Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
THEO
We make it through the night and onto the next flight, but I’ll be a zombie when we’re in Finland.
Sleeping in a car isn’t so bad. I finally sleep on the ride to the cabin, and it’s more than I’ve slept all night, which I spent tossing and turning on the floor while Evie slept peacefully.
No regrets. I’ll do it again if it means she can keep her comfort.
“It’s beautiful out here!” Evie gasps as we walk through the winding path to the cabin. “I picked well, don’t you think?”
Fresh, lush, green grass surrounds us, and the trees climb to the sky. Off in the distance, there’s a lake with ripples of trees reflecting onto the surface. I may be bone tired, but I can still appreciate the beauty of nature. The sight alone invigorates me.
“You did,” I say. “The view is fantastic.”
“And most of the others will be down the street,” she gushes. “A few chose to stay at a hotel in the city, but many of them are here to enjoy the great outdoors with us.”
I push into the cabin and set our bags down.
The space looks better in person than in the pictures, but it’s still more modern than I would prefer. There’s a nice, big kitchen. I’m sure Evie will love it. On the other hand, I’m partial to the fireplace in the living room and the hardwood floors.
“Not too shabby,” I say, walking through the room.
“Did I pick well?” She bounces on the balls of her feet and looks at me with hope gleaming in her crystal blue eyes.
A smile tugs on the corner of my lips. “You did a great job.”
“Phew.” She pretends to wipe sweat from her brow. “I guess I made up for the hotel situation?”
“There was nothing to make up for,” I say, my voice low but firm. “That was the hotel’s mistake, and they already made up for it. We can forget about it now that we’re here.”
I have to forget about it. The last thing I need is to think about her sleeping feet away from me and how much her presence puts me at ease. Waking up next to her and her raspy, sleepy voice in the morning…
Dammit. I need to get a grip.
“I guess you’re right…” she says.
“I am. Life is too short to dwell on accidents. Look at where we are.” I gesture to the window and the line of fluffy evergreen trees. “Everything worked out, and it’s beautiful out there.”
Even though I’m exhausted from traveling, being out in nature is always enough to lift my spirits. The air is cleaner here, the people are friendly, and it’s quiet… so quiet.
I pick up our bags and bring them to our rooms—separate rooms with separate beds. No more arguing like we did last night.
“You know,” Evie says, standing in the doorway. “You seem surprisingly at home here, considering you live in the city.”
“I am at home here—more than in the city.” I set her bags down near her bed. She argued with me about carrying them in, too, but it’s good she’s finally letting me help her with the little things. “You haven’t seen my place in San Diego, have you?”
She shakes her head.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere—as much as it can be without making my daily commute impossible.”
“Huh. I’ll take it you like being outside?”
“I do. If it weren’t for my work, I would run away to live in the mountains.”
“Working from home is an option these days.”
“Not for me. They need me around for company morale.” I chuckle. “What about you? Do you have the same fondness for nature?”
“I don’t even know.” She shakes her head and peers through the large, wood-framed window. “I grew up in the suburbs, and neither of my parents liked camping. This is all new to me. You’ll have to show me everything.”
“I will.”
Even though Evie says it’s new to her, she looks like she belongs here—at least in my eyes. Something about how the morning sun peeks through the window and hits her eye, brightening what is already so vibrant, takes my breath away.
Her sweet smile does, too.
This is the second time in one day I’ve been alone in a bedroom with her, and I know her brother would kill me. There are a thousand other reasons I shouldn’t be here, even though it’s all so innocent, but that’s always at the top of the list.
Everett is a good friend, and he’s helped me get out of my shell. He doesn’t deserve this.
“I’m taking a nap,” I mumble, turning away. “We don’t start work until tomorrow, so feel free to relax. Head out to town. Do some shopping, or whatever you want to do.”
“All right. Have a good sleep.”
How can I get her off my mind long enough to nap?
I smile to myself, shaking my head. “I’ll sure try.”
EVIE
I have two options: catch up on sleep or find something to do. Unlike Theo, I had a bed the night before, but I can’t say I slept well. Knowing Theo was a few feet away from me, lying on the floor, kept me up all night.
It was more than guilt. I wish it were only the guilt from knowing he should have taken the bed, but electricity hummed through my body all night.
