Felix
“You can have the bedroom tonight,” I tell Riley as we finish putting away the dishes.
“Oh, no.” She hands me the last dry plate. “I can’t take your bed.”
“You can. You will.” I put the plate away before pointing at my office. “I have a pullout sofa in there. I’ll sleep on it tonight.”
“I can take—”
“No. That’s my office.”
“But—”
“Please. It gets cold up here and the warmest bed is mine because the back of the fireplace is one of the bedroom walls. I’d never sleep a wink knowing you might not be warm enough.
” I want to explain why I can’t leave her in my office unattended but I’d rather not. Especially if she isn’t going to stay.
“Felix.”
“Riley.”
With a sigh, she lowers her head and stares at my socked feet. “I hate that I’m putting you out. You didn’t ask for me to be here.”
“I did. You might not be here for the reason I expected, but I’m not sorry you are.”
Her head pops up, her gaze meeting mine. “You’re not?”
“No. I like having someone else here, someone to talk to other than Neville.” I grin. “Look, I know neither of us is getting what we thought we would out of this arrangement, but it isn’t a bad thing, is it?”
Shaking her head, she asks, “Will you let me pay you back? For the food and the accommodation?”
“No. In the morning we’ll work out how I can help you get on your feet.
I’ll call my uncle, see if he knows anyone looking for a housekeeper or whatever you’d like to do for a job.
If you need to stay here for a while, we can make that work too.
” I’ll sleep on the lumpy pullout for the rest of my life if she agrees to stay.
“You don’t know me, don’t owe me—”
“No, I don’t. But I know what it’s like to feel trapped in a situation you have no idea how to get out of. I wish I’d had someone to help me. That’s why I’m going to help you.”
“I have no one. If I did I would have…”
“I figured as much.” I take a second to be sure I want to lead the conversation in a new direction. “Can I ask a question?”
“Of course.” Her smile is open, genuine.
“How old are you?”
Her pretty smile turns into a frown. “It wasn’t on my profile?”
“It was but I’m inclined to believe the only thing on your profile that wasn’t a lie was your picture and name. Unless Riley Rose isn’t your name either.”
“It is. I’m twenty. Twenty-one next month.”
“Five years younger than I thought.”
“He said I was twenty-five.” At my nod she returns my question, “How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“You said you’ve been here on your own for a decade, right?”
“Yes.”
“So you were eighteen?”
“I was.”
“That seems awfully young to lock yourself away.”
I hate the sadness in her eyes so much I want to erase it, make her smile at me again. “I didn’t lock myself away. It’s just since the accident, I prefer to stay close to home.”
“What about school?”
“I graduated high school a few weeks before the accident.”
“You didn’t go away to college.” It’s a statement, not a question, because I already told her I hadn’t.
“No. But I have a college degree.”
“What? How?” Her gaze is full of shock and curiosity.
“I studied online.”
“All of it? The whole thing?” she asks, her voice and expression full of wonder.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know you could do that. Did it cost a lot?”
“Not as much as going away to college, because I didn’t have to pay for accommodation, only tuition.”
Her expression turns sad again and I want to obliterate whatever made her feel that way. “I wanted to go to college.”
“You still can.” Although the thought of Riley leaving puts a sour taste in my mouth and a lead weight in my stomach, I can’t let what I want stop her from going after her dreams.
“Maybe.”
“You can.” I ignore the tightness in my chest, the churning in my gut, and say, “I can help you find a way.”
“Why would you do that? I’m no one to you.”
“I told you why. I know what it’s like to be stuck in a situation you can’t see a way out of.”
“And you want to help someone else because you didn’t get the help you needed?”
“Yes.” I got help eventually, but I spent hours trapped in our crushed car, Mom dead beside me, wondering if I was going to die too.
Riley shakes her head. “I don’t understand that. No one in my life has ever done anything to help me.”
“Didn’t you say your aunt took you in?”
“She did. But I think that was more about having someone to do everything for her.”
“How old were you when you moved in with her?”
“Two or three I think.”
“You don’t know?”
“No. Aunt Bethany doesn’t talk about my parents or anything really. She just shouts commands at me most of the time.”
I don’t want to think ill of the dead, but I don’t like this Bethany woman. She doesn’t sound much better than her son. And I really don’t like him. “And Warren lived with you?”
“Oh, no, he lives on the other side of Winter Lake.” Her face screws up, little wrinkles forming above and between her eyebrows. “I guess he’s going to live in the house I did now.”
“Is that why he wanted you out?”
“Probably.” A shudder shakes her shoulders, shimmies her hip. “I’d rather live in the gutter than with him. I’m sorry you’ve been pulled into this, but I’m not sorry I’m out of the house if he’s there now.”
“I’m glad you’re out too.” I tip my chin toward the bedroom. “Why don’t you get ready for bed and I’ll make sure the fire has enough wood to heat the cabin for the night.”
“I can get up and check it overnight. I do it all the time at—”
“No!” I step back, hold up a hand. “Sorry, didn’t mean to shout at you. I’ll check it. I want you to rest. It doesn’t sound like you’ve done much of that in your life.”
Before I realize her intent, Riley has her arms wrapped around my waist and her cheek pressed against my chest. “Thank you!”
Unsure if I should return her hug or not, my arms do a weird flapping thing by my side as my brain tries to work out what to do. And before I can get my thoughts and actions in line, Riley makes the decision for me, pulls away and steps back, taking her warmth and soft body with her.
A big smile and glassy tear-filled eyes look up at me. “You are the kindest man I’ve ever met, Felix.” Turning on her heel, she darts off to my bedroom—alone—and closes the door behind her.
It has only been a few hours and I know without asking I’ve made her happy. I want to say the happiest she has ever been, but even if she’s not, I’ll take what I can get.
Because the woman who was dropped at my doorstep isn’t the one making herself at home in my bed. In a few short hours I’ve been able to give Riley something no one else has. Comfort. Relief. Safety.
The future might not be known and it might not be what either of us expected, but it’s a lot brighter than either of our pasts, and with each second I’m in her company I get more and more hopeful that even if she doesn’t want to be my wife, she’ll want to be my friend.