3. amelia
3
AMELIA
C rossing over the bridge felt like I was stepping straight into a postcard come to life. I should have been focusing on the road ahead, but I couldn't help letting my gaze wander over the surroundings. Below the bridge, a serene river flowed, flanked by mountains stretching as far as the eye could see. Lush greenery lined both sides of the valley, and I found myself marveling at the picturesque landscape, even as the music in the background contrasted sharply with what I saw.
In less than twenty-four hours, I had made several decisions that turned my life upside down. I had left my ex-boyfriend, George. At work, I had taken all the vacation time I had accrued over the past few years and never had a need to use. And finally, I had accepted an invitation from a stranger to venture into the Canadian backcountry.
I wanted to see Wolf Creek as just that, but the truth was something else. Since my first glimpse of the small town, I had felt a stir of excitement. Suddenly, swapping city life for something straight out of a Hallmark movie didn't worry me anymore. It was a wild adventure, if I were to believe Manon's words.
After packing my entire life into boxes and loading them into three cars that night, a few hours later, I was taking the next step. I had spent the rest of the night in a cheap motel on the highway while Gray and Wilder had already returned to their hometown.
How crazy is this? This wasn’t the first time I had asked myself this question, but now, being able to take a closer look at Wolf Creek, I instinctively knew it had been the right decision. This was the perfect place to forget what had happened. And if I could watch Gray walking shirtless through his garden while he worked, that seemed like an added bonus and was probably good for my mental health too.
I had left my qualms behind in Toronto. Honestly, I had forgotten them the second he assured me it was okay to take from him what I needed. At first, it had felt like a mistake to have kissed him at all. Now, it was one of those wild reasons that propelled me to make the journey to the address Gray entered into my phone after deleting George’s contact info.
Once the bridge was behind me, I pulled over to the side of the road and got out. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I leaned against my car and closed my eyes. A gentle breeze whispered through my hair and across my face, the fresh country air filling my lungs.
When I opened my eyes again, I was confronted with the rustic charm of the town. The colorful wooden houses nestled in the valley as if they had always been there. Even from up here, everything looked so welcoming. Looking straight ahead at the mountain before me, another house stared back at me, a blend of glass and wood. I bet the view from the terrace not only offered a perfect view of the river but of the entire valley.
All this was absurd. I had actually accepted an invitation from Gray, which he had never officially extended. Living with a stranger in a place that might as well be called a wilderness —who did that? In the end, it was the perfect way to escape the clutches of my cheating ex-boyfriend. If I was honest, there hadn’t been much holding me back there for months now. Routine, perhaps. Habit. The familiarity that was as close to me as my own skin. Yesterday had proven, though, that it wasn't enough.
But now, looking down at the quaint Wolf Creek, I could almost feel the fresh start in my bones. All I had to do was leave dusty Toronto behind and embrace what awaited me here.
As a vehicle approached, I got back into my car, only to see the blue-red flashing of lights in my rearview mirror a moment later.
"Damn it," I cursed, slamming my hand on the steering wheel and rolling my eyes—it was the last thing I needed right now.
The officer tapped on the window, and I looked to the left, only to realize it was a woman in uniform. After I rolled down the window, she leaned down.
"Hi, I’m Sergeant Williams. Is everything okay, or do you need help?"
I had assumed she would check me for the many boxes and parcels in my trunk and backseat. Her question caught me off guard.
"What? No, I… I was just enjoying the view for a moment before continuing on."
The blonde woman glanced over her shoulder before looking at me with a smile. "It truly is breathtaking, isn't it?" Her gaze fell to my belongings. "Vacation, or…?"
"It looks like Wolf Creek will have a new resident for a while," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
It puzzled me that Sergeant Williams seemed pleased about it, almost like she wasn’t a police officer but someone genuinely happy about the town's new addition.
"Then there must be a good reason for it. No one decides on a whim to move here. I mean, the town is nice, but it's hardly a busy city." So she had glanced at my license plate and already figured out that I was one of those big-city types. At least, that's what she had to assume, not knowing that I had grown up in a small town like this. "Who persuaded you to swap Toronto for Wolf Creek?"
For a brief moment, I considered lying. But this place was damn small, and she would probably find out eventually anyway.
"Gray." For some reason, I didn't expect her to nod knowingly next.
"Ah, old Fletcher. And did he tell you where to find hisbed-and-breakfast?"
A nervous sound escaped me. "Well, he did give me an address…"
She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I'll get you there quickly. Just follow me; the roads up there are very steep, tight, and winding."
Before I could protest, she had already walked away from my car. I called out a half-hearted thank you. Arriving in Wolf Creek with a police escort. Wonderful. Not exactly how I had envisioned it.
As I followed her down Main Street, I noticed how slow life was in this town. The people exuded a sense of calm and coziness, much like the buildings that passed by me. I spotted a café and a market in a side street that must have led toward the river. Small shops were nestled together, and as we passed the assembly hall, surrounded by countless beds of colorful wildflowers in full bloom, I truly felt like I had found a piece of home.
I rolled down the window, listening to the birds. In Toronto, you heard city noise. Here, the gentle melody of nature.
Soon after, I realized that Sergeant Williams hadn't lied. The road leading up the mountain was not only narrow but so tight that only one car could fit on it. It also wound steeply through the forest. With each turn, a queasy feeling spread further in my stomach, but as soon as we reached the top, I could tell that the drive had been worth it.
I parked my car next to the squad car and got out, only to realize that I had arrived in paradise. The gravel parking lot held a few other vehicles: a pickup, two ATVs, and several cars, which, judging by the license plates, likely belonged to the guests.
