Chapter 4
JOSIE
My nerves have been fluttering all morning.
Even after Brewer has gone, I can’t stop thinking about how he stood up for me, the fierceness in his gaze when he said, “Nobody talks to you like that.” I can’t stop looking over at his empty booth, imagining he’s still sitting there and watching me with those dark, stormy eyes.
When my lunch break finally rolls around, I hurry out of the diner, heading toward Mountain Brew—the coffee shop where I meet Savannah for lunch every day.
I’m desperate to tell my best friend everything that happened this morning, so I’m relieved to see she’s already sitting at our usual corner table.
She’s tapping away on her phone—texting Clay, no doubt—but she sets it down when she sees me approaching.
“Hey!” Savannah smiles widely. She’s been glowing ever since she met Clay, like her pores are radiating sunshine.
“Hi, Sav.” I lean down to give her a one-armed hug, taking a seat across from her.
“I already ordered,” she says. “It should be here soon.”
“Awesome. Thanks.”
We always get the same thing: two hot chocolates and two grilled cheese sandwiches. Mountain Brew makes the best grilled cheese in town—even better than the ones at Creekside—but it’s not the thought of melted cheese that’s making my heart race right now.
“Are you okay?” Savannah asks. “You look a little flushed.”
“Something happened with Lumbersnack this morning.”
The words spill out of me in a rush as I recount everything, pausing only for a moment when the server brings out our food. Savannah listens eagerly, nodding as I repeat what Brewer said word for word.
“He definitely wants to marry you,” she says when I finally run out of steam.
“Don’t tease me, Sav.”
“I’m not!” She leans in conspiratorially, ignoring her grilled cheese. “Clay told me that Brewer has been acting weird for weeks. He’s always distracted, always brooding, and he insists on going to the diner every morning, no matter what. I bet he’s only going there to see you.”
My heart thuds wildly at her words, but it sounds like pretty wishful thinking. Heck, Brewer usually makes a point of ignoring me, and today was the first time in a month that he’s actually looked me in the eye. But when I tell Savannah this, she shakes her head impatiently.
“He probably feels like he shouldn’t want you,” she says. “Clay told me he felt that way after we first met because of the age gap.”
“But Clay didn’t ignore your existence for a whole month.”
“No…” Savannah concedes reluctantly. “But he was super grumpy when we first met. I had no idea he was into me.” She reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “Trust me. I bet Brewer has been losing his mind ever since he set eyes on you.”
I want to believe her. There’s a flicker of hope in my chest, and I don’t want to extinguish it just yet.
But it’s hard to reconcile what Savannah is saying with Brewer’s behavior.
He’s been allergic to me ever since he started coming to the diner.
Today was the exception—not the rule. He defended me because he’s a good guy and it was the right thing to do.
It doesn’t mean he feels anything for me.
“I wish I had your faith,” I say, picking glumly at a string of cheese, “but I don’t think I’m his type.”
“Are you nuts?” Savannah frowns at me. “You’re gorgeous! Any man with eyes—”
“Sav.”
“I mean it, Josie.”
I smile, feeling a swell of affection for her as I say, “I know you mean it. That’s what best friends are for. But not everybody sees me the way you do.”
Savannah opens her mouth, then closes it again. She looks at me for a long moment, brow creased like she’s thinking hard.
“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?” she asks. “Take your mind off Brewer.”
It’s not what I expected her to say, and I try to hide my reluctance.
I love spending time with Savannah, but I’m not sure that third-wheeling with her and Clay all evening will stop me thinking about Brewer.
If anything, it will just remind me of everything I’m missing out on.
But I guess it’s better than moping around my apartment all by myself.
“That would be nice,” I say, forcing a smile. “Thanks, Sav.”
“Perfect.” She smiles back at me, her eyes twinkling with something I can’t decipher. “I think it’s going to be a great night.”
The rest of my shift passes uneventfully, aside from a few more whispered conversations with Willa about the sketchy-sounding auction.
She shoots off to her next job the second we close, while I head for the bakery.
It’s a Cherry Hollow tradition: when someone invites you to dinner, you bring a cherry pie for dessert.
It’s snowing by the time I head out of town, the still-warm pie on the passenger seat as I begin the drive up Cherry Mountain.
