The man standing across from us raises his eyes to mine. “And I never got your name.”
My cheeks heat. He’s already basically seen me naked. I didn’t realise Winnie never told him my name.
“Cassidy,” I reply, clearing my throat. “Sorry.”
Arlo looks up at me with concern, lips pressed together. “Are we leaving?”
I look from my son to Caleb, who shakes his head. “Maybe if the storm hadn’t set in, but it’s not safe for you to go anywhere now. It doesn’t take long for the snow to block these roads leading into the mountain, and it was already pretty thick when I got back.”
I don’t know whether I should be disappointed or scared. This is not a good situation. The last couple of months have included bad choice after bad choice, culminating in the present situation. Maybe I should have never confronted my ex about his lies. If I hadn’t fought him, maybe we’d still be in that beautiful home, my kids would be at their good public school, and I’d be safe in my role as wife. I could have slowly pulled my shit together, saved, hidden away what we needed to survive. But I jumped the gun.
Now we’re trapped in a cabin with a stranger.
“Is there a way to get…rescued?” I ask slowly, pulling the kids tighter into me.
Caleb sighs, shaking his head. “Technically, you aren’t in a dangerous position. If the power went out and we lost heat, then yes. The rescue team would come up. But we aren’t in any danger.”
I don’t know whether to be disappointed by that answer or relieved. Especially because that means we’re trapped here with Caleb.
Thankfully,the mountain man alerted his sister to his whereabouts and let her know he’s with us. That gives me some relief, because if anything happens, she knows. Then again, if hediddo anything, Winnie could cover it up…
I shake my head before my thoughts can spiral in ways that lead to me trying to pack the kids into my car and drive away from the cabin. That would only put them in more danger, and the enemy I know is better than the one I don’t.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t stay at the motel,” Caleb says as he enters the kitchen. “All residents were evacuated because of the storm. Power went on that street.”
A chill rolls through me as I look up from the dishes I’ve been washing. “Oh.”
His ice-blue eyes are a lot warmer now than when I’d found him in the bedroom watching me. But they’re still mostly unreadable. I can’t tell if he’s concerned, wary, frustrated, angry, or all four mashed together.
“You said you can’t get a rental?” he asks.
I sigh, forcing myself to look away from him. He’s a lot more handsome than I would have expected. He looks like a damn Norse god, with his blond hair, short beard, blue eyes, and sculpted form. Now that the cabin is quiet again and is warmingup with the fire on overdrive, he’s dressed down in a pair of jeans and a thin sweatshirt. I can tell he’s muscled. I’m pretty sure he’s also a lumberjack at the local mill, which makes sense with how thick his forearms and thighs are.
It only makes me feel more embarrassed he’d caught me so…undressed. In my damn underwear. Athong,no less. All because laundry had been the least of my worries and I hadn’t been quick enough to go to the laundromat before it closed.
Once again, I feel heat rise to my cheeks. “No,” I reply sadly as I return to the dishes, washing them with renewed interest. “I haven’t really got enough for a deposit. Well, I have barely enough for one. But without a job, I can’t get proof of income. I was a stay at home mom for too long. I have experience in real estate, but that’s not getting me any jobs, and nowhere is hiring.”
It makes me sound like a mess. Already, I know what his next question will be before he even asks, because I’d already imagined this exact scenario a thousand times.
“Before you ask, I didn’t know the state of the cottage before moving here. The photo we were provided with gave us the impression it was in good shape, not falling apart. The solicitor also said it was fully furnished, not that it’d been abandoned and looted years ago. Clearly, he’d never bothered checking up on it,” I say without looking back at Caleb. But I feel him inch closer, his warmth like a shock to my body.
I’d felt it when he hugged me earlier, too. He might have been gruff—and an asshole, if Winnie is to be believed—but he has a strength to him that draws me in. And that’s terrifying.
All I want to do is lean into him and never get back up. It’s like he exudes a sense of safety that no one else does. Maybe it’s the no-nonsense way he approaches the situation. Or maybe it’s because I’m lonely and scared, and I just need a little bit of help.
“Anyone in Willow Ridge could have told you that place was falling apart, and the fact that your solicitor didn’t is bad,” he says quietly, leaning against the counter beside me.
I place the last dish in the drying rack, sighing tiredly. “And I tried, you know. To get work.” Hesitantly, I lift my stare from the empty sink and meet his gaze. “I called around while driving here. Nearly seven hours straight of getting the kids to search local businesses for me to call for interviews.”
Caleb makes a sound in the back of his throat, looking away first. “We don’t have much work here, unfortunately.”
“I guessed as much.” I release another heavy breath and wipe my hands, stepping away from the sink as I do. “Maybe I should sell up. Winnie mentioned the land the cottage is on gets a lot of interest.”
Caleb immediately stiffens, his shoulders tense. “There are plenty who would buy it in a heartbeat,” he admits slowly without looking at me.
“But?” I can tell there’s something he wants to say, and this man doesn’t give me the impression he likes holding back. He tells it as it is, and maybe I need some hard truths.
“You could get a small fortune for it,” he says, finally meeting my eye. “Start over fresh money. But that’s if you sell it to the vultures.”
