He sighs and raises an eyebrow, but at least his shoulders relax and he crosses the kitchen to pull out another mug. “She might’ve preferred to pick out her own.”
“Maybe, but it’ll make her smile when it shows up and you’ve seen what she brought along. None of her clothes are going to hold up to the weather when the first storm rolls in.”
Chance shakes his head, the faintest smirk playing on his lips as he picks up the pot of freshly brewed coffee. “Yeah, you’re a real hardass, Boone. Keep scowling. Once that order gets here, not even that is going to fool her anymore.”
16
CHANCE
It’s been five weeks since Roxie showed up out of nowhere, soot streaking her face and secrets hidden in her eyes, and I still haven’t figured her out. I stare at her across the kitchen counter as she finishes her omelet, trying and failing to fit her into any kind of box.
She slipped into our lives like ice cream melting to fill the cracks, the sticky sugar gluing us together again but in a different way. Laughing with Dillon at things Boone and I don’t find funny. Arguing with Boone about his nonsensical organizational systems that have been driving me nuts for ages. Collecting the half-empty coffee mugs around the house like breadcrumbs for her to follow.
We really might’ve found the one with her, and we’ve all wanted that for the longest fucking time, but we still have no clue what brought her to Montana. Every time I look at her, I feel this undercurrent of tension she tries to hide.
It’s in the way her eyes track every sound. How her body goes still on the rare occasion a car passes outside.
She makes herself comfortable here, sure, but she hasn’t stopped running. And I can’t take it anymore.
So, I offer to take her into town with me for supplies this morning. Mostly as an excuse to get her alone, but also because I want to see how she handles being around people again.
“Sure,” she says when she finally swallows the last of her breakfast. “I’ll go, but only because I need to pick up a few things. I’m generally not fit for public consumption until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee, and this is only my first.”
She picks up the mug in front of her and lifts it like she needs to prove her point. I chuckle and stride over to the pot. “We’ve got travel mugs. I’ll pour us some for the road. By the time we get to town, you’ll be ready.”
Something about the wariness that creeps into her eyes as I fill the travel mugs tells me her real worry has nothing to do with coffee, but I don’t bring it up. Yet. We’ll have plenty of time to talk on the drive and in town.
For now, I let her do whatever mental prep she needs, but Boone pulls me aside when she goes upstairs to put on her boots. Those gray eyes hold mine where we stand just inside the front door, tension etched into every line of his features.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
I shake my head. “Honestly? I don’t know, but we can’t keep her on top of the mountain for the rest of her life. Besides, she said there were a few things she needed to pick up. If she really didn’t want to go, she’d ask me to just get it for her.”
He tips his face toward the ceiling, jaw ticking as he lets out a long, measured exhale. “All right. She goes, but?—”
“You don’t need to tell me to look out for her, big guy.” I clap him on the shoulder and reach for the door. “You already know I will.”
He nods, but his jaw clenches, and when he looks at me again, I can tell it isn’t easy for him to let her go. The guy trusts me with his life, but he’s struggling to trust me alone with hers.
A smirk pulls at my mouth. “You’re really in deep, aren’t you?”
He scoffs. “Like you’re not.”
I shrug. “I’ve never denied it. We’ll be back before you know it. It’s just a supply run.”
Boone rolls his eyes, then gives me a curt nod and stalks back up the stairs, passing Roxie and reaching out to take her hand. She stops, letting him pull her in and burrow into his chest for a beat as he murmurs something I can’t catch.
Then he lets her go, and she smiles up at him like he hung the moon. A quiet moment passes between them before she moves again, not stopping on her way out the door.
I follow her to my truck, help her in, then take my place behind the steering wheel.
We’re halfway down the mountain by the time she finally speaks. “Do you, uh, do you know if the chimney at the cabin is fixed yet?”
A trickle of fear runs through me. There aren’t many things I’m actually afraid of, but losing the people I care about terrifies me, and sending her back to that cabin feels like losing her.
“The work’s been done for a while. Boone didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
