“The only ones waiting for me are my best friends.”
“Tabitha the teacher, Abby the event planner, and Rosie the model?” I recounted, and her eyes softened.
“You remembered my friends?” she asked gently, taking my hand with hers. “You’re really sweet, you know that?”
“I don’t think anyone has ever called me sweet.” I chuckled.
“You are, though.”
“You don’t know me.” But I wanted her to. Suddenly, dread started to grow in the pit of my gut. If she only knew what my employees thought of me. How much they hated me. They thought I was the Grinch reincarnated.
“Maybe… but see, when you do what I do?—“
“Nursing.”
“In the emergency room,” she added, as if I could forget. I could only imagine what people thought when she showed up to help them. The relief at seeing an angel of mercy ready to help them on their worst day. “You pick up a sort of sixth sense about people.”
“You do, huh?” I asked, leaning closer, skimming a strand of her hair with the back of my fingers.
“Yeah, you get really good at learning people. Their character. All from the first moment you come in contact with them.”
“You do?” I swallowed slightly, worried about what the hell she could have sensed about me.
“Oh yeah.” She smiled. “The overreactors. The ones faking it. The ones keeping calm but quietly freaking out. The others who don’t tell you the whole story about how they got in whatever position they walk through the doors in.”
“I bet you do.” I couldn’t imagine doing what she did. Seeing people on their worst days.
“And when I met you…” She paused, and my heart did, too, as it waited for her to keep talking. “I knew you were different.”
“A bad shopping cart driver?” I teased, but the dreamy expression on her face didn’t change. It didn’t even crack to a slight half-smile.
“No. You have a good heart, Asher…”
“Tilbury.”
“Tilbury,” she repeated. “Asher Tilbury.” I liked hearing my name on her tongue.
“And you’re Ember Thomas”
“I am.”
“Very nice to meet you, Ember Thomas.” The sentiment was an understatement. I’d never met anyone like her. Not even close.She’s the on,.a voice in my head whispered, and I didn’t have it in me to try and lie to myself. We shook hands, but this time, we didn’t let go. We simply snuggled in closer on the couch.
Our conversation flowed. Easy with a steady pace as the wind blew hard against the cabin. She jumped in my arms, butI pulled her close, loving the way her body fit mine.Like she’s made for me.
“Don’t worry. I promise I made sure to build a very strong cabin.” I’d never been sure of why I’d done it.
After my mom passed, returning to Sugarloaf had hurt way too much. But there was a day about three and a half years ago when I’d woken up, and all I’d wanted to do was get the place built on the land I’d purchased in Sugarloaf. As I held her and breathed in the scent of her hair and skin, a note unique to Ember, I was convinced, truly believed, I’d done it for her.
For the day I’d meet the woman who would flip my life upside down with a single smile.
“I believe you,” she whispered. The lights flickered, and she stilled in my arms.
“Two back-up generators,” I reminded hoarsely against her temple. “But just in case, let me get the fire going a little stronger.”
“Okay,” she answered. I moved from the couch and added more wood into the fireplace, feeling her eyes on me the entire time.
When I returned to the couch, neither of us pretended that this attraction wasn’t a palpable, breathing, living thing between us. I sat, and she moved right into my side. She shivered, and I pulled the blanket over her. The smile she gave me fed more than my soul; it kickstarted a heart I hadn’t been sure would ever recover after grieving for so long.
