Chapter 11
Grayson
Ten days had passed since Marla seated Amelia at my table.
Ten days of waking up with her soft body pressed against mine.
Ten days of falling hard and fast for her.
But it had also been ten days of silent dread while I wondered when she’d drop the news on me that she was leaving Iron Peak for good.
And today was that day, even if I didn’t know it yet.
I’d gotten behind on construction at the survival school. The bathroom tiles sat in their boxes, untouched. The kitchen remained a concrete shell. And I’d turned down six requests for tours, something I’d never done before in my entire career.
The only thing I’d kept up with was my search and rescue duties, dropping everything when a call came in because lives depended on it.
But everything else?
Everything else had taken a backseat to Amelia Edwards, the woman who’d stolen my heart.
I knocked on her door at the Summit House, already anticipating the way she’d rise up on her toes to kiss me the second she saw me.
But when she opened the door to her room, my heart stopped.
Her suitcase, which had sat open, spewing its contents every day I’d been here, was primly zipped and sitting by the door.
Her plants filled cardboard boxes lined up against the wall.
The heart-shaped leaves of her philodendrons spilled over the edges, their variegated patterns of green and cream crowded together.
Her monsteras with their distinctive split leaves, sat in a separate box, carefully wrapped in newspaper to protect their delicate fenestrations.
Even her trailing pothos vines had been coiled and tucked away, ready for transport.
Ready for leaving.
Leaving me.
The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
I’d known this torrid love affair wouldn’t last forever.
I’d told myself from the beginning that she was just passing through, that I shouldn’t get attached, that temporary was all this could ever be.
But I’d had no idea it was ending today.
My chest felt like someone had reached inside and squeezed it hard until there was nothing left.
The devastation hit me in waves. I thought about waking up tomorrow alone.
Eating breakfast at the Ridge Diner by myself, staring at the empty booth across from me.
I thought about hiking out to the hot springs and remembering the way she’d looked rising out of that water, droplets streaming down her curves.
The idea of going back to the life I’d had before her felt like being sentenced to prison.
My eyes roamed the room, taking in the stripped bed and the empty nightstand.
Then my gaze met hers.
“Are you leaving?”
Amelia bit her lip and sank down onto the edge of the bed. Her hands twisted in her lap, fingers knotting together.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” she stammered.
“I can’t afford to stay, Grayson. I looked into cheaper rentals in Iron Peak, and I couldn’t find anything available.
I even looked up job listings, but the only thing hiring right now was the search and rescue team, and I’m obviously not cut out for that. ”
A dry laugh escaped her, but there was no humor in it.
“The truth is, I only planned to be in Iron Peak for one night. I was going to leave after getting breakfast that first morning.” Her voice cracked.
“I delayed my departure because of you. But I’ve already spent eleven hundred dollars staying at the Summit House for eleven days, and I can’t justify blowing through my entire savings just to get a few more weeks with you. ”
Tears spilled down her cheeks, and watching her cry felt like being gutted with a dull knife.
I walked to the window and pulled open the curtains, staring out at the mountains without really seeing them.
My thoughts were a scattered mess, tumbling over each other as I tried to find some solution, some way to fix this.
“Do you like Iron Peak?” I asked, my voice rough.
“I love it,” she whispered.
“Would you stay if you had somewhere affordable to live?”
“In a heartbeat.”
I turned around and looked at her, letting everything I felt show on my face. “I know it’s not much,” I said slowly, “but would you want to stay with me?”
Her eyes widened, hope flickering across her features before caution crept back in. “For how long?”
I shrugged, trying to appear casual, even though my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. “As long as you want.”
I crossed the room and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in mine. Her fingers were trembling. Or maybe that was me.
“I know we haven’t talked about any future plans.” The words came out rough and unpolished. “And my life might not look like much right now. But if I live in your heart the way you live in mine, I can’t help but hope that you might want to make it a permanent move.”
Her breath caught, and more tears spilled down her cheeks.
“I could convert the cabin into a propagation room for your plants,” I continued, the ideas tumbling out faster now.
“We could live in the workshop room together. There’s running water, and I think I could finish the kitchen in a few weeks to make it more suitable.
It wouldn’t be fancy, but it would be ours. ”
Amelia’s face crumpled, but she was smiling through her tears. “Are you sure? You don’t think we’d be rushing things?”
“Why be cautious? Isn’t that why you left your old life behind? To find a new one you liked better?” I stood up, pulling her into my arms. “Live it with me, Amelia. I want to be your new life.”
She didn’t answer right away. Her fingers tightened in mine, and her gaze flicked toward the window.
Then she looked back at me, her eyes widening as something wild streaked through her.
“Yeah, Grayson. Yeah. Let’s do it.”
I reached up and cupped her face in my hands, wiping her tears away with my thumbs.
Then she melted into me, and I knew I’d found my woman.
She whispered, “I thought I was just temporary for you.”
“Oh, Amelia, you’re not temporary. You could never be temporary. I want a whole lifetime with you.”
My heart did a slow somersault before settling back into position again.
Everything that had been wrong in my world felt right now. With Amelia at my side, I knew we could do anything.