can’t I stop replaying our whole interaction?
Wish I hadn’t acted like such a damn grump.
Wish I’d asked questions, found out more about her.
Too late now. She’s checking out on Christmas Day, which is less than a week from now. She’ll go back to wherever she came from, and then maybe I can stop feeling like my heart is doing gymnastics in my chest.
The pipe doesn’t take long to thaw. I give it half an hour before turning the water back on and testing the shower. It gushes to life.
There goes my last excuse to see Ruby again.
I turn the shower off and step out of the bathroom just as a knock sounds on the front door. North is instantly alert, barking a warning at me like I didn’t hear the knock myself. He may be a teddy bear, but he’s pretty damn protective.
“It’s okay, boy,” I tell him, giving him a quick pat.
I assume it’s somebody asking about firewood. I have a reputation for selling big bundles at decent prices to businesses around Cherry Hollow, so it’s not unusual for people to come knocking. But they’re out of luck. I sold out fast this year, and the next batch of firewood won’t be fully cured until January. The stuff I have left is to see me through the winter, with enough left over to restock the rental cabin’s supply.
“There’s no firewood left,” I grunt as I push the door open.
I almost fall to my damn knees. Ruby is standing outside, blinking at me with those warm brown eyes. Snowflakes are melting in her hair, white on red, and she tucks a lock behind her ear as she looks at me.
“Oh…uh, that’s okay.” She sounds a little confused. “I don’t need any firewood.”
My mouth is too dry to speak at first, but I finally croak out, “Sorry. Thought you were someone else.”
North is peering out of the door beside me. Now that he’s satisfied Ruby isn’t a threat, his whole demeanor changes. He bounds past me and jumps up at her, barking excitedly. My dogis the size of a damn grizzly, and Ruby is all of five-foot nothing; he nearly topples her over as he tries to lick her face.
“North!” I pull him away from her. “Sit.”
He does as he’s told, a panting mound of white fluff, looking from me to Ruby with those big puppy dog eyes.
“Sorry about that,” I tell her. “He doesn’t meet new people often.”
“That’s okay,” she chuckles, reaching out to pet him. “It’s North, right? Nice to meet you, cutie.” He nuzzles her hand and she smiles widely. “Oh, look at you! What a beautiful dog!”
It does something to me, seeing this woman standing on my doorstep, fussing over North. Something hitches in my chest. It squeezes me tight, a deep longing I can’t understand.
Fuck, I wish she were mine.
I wish she belonged here with me.
