“Well, this stranger has great taste in design, because their house is beautiful. Let’s absolutely storm the place.”
She laughed, stepping out of the car, and I joined her to walk up the wooden steps that groaned under our shoes. Jade unlocked the door, stepped inside, and she turned on the lights, and it was like stepping through a magical portal into a fairyland workshop, warm and low lights filling a space with rustic woodfinishings. A huge rug laid out across the floor, and it smelled amazing, like a bakery with a big crackling wood fire.
It was also really nice and warm inside. For as much as I was embarrassed, I was really relieved Jade called me out and didn’t let me go sit in the dark and the cold behind Daniela’s house for however long until she got home.
“Don’t mind the mess,” she said, dropping her keys into a bowl by the door and shrugging off her coat. I turned slowly as I took it all in, closing the door behind me.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“Did Daniela get back to you?”
I checked my phone, and sure enough, a message from Daniela was lit up across the screen from just a couple minutes ago.I am SO sorry I didn’t even think about the key, tell Jade I said thank you!! and enjoy her house, it’s cute
“She says thanks,” I said, slipping my phone back into my bag. “For hosting her little errant wanderer. And also told me I should enjoy your house, because it’s cute.”
She stopped halfway through unlacing her boots, looking up at me with a smirk. “Was it a friendly cute or a condescending one?”
“Oh, probably condescending,” I said. “You know that castle she lives in.”
She laughed, getting her boots off and standing up. “I’ll give her a piece of my mind later,” she said. “For now… do you want a drink?”
“I wouldn’t want to bother you.”
“You’re doing the thing Daniela was doing with not letting me know what kind of candle she liked.”
I laughed. It was nice seeing this sort of… playful teasing side come out of her, when she’d been so stiff at first. Sawyer had always beenteasingtoo, but it was always on these toxic little things that made me feel like I was the worst person alive butthat I couldn’t be upset because it wasjust a joke.With Jade, though, it was… well, I didn’t know how, but it was just different. “What are you offering?”
“Tea, wine, beer, water, soda… could try to make you a cocktail if you don’t mind it being barebones.”
“Tea sounds great. You’re a good host.”
“Just trying to butter you up so you’ll put up with me complaining at a candle later,” she said. “Take off your shoes and get comfy. I’ll be right back.”
I slipped off my heels and set them down by the door, padding softly over warm wooden floors to the big window at the back, where I drew the curtains and felt my breath catch at the sight. Through the trees, the roll of a valley below us, blossoming in soft spring colors lit only by the moon and the stars, a thin line of road running along it gleaming with streetlamps, and then beyond the valley, the crest of the mountains ahead of us… it was sobig.Like I could have taken a thousand pictures and I still couldn’t have captured all of it. My chest ached with this soft yearning sensation, leaning gently on the glass, and I only pulled myself away at last when I heard footsteps behind me, Jade’s thick socks on the hardwood as she brought a tray of tea out from the kitchen, a smile dancing on her lips.
“Awed by nature, city girl?”
“Awed bythisnature. I grew up in the countryside, but it was Indiana…”
She laughed, and she set the tea down on the table, flicking a switch that lit up a gas fireplace on one side of the room. “Glad you’re liking our humble town.”
I sat down on the plush green couch next to her, and I softened as she poured a mug of tea for me from the handmade ceramic teapot with little birds painted on the outside. “Honestly, it’s really nice,” I breathed, taking the mugand saucer in both hands, staring down into the deep burgundy surface of the tea. “Everyone’s so sweet to me here…”
“Mm. Tight-knit,” she said, a touch of bitterness in her voice, and I looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“I just feel like that’s the double-edged nature of it all. You have a connection to someone who’s already here, so you’reone of us.Everything’s beautiful and happy and perfect, community, family. But then you step out of line and you lose it all. And do you think they’d be quite as welcoming to somebody new in town who doesn’t have a pre-approved connection?”
I frowned, staring down at my tea for a while, before I said, “I would.”
She looked at me for a minute, studying, before she softened into a smile. “Yeah, I believe it,” she said. “After slapping them in the face.”
“Please.” I sipped the tea and set it down, flashing my ring. “I don’t do that for just anyone. Sexy scars are in high demand.”
She laughed, eyes sparkling. “Well, aren’t I honored to be chosen?”
“As you should be, Jade.” I emphasizedJadewith her name sign, and she smiled wider.
