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“This is the time,” she promised. “I can feel it in my very bones. It’s you and Henry or bust.”
Tiny wings fluttered in my belly at her certainty. “Well, your bones never lie.”
“Amen.”
The conversation turned to the Strawberry Festival and subsequent softball game, which dominated the rest of the ride. Our attendance tomorrow had been anticipated by my appetite for months now. Curiosity about the carnival rides and pie-eating contests had plagued me, and I wondered how much it would be like what I’d seen on the telly. By the time we pulled into Remy’s long drive, said stomach was daydreaming of strawberry shortcake and funnel cakes, whatever they were. All I knew was that I wanted them in my belly.
“Dinner tonight at Aunt Linda’s,” Cassidy commanded, putting the car into park next to Remy’s truck. “If you try to rely on the contents of Remy’s fridge for sustenance, you’ll starve to death.”
“Color me unsurprised,” I said, exiting the car and rounding my way to the boot for my luggage.
Cass stood between me and the stairs, her hand shielding her eyes as she looked at the cottage with mild disdain on her face. “Linda and I did our best, which is pretty damn good, considering the circumstance. I’ve never seen somebody clean like her—she even had a little toothbrush she detailed his sink with. The sheets are clean and so is the bathroom. The hordes of dust bunnies have been evacuated and the kitchen is dirty dish free.” She sighed. “He wasn’t always like this, you know.”
“Like what? He’s a lot of things, Cass.”
She chuckled. “I mean, he’s a man who’s always played sports, so there’s a level of stinky boy he’s always had. But he used to . . . I dunno. Care more. A long time ago, he was fixing this house up for him and his fianceé, how wild is that? All he wanted to do was take care of things. Me. His mama when she got sick. Chelsea. When she left him, something in him broke, and the pieces never went back quite right. And now?” Another sigh. “I mean, you’ve seen inside the mouth of hell. It’s like he just gave up. The place was a disaster.” She turned to me, nibbling on her lip. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I promise, I’ll be fine,” was my answer, since the truth wasn’t an option. “Shall we?”
She took my bag with a sigh. “Yes, I suppose we shall.”
My stomach twisted as we walked up the stairs and into the house, my eyes scanning for Remy but taking the time to pause over the bang-up job Cass and Linda had done. It looked like a different house—without the layer of grime, it was almost cozy.
Almost, I thought, stepping over a wayward pair of boots.
“Hello?” Cass sang as the back door opened and closed.
“Back here. Was just tying my asshole dog up.”
He rounded the corner with a smile on his face, and I cursed myself for the involuntary drop of my gaze to the waggling anaconda his shorts highlighted so well.
“Here, lemme get that for you,” he said, taking my things. “Your room’s over here.”
I followed the vast expanse of his back through a casing that led to a very short hallway. One bedroom stood at each end with the bathroom in the middle. We took a right into what I assumed would be my room. Once I could see around him, I found myself in a charming little bedroom with a brass bed. A lovely chest of drawers was topped with a mirror that reflected Remy and I back at me. I looked so small next to him. Without heels, I barely reached his shoulders. His arms were nearly as big around as my thighs, and his thighs were thick as my waist.
Absolutely ridiculous, the size of him.
He set my suitcase in the far corner and my bag in the chair next to the window. Beyond it were the branches of a large tree, its leaves casting a dappled shadow on the bed in the slant of afternoon sunlight. I pulled aside the sheer curtain, my gaze sweeping the back of the property. The tree line at the edge of the yard was the deepest green brushed with darkness so complete, it was as if the light had been swallowed up by the forest.
Remy looked to the window, back at me, and scratched the back of his neck. “Hope it’s okay. The room and all. I...I know you didn’t want to stay here, but hopefully it’s not too bad.”
His uncertainty was a surprise. I smiled. “It’s lovely, thank you.”
“Shit,” Cass hissed from the hallway, her eyes on her phone. “Is it really three? I’m sorry Jess, I’ve gotta go—the caterer needs to go over the menu one more time.” She swept into the room and swiftly kissed my cheek, then hitched up onto her tiptoes to kiss Remy’s, slapping it gently afterward. “Call me if he’s a problem.”
“I will,” I said on a chuckle.
We waved our goodbyes, but when the front door closed, Remy and I seemed to remember we were alone.
“Well, I’d better—“ he started as I said, “I think I’ll?—”
We’d moved in each other’s direction, and in a terribly graceless fobble of arms, I ran directly into his solid chest, bouncing off of him like a pebble.
He caught me, smiling like he knew something I didn’t, I noted from beneath my lashes. He smelled like freshly cut grass and sunshine, touched with the lightest musk of pure and absolute man. But I was too flustered to think of anything clever to say. Instead, I breathed, “Oh, my.”
Remy laughed softly, the sound reverberating in his cavernous chest as he set me to rights and put space between us.
I straightened my back and smoothed my ponytail. “What, no quippy, inappropriate thought to share?”
