He doesn’t move as his thumb rubs along the soft spot between my thumb and forefinger. And with a heavy breath, he takes one careful step out of the tub, keeping hold of my hand until I follow a moment later.
“Thanks,” I mutter, as I begrudgingly extricate my hand from his and head to the opposite side of the barn to flick on the lights.
A warm glow surrounds us, and I beckon him over to theseating area, pointing out the lamp as well as the instructions on the table.
He raises his eyebrows as he quickly reads through, and then his eyes slide back to mine. “The water wheel actually gives you electricity?”
I nod. “Notmuchbut enough to power most of the outlets. We had to hook up an additional power source to supplement all the appliances and we ask people not to plug in, like, hair dryers or anything, but we strongly encourage phone chargers, lamps, kids’ toys. Anything that can be plugged in for a little power. My grandfather set this up years ago, and it always upset me that people couldn’t reallyseeit. So it’s not much—the water wheel isn’tthatbig after all—but it’s really cool to walk around thinking you sustainably charged your phone viawater. Like, that’scool.”
He snorts. “I’m sad I didn’t bring my charger.”
“What kind of phone do you have?”
He fishes it out of his pocket so I can see the connector, and I pull out a matching one from behind one of the armchairs.
He plugs it in, and his phone lights up. He nods, watching it for a moment. “Well, I can honestly say this is a brand-new experience for me. I have never charged my phone via water wheel before.”
I can’t help my grin. “Exactly! How cool is that?”
“Really cool,” he says, his smile widening.
We stay there for a minute watching it while I become painfully aware of the darkness settling outside.
“Okay, you have enough charge. Let’s go before we run out of daylight.”
He laughs as he lets the wire go and tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Lead the way, Sunflower.”
12
RYDER
Ifollow Eve out of the barn, every single one of my muscles aching to touch her again.
When she popped up in my car window like a little sprite ready to introduce me to her land, I worried I had gotten myself in too deep.
But her energy and excitement all clicked into place when she showed me the studio above the barn.
And it made my heart thump a little harder when I realized just how much she wanted to show me this thing she put so much work into. I get the feeling that Eve keeps her cards close to the chest, and I guess now that she feels a little more secure about the future of the farm, she’s willing to let me in a little more than before.
And fuck, it’s exhilarating.
I could have sat in that bathtub with her all night. Water, no water. Clothes, no clothes.
There’s something so special about Eve sharing that moment with me.
There wasn’t much as far as lighting went once the sunset faded, but I could see the brightness in her eyes. Thepleasure at having shown someone this beautiful thing that she dreamed up all on her own.
And the water wheel phone charger.
She’s fucking adorable.
So while I wondered, sitting in my car with a racing heart thanks to her jump scare, if I’d gotten myself in too deep to begin with, I know for sure now that I did.
The first floor of the barn is open, the second floor supported by a thick wall along one side and two half walls along the adjacent ones. She heads straight through the middle, fishing her phone out of her pocket and flicking on the light as she walks.
“Watch your step, the floor is uneven. And there are mice and spiders so just keep a lookout.”
I crinkle my nose, doing as she says and putting my phone flashlight on so I can see. There’s nothing but dirt underneath my feet, and as I flash the beam up toward the rafters, I see nothing but cobwebs in a variety of sizes.
