Chapter 22
Everly
Ametallic pounding shoots my eyelids open.
As I yawn and stretch, fragmented recall slowly re-pixelates into clear memories. Motel room. Ice. Car trouble.
Snow kisses.
I touch my lips as the perpetrator himself drags his body from the floor and stumbles to the source of the intrusive knocking. The recalcitrant, twisty sprig of hair waves from his head. I roll onto my side and watch him slide the chain.
Yawning, Knox runs his hand over the wayward hair, as if he knows the unruly piece is acting up because it’s misbehaved his entire life.
Utterly adorable.
The door opens and daylight cuts through the darkness blackout curtains held at bay.
“Mornin’, Knox.” Cliff crosses the threshold. “Just letting you know the truck’s back. Do you want to grab some breakfast? I was thinking—”
The foreman’s gaze and mine collide. We mutually gawk.
My brain starts slow in the mornings. This is an obvious should-have-hidden-myself situation. Is it too late to dive under the covers and hope he forgets what he saw?
“Well, I…pardon me.” Cliff removes his cap, like some gentleman in an old movie, and glances back to Knox, whose ears are turning the color of Santa’s suit.
“Didn’t realize you had company.” He makes a show of being serious, but it’s becoming as plain as the red on Knox’s cheeks that finding me in Knox’s… um, bed…has just made his day.
Knox’s palm rises like a giant stop sign. “Now, Cliff, about this…”
“Merry almost-Christmas, Knox!” Marlene singsongs, two-stepping into the room and locking her arm through Cliff’s. “Isn’t the snow just gorgeous!”
Cliff elbows Marlene’s bony side and jerks his head toward the bed.
Glittery, red-tipped fingers sail to my coworker’s mouth. Her gasp could wake the neighbors. “Everly Wilkes.”
My exclaimed name carries the ring of the most un-scold scold ever.
As we four adults freeze and take turns staring at one another, some in mock dismay, others in real, it’s a tossup whose reaction wins the prize.
People’s words aren’t matching their expressions. The riotous twinkle in Marlene’s eyes doesn’t jive with the dismay of her tone. Knox and I have genuinely surprised our visitors, but scandalized them? I don’t think so.
Except Knox may have scandalized himself. His dumbstruck, hand-in-the-cookie-jar horror is award-winning. And, lest I harbored any doubts about his character, particularly with the ladies, Cliff’s genuine shock at finding a woman in Knox’s room registers at a level not fakeable.
Sometimes, I surprise myself. As Knox fumbles through an explanation he doesn’t owe anyone, laughter bubbles in my chest. I will forever remember this moment and the time I was that girl.
I lay back and spill over with giggles. It’s like I’ve landed smack in the middle of a scene staged for some goofy sitcom.
“Everly.”
I look up from my giggle fit. One out of three faces is not grinning—but Knox will come around. As much as anything, he may be worried on my behalf, so I hope he’s getting the message that it’s all good here.
Marlene lands her fist on the hip she pops out in that way of hers. “Well. This explains why you didn’t answer my text about opening the diner today.”
The diner. I forgot. Like, legit never gave it a single byte of brain space. Sorry, Uncle Charlie.
I throw my feet to the floor. “I’ve got to go.”
Marlene looks like the grandmother of all snowwomen in her fluffy white coat factory-dusted with glitter. “Oh, hon, don’t you worry about that. Even Charlie closes on days like this.”
I seem to remember differently, but I’m going to pretend I don’t. Between the weather and my injury, going through the motions today doesn’t make sense.
“I can drive you by to put a sign on the door, if you’d like,” says Knox, finally finding his voice.
“That would be great, thanks.” I ease onto my feet, gradually increasing the amount of weight on my ankle. Hurts, but not nearly as much as last night.
He comes over and holds onto my waist. He smells like old motel, with a dash of mortification. “Maybe I should take you to an urgent care instead.”
“Nope. The ankle’s already tons better.” Truly.
“That’s right, sugar. You should definitely stay off your feet today.” Marlene’s fake-lashed wink encompasses her entire face.
Cliff grins.
Knox palms his face, and I…I think I finally turn as red as a holly berry.
Someone clears their throat.
Knox unfreezes. He takes Cliff by the arm. “Okay, out of here, or you’re fired, old man.”
Cliff chortles. “You can’t afford to fire me, kid.”
“Yeah, well…” The words trail as he muscles the laughing man to the exit.
Cliff balks on the threshold, grins, and tells us kids to be good. Marlene rises onto her tiptoes behind him, wildly shaking her head and mouthing the word no.
Knox closes the door on them, hard, leans on it, and rubs his chin. “That was interesting.”
