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Waiting on the porch, it’s getting dark. Inside the fire is going, the beds are made and there is a stew cooking on the stove. I see the car pull in. Even from down the drive I can see that the paint is faded, the old thing is beat up and rusty. Well, that gives me hope that this woman is okay with things being a little rough around the edges.
Through the windscreen I catch a glimpse of dark brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. Oh, she’s pretty. Jumping down the few steps I’m there to open her door. Taking her hand to help her out of the car. She gives me a nervous little smile. And there is a look in her eyes. Hopefulness? A yearning for something?
It touches a part of my heart. She is short and curvy and just adorable. No make up. Jeans and an oversized sweater. Just a natural beauty with a nervous smile and that look of hope in her eyes. I can’t help grinning. I’m suddenly looking forward to getting to know this beautiful woman.
“Hudson?”
“And you must be June?” I give her my most charming smile as I take her one bag from her, noticing that it is quite an old suitcase, and showing her into the cabin.
I watch as she walks around the cabin. I try to see it through a stranger’s eyes. Comfortable chairs pointed towards the stone fireplace. The wooden floors, the wood beams I rescued from a junk yard. The window seat I built in the bay window. The kitchen is all new, a big wooden dining table that I never use. I have a bookcase and I put some shelves up, but there isn’t a lot of stuff. Definitely needs a woman’s touch in here.
“What do you think?” I ask
She looks at me with big blue eyes. “It’s just like Snow White’s cabin.” She sounds in awe of the place and it makes me feel proud.
I grin and then chuckle. “You like fairy tales?”
She really smiles for the first time. “I like the idea of running away and starting again.”
“I thought fairy tales were about the Prince Charming?”
She looks me up and down. “Well, you certainly fit that description. Oh!” She ends on a gasp. Her cheeks going red. She didn’t mean for that to slip out.
Again, I am struck by how adorable she is. I let out a laugh and she gives me a shy smile.
“Is that food cooking?” She asks, changing the subject.
Chapter 3
June
I’m not sure what I expected Hudson to be like. It was more about escaping my situation than the man himself. I saw a photo. Brown hair and a nice face. A nice, friendly smile. But Holy fairy tales, his photo is nothing compared to seeing him in the flesh.
His hair is longer than it was in the picture, stopping just before his shoulders, wavy, thick hair with highlights from spending time in the sun. His skin is tanned too. Making his green eyes so much more striking, framed with black lashes. He has a strong jawline, broad shoulders and he is tall. So tall and strong. But he doesn’t stomp around like my father, instead Hudson moves with an easy athleticism.
But most of all it is his smile. An easy smile, like he does it all the time. His laugh is nice too. A big, hearty sound coming from deep within his chest. There is something so warm and open about Hudson. And oh my heart, he is the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Sexy in a way that makes my pulse race. Sexy in a way that has me staring at his toned arms. And sexy in a way that has me all tongue tied and shy around the man.
I really didn’t mean to tell him that he looks like Prince Charming, but it is all so overwhelming. For a girl like me, Icome from nothing. I never had toys or pretty girly things. I had friends in school but since then I’ve been trapped. Cooking and cleaning for a man who has never shown me any fatherly affection. No hugs. No joy. No future. All I had to keep me going was my love of fairy tales. I don’t think fairy tales are real or come true, I just remember a little bit of a happy feeling watching them as a kid. And it has stuck with me. It has gotten me through the darkest days.
When there is no money and no hope. When I was scrubbing floors, I pretended I was Cinderella. When I was dreaming of running away, I thought about Snow White. And then to arrive here with Mr. Charming Smile and his log cabin in the woods. Everything is feeling a little bit surreal. Even the air is fresher up here in the mountains. And the food he is cooking smells delicious.
I’m still having trouble believing I am actually here. Worried that my father is going to burst through the door at any moment. Or Hudson will turn around and kick me out. Or I will just wake up from this dream.
“What do you do back home, June?” I look up to where Hudson is placing plates of food on the table. That’s right, reality. Time for the questions I can’t answer.
I sit down, a plate of delicious looking stew and bread rolls in front of me.
“Do you have a job?” Hudson asks as he sits opposite me.
“No, no job.” I let out a little sigh. “I don’t really know what I want to do. This is my big new start. A new me.” I try to look determined but it feels like my smile is a little wobbly. I feel ashamed that I don’t have a job. I don't know what I want to do. But I refuse to be tied down by my past. Straightening up in my chair, shoulders back, I pick up my fork before answering. “I’veonly ever known the life I had. But I know I want something different now.”
I look up into Hudson’s beautiful green eyes, prepared to see judgment. But instead I see a look of admiration. He nods. Then that sexy, slow smile. “I can understand that. It took me a long time to find what makes me happy. I think it is a brave person who goes looking for their passion. I like to fly. My mom is mad about knitting. I have a younger brother who is obsessed with gates and hinges.”
He makes a face and I laugh.
“Honestly, he won’t shut up about them. I feel sorry for you when you meet him.”
