Chapter Nine
Sadie
The scent of warm cookies and freshly brewed coffee curls around me as I wipe down the counter in Annie’s café, the rhythmic motion doing little to calm the frustration bubbling inside me. Outside, Pine Hollow is still tucked beneath a thick layer of snow, the streets lined with twinkling fairy lights left up long after Christmas. It’s magical, and I should be in heaven, but all I feel is ignored.
I press the rag a little harder against the wooden surface, grinding my teeth. It’s been days since Reid kissed me, days since he made my knees go weak and my heart hammer against my ribs like it was trying to escape.
Since then? He’s been a walking, scowling, emotionally constipated ghost.
I’ve seen him in passing, grumbling about the cold, chopping enough firewood for an apocalypse, grunting single-word responses when I dared to talk to him, but it’s like he’s actively trying to pretend the kiss never happened.
Like I never happened.
I huff out a breath and scrub harder.
“You’re gonna scrub a hole clean through my counter if you keep at it,” Annie muses, setting a fresh tray of cookies on the glass display case.
I glance up at her, caught. “Sorry.”
Annie gives me a knowing look, wiping her hands on her apron. She’s all warm smiles and sharp eyes, a perfect mix of sweet and shrewd. “Alright, spill. You’ve been brooding all morning.”
I blink. “I do not brood.”
She arches a brow. “Sadie, honey, you’re one sad love song away from staring dramatically out a rain-streaked window.”
A laugh bursts out of me, but I quickly cover it with a groan, tossing my rag onto the counter. “Fine. It’s Reid.”
Her smirk deepens. “Ah. Tall, dark, and moody himself.”
I cross my arms, leaning against the counter. “He kissed me.”
Annie’s eyes go wide. “No. Reid Calloway kissed you?”
I nod, and before I can even blink, Annie is practically vibrating with excitement, waving a spatula in my direction like I just told her Santa Claus was real. “Okay, you better start talking. Where? When? Was he good?”
I flush, my hands suddenly fidgeting with the edge of my apron. “It was a few nights ago, the day we got married. Late. In front of the fire.” My voice softens at the memory. “It was hot. Like, take-my-breath-away, lose-my-mind hot.”
Annie whistles low, shaking her head. “Well, damn. And here I thought that man’s only passions in life were chopping wood and ignoring people.”
I laugh, but it quickly fades. “Yeah, well, apparently kissing me was a one-time event because ever since then, he’s been avoiding me like I’ve got the plague.”
Annie’s face falls. “Oh, sweetheart.” She reaches behind the counter, grabs a plate, and plops a warm cookie onto it before sliding it my way. “Here. Chocolate helps everything.”
I sigh but pick up the cookie anyway. She’s right. Chocolate does help.
She props her chin in her hand, studying me. “Okay, tell me exactly what happened.”
I bite, the rich, gooey chocolate melting on my tongue, and exhale. “It was late. We were talking. It was the first time I felt like we were connecting, you know? Like maybe he wasn’t just tolerating me but actually seeing me.”
Annie nods. “Mmhmm. Go on.”
I toy with a crumb on the plate. “And then… he brushed my hair back. And he just looked at me, Annie, like he was memorizing every freckle on my face. Like he wanted me.” My voice dips lower, my pulse kicking up at the memory. “And then he kissed me. And God, it was…” I let out a dreamy sigh before shaking myself. “But then, the second it was over, he shut down. Completely. Said it was a mistake. And now he won’t even look at me.”
Annie lets out a dramatic tsk, shaking her head. “Men.”
“Right?” I throw my hands up. “I mean, I get that this whole mail-order bride thing wasn’t supposed to be about romance, but you’d think he’d at least be able to talk to me after something like that.”
She smirks. “And does it bother you because he’s being a coward or because you want the romance?”
I freeze, my fingers tightening around the plate. “What?”
“You heard me.” She leans in. “If Reid suddenly pulled his head out of his ass and decided to act like a real husband—would you want that?”
I open my mouth. Close it. My heart hammers against my ribs. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that.”
“But it is starting to feel like it could be, huh?”
I swallow, my throat dry. I don’t want to say it out loud. Because once I do, once I admit that I could see myself falling for Reid Calloway, it becomes real. It becomes dangerous.
I look away, voice barely above a whisper. “Yeah. It is.”
Annie nods like she already knew. “And does he know that?”
I let out a dry laugh. “Reid barely knows how to have a conversation about the weather. You think he’s ready for feelings?”
She grins. “Oh, sweetheart. That man is already drowning in feelings. He just hasn’t figured out what to do with them yet. I could see it the day we met you.”
I shake my head, shoving the rest of the cookie into my mouth. “Well, I’m not about to sit around waiting for him to figure it out. I came here for a fresh start. To find a place where I belong. Not to spend my days pining after a mountain man who doesn’t want me.”
Annie smiles like she knows something I don’t. “We’ll see about that.”