Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
When Reese first woke up, she didn’t know where she was.
But then the night before slowly came back to her.
She smiled and stretched, the smell of bacon and the sound of soft music seeping under the door.
Out of habit, she checked her body for pain, but there wasn’t any. Instead, she felt rested and satisfied.
She climbed out of bed and pulled on her clothes, which Axel had folded neatly on the chair. After using the bathroom, she found Axel in the kitchen.
When he saw her, he smiled and fixed her a mug of coffee with cream. A jazz record turned on the player, horns soft and low. He pushed the bacon off the heat and then dished it onto a plate.
She watched his hands and remembered where they’d been last night. Heat crept up her cheeks. He glanced over at her, and she quickly looked toward the record wall.
She drifted along the counter, reached past him, and stole a piece of bacon. It was too hot in her fingers. She swore under her breath and ate it anyway, grinning at him.
“I love you,” he said plainly.
She almost didn’t know what she’d just heard at first. Then it hit her all at once. Her eyes filled with tears before she could stop them. She turned toward the window, trying to hold them back. They came anyway, spilling down her cheeks.
She wasn’t crying because she was scared.
She was crying because someone loved her and said it out loud like it was the simplest thing in the world.
He hadn’t made a speech. He hadn’t asked for anything back.
He’d just told her the truth while cooking breakfast. She knew how to be useful and easy and no trouble.
She didn’t know how to be loved like this.
When he noticed she was crying, he grabbed a roll of paper towels, tore off a few sheets, and crossed over to her. She took them from his outstretched hand, pressed them to her face, and laughed, wet and furious at herself.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Sorry. This is so stupid.”
“It’s not.” He waited beside her, giving her space. She lowered the wad of towels. His face was calm and focused on her.
“I can’t say it back,” she said. Her voice came out thick. “Not yet. It’s not that I don’t.”
“I know. I didn’t say it so you’d say it back.” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m here for you, no matter what. You don’t owe me anything. I love you, and I wanted you to know.”
He treated this the same way he treated everything else. Honest and direct. He loved her, so he told her. Now she knew. The oven timer went off, startling her. Axel hurried into the kitchen.
He pulled the puffed pancake in a cast-iron pan out of the oven. It was puffed high and golden at the edges, then slowly sank. He set it on a heatproof pad and spooned peaches and whipped cream over it. He then dished their breakfast onto plates.
They ate at the table by the window, sunlight spreading across Main Street below. The puffed pancake was warm and buttery and sweet with peaches and cream.
She reflected as they ate, expecting something to feel wrong after crying like that, but nothing did. They were sitting peacefully at the table eating breakfast. No one was angry. No door had slammed. The food was perfect.
Not long ago, she’d watched Blaze put new shoes on Stella’s feet.
She’d gone home that night wanting that kind of devotion for herself.
She’d wanted this. A slow, easy morning and somebody loving her without expecting anything from her.
And now she had it. But she still didn’t know if she could accept it.