“Yup,” I agreed as relief flooded through me. I got to keep her for a little while longer.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my buddy, Forest. “Let me make a call while you get in touch with the insurance company. I’ve got a friend whose wife might have some clothes you can borrow. So you don’t have to keep wearing mine.”
She and Karina were about the same size.
Chapter 7
Cassidy
Karina’s clothes fit surprisingly well. Forest’s wife was a curvy woman like me, and she’d sent over a generous bag of items she said she never wore anymore. Karina might have been atadsmaller than me, but I could still zip everything up.
She’d given me jeans that hugged my hips and soft sweaters in warm colors. Even a few pairs of underwear with the tags still on.
“She went a little overboard,” Hall had muttered when he’d handed me the bag, his ears turning pink over the frilly panties visible at the top.
But I’d nearly cried with gratitude. Having real clothes made me feel human again, and less like a disaster victim.
Now I stood in Hall’s kitchen, surveying the space with fresh eyes.
The cabin was cozy, but it was obvious a man had lived here alone for too long. There was dust on the windowsills, and the floor was in desperate need of a mopping.
I couldn’t help myself. I started cleaning.
“What are you doing?” Hall appeared in the doorway, his brow furrowed.
“Just tidying up a bit.” I wiped down the counter with a rag I’d found. “It’s the least I can do.”
“You’re a guest here.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “You’ve been through too much. I didn’t drag you up this mountain to be my maid.”
The words were on the tip of my tongue.Then what did you drag me up here for?
But I held them back. Instead, I just smiled at him and announced, “I like to stay busy. It helps me not think about… everything else.”
Something softened in his expression.
“Fine,” Hall grumbled. “But don’t think I expect this.”
After lunch, he went outside to the woodpile. I watched him chop from the window, admiring his form. The man made primitive living lookveryattractive.
But after thirty minutes of my window snooping, I needed a closer look, so I wandered outside and watched him work.
He almost looked startled when he noticed me there, and his swing hit off-kilter. The log he was trying to split fell on its side.
Then he gave me a shy smile. It was the first smile I’d seen on his lips, and it lookedgoodon him.
I wonder what his life is like when no one else is around. Is this what his day would look like?
Quietly he grunted out, “Do you want to learn how?”
“How to chop wood?”
Hall shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah.”
Somehow he made it seem like an enticing invitation. Me, who’d never chopped wood a day in my life, happily took the axefrom his hands, relishing the moment when our fingers collided together.
The axe was heavier than I expected. I gripped the handle awkwardly, trying to remember if I’d ever seen anyone split wood in real life or just in movies.
“Not like that.” Hall moved behind me, and suddenly his chest was against my back, his arms reaching around to adjust my grip. “Hands here. And here.”