Gray had omitted to mention that he ran abed-and-breakfast, and one that was located in a place like this.
Sergeant Williams circled my car. This time, she sized me up from head to toe. "Are you going to tell me what the newest troublemaker in town is called?"
I extended my hand to her.
"Amelia!" I heard a familiar, deep voice call out at the same moment. "Sinclair," I said, adding my last name.
She took my hand. "Nice to meet you."
Her words almost passed me by because there he was: Gray, striding across the parking lot toward me.
I caught my breath as Gray approached me, wearing a white shirt that already showed some stains in places. He paired it with jeans that fit perfectly on his hips and a pair of boots. He had looked good in a suit, but what my eyes were feasting on now was beyond my wildest dreams.
And he visited you in those dreams just last night.
This was the man I had kissed yesterday in a moment of courage and desperation, and whenever I thought about how his lips felt on mine, how the heat of his touch had seared into my body, I could also hear the harsh words he had spoken to me. He had no regrets .
Damn .
When he appeared next to me, he towered over me in a comforting way. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he placed his heavy arm around my shoulders.
The heat that had started in my toes and spread everywhere in his presence returned.
"Is there a problem, Sergeant?" It didn't sound like a question but more like he was demanding an answer.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between Gray and me before she slightly narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't mention that you also have a daughter, Fletcher."
The warmth drained from my body and her face in an instant. Gone was the friendly neighborhood cop.
"Because I'm not his daughter. I’m his… friend."
"Yes," she muttered with a snort. "I can see that."
I knew exactly why she looked at us that way—her expression filled with a mix of suspicion and contempt that caused my body to react defensively. Slowly, I lifted my hand so that I could slip my fingers between Gray's, which hung over my shoulder. He immediately grabbed them as if they were a lifeline from the uncomfortable situation.
I realized this was out of Gray’s comfort zone. He didn’t appear to be a man who looked for trouble or let things come to a head unnecessarily. Only time would tell.
I squared my shoulders a bit and leaned against his side, purely to give the height-challenged cop a little show for her journey up the mountain.
"I wasn't aware that the law now forbids adults from meeting. Or have I traveled back a few centuries on my drive to Wolf Creek? Although… no. Back then, no one cared if younger women met with older men." I let out a dramatic sigh before pressing my lips together. "I'm truly grateful you brought me here, Sergeant Williams, but I guess if you're not going to arrest me for visiting, we'll have to leave you now."
Waiting for her response would have been pointless as she was still staring at me just as dumbfounded as five seconds ago. So I tugged on Gray's hand, moving past her across the parking lot and toward the direction he had originally come from, even though I had no idea where it actually led.
Shortly after, I heard the car roll away.
Gray stopped. "Where do you want to go?"
"No idea. I just wanted to get away from that judgmental woman."
He nodded toward the dense forest a few yards ahead of us. "The hiking trails are over there. If you want to see where you'll be living from now on, we need to go in the opposite direction." He released me and started walking.
I followed him, but halfway back across the parking lot, he turned around to face me. His lips turned into a grin that reached all the way to his eyes.
It almost made me crack a smile too. My heart tightened. Oh yes, you are definitely in trouble.
"Do you realize that by tomorrow at the latest, everyone will know you've moved into theWildwood Hideaway?" His statement might as well have ended with that a woman in her twenties has moved in with me .
"Thinking about backing out, Gray?" I challenged as I crossed my arms behind my back and looked up at him.
This intense eye contact was going to be the death of me.
"I stand by my word, now and in the future. That doesn't change the fact that they will be talking about us."
"I can handle it," I assured him, shrugging my shoulders slightly.
"I've noticed." There was clearly more he wanted to say, but he held back and, instead, started to move again.
"Sergeant Williams thought she needed to protect me as if I wasn't here by my own choice. If you allow me…" I stopped myself, tilted my head, and cursed silently. Since when did I ask for permission when it came to verbally defending myself?
"If I allow you what, Amelia?"
"If it's okay with you that I keep her in check when she says things like that to me. I can handle her, no problem. You just need to…"
"Pretend like I'm playing my part?"
I decided to ignore that. "So,Wildwood Hideaway. You didn't tell me you owned land and basically kept the tourism in this town alive by yourself."
"Because it wasn't relevant information last night. This is my thing, and there's nothing more to say about it."
Oh, I was sure there was a lot more to say about theWildwood Hideaway. About how he came up with the idea to start this B and B. How he built it. Whether it represented his lifelong dream… or if it was a project he had started with his ex-wife.
I pushed that thought aside when we reached a small hill offering a perfect view of several little houses interconnected by natural stone pathways. To the right and left of the paths were flower beds bursting with life. Orange, yellow, purple, white—flowers of every color blanketed the ground.
The houses themselves were incredible. The ground floor consisted of large wooden windows, which were barely interrupted by the walls. The roofs featured several dormer windows and additional windows. On the terraces, one could enjoy the idyllic setting. Around the clearing, the trees towered high into the sky, allowing the sun to occasionally pierce through the treetops. It felt like I was dreaming.
"Gray, this is…" I was at a loss for words to properly describe what I was seeing.
He pointed to a small house a little off to the side. "You're moving in over there. It's empty for renovation anyway, and right next to it is the garden. You can help me with the work. Over there…"
I continued to listen to him, but the excitement in my chest was just overwhelming. I would have loved to throw my arms around this man and kiss him simply because he existed and had opened up this place to me.
"Did you understand what I said?"
"Mhm."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"
Because this is making me very happy … “Because the rest of the view can't compete with you."
His facial expression changed, becoming more intense as he clenched his jaw and moistened his lips. However, what came out of his mouth next was not what I expected.
"Let's bring over the rest of your things."