AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Milkshake hops up from where she was sleeping on the bed and bounds over there, yipping to alert me to a visitor.
“Shhh. Milkshake, it’s okay,” I soothe as I open the door, where I find Alvie standing on the other side.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey,” I reply.
“Want to do dinner again?” he asks, as though we haven’t had dinner every night for the past two weeks since I officially moved in.
“Yeah. That sounds nice.”
Alvie waits patiently as I grab my shoes and close up my cabin.
Milkshake jumps straight into the cab of Alvie’s truck as soon as the door is open. I struggle to get in myself, but Alvie gives me a little boost before reaching in to fasten my seat belt.
“Do I really need that? We’re just going home,” I tease.
His eyes crinkle with his smile when he responds, “I’ve got precious cargo, bunny. Gotta take care of what’s mine.”
“Is that what I am? Yours?”
“You will be if I have anything to say about it,” he says firmly.
The ride back to the ranch house is peaceful with light conversation back and forth between Alvie and me. We chat about how his day went and how my various craft projects are going.
So when we pull up to the house and Alvie looks at me with the most serious expression I’ve seen from him in a while, I tense up.
“You look like someone shot Milkshake. What’s going on?”
“I just don’t want you to be blindsided.”
“Why would I be blindsided, Alvie?” I ask cautiously.
“Bex has kind of been planning an apology.”
“And she decided that a random Wednesday night was the best time to do it?” I giggle.
“There’s a slideshow.” Alvie grimaces, and I laugh, opening the passenger side door and crawling carefully from his truck, Milkshake following close behind.
“I’m sure it will be fine.” I giggle when I look back at his stricken face.
He scowls and then opens his own door.
I don’t bother to wait for him to head into the house, but I can hear the rocks scatter on the drive as Alvie jogs to catch up with me.
“Nay,” he says desperately. “I care about both of you. A lot. I don’t one hundred percent know what happened beyond what you’ve both shared with me, but I can’t let the two of you continue on like this.” The sincerity in his eyes has me melting for this man that’s wormed his way into my heart. “Please just keep an open mind.”
“Alvie, you’re kind of scaring me.”
“No. Don’t be scared.” He sighs, his head dropping. “Bex is just feeling a little fragile right now. I don’t want to watch her heart break. Or yours.”
Reaching up, I cup his face in my palms and guide it down to meet mine.
“I can’t promise you a certain reaction.” I give him a light kiss, which has both of us smiling. “But I promise I won’t run.”
“Okay,” he says, his big hands wrapping around my wrists.
We stand like that for a while, just looking at each other, before he releases me and takes me by the hand. Mine is clasped in his own when we enter the house, and I immediately see what Alvie meant by “planning an apology.”
