Chapter 6
WYNTER
“Stop looking at me like that,” Wynter grumbled before lifting her coffee mug to her lips.
Her grandmother lifted her brows and, in a sound of mock surprise, murmured, “I’m not looking at you.”
“Yes, you are,” Wynter said with a snort. “You’re literally looking at me.”
“But not like that.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are definitely looking at me in a way that suggests that I’ve done something wrong and I need to fix it.”
“You said it, not me,” Grams said sweetly.
Groaning, Wynter turned her attention to the newspaper in front of Grams. “Have you finished your crossword yet?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“If you’re not looking at me like anything, and you’re not the one saying the words,” Wynter grumbled, “then we can change the subject.”
Grams sighed. But she had no right to be annoyed or frustrated. She was the one who put this whole thing into motion. Marcus was tinkering with the furnace in the garage. They’d heard a couple mutterings through the thin wall.
This wasn’t even about money. Wynter could have hired someone to come out and check on things. Her grandmother only had to tell her what she needed. Money wasn’t an issue as far as Wynter was concerned.
And yet, something told her that Marcus didn’t plan on getting paid for his help. That was just the guy he was.
She pulled the mug to her for another sip, and the steam from her coffee wafted through the air.
“You need to apologize to that boy.”
Wynter’s eyes flicked to Grams. “He’s hardly a boy.”
“My assessment still stands.” There was no need to ask what she needed to apologize for. Grams knew everything, and while she hadn’t exactly approved of how Wynter handled the situation with Marcus, she’d kept her nose out of it.
Until now.
“He doesn’t want my apology, Grams.”
“Of course he does.”
“No. He wants to know why.” Wynter avoided looking directly at her grandmother. Her voice was taut with the tension that strung every muscle in her body too tight. She knew what was coming next before her grandmother even spoke.
“And why exactly did everything happen the way it did?”
Wynter flinched. She wasn’t ready to discuss this. Not with Marcus. Not with Grams. She wasn’t ready to delve deeper into her psyche to truly hold her motivations to the flame and understand them herself.
“Dear—” Grams started, but Wynter was saved when Marcus entered from the garage.
All heads turned toward him as he wiped his hands on his jeans.
“I don’t have anything on me to test the capacitor, but based on checking out the other parts, I think that’s a good place to start.
The hardware store in town should have one.
And I’m going to take this one with me to get it tested.
” Marcus jerked his head in the direction of the living room.
“The fire should keep you warm while I get this sorted out.”
Grams smiled brightly at him. “Thank you, sweetheart! You’re helping me out more than you know.”
It took a great deal of effort for Wynter not to roll her eyes.
She avoided meeting Marcus’s gaze, though now she could feel his attention burning a hole in the side of her face.
He didn’t say another word to her before he grabbed his coat and headed out the door.
The second he left, Grams was staring her down as well.
“If you knew what was good for you, you’d apologize to him when he returns. This is your chance to make things right.” With that, she picked up the paper and set her focus on the crossword.
The worst part was that she wasn’t wrong.
Wynter pulled the pot of stew off the stove and placed it on the counter. Grams had opted to lie down for a late morning nap before Marcus had returned. He’d replaced the capacitor, which happened to be some kind of battery for appliances. Then he went out to the woodshed and started chopping.
The sound of the axe splitting through the air had been her companion while she cut the vegetables and seared the meat for her stew. By the time he was lumbering toward the house with an armful of wood, she had two bowls filled and placed at the table.
Wynter opened the door for him before he had the chance to tap at it with the toe of his boot. He looked up at her with surprise, then grunted out his thanks when she stepped aside and allowed him entry.
Quietly closing the door, she watched him place the chunks of wood in a neat pile beside the fireplace. As if against her own will, she was drawn to him. Fiddling with the hem of her shirt, she moved closer to him.
His efforts slowed, then stopped altogether. Marcus’s whole body went stock-still. She could see the tightness in the muscles around his shoulders and neck. It was like he was preparing himself for an attack.
She’d done that.
She’d put him on edge.
Wynter blew out a breath and looked away. Anywhere but at him.
Even now, thoughts of dreams she’d once had of the two of them together hit her hard. It was all a pipedream. None of what she fantasized about would come true because that’s all they were. Fantasies. People didn’t live happily ever after.
No, people were a disappointment.
They always left.
Marriage was for suckers.
Families that stuck together were an anomaly.
The world in general was selfish.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you, Marcus.”
He flinched at her voice, and her heart cracked just a little.
“You didn’t have to—” she continued before he cut her off.
Marcus had picked up another piece of wood to place on the pile. “I know I didn’t have to, Wynter.” His voice sounded so… defeated. “I know,” he repeated.
Wynter nodded. She shuffled her feet, her stockinged toes digging into the worn carpet at her feet. “Well, thanks. I want you to know I appreciate it.”
He cut her a look over his shoulder. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome.” After placing the last piece of wood on the pile, he rested his hands on his knees. “Nora said that there’s an issue with a leaky showerhead.”
“Yeah, in the main bathroom.”
