Leo was quiet for a moment. “I see.”
“I thought we were arguing because we saw it differently. Now I think she’s just overwhelmed.” Spencer scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I should have seen it. She is my mate after all.”
“That doesn’t mean you can read her mind,” Leo replied. “Or that she can read yours.”
Spencer frowned. “I thought it would be easier. You know?”
Leo took another bite and pointed the fork at him. “The mate bond doesn’t work like that. You’re still two people getting to know each other.”
His bear rumbled.He’s right. We’re not opposites. We just don’t know each other well enough yet.
Spencer looked at the oak board lying on the bench. “I know that now.”
Leo’s gaze dropped to the sketch. “Is this your makeup present?”
Spencer sighed. “I want her to see that Pine Cottage is the perfect place for her. For us. That it would make a beautiful home.”
Leo smiled faintly. “She will.”
Spencer let out a breath. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am,” Leo insisted. “Fate chose her for you. And you for her. You’ll figure it out.”
“Unless she leaves first.”
“She won’t,” Leo said easily. “I bet all my prized heirloom tomatoes on it.”
Spencer picked at the edge of the paper. “I wish I shared your confidence. It’s like she can’t wait to leave.”
“Then you will find a way to make her stay.” Leo’s expression was serious as he added, “If not, you’ll follow her wherever she goes.”
No,his bear said, hating the idea of leaving Bear Creek.
But they both knew Leo was right. It didn’t matter whether they lived in Pine Cottage, the city, or under a tree.
His life was wherever Meryl was.
And that’s all he needed to make her see.
Chapter Nine – Meryl
“He’s being completely unreasonable,” Meryl muttered, her arms folded across her body as she watched Spencer leave.
But underneath that thought was the gnawing sense that he was also right.
The beam needed to be fixed properly, not given a quick patch job.
Meryl sank onto the porch step and let her head drop into her hands.
After Spencer’s truck disappeared from view, Pine Cottage felt too empty, and Meryl was irritated to find that she wished he were back here with her now. Sitting next to her on the porch. Their porch.
That’s how she thought of it now, after all the hours they had worked on it side by side. But it wasn’t theirs. Just as this cottage wasn’t hers. Hilda might have loved living here, but Meryl was not the settling-down kind.
Meryl huffed, stood up, and turned back toward the house.
“Okay then,” she muttered to the empty air. “The sooner I get the place fixed up, the sooner I can move on.”
She needed something to take her mind off their stupid disagreement over the wretched beam. Something with visible progress and a clear endpoint.
