Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36
OLIVE
I ’m having the best dream. It’s the kind of dream where I know it’s a dream, but I don’t want to wake up. I’m floating on a raft in a big pool, no people in sight, the sunlight pouring down on my face, bathing me in the most glorious, warm glow.
“Olive?”
The smell of pancakes and bacon pulls me from sleep, the feeling of warmth lingering because of the sun hitting my face from the window.
I slowly crack open my eyes to find my bedroom door open and Liam walking in, carrying a tray and looking like something straight out of that dream.
Only he’s wearing a shirt.
I frown, and then sit up. “How did you get in here?”
“Side door,” he says. “You should really lock that.”
My frown deepens. I replay the events of the night before in my mind. Liam helped me unload everything from my booth and pack it back into the garage. It was late, and I was freezing after being outside most of the day, so we came inside and he made a fire. I popped popcorn, and put on my pajamas, and then fell asleep watching Arthur Christmas , one of my all-time favorites.
He woke me before he left, and I vaguely remember him telling me he was leaving, but I have no memory of much else. I was totally crashed out from the market.
I pick up my phone and see that it’s not even eight yet. “What are you doing up so early? You didn’t leave ’til after one.” I scoot over and he sits on the edge of my bed.
“The farm has this way of waking people up at dawn,” he says. “I guess I’m used to it already. Plus, I wanted to get here before you ate.”
He shifts the tray from his lap to mine as I sit up and look at the spread he made for me—pancakes, bacon, coffee, juice, eggs, and a little carafe of maple syrup.
“You made all this?” I look at him. “In my kitchen?” I’m shocked he could even find enough pans.
He turns shy. “I thought you might need a rest day after the market, but I wanted to see you.”
I smile. “You’re not sick of me yet?”
He shakes his head. “Not even a little.”
I smile and pick up the coffee cup and take a drink, letting out a little sigh of appreciation as I realize— “You stopped by The Beanery.”
“Yep.”
“White chocolate mocha?”
“The kid behind the counter said it’s your favorite,” he says. “He also wanted to know exactly what my intentions toward you are.”
“Jackson.” I take a slow, warm sip and grin. “He has a crush on me.”
“I don’t want you working there anymore.” He watches me for a second, then smiles.
The sight of it ignites something inside me, and I have to remind myself not to get used to this .
“What do you want to do today?” he asks.
“Hmmm . . .” I take a huge bite of the pancake, then with my mouth full, I say, “Umm . . . I think I want to hurkle durkle.”
His eyebrows shoot up, and he lets out a laugh. “You’re just making up words now?”
I take a bite of the bacon and close my eyes, letting out a hum of appreciation. “This is so good.” I open my eyes and take another big bite of pancakes. “I promise it’s a thing.”
He stares.
“You have to go home,” I say.
“Oh.” He looks a little shocked. “Okay, guess I’ll just leave then.” He starts to move.
“No!” I’m laughing, but my mouth is full, so I hurry and swallow the food so I can say, “You just can’t hurkle durkle in work boots.”
“You want me to go home and change my boots?”
“No, go home and get pajamas,” I say. “Then, we just, you know, hurkle durkle.”
“You keep saying that word like it means something.”
“It does.”
“I don’t own pajamas,” he says.
I frown. “Who doesn’t own pajamas?”
“Guys don’t.”
“Then what do you sleep in?”
He just makes a face.
I can’t do a thing to stop my brain from filling in the blanks. It alerts every nerve in my body.
He grins. “You’re picturing me in my underwear right now, aren’t you?”
I totally am.
“No.”
His smile doesn’t falter, making it clear he knows I’m lying. Mercifully, he doesn’t tease me about it, even though I’m struggling to erase the image from my mind .
“I have sweatpants, but you’re going to have to explain.”
“Explain a hurkle durkle day?” I ask.
He raises his eyebrows by way of a response.
“It’s an old Scottish term,” I say. “It’s like—” I shift around, looking for the right words— “like lounging around when the rest of the world is out there doing things. Staying under covers way longer than you should.”
“So, like a rest day,” he says, obviously not catching the vision.
“Well, yeah, if we were boring people.” I shovel another bite into my mouth. “Oh my heck, this is so good.”
“Okay,” he says. “So, you want to lay around, and I need different clothes to do that.”
I shake my head. “I want to hurkle durkle—” I raise my eyebrows. “It’s not the same thing.” I chew my bite. After I’ve swallowed it, I say, “You’ve gotta say it.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“Then you don’t get to come back.” I grin.
He stands. “You are so weird.”
He kisses me before he leaves, and I grin while his lips are still on mine. “You like weird.”
He pulls back and looks at me, shaking his head. “No, I don’t.”
He stands to leave, and I call after him, “Yes, you do!”
Walking out of my bedroom, he calls back, “I’m calling the police to have you committed.”
Whatever, I think. He loves it.
While he’s gone, I shower, brush my teeth, and put deodorant on because, while I might want to hurkle durkle, I don’t want to stink.
When he returns, he’s appropriately dressed in black joggers and a comfy black Nike sweatshirt that I’d like to steal. I take a second to appreciate how good he makes loungewear look. I’m wearing pink and red flannel Christmas pajama pants with a This is my Christmas movie watching sweatshirt hoodie and big, fuzzy slippers.
We spend the entire day at my house, and we find ways to do nothing. We watch a movie under my big, cozy fleece blanket. We bake and decorate sugar cookies. We come up with a new character for Liam’s game—a dog in a helicopter. We make an easy lunch of sandwiches and chips and watch Die Hard . We play Clue, then take a nap. I beat him at gin rummy, and he beats me at chess.
It’s the most natural, normal, wonderful way to spend a day.
And by the time the night ends, there is one thing I know for certain: I am completely, wholly, and one-hundred-percent in love with Liam Fisher.
Even if it’s only for a few more days.