I’ve been chasing off thoughts of him since we met, and being stuck in a room with him only made it worse. Now, we’re in a cabin. It would be romantic if I were here with anyone else.
If I think about it too long, it may still feel romantic, but I don’t let those thoughts linger.
I’m getting better and better at squashing them before they take root.
The key to happiness is staying busy. I’ve always known that, whether it was loading up my work schedule or working two jobs during a busy semester.
There’s nothing for me to do now, but I’m already itching to bake. The cupboards are bare. A box of baking soda, a moth trap, and some dust. That’s all I can find inside. This won’t do.
The walk to town is a short one. That’s one thing that can be said for these little European towns.
I feel safe on the fifteen-minute walk, and everyone is friendly to me as I pick up a few things for the cabin.
The hardest part to overcome is the language barrier, but I flounder through the interactions and return home with two bags of groceries.
They shouldn’t be all that heavy, but they are, thanks to the flour.
Before I can shuffle inside, a sound alarms me.
THWACK!
I freeze in place, my head slowly turning, looking for the source of the sound. There’s nothing. Maybe I imagined it…?
THWACK!
No. There it is again. I set the bags inside before investigating the sound. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking for it. It’s some wild animal, and Theo is still fast asleep. He’s the nature guy. He would know what to do!
Of course, he has to abandon me when I need him the most. My pulse races, and I creep through the yard despite my better judgment.
But he’s not sleeping. Not at all. Theo is in the backyard, and he’s…
Oh my God!
He’s not wearing a shirt.
His tan skin glistens in the sun. My stomach clenches, and misplaced butterflies swarm my very being. They don’t belong there, dancing around my belly in such a maddening fashion. Why do I feel like this?
He brings down an axe onto a piece of wood, easily splitting it in two. Despite my thinly veiled crush, I’ve never imagined what he would look like without a shirt…
I don’t have to imagine it anymore. It’s here. It’s real.
Theo leans on the axe, wipes sweat from his brow, and exhales heavily. I never realized just how muscular he is underneath his suits.
His eyes lock onto mine. “Where did you go, Evie?” He practically growls my name. Desire pulses between my thighs.
“Um…” My voice is higher than usual, and I try to pitch it down. “Shopping! Just got a few groceries.”
“Ah. Good.” A bead of sweat drips down his forehead. My head tilts, and I follow it to where it lands on his chest. Sparse dark hair covers the expanse of his lean pectorals. “You had me worried.”
“I-I thought you were sleeping,” I utter, incapable of looking away.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He picks up the axe. “It’s cold, and I thought this would help me get some energy out. We’ll need a fire soon, anyway.”
“I’m… I’m sure it will help.” I clear my throat. “The energy, I mean. This looks like it takes a lot of that.”
I can think of other ways for him to get his energy out—no! No, I can’t. I shake my head, pushing away the thoughts threatening to slip past my lips.
“I’m going inside!” I yelp, shuffling away.
“I’ll be in soon.”
He says it like it’s meant to be reassuring, but it isn’t. Not anymore. Being around him puts me on edge, and I don’t know where I’ll find comfort on this trip. I’ll feel better once Christine joins us. She’ll be a few cabins away, and I’ll have somewhere to escape…
Oh, who am I kidding? The only thing that can save me is his obsession with work. Does he realize how close he is to giving me a heart attack at my young age?
Baking always calms me down, but it’s not usually like this. When I need to calm down, it’s usually because I’m stressed from work, anxious about school, or anticipating a conversation with a friend.
That’s not my problem now. It’s him. The sight of him in the sun, glistening with sweat, swinging the axe. It shouldn’t have made me feel like this, but it did—hot and bothered, weak at the knees, my stomach doing flips as I shuffle around the little kitchen.
Theo Roche needs to leave me the hell alone.
The good thing about picking the cabin is that I got to choose one with a big kitchen—with a full-sized oven, ample counter space, and a large fridge. It’s better than staying in a hotel, that’s for sure.
I’m not sure how I could have calmed down if I couldn’t bake.
The downside is that I have to do everything by hand, but that may be what I need. Bread. I can knead bread.
Even with the industrial kitchen at the bakery, kneading bread has always been a chore. Stand mixers can help, but there’s nothing like kneading dough by hand. Some chores are necessary.
Right now, it’s the only thing keeping me grounded. With my flour-covered hands, I push my weight onto the dough ball and fold it, forming gluten strands.