I nodded, slamming the door behind her and following as she ran up the steps for shelter under the porch roof. “I’ve got a month’s worth of rainbow trout in deep freeze. Aspen usually keeps me stocked with soups and casseroles but she’s been busier at the cafe lately.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She waved me off as we walked into my kitchen. Hot stew bubbled on the counter and filled the house with the scent of venison and thyme and gravy. “It smells great in here, you must be quite a cook.”
“I’ve been a bachelor for two decades. I don’t starve. Aspen is the real talent—takes after her mom—” I halted, the memories still stung.
She froze, eyes trailing around the kitchen. “Your home is beautiful...”
“It’s a work in progress.”
Her eyes dropped to the floorboards, my woodworking tools stacked next to my hunting boots. “You built this place yourself?”
“From top to bottom.” I scooped stew into a bowl and offered it to her.
Her eyes widened before she smiled and took it.
“Spoons are in that drawer.” I nodded next to the kitchen sink as the odd feeling of having a stranger in the house washed over me. A chill lit along my skin like an arctic blast, my heartbeat thundering to a slow stop as I tried to concentrate on the bubbling soup.
My vision darkened as old memories danced in my brain. A wedding. A honeymoon. A baby. A funeral.
My chest ached like it’d been sliced with a serrated edge.
“This is delicious.” The soft, bird-like quality of my Petal brought me back to reality.
“Ouch. Shit.” I dropped the soup ladle into the bubbling pot.
She was on me in an instant, cold tap already on as she cupped my big paw in her delicate hands.
“You actually smell like rose petals.”
She grinned, continuing to stroke the now reddening patch of skin on my wrist. “Thank you.”
She was so graceful, I was so gruff. “Thanks.”
I backed away from the sink, wrapping the hand towel around my wrist to dry it off. I hid the wince as the cotton grated the fresh burn.
“Let me.” She scooped the stew into my bowl until full, and then brought it to the kitchen table that I never used.
She pushed a stack of hunting guides and magazines aside, then made room for herself at the other seat.
Winchester curled up on the floor near the door, eyes bouncing from me to her before he whined once and stood.
Poppy grinned, scooping a few chunks of meat out of the pot and onto a plate for my dog. “Give it a minute, it’s too hot for you right now.”
She patted my dog on the muzzle and he wagged his tail appreciatively. She sat, and his disloyal ass cuddled right up to her thigh as she began to eat.
“Get out of here.” I nudged him away but she stopped me.
“I grew up with a dog, I miss having one around.”
“Why don’t you then?”
She shrugged. “My place in Cherry Falls is too small.”
“Winchester will be your friend for life if you give him attention.”
“Is that all it takes?” She smiled, eyes finally landing on mine and pausing.
Something beat to life in my chest, heartache blooming so big my rib cage split wide.
I winced, yanking my gaze back to my spoon before shoveling a bite into my mouth.
It was hot, my chest, the meal, the way she made me feel.
I’ll love you forever.
I heard a faraway voice in my head.
A shudder cut through my veins.
This is my vow.
I gulped, suddenly feeling intense regret that I’d invited this stranger into my home.
I imagined patching up the drainage ditch right now, just to hustle her off of my property and out of my head, but the rain wasn’t supposed to let up for the next day.
“Does your hand hurt?” Poppy pulled me from my thoughts.
I nodded, thankful for the distraction.
“It hurts more than I can say.”
“I’m sorry.” She shot up, taking my towel to the faucet and soaking in with cold water. “Do you want some ice?”
I grinned, enjoying the pleasant way she flitted round my small cabin kitchen. “You look at home here.”
She paused at the freezer, two cubes in hand. “Um…”
“I mean, sure, ice—yes. It’s hot as hell in here.”
Her eyebrows rose before she shook her head and deposited a few more ice cubes into the open towel. She twisted it softly in her small hands and then closed the ice maker and crossed the kitchen to me.
I was instantly ashamed of the bachelor nature of my pad. I loved the place, I worked hard to make the woodwork sing and the window arches match the peaks of the mountains in the distance, but none of it felt like enough when she was in my house.
“Thanks.”
She nodded, dropping to her knees beside Winchester and placing the ice to my wrist.
“It’s this one.” I set my spoon in the bowl, grinning easily when she rolled her eyes and then broke out into a grin.
“I tried.”
“I don’t deserve it,” I replied honestly.
The air seemed to suck out of the room. She patted Winchester on the head once, then moved back to her seat and resumed eating.
Everything felt painfully awkward. “I’m awful at delicate things. Precious china doesn’t have a place on the ridge.”
Poppy chewed thoughtfully, swallowing her small bite and then setting her spoon in her bowl. “Are you calling me precious china?” She scratched my dog on the head. “I grew up hunting and fishing these woods, I bet you I’m a better shot than you are, Maverick.”
She arched her eyebrow in challenge.
“Oh really?” I teased. “Guess we’ll see about that come morning.”
“We will, best of ten makes dinner tomorrow.”
And with that sentence my heart clambered dangerously out of my chest.
A tomorrow with Poppy.
I’d never survive.
CHAPTER SIX
Poppy
The soft, haunting strains of violin music woke me from a dream. Stuck up on the ridge, I smiled softly as I woke and snuggled into a mountain of soft pillow that
