His chest ached, and everything in him fought not to go after her.
Just like he’d tried to do when he was a boy and his mother had dropped him off at social services before taking off.
He knew he was better off without his mother—although those first few years in foster care would have said otherwise—but right now, he was having a hard time saying he was better off without Maisie.
But he knew he would be. In time.
Just not right now.
“Axel!” someone called out. “It looks like we have a tree crew coming out to help! Do you have the locations of all the downed trees?”
Sighing, he nodded and gave a thumbs-up. There was work to be done, and it was just as well. A distraction was exactly what he needed. Plus, he wanted to prove to Walker and the guys that he could handle anything that was thrown at him when they were all away.
He’d prove that he was good enough.
Even if it didn’t feel that way right now.
The hotel room looked dingier than it had before she left on Friday, and now more than ever, it made her want to cry. And even though she had a laundry list of reasons why she was feeling emotional, the truth was it felt like her heart was broken.
It was a fling.
“A wonderful, wonderful fling,” she whispered before collapsing on the bed and letting the tears fall.
To say that the last several days had been a whirlwind would be an understatement. So much of her life lately had been about other people’s expectations and doing things that didn’t make her happy. But from the moment she climbed into the truck on Friday for her interview, it just felt like she was finally in control of her life. Now, she had the job she needed, but it didn’t make her happy.
Okay, that wasn’t completely true—she was happy because it meant potential freedom from her family’s stupid plans. But other than that, it felt like she had just walked away from something that could have been…
Everything.
Rolling onto her back, Maisie stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. “I know it was only four days, but…”
Another sigh.
Axel Hayes was proof that good lineage wasn’t necessary to be an outstanding person. He was honest and humble, kind and hardworking. But more than anything, he was genuinely a good human. That much was obvious from everything she witnessed. From the things his friend Connor had said to her, to the way he bared his soul to her while they were sitting out by the lake.
And more than all of that, he clearly respected her.
If she had been in the situation she found herself in Friday night with any other man, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that it would have ended differently. Axel had been honest about wanting her, but he kept his distance because he knew how to respect boundaries.
And yet another sigh.
She’d never spent time with a man where she just enjoyed sitting and talking. For those four days, the two of them had talked about a hundred different things, and there was never a lull. He knew so much about construction, and it seemed like he knew everything there was to know about the resort property. He never went to college, but he knew a lot about so many topics. He made her feel comfortable and took a genuine interest in everything she had to say.
That wasn’t the case with anyone she knew back home.
Home. Pfft. She felt more at home in that tiny cabin than she had in almost her entire life.
“And how freaking sad is that?” she murmured.
It would be easy to simply lie here and have a pity party all day, but that wouldn’t get her anywhere. She needed to make up the contract to email to Walker and get things rolling. The resort was basically in great shape and pretty close to the decorating stage, so if the guys were looking to stay on schedule, then she needed to put things in motion.
No matter how sad she felt.
“But first…a shower.”
Slowly, she got to her feet and stretched. She’d been wearing the same clothes for almost the entire weekend—except for when she wore Axel’s clothes. But it was going to feel great to put on her own clean clothes.
The water was hot, and it felt good, and she lingered longer than usual just because she was procrastinating. But when she finally stepped out and dried off, she felt a little more like her old self.
