Chapter 23 #2
Images of a possible future rushed through my head.
Laughing while we cooked together. Watching a movie on the couch under a shared blanket.
Walking our rescue dog that we would name Blitzen.
Okay, I was getting ahead of myself. But the point was things were shifting.
After Trent cheated, I was ready to live the single life forever, no attachments.
But now I was having these thoughts. I smiled to myself as I realized … I was healing.
“What are you smiling about?”
I turned to find him studying my face. “Nothing in particular. I’m just happy.”
“Well, that’s always good.” He opened the dishwasher and started loading plates after I scraped and rinsed them. “So, how’s the apartment hunting going?”
“It’s not. I’ve only visited one so far, and the landlord’s creep factor was off the charts. As was the smell of cat pee.”
“Eww.” He made a face.
I used a sponge on a particularly dried gravy stain. “There’s barely any available real estate, and I’m holding out to get one close to the town center.”
“Hey, maybe you’re the killer,” Ellison said with a playful smirk. “Ruining the town in the hopes that a cute one-bedroom opens up off Main Street.”
I pointed a dirty knife at him. “Don’t tell anyone my secret.”
He crossed his heart and put a finger to his lips. “The apartment across the hall from mine is empty half the year. Mrs. Wickstrom spends her winters in Florida now but refuses to sublet. Too bad.” He dropped his voice low. “I’d love to be your neighbor.”
I handed him a slippery plate, and our fingers touched. Such a small thing, but it made my heart stutter. “Um, so, where is your place anyway?”
“Right on Main Street above Candy Cane Dreams. We have roof access too, which can be pretty on clear, mild nights.”
I pictured myself sharing a blanket with him on the roof, staring at the stars. “Sounds like a dream.”
“As long as you can learn to ignore the amazing smells from downstairs.”
I didn’t think of that. Living above Candy Cane Dreams was dangerous. “I might become a hot cocoa addict.”
“There are worse things,” he assured me.
With the last fork loaded in the dishwasher, I dried my hands on a towel and turned around. Ellison leaned against the kitchen island. “About what Susie said,” he began.
“We don’t need to talk about her.” I didn’t want to waste one more moment thinking about Susie, Aaron, Trent, or anyone else. I just wanted to stare into those blue eyes. I wanted to inch closer to him, feel his hands on me, press my lips against his …
“But I’m worried that she got under your skin,” he said, a concerned edge to his voice. “I know I’m slow to open up. But I’ll get there. I promise you.”
If there was ever a time to do this, it was now.
I’d been wanting to have this talk, and now I had my opening.
“I’m going to be honest. I do feel a wall there.
But it has nothing to do with Susie because I felt it before she pointed it out.
” I took a step, closing the distance between us.
“You know about my past before the move, but I don’t know anything about yours.
And I feel like every time I bring it up, you decidedly do not want to talk about it. ”
He gave me a casual shrug. “There’s not much to tell. I’m from a boring small town where nothing really happens.”
“In Maine?”
“In western Massachusetts.”
Progress. I had a state and regional area. “What made you move here?”
He turned away from me and started adjusting the placemats on the table. “I just wanted a change. I’d visited here once as a kid and thought the place was magic. So when I … needed a change, I felt pulled here.”
Just like me, I thought.
His eyes took on a faraway look. “Christmasville reminds me of people at their kindest and happiest. And I needed that. So, I waited tables for a bit until the retail space came on the market. It had been a trinket store, but we have several of those. We didn’t have a bookstore.
So I snagged the lease and opened Snow Village Books.
Things have been going pretty well until … ”
“People started dying,” I filled in.
“Yeah. Hopefully this whole serial killer theory is wrong and the town returns to the safe place it once was.”
I waited for him to say more, but that seemed to be it for now.
I couldn’t complain; he’d told me a lot.
But there was still something he was holding back in that blank spot.
What caused his “need for a change” and his need to see people at their kindest?
I wanted to know, but I didn’t want to push him any further tonight.
He’d already opened up more than he ever had before.
He came to my side and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “What was his name? The boyfriend who hurt you.”
“Trent,” I said, the word tasting like sour milk on my tongue.
Ellison grimaced. “Trent? Well, that should have been the first sign.”
I smothered a laugh with my hand.
Ellison grabbed it and held it in his own, his thumb tracing circles and filling my body with warmth. “I’m sorry he did that to you. But I’m not sorry that you ended up here. If that makes sense.”
“It does,” I said. “Getting to know you has been amazing.”
My heart thumped relentlessly in my chest, so loud I was sure he could hear it. His eyes stared right into mine, then lower, at my lips.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he warned.
I let out a slow, shaky breath. “It’s about damn time.”
Our lips met, softly, gently. The sweetness made my heart ache.
But then the kiss deepened and something else began to ache.
I felt the kiss everywhere, in every inch of my body.
He pulled me closer, and I willingly pressed myself against him.
He let out a soft moan that nearly made me melt right onto the kitchen floor.
“What time do you want dessert?” Nick asked, strolling into the room. “Oh, uh, sorry, guys.”
“I told you not to go in there!” Holly yelled from the living room. “The fun police strikes again!”
Ellison and I broke apart, laughing, but still holding on to each other.
“Now is fine,” Ellison said, a little smile on his lips.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’d love some dessert.”