“Yeah, I walked up.”
“Isn’t your house way down there? Why didn’t you drive? You’re a weird dude. What’s in the basket?”
He fell into step beside her. “Bread. I uh— I owe you an apology.”
“For creeping out of the woods?”
“Two apologies. I shouldn’t have done that, and I shouldn’t have—shouldn’t have kissed you earlier,” he choked out, surprising the hell out of her.
Her heart crumpled up like a gum wrapper, and she fought the urge to look at him, knowing she’d only find his awkward charm. Focusing on the dirt, her gaze flicked from one half-buried cobble to another, and she wished she could be like them: swallowed up by the earth.
She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. Stupid and impulsive as always.
“I’m not looking for a relationship right now. It’s just not a great time.”
“Okay.” What else was she supposed to say? She wasn’t looking for a relationship either; most people weren’t searching when they found one. Relationships just happened—in her experience. But if he wasn’t into her, fine, she could take it with dignity.
An awkward silence descended as they crunched up the road. The birdsong was back, that was something.
“How much bread’s in the basket?” she asked, searching foranythingto fix the tension he’d caused.
“Four loaves. Three for the party, one for you to take home.”
“Elliott—” Dragging out his name, she pressed a palm dramatically to her chest, happy to act instead of letting the weird end to their non-relationship plague the moment. “Another present?”
He chuckled, and her tender heart sighed. “Got a couple more. There’s a housewarming gift, too.”
“Ooh, what is it?” Shooting her arm out, Fern grasped for the basket, but he swung his long arm wide, and she couldn’t even come close to reaching it.
“No. You have to wait to open it.”
Pulling in a deep breath, she caught a whiff of his rich, woodsy cologne. Why was he so... likethatif he wasn’t interested? Her eye roll was just wrapping up when Northrop came into view.
She’d seen it through the phone on video calls with Liv, but it was more gorgeous in person. A sprawling two-story home, gabled windows sprouted from the roof, and tree trunk pillars lined the porch. It was a woodland mansion through and through. After appreciating the beauty, Fern’s next thought was that she’dhateto have to clean a place so large. Props to Liv and Ben for dealing with it.
Elliott sped ahead and she feared, for a second, he was abandoning her so they didn’t have to walk in together. But he stopped at the front door and swung it open, waving her through first.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, slipping inside. The foyer was larger than she’d imagined but still cozy. A sweeping, amber-colored wood staircase climbed the lofted room to the second floor.
“Have you been here before?” he asked. “I could gi—”
“Were you trying to sneak in? I didn’t hear the bell.” Liv came down the stairs in a white boat neck top that showed off her shoulders, tanned from their usual tawny brown to a warm chestnut.
With a pointed finger, Fern identified Elliott as the culprit, and thought he might’ve cracked a smile behind his beard.
“Come on! Let me show you around. Fitz, get that bread to Ben, he’s manning the kitchen.”
With that, Elliott went one way, and Fern was dragged another, on a short tour of Northrop that took her up one staircase, down a second, and through two living rooms before they wound up in the front hallway again.
As they stepped into the kitchen, she was hit with a wave of chatter and the mouthwatering scent of garlic and basil. Noa bounced over and offered to grab drinks: a lager for Fern and a chocolate milk for Olivia. It was Liv’s first incessant craving, and ifMamawas getting them this early in her pregnancy, Fern couldn’t even imagine how bad they’d be in a few months.
“Of coursehe’s cooking for us,” Olivia mused as she moved further into the room, and Fern peered around her bouncy curls to find Elliott atthe stove.
“Didn’t you say he cooked for your first date with Ben or something?”
“He Ratatouilled Ben.”
“Ohh.” That made enough sense, she didn’t ask for further explanation.
