“Anythin’ for you, darlin’,” he says with a wink.
I take a step towards Lorna and wind my arm around her waist possessively. “Great! Well, we’ll get out of your hair, then. See you later, Donny was it?”
“Danny,” he corrects, narrowing his eyes and it’s clear he doesn’t like me, and the feeling is mutual.
“Bye,” Lorna says with a wave as I steer her away towards her truck.
“That guy’s a tool,” I say the second she climbs in beside me, Romeo, who was waiting patiently in the back seat for us to return, licks the side of her face.
“I guess you must know from experience, right?” She smirks and I tug her across the bench seat and slam my mouth onto hers. She responds immediately and her fingers dive into my hair.
Her body melts against mine as my hands squeeze her ass and as much as I’d love to continue, I pull back. This is not the time or place for this.
“You’ll pay for that crack later wise-ass.” I smirk. I cup her cheek, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. “You are something else, Lorna. You’re something I never accounted for.”
“And you’re nothing at all like I expected.” She catches my mouth with hers before withdrawing and starting the engine.
We drive for five minutes or so until we come up to the woods on the outskirts of town, the ground and trees dusted in white, and as much as I hate the snow, even I have to admit how stunning it is.
Picturesque.
A true winter wonderland.
The snow in untouched on the ground and crunches underfoot as we trudge our way through the woods, along the winding trails that seem to go on for eternity. Somehow I hope it does, because I don’t want to be anywhere else.
Romeo bolts in front of us, jumping and rolling through the snow as he bounds between the trees, barking excitedly.
“Tell me about your family,” she says, her hands thrust in her pockets, her chin tucked into her scarf while her cream woolly hat hides her whole forehead, her red curls poking out underneath.
“Not much to tell. My mom split when I was too young to even remember her. My dad was hardly ever around growing up, what with being in the office every single day so it was my aunt on my mom’s side who pretty much raised me.”
“Did you miss not having a mother growing up?” she asks, her warm eyes meeting mine.
“You can’t miss what you never had, right?”
“I lost my mom about eight years ago. I was thinking of going to college but when she died, I couldn’t leave my dad to fend for himself, so I helped around the house, worked at the diner… He tried to force me to go off to college, insisting he was fine but… I couldn’t bring myself to.”
I can see the sadness on her face as she drops her eyes to the ground at her feet and I pull her in close, wrapping an arm tight around her shoulders. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think your mom and your dad are looking down on you, watching all the good you put out into the world, all the kindness, and I bet they are so incredibly proud of you.” I’m not just saying it to make her feel better, I’m saying it because I believe it.
She comes to an abrupt halt, as do I, and when she looks up at me, her eyes are glassy with tears. “Do you ever stop and think about your life? Like, if you were old and frail, looking back on your life, what would you see?”
Her question takes me by surprise. “I’ve never really thought about it like that.”
“I have. Too much. You wanna know what I see?” Her eyes flash to mine for a split second before returning to the ground. “I see a failure.”
I take a step forward, taking her face in my palms, angling her head up. “You’ve just hit a few bumps in the road. Life is tough and it’s not always easy.”
“My dream has always been the same since I was a child. I’ve wanted to help people, put a smile on someone’s face when all they want to do is cry. Give someone hope when all they can feel is despair. I haven’t accomplished any of that.”
“Yes you have. You managed to put a smile on my face at a time when smiling was the last thing on my mind. All those people yesterday, those people who for just one day could forget about their lives and be a part of something more, that was all you. You make every single person that you meet smile without even trying. You are incredible, and you’re anythingbuta failure.” I don’t care how often I have to tell her how special she is, as long as she believes it herself. “Have you thought any more about my offer?” I ask.
She hesitates. “Wouldn’t accepting your money be admitting that I’m a failure?” she asks, chewing on the inside of her lip.
“There’s no shame in accepting help, Lorna.Takethe money. Let me help you.”