“I can take a look—”
“After lunch. I made stew—”
“You don’t have to feed me.”
“And you didn’t have to help us out.”
He rose to his full height and turned around. She lifted her chin, not caring how defiant she looked. They stared at each other, searching, waiting. Finally, he nodded and held out a hand toward the kitchen. “Lead the way.”
They sat across the table from one another, but it wasn’t large by any means. One accidental stretch of her foot and it’d brush against his calf. Gram’s words screamed in her head. He deserves an apology. Yes, he did. Marcus deserved a lot more than that.
She wasn’t ready. It was going to sting. But it had to be done.
“I’m sorry, Marcus.” She stared hard at her stew.
In her periphery, she could see his movements stall, and boy, she wished he’d just keep eating so she didn’t have his full attention.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she carried on.
“The way our friendship fell apart is all on me. I shouldn’t have shut you out. ”
Marcus was quiet for a long moment, then he placed his spoon down on the table with a clink. He lifted a napkin to his mouth before returning it. Then said, “You still haven’t told me why.”
She shook her head.
More silence dragged. It seemed to pierce the air with an expectant ringing she couldn’t shake. Then he whispered, “Tell me what I did wrong.”
Her heart twisted in her chest. She wanted to scream that he hadn’t done anything wrong.
That she was broken and this was the way she protected herself.
But he wouldn’t understand. How could he when all he had were wonderful examples of a life she’d only dreamed of experiencing?
Her scars ran deep. She’d never be able to trust herself or her heart with anyone.
Scrambling for something to say that he would hopefully understand, she settled on the only thing that made sense. “I was young, Marcus. I didn’t plan on settling down in Copper Creek. Leaving was inevitable, and I knew our friendship had a timer.”
“How can you say that?” he whispered, the pain in his voice prevalent.
Her eyes flicked up to meet his. “Friendships don’t last forever. It’s a fact of life. Eventually people drift apart.”
“But we didn’t have to.”
She winced, then clung to the last thread of courage she could muster. “It’s hard to maintain a friendship when you’re thousands of miles apart. I’m not staying, Marcus. I’m leaving again when my contract is up. So, what’s the point?”
Marcus stared at her hard. It was a look she was familiar with. He was trying to push past the barriers she put up so easily over the years. She didn’t know what he found when he searched her face, but eventually his expression relaxed, and he nodded.
Relief pooled in her stomach. Would he finally be willing to drop it? Could they make the next couple of months work without feeling like they were tiptoeing around each other?
She could only pray for that outcome despite how painful she knew it would be.
“Six years is nothing, Wynter,” Marcus finally said around a bite of stew.
Wynter slowly brought her eyes to meet his. And when he flashed her that wickedly charming smile, a bit of the ice surrounding her heart melted. “What do you mean?”
He swallowed and tilted his head. “You were my best friend. And a friendship like that one doesn’t come around very often.”
Her heart thundered. It stormed and swirled with catastrophizing beats. She could hear it in the rushing of blood in her ears and feel the way it knocked her off balance with its dizzying pace.
Marcus saved her from asking him to clarify what he was getting at when he shrugged.
“You’re still my best friend, Wynter. You can’t get rid of me that easy.
I don’t care if you’re five miles away or five thousand.
I just care that you’re in my life.” His eyes didn’t leave her face.
Once again, he had her pinned with his stare as he let his words sink in.
Then he concluded with, “This time, don’t ignore my calls and my texts, and we’ll be good. ”
What was she supposed to say to that? What could she say, besides a whispered, “Okay.”
The rest of the day, she watched Marcus come and go from the house as he set to work on various tasks.
First, he went up to the attic and brought down the various boxes and bins labeled for Christmas.
Next, he pulled out the shower knob and informed her that there was a component that had worn down with time.
It was the reason for the leak, but it was too late in the day for him to pick up what he needed to repair it.
She’d thanked him with a smile that had come far too easily. And when he’d left, she found her grandmother’s eyes locked on her once more.
“What?” Wynter demanded with a slight blush.
“I take it the apology went well?” she asked.
“I apologized…” Wynter admitted, turning back to the research article she was notating.
“And?”
Wynter shrugged. “And he said we’re good.”
“Good?” Grams lifted a brow. “I’d say by the smile you’ve been wearing for most of the day that things are better than good.”
She was right. Something had shifted. It was freeing to say the least. Wynter chewed on her lower lip but didn’t confirm her grandmother’s statement.
“Do you suppose that you’d be willing to stick around?”
And just like that, the lightness in the room grew one hundred times heavier. She met her grandmother’s hopeful eyes, not willing to give her anything but the truth. “I’m only here to help you while you heal. The contract is for three months. That’s it.”
Disappointment clung to her grandmother’s slight frame, and Wynter wanted to apologize for that, too. She wanted to pull Grams into her arms and tell her that she’d move back, and everything could be like she wanted. But the truth remained.
Wynter was broken. The anxiety that came with the desire for a future here, for stability, was literally debilitating. Panic attacks could be involved.
So, she said nothing.
Tossing her article on the couch at her side, she rose to her feet. “I’ll start on supper.”