Chapter 5
Rosemary
Ididn’t remember falling asleep the night before, but when I woke up the next day, sunlight was streaming through the blinds, and I was alone in bed. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling of my room and replayed the last twenty-four hours.
I had a mate. I had a frigging mate, and he was gorgeous. Tall and built and bearded and tattooed.
I took a moment to mourn that I hadn’t yet taken the time to study the tattoos that practically covered his chest and arms.
Beyond his appearance, which I couldn’t have improved on if I were imagining him, I actually liked the Vampire.
He was protective, but it wasn’t suffocating.
To be fair, it was annoying, but I felt like I could probably push back on that when the time came.
He was funny. He clearly loved his family. And holy hell was he good in bed.
I grinned. If he was that good with his hands, I had a strong feeling that he’d be even better with other parts of his body.
I felt like a new person as I climbed out of bed and stretched my arms above me until my fingers brushed the ceiling. It was amazing what an orgasm and a good night’s sleep could do for a person.
I hurried to get dressed and made a stop by the bathroom to brush my teeth so I could go search for my mate.
I could hear noise coming from out back, and I followed it to find my pop standing by the wood splitter, his wheelchair waiting just a few steps behind him.
As I watched, Daniel stepped out from around the shed, carrying a round of wood.
He set it on the splitter, my dad pulled the lever, and the piece slowly split in half.
As Pop held one half in place, Daniel set the other on the ground beside him and then readjusted the piece on the splitter so they could cut it down into pieces that would fit in our fireplace.
They moved methodically, like they’d already gone through the same process a hundred times before. Warmth spread through my chest.
Pop couldn’t do much outdoor work anymore.
He’d held out as long as he could, pushing himself every day and stumbling into his recliner every night with barely a complaint, even though I’d known he was in agony.
He was used to being outdoors, working with his hands and his body.
I’d barely held back tears when he’d come home from the doctor one day a few years ago and set his wheelchair just inside the front door.
We hadn’t discussed it, and it had taken months for him to even use it.
Ian and I tried to keep up with the property.
We split and stacked wood when we saw that it was getting low, mowed the grass and blackberries when they got out of hand, and last summer we’d even rebuilt the chicken coop when a summer storm had knocked a tree branch onto the roof—but it was nearly impossible to stay on top of things.
There was always so much to do. I didn’t know how my pop had maintained it by himself for so many years, and I knew it killed him to see us struggling to manage while he was stuck watching.
My throat tightened.
I should’ve thought to let my dad control the splitter while I did the heavy work. In less than a day, Daniel had pinpointed exactly where he needed help and given my pop enough room to contribute.
I cleared my throat and crossed my arms.
“Excuse me,” I called, striding toward them. “When exactly did you two become best friends?”
“About the time he stumbled into the kitchen asking for coffee,” my dad replied over the sound of the splitter, his smile making his eyes crinkle at the corners. “And asked if there was anything he could help out with while you were sleepin’ the day away.”
“First of all, I needed that rest,” I countered, pointing at him. I couldn’t hide my own smile. “And second of all, splitting wood is the only fun job on this property, and you stole it like a couple of thieves.”
“Sorry, baby,” Daniel said with a laugh, heaving another round onto the splitter. “You wanna stack?”
“That’s literally the worst part of the whole thing,” I grumbled good-naturedly.
Heading into the barn, I grabbed my gloves off the workbench inside.
I pulled them on as I went back to help.
Thankfully, the weather was cool but not freezing, just nice enough to get away with not wearing a coat.
Physical labor while wearing a coat absolutely sucked.
It got so hot while you were working, but if you took the coat off, when the cold air hit your sweaty shirt beneath, you were instantly freezing.
“All of them are already stacked,” I complained loudly the moment I’d reached the woodshed. Twice as many pieces were in there than I’d noticed last week, and I knew my pop hadn’t split them on his own.
“Danny’s been stackin’ ’em as we go,” my pop called back.
“Well, what the hell am I going to do?” I asked, spinning back toward them.
“You can take the new ones,” Daniel replied, tossing them by his feet. “We’ll move a hell of a lot faster if I’m not stacking.”