I can hear the toe-curling scratch of stubbly jaw from here. I pull my legs back onto the mattress and wrap my arms around them. “Quite a wakeup, right?”
“No kidding.” He lets out a yawn, rustling his hair again and shifting into serious mode. “I’m sorry about that, Everly. I just opened the door on instinct.”
“Don’t be sorry. That was the most fun I’ve had in ages.”
Our gazes lock and hold…and we die of laughter together.
The fit tapers to an end. He jams the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Man, I am glad your father is overseas.”
My giggles haven’t completely stopped. “Yeah. You dodged a bullet.”
His eyes bug.
“Totally kidding. Dad is a rational man. He’ll just be happy you were looking out for me. Once, in high school, I had a date who let me drive home in the middle of a tornado warning. Dad about came unglued.”
Knox snorts. “Loser.”
“Yep.” I set my chin atop my knees. “I hear the guy’s in prison now.”
“No way?”
“You’re right. I just made that up. Don’t know why. It wasn’t even funny.”
Humor dances from the scold he tries to form. “Are you always this feisty first thing in the morning?”
Good one. If only he knew how many times I have to hit snooze before I’m conscious. “Not in the least.” I angle my face to the side. “Clearly, you bring something out in me.”
He laughs along, but then his gaze slides over me like warm honey. He takes slow, stalking steps and plants his fists on either side of my hips, coming so close our noses almost touch. “I could say the same about you, Miss Everly Anne.”
The artificially heated and dried out air sizzles. In my sleep, I dreamed of round two of our snow-kiss but assumed the morning was too soon to hope for another. But now…I cradle Knox’s cheek in my palm.
The melting heat in his eyes ignites, and he kisses me.
Last night wasn’t a fluke. The man is the best kisser on the planet. I run my fingers through his messy, morning hair, just one more utterly adorable thing about him.
Splayed across my back, his hands hold me close. I wrap my arms around his neck and do my best to kiss him as silly as he’s kissing me. The pressure and pleasure of his lips throw me into an alternate reality. Who am I? Where am I?
My arms tighten our tangle, and I drift toward the pillow.
But pressure on my back pushes me upright, and Knox peels mostly away, keeping only our foreheads sealed together. He’s as breathless as I feel. “Time for me to take you home.”
The one and only thing I want for Christmas is to haul him back into my arms and make reality stay away, but I let out a regretful sigh and drop my hands to my lap. Once I’m in my right mind again, I’m going to appreciate the heck out of Knox’s decency.
Knox warmed the truck up for ten minutes before helping me into the passenger seat, and the cab has become a sweat lodge two minutes into our homeward journey.
“Can we turn this down?” Anticipating his answer, I reach for the red and blue dial on the dashboard.
“Sure.” His hand makes it to the knob before mine, subduing the August-like blast.
Both of us are quiet. I figure Knox doesn’t need me yammering while he’s doing his darndest to keep us from sliding into a ditch. I watch his profile, his eyes glued to the road. His jaw is strong, indicative of his overall strength, and wildly appealing. How did I miss his charm even for a moment?
As for his mouth, I now know how wonderful it is to kiss. Far more enchanting than the last guy I made a mistake with.
Kissing Knox was nowhere near a mistake. But Ethan? Oh my goodness. How could I have been so stupid? From start to finish, that guy was a fraud. The mere memory sweeps a chill down my spine.
“You sure you don’t want more heat?”
“I’m fine,” I say as I savor the beautiful blanket of white coating the yards, bushes and rooftops along Chandor’s side streets. The skies have closed, yet a bank of slate clouds linger. Christmas lights left burning overnight still glow along rooflines.
The snow makes even the diner appear almost quaint. The weatherperson I watched on TV while Knox changed into jeans and a flannel shirt—in the bathroom, of course—said four inches of the white stuff fell overnight. That’s quite an accomplishment for this area.
The diner’s empty lot makes it pretty obvious Charlie’s is closed, and the reason should be self-evident for anyone with a brain. Nonetheless, with Knox’s help, I make a sign out of printer paper and black marker and tape it to the front door.
There are much worse things than clutching Knox’s arm, feeling the corded muscles bunch, and leaning into his sturdy side throughout the process.
Having a partner to lean on metaphorically wouldn’t be half bad either.
I’ve reached my fill of single life. I’m more the settle down and do boring, real-life stuff type.
I just want to do it with my person. Sure, we’ll have fun times, too, but what I crave most of all is someone to enjoy the simple things with.
Once my sentence—I mean, time—at Uncle Charlie’s has passed, I’ll find myself a house and get busy making it a home.
The bad thing is, my plan sounded more exciting before my time at Uncle Charlie’s. Before…Knox.