Sheltered by the Surly Forester (Wolfe Mountain Men #6)

Chapter 13

13

JOSH

O n the surface, everything is normal. Well, normal compared to two days ago.

Two weeks ago, normal for me would be eating something plain while lost in a book, not even aware of how lonely I was. Normal for Emie and me up till now would be teasing about who should be resting or working harder. Constantly getting to know little details about each others’ childhoods.

Now everything feels…brittle. Too careful. As if we're thinking before we speak.

Tiptoeing around each other is not a great relationship. Emie deserves nothing less than great.

After lunch, we load the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen. I can't stay away from her any longer. Grabbing a dishcloth, I stand right behind her as if she wasn't there, wiping the counter all around her.

Emie dissolves into fits of giggles, then spins to look up at me. "How do you think both of us doing the same job at once is efficient?"

"I'm not going for efficiency. I'm here for my own amusement."

I toss the cloth into the sink, then grab her hips, giving her a bit of a shake. "What do you think about going over the town council presentation together?"

"Sure…" She sounds hesitant. I watch as her eyes flick to her phone, then the rain that's just starting outside. "I was thinking about getting a little fresh air. Taking a short walk."

I don't want her to feel tense around me. Holding her against my chest, I murmur across the top of her hair, "Baby, if you need to make a call to your Colorado friends, I’m happy to get out of your way."

Her chin tips up. "How do you always know the exact perfect thing to say?"

I smile, hoping that I'm keeping the stress out of my eyes. "I don't want you to think of this as a competition. You should do whatever feels right for you, baby. Go with your heart."

Her quizzical look is indecipherable. She takes my hand and leads me to the dining room, where we proceed to go over every detail of the presentation. Emie still seems to think that we're asking for the town council’s permission and need their approval.

Once we’ve covered everything she asks, "So, do you think this is okay?"

"Baby, they're going to love it. This is far more thorough than anything they're expecting." She raises an eyebrow at my chuckle. "I've seen them approve things scribbled on the back of a napkin before. As long as we're using qualified builders that they trust, and we're not interfering with anything, they're going to love it."

I squeeze her knee. "And they're going to love…" You , I want to scream. Everyone here is going to love you as much as I do. "All of your ideas."

"Thank you." Her lovely, soft brown eyes look up at me with a gentle smile in them. "I really do like feeling useful."

"I know. So do I." Glancing outside, I notice the rain has stopped. "Why don't you go walk around the house, or sit outside on the porch and make your call to your friends? I'll make dinner."

"But—"

"Okay, I'll start chopping things for dinner, then whenever you're ready, you can come in and approve everything. How's that?"

A wave of relief flows through me when she kisses my forehead, then grabs her phone. "Back soon."

It's tempting to wander over to the window near the front porch to eavesdrop on her conversation. I want to know everything. Does this place she's thinking of moving to have security alarms? Is it in a safe neighborhood? And what kind of business are these girls planning, anyhow? Emie said something about a photography studio. Does that mean that photographers and models and makeup artists will be coming and going at all hours? Will Emie have a private space and a locked door between her and any strangers?

My mind is spinning, so I turn my phone to a podcast about various species of wildlife around the world that, thanks to zoos and conservation effects, are no longer on the endangered list. That calms me down a bit.

When Emie returns, she's in a great mood and helps me with dinner as if she didn't have a care in the world. By the time we're sitting down on the couch, it feels like everything is back to our version of normal. Almost.

That's it. As soon as I find the right opportunity, I have to tell her how I feel. This walking on eggshells has got to stop.

I cannot let her leave unless she's really, truly thought about staying with me.