Chapter 1 #2
With no choice but to follow, he found her stirring whatever was cooking on the stove before turning the burner off. “Obviously Holly thought this would be funny,” she said with disgust. “Well, it’s not. I’ll just pack my things and go. The cabin is yours, so…”
She was practically running across the room, but Ryan stepped in front of her.
“Can we just…you know…take a minute to calm down?” he asked cautiously.
“I don’t know why you think Holly thought this would be funny.
She set me up with her parents so I could do the work on the big cabin.
You heard about the pipe bursting, right? ”
She nodded.
“Anyway, I’m here to put everything back together. Why are you here?”
“Holly suggested I come up here to do some writing since I wasn’t going to see my family for Thanksgiving and…”
“Why not?”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you go to Carlsbad? You always loved to hang out there during the holidays.”
Frowning, Jess crossed her arms. “I just didn’t feel like it this year, okay?
” she huffed. “Anyway, Holly offered me the chance to come up here and have some quiet time to write. She told me about the work being done on the cabin but didn’t mention you being the contractor.
I thought it was some local company or something.
I was just supposed to make sure they showed up every day. ”
“Well, that’s the plan since I’m staying here,” he said with a small laugh.
She didn’t seem to find it amusing.
“Whatever,” she mumbled, stepping around him. “The place is yours. I’ll just pack up and be out of here in a few.”
“Jess, it’s dark, it’s snowing, and the road down the mountain isn’t going to be great in these conditions. I get that you’re pissed off, but…there’s no need to risk your life by driving in a snowstorm just to get away from me.”
“The snow’s not coming down that hard,” she said before walking over to the window. He knew the instant she realized she was wrong when her shoulders sagged.
“Look, I need to get the rest of my stuff from my truck and put my groceries away. I swear I’ll stay out of your way and…and…”
“Stay out of my way? Are you serious? Look around, Ryan! There are four walls and a bathroom. There is no way to be out of my way except for one of us not to be here!” And with that, she walked past him again and went to the kitchen.
It was pointless to argue, so he made his way back outside and down the slippery steps to his truck. He grabbed his two giant duffle bags and slammed the door before carefully making his way back up the stairs.
Inside the cabin, he shook off the snow and shut the door.
Jess was still in the kitchen, and he let himself look at her.
Breaking up with her had been the worst mistake of his life.
He’d seriously thought his commitment to her and their relationship was holding him back from taking the leap to starting his business.
Turned out he was just a damn coward.
Yeah, great way to find that out, after letting the only woman he’d ever loved go.
Holly never mentioned Jess being here, but if he could convince her to stay and maybe just talk to him, he’d owe Holly big time. Over the last two months, he’d attempted to talk to her, but she always shut him down, so this could be the perfect situation to finally try and work things out.
She was standing in front of the stove stirring whatever was in the pot, but after inhaling, he knew exactly what it was. Chicken tortilla soup. Jess was obsessed with soups and had a wide variety of recipes that she used, but her chicken tortilla soup was her favorite.
Putting his duffels down on the floor and hanging his coat on the rack beside the front door, he figured one of them was going to have to take the first step.
“Is that chicken tortilla soup?”
She nodded. “Yup.”
“Smells delicious.”
Another nod.
Ryan walked around putting his groceries away but left out a loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter and jelly, along with a package of paper plates. Jess looked over at him and frowned. “That’s what you’re having for dinner?”
“I got on the road late and honestly, I’m starving, and this is easy. You know cooking isn’t my thing. Most of the stuff I bought was frozen pizzas and things I can just heat in the microwave.” He shrugged. “And everything to make sandwiches.”
They used to make a good team—Jess would make the soups, he’d make the sandwiches, and they’d enjoy their meals with great conversation.
Followed by even greater sex.
So not the time to think about that…
She must have been remembering at least some of the same things because he caught her grin. “You used to make some really great sandwiches. Hard to believe you’re settling for PB&J.”
“Like I said, starving.” Opening the bread, he began pulling out several slices and put them on a paper plate.
“This is ridiculous,” Jess stated, but he could tell she was annoyed. “I’ve got a giant pot of soup right here. This entire situation isn’t great, but it’s obvious neither of us are going anywhere tonight and would be incredibly petty of me to not offer to share.”
He knew her well enough to know that she secretly wanted to be petty, but she was trying not to be. And really, that’s all he could ask for.
“I’d offer to make you a PB&J, but I know you hate them,” he said with amusement.
“But I also have the makings for some grilled cheese. I even bought a couple of loaves of brioche bread. Would that be better?” Then he held his breath because even though this was such a simple conversation, how she answered would go a long way in maybe healing things between them.
“That would be nice. Thank you,” she said quietly.
And just like that, he got to work making what he hoped were the kind of grilled cheese sandwiches that would start thawing things between them.