She goes to my meticulously organized tools that hang along one wall. “You’re full of surprises, Easton.” She turns and those big, sparkling eyes land on me. “How long have you been…is it woodworking? Carpentry? What’s the difference?”
“Woodworking is smaller pieces, more detailed items.Carpentry is the big stuff.” My eyes sweep the ceiling where I nailed every beam. “I like a bit of both. I built this shed, so that’s carpentry. But I like making useful items, like…furniture.”
Likecribs.I’ve thought a lot about it, and it would mean the world to me to see our baby sleeping peacefully in something I made.
I’m not sure Freya will like the idea, but that’s why I asked her out here.
I wipe my palms on my jeans. They’re balmy, which is ridiculous. I’ve stared down armed men with less adrenaline in my system.
“How’d you sleep?” I ask.
“Took me a while to pass out as I was thinking about that case.” She scrunches her nose.
I didn’t like that she hesitated for anyone else. Though I’ve quickly learned small towns survive on compromise and careful words. Still, this isn’t a “your pig ate my petunias” dispute.
“That says something.”
“I suppose it does.” The glint in her eye tells me she’s not dropping it.
Good.
Freya shoves her hands in her back pockets, pushing her shoulders back and those round breasts forward.
“Sorry I didn’t wake up earlier,” she says. “I would have liked to spend some time out here and learn about your hobby. Looks fun.”
“That’s alright. You need time with Lara.” I wipe some dust off my worktop so I stop staring at her.
“How long have you been working with wood?” She laughs lightly at the innuendo.
I give a light laugh in return. “It was something I used todo with my dad and brother growing up. The only thing we had in common really was building stuff. We caught the bug when Dad was building our second house.” I scratch my eyebrow. “Actually, my brother, the one in Brazil?”
She nods. “Alex?”
“Good memory.” I only mentioned him once, half-asleep, during a 2 a.m. stakeout.
I didn’t expect her to remember.
“When he took off, he said he was going to build a whole community down there. I’m pretty sure he’d have done it. He was better at the structural stuff than I was. I probably prefer tinkering with something smaller.”
“Do you ever think about trying to find him?”
“Course.” My gaze drops to her belly. “Especially now… But it’s been…fifteen years? I’m sure he took me for dead a long time ago. I don’t even know where to look, but he’s definitely off-grid. No social presence. Nothing.”
She touches her stomach. “I guess that’s why you were ready to claim this one so quickly.”
I cock a half smile. “I wanted that whether I was surrounded by a village or on my own. I always wanted a kid.”
She hesitates but doesn’t take her gaze off of me. There’s the same look in her eyes as last night, and I have a feeling she’s about to launch a question.
She does.
“You were married once? What happened there?”
It’s not raw anymore.
And I know Freya was cheated on, too, though she told me it didn’t sting that much since she never felt she had anything real with that guy.
This is different. This was a woman who chose me as a husband, then decided I wasn’t enough. Admitting that toFreya tightens something in my chest. I don’t want to see the moment her perception of me shifts.