“Yeah, it seems like you guys have really been slowed down,” I joked, walking over to pick up the pieces.
Daniel cocked his head to the side as he watched me.
“Thank you,” I mouthed silently.
I stumbled over my own feet when he winked back.
We worked out there until Danny noticed that my pop was flagging, which was only about five minutes after I’d noticed.
“You ready to take a break?” he asked nonchalantly. “I’m starving.”
Pop made a face that was the old man equivalent of rolling his eyes, but he still reached over to turn off the machine.
“Thank God,” I gasped dramatically as I carried the most recent firewood toward the shed. “I’m wasting away.”
After I’d set the pieces in their stack, I let out a yelp when I turned to find Daniel standing behind me.
“Crap!” I smacked myself in the chest like I could get my heart beating again. “You startled me.”
“I wasn’t being quiet,” he replied, reaching out to pick a piece of wood off the chest of my hoodie. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like the dead,” I replied dryly as I pulled off my gloves. “I don’t know the last time I slept so late.”
“You needed it.”
“I thought you were tired,” I countered, smacking him lightly with my gloves. “But apparently you were awake with the sun.”
“You’re not far off,” he said as we turned to walk toward the house. My pop had already disappeared inside. “Once the sun came through your window, it was impossible to fall back asleep.”
“I’m going to tell you a trade secret,” I replied, stopping to turn toward him. “You ready?”
“Hit me.”
“You know when the sun comes through the window and it’s shining in your face?”
“Yes.”
I paused for effect. “Roll over.”
Daniel chuckled and started walking again.
“I’m serious,” I said, hurrying to match his pace. “It works!”
“Uh-huh.”
I smiled, letting the scent of home wash over me.
“Hey, Daniel, um…Danny?”
“Yeah?” He reached for my hand and slid his fingers between mine.
“Thank you for what you did this morning.” We were nearing the house, and I needed to get it out before we got within hearing distance.
“I figured you would thank me for last night,” he teased. When his eyes met mine, his expression grew serious.
“I…he—” I stuttered, trying to find the right words.
“He’s a proud guy, so losing the ability to take care of this place has been, well, it’s sucked for him.
Big time. And I do what I can, you know, to make sure that it looks okay out here…
but it’s never as good as it looked before, and I know he hates that.
He hates all of it. Ian and I usually process the wood when we see it’s getting low, but I’ve never thought to ask my pop to work the splitter. ”
Daniel’s thumb brushed along mine in a caress.
“I should’ve thought to do that,” I finished.
Lifting my hand, he pressed it to his lips. “I didn’t know how to work the splitter, so I asked him to show me,” he replied simply. “We’ve always done it by hand.”
I knew what he was doing. He was downplaying it. For whatever reason, he didn’t want to acknowledge what he’d done for Pop.
“Still?” I grimaced. “We’re in the twenty-first century, bro. Get with the times.”
“I might,” he said as we continued walking. “We split that wood in less than half the time it would’ve taken me to do it by hand.”
“Modern technology,” I agreed, nodding sagely. “What a marvel, am I right?”
It took him a moment to realize I was fucking with him. When he did, I wasn’t prepared for the way he reacted. As he yanked me forward, he bent at the waist. His shoulder hit my gut, and my feet went flying into the air as he threw me over his shoulder.
“What the hell?” I screeched, laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Of course, the broad shoulder pressing against my diaphragm probably didn’t help that either.
Then he started spinning.
My hair flew out in a halo around my head as I wheezed and cackled, the world flashing by through my rapidly tangling hair.
“Put me down, you Neanderthal,” I yelled, barely able to get the words out as I braced my hands against his back.
“Are you going to keep making jokes about my age?” he asked, his laugh a little breathless as his arms tightened around my thighs.
“I’m not going to lie to you, mate,” I choked out, trying to tickle his sides. “I probably will.”
His hand hit my ass in a stinging slap as he stopped, and my head swam as he lowered me to the ground again, making me stumble.
“You spanked me,” I accused, reaching back to rub away the sting.
“Bet you liked it,” he shot back, sauntering toward the house.
My mouth dropped open, and I swayed on my feet as I watched him walk away.