Riley
Felix has been in his office for over an hour.
I should be occupied. He set me up with a laptop and not one but two streaming options before he locked himself away. The number of things I can watch is mind boggling. I’ve bounced around to so many options, I’m sure I’ve checked out a few at least twice.
And there is dinner to keep an eye on too.
Except I’m restless. Can’t concentrate. Keep looking over at the closed office door.
I miss him.
Miss his presence in the room.
How can I miss a man I’ve known for less than twenty-four hours?
And why do I want to know everything about him?
What does he do that requires a closed door?
Would he close the door if I wasn’t here?
So many questions swirling in my head. It’s no wonder I can’t concentrate on any of the movies I’ve tried.
I feel like Felix has been part of my life forever and now that he’s not within sight, I feel lost. I could knock on the door and I know he’d answer, but I don’t want to interfere with his work. It’s been less than a day—I shouldn’t feel this dependent on a man who didn’t expect me.
I’m just someone who is passing through, moving on as soon as I can.
When he talked about his mom, about the accident that changed both their lives, I wanted to hug him, hold him close, and promise nothing bad would happen again. Except I can’t make that promise. I’m nothing to him. I’m definitely not what he expected.
I didn’t mean to ask him about his search for a wife, but the more time I spend with him, the more we talk, the closer I feel and the more I want to be that wife. Maybe.
I know I don’t want some other woman here with him.
He picked me!
No one has ever picked me.
Is that why I feel so close to him? Why I want to stay? Because he invited me here?
Did he though?
I have no idea what Warren put on Get Hitched.
He doesn’t strike me as very inventive so I can’t imagine he lied about much.
And when I think about it, my life is a parallel of Felix’s.
The only difference is he’s isolated himself by choice up here in the mountains and my aunt isolated me in a house in the middle of Winter Lake.
The people on the screen start arguing, their voices rising with every word, and the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. Slapping the laptop shut, I pull in a steadying breath, gripping the computer tightly.
I hate loud voices. Aunt Bethany did nothing but shout at me, at the TV, at the birds on the lawn. Until the end.
Over the last few years her voice got softer and softer as her body grew weaker and weaker. Watching her slow decline from the robust woman she was all my life to a frail old woman shocked me. Her failing health was why I didn’t accept any of the college scholarships I received.
I couldn’t leave her for Warren to take care of.
The only person he looks after is himself.
I might not have loved my aunt but I cared for her.
She took care of me the best she could and was my only family—beside her son—and after what he did, kicking me out and bringing me here under false pretenses, he’s nothing to me.
“Hey.”
I jump, my grip loosens on the laptop, and it slips down my thighs. For a split second I panic, but I shouldn’t have. Felix’s big hand reaches over my shoulder and grabs it before it can fall to the floor.
“Sorry,” he murmurs, his face right by my ear. “Thought you heard me.”
“No.” From the corner of my eye I can see his mouth—his lips—so close to mine, and it makes it hard to form words because the only thing on my mind is how it would feel to kiss him. “Um…no. I was thinking.”
“About?”
He’s so close. Closer than we’ve been so far. “Eh… My life. How I ended up here. You.”
“What about me?” He lifts the laptop over my head and comes around my chair, taking a seat on the sofa only a few feet away.
His gaze is on me. I have his full attention and it does strange things to my insides. I want his attention, which is not something I’m used to. I like to be left alone. If I’m alone, no one is yelling at me or calling me names.
“Riley? What were you thinking about me?”
“Oh, sorry.” I smile sheepishly. “I like you. I like being around you. Being here.”
His smile is crooked, the scars on his face making the left side lower. I want to trace those fine lines with my fingertips. My lips. The thought has me licking my own.
“I like you too.”
“Sorry, what?” I’m so lost in my thoughts, his words confuse me.
Grinning wide, he says, “I like you too, like you being here.”
“Can I stay? Do you still want a wife? Because I want to be her? Maybe.” I’m stumbling over my words. My mind is a jumble of thoughts—my past and my future—and I can’t imagine being anywhere but here. With him.
“I will never kick you out.” He puts the computer on the cushion beside him, moves forward and rests his forearms on his legs, his hands hanging between his knees. “I have something to tell you. Something that might change how you feel about staying here.”
“What? Are you secretly a serial killer?” I laugh.
“No.”
His seriousness has me choking back more nervous laughter and bracing for the blow to come. “What? Just tell me.”
“How much do you know about your parents?”
“I told you, nothing other than that they died and Aunt Bethany had to give up her life to take care of me.”
He scoffs. “Yeah, right. You were the one taking care of her.”
“Yes, but she had to move here—”
“No. She didn’t. She already lived in Winter Lake. Lived here her whole life, actually.”
“But…”
“Your mother’s family is from here. Your parents moved here just after you were born to take care of your mother’s aunt. The house you have lived in your whole life belonged to your mother’s parents. Your grandparents. Bethany was your grandfather’s sister.”
What he’s telling me is my history, and I know none of it. Know none of the people he’s speaking about except my aunt. Shaking my head, I say, “I didn’t know any of that.”
“I figured.” He reaches over with one hand and places it over mine where they’re twisted together in my lap. “There’s more.”
“Okay.” My thoughts are running in every direction. What does any of this mean? And why did Aunt Bethany never tell me?
“You own the house Warren kicked you out of.”
I open my mouth but no words come out; my brain is an open void of nothing.
“And there are a couple of trust funds left by your parents.”
I own a house? Have trust funds?
“Riley. You have the means to do whatever you want. You don’t need to rely on me or anyone else ever again.”
“But how do I get them?”
“First, you need to contact the law firm who dealt with your parents’ estate. That’s easy enough—they’re in Winter Lake. Once the storm clears, you can head into town and get things sorted out.”
“Will you come with me?”
“No.” He swallows hard, his gaze dropping from mine for a moment. “I can’t leave here.”
“Oh.”
With his eyes back on mine, I can see how much he hates not being able to say yes.
I’d never force him to do anything he doesn’t want to.
I’ve lived too long doing what others told me to turn around and expect it from someone else.
It doesn’t stop me from wanting him with me.
I trust him. I probably shouldn’t, but I do.
“It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Saying it out loud doesn’t make me believe it, but I need to. I need to learn to stand on my own.
“You will be better than fine. And I’ll ask my uncle to go with you.”
“Oh no, you don’t need to do that,” I say in spite of the relief rushing through me.
“I want to make sure you’re okay, and Uncle Granger knows everyone in Winter Lake.
Or enough of them to know who you need to talk to.
Possibly the police chief first. I’m not sure.
But we’ve got time to work it out.” He tips his head toward the window.
“This storm looks like it will keep us here a day or two yet.”
I need to think about everything he’s told me. Think about what it means for my future. But one thing is clear.
Whatever that future is, Felix is staying here.