“Does it matter?” In truth, he’d always been a little bit in love with her.
She shoved away from him, fixing her attention on the soft steam rising from the burnt land. “We needed rain.”
“Elizabeth, you made yourself clear. You’re leaving. You’re not contagious, but you’re not kissing me or anyone else. Don’t feel bad?—”
She flew against him, lassoing her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his cheek, up to his eye, then down to his jawline. He pulled her onto his lap and returned her affection, kissing her chin, then down her neck to the edge of her collarbone peeking above the neckline of her T-shirt.
He breathed her in—the subtle, wild fragrance of her skin and the scent of her hair that was like the rain—and sank into a moment he hoped would never end.
But as fast as she moved into him, she jumped up, stepping into the cabin of the fire tower. “I wish it would rain again. I’m burning up.”
“Elizabeth—” Ryder reached for her. “Do you love me too?”
“No, I can’t. Even if I did, I’m still going.” She broke free and leaned against the far side of the cabin’s half wall. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done”—she pointed to his face—“that.”
“I’m not sorry. That was a pretty great kiss.”
She laughed and turned to him. “I’m not sure anyone else would think so.”
“But I do.”
She sobered. “It changes nothing.”
“Yeah, but it’s good to know you love me.”
She exhaled and looked over at the burnt spruce trees. “Yeah, I think I do.”
Things changed after that rainy kiss. Elizabeth lowered her walls, and as they worked on the fire tower Saturday, Ryder kissed her cheek anytime he wanted. Never mind that it only deepened the hum on his lips and the ache to taste hers.
Once she leaned to kiss his cheek as he looked up to ask for more pine board, and their lips almost collided. He was so startled he shot a nail into the tower floor, barely missing his foot. Warning: Don’t hold a nail gun when you might accidentally kiss the lips of the woman you love.
Sunday, he awoke with a tug to go to church. The aftermath of the fire reminded him that Someone greater than he lived.
Ryder arrived late—Fred and Ginger had decided to play hide-and-seek when he let them out—and Jeff Simmons met him in the foyer with a bulletin, then led him to a seat next to his cousin.
“Elizabeth,” he said with a curt nod, sitting straight as if being in the cloud of her gentle, fragrant scent didn’t mess with him.
“Ryder,” she said, mimicking his tone, then laughing softly, bumping his shoulder. The air between them had definitely changed.
After church, Granny D. invited him home for lunch. He stayed through dinner and a family game of Catan, grateful for every minute in Elizabeth’s presence.
Monday, he met her for dinner at Ella’s. Tuesday morning, she flew out of Nashville for Philly. Call him crazy, but he felt it the moment she lifted off.
Now he drove back from the Mace Bluff Recreation Area—someone had spotted a six-foot snake—and after relocating the fella, he headed into town for some lunch. A sandwich from Java Jane’s sounded good.
As he parked, his attention fell on a new old shop in town. Earth-n-Treasures. The previous owners, the Marshalls, had retired years back, and the shop sat dark and alone. But it looked like someone had brought it back to life.
Curious, Ryder wanted to see inside. The Marshalls used to sell antique jewelry as well as their own designs. Perhaps Jewell did the same.
A bell rang as he entered. The shop smelled of paint and new lumber, and the hardwood floor had been refinished. Walking along the display cases, a diamond in a silver or platinum setting with some kind of fancy design caught his eye.
“You have good taste.” A woman about his mother’s age came from the back room, drying her hands on a large apron. She wore no makeup, and her grayish-blonde hair was knotted on top of her head. Ryder liked her. “It’s an antique platinum ring with a scroll border. The diamond is a two-carat oval cut.”
Ryder whistled low. “It’s beautiful.”
“Like the girl you love?”
Ryder glanced up, catching Jewell’s eye, feeling as if she knew everything about him. “Yeah, but she’s in Pennsylvania right now looking at grad school.”
