With a container of leftovers in hand, I return home to find Callie sitting on the top step of the porch with her arms wrapped around herself. I take a seat beside her, keeping a good bit of distance between us. She glances out over the ranch and slides her hands up and down her arms.
I pull off my jacket and drape it around her shoulders. There’s a decent chill in the air, but it’s nothing compared to whatever Callie’s going through. I can endure a little cold to offer her some comfort.
“You ok?”
She pulls the jacket tighter around herself and inhales. “I think I’m having a delayed reaction.”
“What do you mean?” I stare at her profile, taking in the subtle upward slope of her nose and her impossibly long eyelashes.
How have I never noticed her eyelashes?
Her pert chin peeks out between round cheeks, creating a delicate heart-shaped silhouette. I’ve imagined her a million different ways, but my feeble mind could never have conjured someone so utterly captivating.
“It’s like I’ve been in fight-or-flight mode for so long. Now that I’m settling in somewhere that feels safe, it’s given me time to slow down and reflect. I lost everything, Jax. The life I built for myself, everything I worked for since…"
I wait for the end of her sentence. Since what? What has this incredible woman been through?
She sighs and hangs her head. “It’s gone. Everything I have left is shoved into that car.”
Unable to resist the pull, I close the distance between us and wrap my arm around her. She stiffens at first before resting her head against my shoulder.She smells sweet, like lavender and orange blossom, but with my jacket around her, she also smells like me.
Like mine.
I offer her a sympathetic smile. “You’ll build it back up again.”
She blows out a ragged breath, clutching at the sides of my jacket like it’s the only thing holding her together. “I don’t think I can. I don’t have any fight left in me.”
“You’re one of the strongest people I know. You can do this, but if you need strength, you can borrow mine.”
She angles her head upwards, and those blue-green eyes hold me captive once more. I could lose my sight and all memory of her, but somewhere in my consciousness I’d still remember the color of her eyes. There’s a lifetime of pain there, and I momentarily forget how to breathe, suffocated by the sheer weight of it.
“Why are you so nice to me?”she murmurs.
“Everybody deserves kindness, Callie.”
“Not everybody.”
I want to ask more. I want to know what happened in her past to make her believe that cruelty could be someone’s default setting, but it’s not my place. It’s clear that whatever secrets she’s hiding, they’re born of survival. Maybe somedayshe’ll trust me enough to open up. Until then, I’ll be here, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold—whatever she needs, she’ll have it.
My fingertips skim along her cheekbone as I tuck a lock of hair away from her forehead. A foreign emotion flashes in her eyes, but it’s gone before I can make sense of it.
My gaze darts to her lips—impossibly soft in the most beautiful shade of pink. I lean in ever so slightly, and her eyelids drift shut behind her wire-framed glasses.
Just one touch. That’s all it would take for me to lose myself completely. I’ve dreamt of this very moment for longer than I care to admit. As much as I want to close the distance, I can’t bring myself to take the last step. Not yet. Not when there are still so many secrets between us.
I inhale sharply and pull away. “Do you need to get anything from your car?”
She nods solemnly. “Just a few things.”
“I’ll meet you inside and give you the ten-cent tour. Tomorrow we can go pick up Arthur.”
Her face pulls into an adorable frown. “Do you mean Atticus?”
“Atticus. Right. I knew that.”
My skin prickles with awareness the second she steps inside my home. She has a small ratty backpack thrown over one shoulder and a Willow Valley Library tote in her hand. My stomach clenches uncomfortably. Is this everything she owns?
“Your house is beautiful,” she says.
