20. Beau
Beau
B eau stood from a seat at the small hotel table and stretched his arms above his head. He’d been switching between reading the Bible and watching videos on his phone all morning, and the lack of movement brought on an ache in his back.
Anna sat on the bed, resting back against the headboard with her laptop open. She held her phone to her ear as she had most of the day. After deciding to stay in this morning, she’d thrown herself into work.
Well, aside from the hour-long nap she took after breakfast. The doctor at the hospital said she might feel tired.
Beau had not watched her the whole time while she slept. That would have been weird.
She let out a long sigh and reached up to touch the bruise on her head. She’d been twisting tighter and tighter with every phone call, and the happy woman he’d been spending his days with was almost completely gone.
Beau stepped to the bed and sat at the end. She glanced at him with that fake smile she’d promised not to use and held up a finger.
“Send me his number, and I’ll take care of it. Thanks, Angie.”
Anna ended the call and stretched her neck from side to side. “Sorry I’ve been on the phone a lot.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. You want to get out of here for a little bit?”
She tossed her laptop onto the bed beside her. “Yes, I’m hungry.”
“What if I took you into town? Did you see anything you wanted to try when we were at the tree lighting ceremony?”
And he was officially a puppy, following her around begging for her attention.
She bit at her bottom lip, making a show of thinking, and the expression wasn’t doing anything for Beau’s unhealthy attraction to her.
“I saw a sign outside a really cute house. I want to say it's called Evelyn’s or something.”
“You remember where it was?”
“Yeah. Just before we drove into town on the right.”
Beau stood and offered her a hand. “I’ll change, then you can have the bathroom. ”
She took his hand and stood, stepping close enough that the smell of her shampoo caught his attention. It was a scent that was embedded in his memory after showering together.
Nope. Don’t think about the shower.
She squeezed his hand before letting it fall. “Any chance you could help me put my hair up in a ponytail?” Anna asked, holding up her injured hand.
“I have a better idea. Why don’t we stop at the front desk and see if Joanna can help.”
A smile bloomed over Anna’s lips. “Perfect. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Thirty minutes later, they were getting in the car and heading down the mountain. Fluffy snow covered the sides of the roads, and a white fog settled over the peaks. Anna sat forward in her seat taking photos after every switchback.
“There it is,” she said, pointing to a two-story fancy house with a sign out front that promised delicious food with a view. Trees hid some of the dark-blue exterior with tall windows framed in bright white.
After parking along the sidewalk, Beau jogged around the car to help Anna. He rested a hand on her back as they walked up the steps to the entrance. “Any dizziness?”
She smiled at him then—the real one. “Nope. I feel good.”
Food with a view was underhyped. They sat at a small table for two in front of a big window showcasing the snowy mountains, and Anna absolutely glowed throughout the entire meal.
She talked too. A lot. He’d never been a fan of chitchat, but he’d do anything to keep her talking and smiling. He hung on every word she said like a total sap.
Shoot. This was bad. Awful. The worst. He was one hundred percent captivated by Anna, and he didn’t have the willpower to pump the brakes.
Spending time with Anna was easy, and he wanted more.
After the meal, they headed back to the car.
“Where to now?” Beau asked.
“I’d like to go back to some of those cute shops we saw when we were here for the tree lighting. I think I could pick up some more Christmas presents.”
“Okay.” He reached for the passenger door, but she grabbed his hand.
Good grief. Why did he get a shock to his system every time she touched him?
“Could we walk? It’s such a pretty day.”
He released the door and returned to her side. She wrapped her arms around his, plastering herself to his side.
And he didn’t hate it. Not one bit.
The first shop that Anna pulled him into was a candle shop called Wick and Sarcasm. It was a whole store filled with shelves of candles.
A variety of scents hit him at the same time, but one overpowered all others—vanilla. It was as if Anna had just wrapped herself around him.
A short woman with sandy-blonde hair glanced at them over her shoulder as she placed candles onto a shelf from a rolling cart. “Hello! Welcome to Wick and Sarcasm. Our candle of the day is Stories and Scones named after the bakery here in town. It’s a warm vanilla and pastry scent.”
“It smells amazing. I definitely want one of those,” Anna said.
The woman turned to face them, brushing off her apron. “We also make custom candles. You can pick your scent and give it a name. They’re great for celebrating special occasions.”
Oh, so they looked like a couple. Awesome. His journey into the Twilight Zone was complete.
“Can we do that?” Anna asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.
“If you want.”
Anna squealed and followed the woman toward a room at the back. “Come on and we’ll get started.”
Beau tried and failed to hang out on the sidelines, but Anna asked his opinion about everything.
If he was going to have a say in this special candle, he wanted it to smell just like Anna.
Even without her standing right next to him, he’d memorized the scent that tangled around his thoughts day and night.
When they decided on a scent, the woman brought over a laptop where she pointed to a label template. “Now, what would you like to call your candle?”
“Candles have names?” Beau asked.
“Of course! And they’re all unique and special,” the woman said as if she were telling him something everyone else in the world already knew.
Anna looked up at him. “Can we call it Freedom?”
“Whatever you want.” Whether she wanted to remember the place or her newfound freedom, the name was fitting.
“Perfect. I’ll have this ready for you in about two hours. Let me get your information, and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
When they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Anna looked all around, completely thrilled by the decorations and flare of the Christmas town.
“Where to?” Beau asked.
“Can we go back to Stories and Scones? I could go for some more of those chocolate-covered strawberries.”
“Anything you want,” Beau said automatically.
Anna walked close to him, and he slipped his hand into hers, desperate to link himself to her in some small way .
She looked at him, radiating pure joy. “You should smile more. I like it.”
If he’d been smiling before, it was gone now. He’d been smiling ? He didn’t smile. He wasn’t a smiling kinda guy.
And she liked it when he smiled? What did it mean when his world flipped on his head whenever she gave him the tiniest grin?
It meant he was in trouble. Big trouble since they still had days left to spend together.
Beau opened the door to Stories and Scones, and Anna entered first. He heard the feminine greeting before he saw her.
“You’re back!” Jan shouted, throwing her hands in the air. Her brow furrowed as she came to meet Anna. “And you’re hurt.”
Anna raised her braced wrist. “Just a sprain. I had a bout of altitude sickness the other day and passed out.”
Jan wrapped Anna in a hug, careful not to jostle her wrist. “Wait a minute. Did you have a snowboarding lesson with Aiden?”
Anna turned to look at Beau before giving her attention back to Jan. “How did you know?”
“Aiden is my son. He mentioned a young woman passed out yesterday, and he and Joanna were worried.”
Anna pressed her good hand to her chest. “I love this small town. We saw Joanna this morning. She helped me put my hair up.” Anna flicked her ponytail, emphasizing the subject.
Beau clenched his jaw. They needed to stop talking about Anna’s hair because it only made him think about washing it for her last night.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, and I’m happy to see you again,” Jan said as she ushered Anna over to the pastry display case. “I have some samples of cranberry flapjack for you to try.”
“I love cranberries!” Anna said excitedly.
“Anna.”
Beau turned when someone called Anna’s name. A young woman with brown hair and round glasses fidgeted with the strap of her purse. Could someone in Freedom, Colorado actually know Anna?
Anna’s eyes widened, and her jaw opened for a few seconds before she spoke. “Brittany.”