The dark road snakes through the trees, winding upward, and I follow it cautiously, my windscreen wipers fighting a losing battle against the fat flakes tumbling from the sky.
By the time I reach Clay and Savannah’s, I’m seriously regretting my decision to come.
I’m really not in the mood to socialize, and I’m dreading the drive back down the mountain in this weather.
But it’s too late to back out now, so I park beside Clay’s ludicrously large truck and grab the cherry pie from the passenger seat.
Then I get out of the car, wincing against the biting wind as I hurry toward the cabin and knock.
“Hey!” Savannah says as she opens the door with a grin. “Come on in.”
She gives me a hug as I enter the warm cabin, immediately feeling the cold in my bones start to thaw.
Clay is standing by the kitchen door, and he grunts out a greeting, nodding at me.
I’ve only met him twice; he tries his best to be friendly, but he’s usually too busy looking at Savannah to pay attention to anything else.
I’d love to ask him more about his brother, but Clay isn’t much of a talker, and I don’t know how to steer the conversation without sounding obvious.
“Make yourself at home,” Savannah says warmly, thanking me as she takes the cherry pie. “Clay’s making lasagna.”
“Sounds great.”
“You want something to drink?” she asks. “Hot chocolate?”
“That would be perfect.”
There’s something off about Savannah that I can’t put my finger on. She’s buzzing with nervous energy, her eyes a little wild, like she just drank ten cups of coffee all at once. Before I can question it, she shoots a glance at the front door, then disappears into the kitchen with Clay.
Once I’m alone, I sink onto the couch by the fire, melting against the cushions. The warmth of the flames washes over me like a hot bath, and my eyelids flutter closed for a moment.
Knock, knock.
The loud rap on the door jerks me back to life.
“Uh…Savannah,” I call, “there’s someone at the door.”
Her voice drifts toward me from the kitchen, sounding higher-pitched than usual. “Oh, that will be the other guest! Can you answer it for me, please?”
I frown as I push myself off the couch. Savannah didn’t mention that anyone else would be coming, and I reach for the door handle a little uncertainly. As I pull it open, a blast of icy air hits me like a slap in the face.
Someone is standing on the doorstep.
“Oh,” I gasp, taking a shaky step backward.
It’s Brewer.
He towers over me, lit up by the glow of the porch light, snowflakes clinging to his beard and jacket. I gawk up at him, my mouth dry as sand. There’s a flash of surprise in his dark brown eyes, his scowl deepening, and something tells me he’s just as surprised to see me as I am to see him.
“I…” My voice is an awkward squeak. I’m still too shocked to form a coherent sentence.
“Hi Brewer!” I hear Savannah say from behind me, joining us at the door. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
I turn my gaze on my best friend, but she makes a point of avoiding my eye, cheeks blushing furiously.
She planned this.
“Brewer, this is my best friend Josie,” she says, resting her hand on my shoulder. “I think you two have already met at the diner?”
Savannah asks the question innocently, all wide-eyed and uncertain, like she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing. I don’t know whether to hug her or murder her.
“Yeah,” Brewer says, his voice rumbling through me like thunder. “We’ve met.”
My legs are trembling. I can feel those dark eyes drilling into me, burning my skin until I can’t breathe.
Oh God, I think I might hyperventilate.
“Come on in out of the cold,” Savannah says.
Brewer grunts a thanks, and I take several more steps back, giving him room to enter the cabin while Savannah shuts the door behind him. She takes the bottle of amber whiskey he’s carrying and thanks him.
“I’ll go get your drinks,” she says. “One hot chocolate, one whiskey.” She beams at us, and before I can protest, she’s already heading back to the kitchen, leaving me alone with Brewer.
Crap.
The air feels impossibly thick, and my gaze slides to the floor, settling on my shoes.
I can’t bring myself to meet his gaze, but even when I’m not looking at him, I can feel his presence.
It’s like I’m standing in the shadow of a mountain, the weight of it pressing down.
But Brewer’s size doesn’t scare me. It makes me feel safe—like the whole world could collapse on top of us and he’d hold it back with his bare hands.
“Hi again,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.
“Hi, Josie.”
At the sound of my name, I finally look up at him, tilting my head back so I can meet those scowling brown eyes. All I want to do is step closer. Melt against his broad chest. Wrap my arms around him and never let go…
And that’s how I know I’m absolutely, completely, catastrophically done for.