That same feeling I always get when I think about marriage runs through me. It’s a mix of sadness and acceptance and I don’t even know what else. Longing maybe? I can’t decide.
I wasn’t lying to Noah earlier when I said I gave up on my dream of marriage. I have. But sometimes ... very seldomly ... I dream of it.
I guess now is one of those times.
“Listen, I won’t keep you, dear. I just wanted to say hello and tell you I love all the work you’ve been doing at the cidery with Noah. He needs someone in his life like you.”
“Like me?”
“Yeah, someone cheery. Someone hopeful. I like Ezra, but that boy is all grump and numbers, and that’s it. Noah needs someone in his life, especially after the divorce. I worry about him being alone for too long, you know?”
Oh, if she only knew how alone he wasn’t.
She shakes her head. “Anyway. I’ll let you get back to your night and go find Brian before he buys the entire ice cream aisle.”
She gives me a quick hug, then hurries away to find her husband.
He catches her at the end of the lane, swooping her into his arms. She giggles loudly as he nuzzles his face into her neck.
They look like teenagers, so happy and carefree. So in love.
That same ache as before hits me, but I push it aside.
No time for aching now. I have somewhere to be.
Chapter Fifteen
Noah
I should feel bad for hiding things from my sister, but I can’t find it in me to give a shit when I’m faced with the sight before me.
Odette lounges on a blanket in the back of the barn where I’m working, a bowl of grapes next to her. She’s popping them into her mouth one by one, and it looks like something straight out of a fantasy.
The best part is that she’s not even trying to be sexy. She just is.
She spent the night at my house again last night, except this time when I woke up, she was still there. That’s the way it’s been for the last week plus. She shows up at my place, we fuck until we can barely move, then we sleep and do it all again the next day. I can’t remember a time I’ve been so exhausted yet relaxed at the same time.
Right now, though, I’m feeling anything but relaxed, and it has everything to do with Odette, who is pushing my buttons to the max in more ways than one.
“What’s the purpose of these again?” I’ve been building two rooms for the last few days, and all they’ve done is cause me grief. She insists they’re a necessary evil and even has Ezra on board. I don’t know how she wrapped us both around her finger, but she has.
“They’re make-out rooms.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Yep. Want to test them out?” She waggles her brows at me.
“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
I drop the hammer I’m holding, then pounce on her.
Her laughter carries through the barn as I fit myself between her legs and pepper kisses over her face.
“Shh,” I say into her ear. “You’re being too loud. Don’t want any passersby to know we’re in here, do you?”
