The grating whir of the chainsaw assaults my ears, along with the chopping mulch of tree clippings flying off all over the place, revealing my new neighbor to the side of the broken cabin. The moment I take in the sight, I stop in my tracks, my jaw nearly dropping hard to the ground.
This new neighbor of mine is no guy. This here's awomanwielding achainsawthat’s almost the same size as her, trying to hack at the overgrown bushes of the property and failing, because it seems the chainsaw is controllinghermore than she’s controllingit.The teeth hit against the thicker part of a bush, and suddenly the whole damn thing is ricocheting over her shoulder and carving into the dirt. She’s going to get herself killed!
“God, dammit!” she grunts, trying to restart the stalled machine while it’s still wedged in the ground.I can’t take this anymore.
"Are youcrazyor just incredibly naïve, lady?" I demand as I make my way toward her in a fit of indignation and protectiveness.
Straightening her back with a gasp, she shoves her blonde hair out of her face then turns in my direction, her hand flying to her heart as she steps back and frowns. "Are you talking tome?"
“Of course I am. You see anyone else around here tryin’ to kill themselves with a giant twenty pound chainsaw?”
Her mouth falls open. “I…I’m not. I’m just trying to clear away the brush so I can work on my cabin.”
“With a chainsaw that’s ten pounds too big for you?”
“I…” She looks to the chainsaw, then back to me before she holds her gloved hands out to the side. “What else am I supposed to use? This is what the guy in the shop sold me.”
"For this?” I gesture to the brush she’s been cutting. “A hedge trimmer," I start. "Or if you must use a chainsaw, get one that’s sized properly for a woman your height and find out how to use it before you go hacking shit up. I’m surprised you didn’t cut your feet off just now! Who sold this to you, anyway?"
“Marvin,” she replies, her tongue sweeping out to lick her lips as she pulls up her sunglasses and sits them on top of her blonde head. “He’s the guy at the hardware store in town. Said this was the best money could buy.” When she swivels her forest green gaze to meet mine, her eyes seem to pierce right through me—intome. It’s the strangest feeling. My body reacts instantly, and my dick stiffens in my jeans, my mouth suddenly starting to water from wanting her.
A hunger bubbles up within my core, and I’m plagued with the words, ‘soul’ and ‘wink’ floating around in my mind.What the hell?
Closing my eyes, I shake my head, physically forcing the emotions and feelings away from me. My cousin’s wife, Jade, has a theory that all the Valentine men in Whisper Valley experience a phenomenon called a ‘soulwink’. In her words, it’s when you find your soulmate and your souls ‘wink’ at each other in recognition. I’m not sure if I believe in the story she’s peddling, but once she arrived in town talking about soulwinks and soulmates, all four of my cousins fell in love and got married one after the other like a set of dominoes. Now that the last of my four cousins is coupled up, all eyes have turned towardmyside of the family. Jade even went so far as to suggest thatI’mnext. But since I’m as ornery as they come, I pushed her suggestion to the side, because really, who’d want me? I’m a total hermit. But now that I’m reacting to a gorgeous woman with eyes almost as green as mine, I’m suddenly wondering if maybe this is it. Maybe that soulwink theory is right?
But as fast as the thought enters my minds, I shut it down for its foolishness. There’s no such thing as magic. With a history like mine, I’m be the first to admit that. Soulwinks aren’t real. Hell, I’d even wager that soulmates aren’t real either.
Back when I was a rookie cop, I was called out to enough domestic disturbances to know that love can turn sour in the blink of an eye. People get together and they make it work, or they don’t. For a man like me, a man who prefers to be alone and hidden away from the world, I’ve entirely given up on the idea of having a relationship that works. And because of that, I think my intense reaction to this curvy blonde is due to my being on my own for so long—no soulwinks here.
“Well, the next time I’m in town, I’m gonna have a short chat with Marvin. He should’ve known better than to sell you this.”
“Did I get swindled?” She furrows a brow and looks over her shoulder at the pile of renovation supplies.
“Perhaps,” I say, following her gaze. “Did he ask you if you were left or right-handed when he sold you that hammer?” I point to where it rests on top of the lumber.
“Yeah. Did I get the wrong kind?”
A low growl emanates out of my chest as I pinch at the bridge of my nose. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”
“Oh no! Don’t do that. He was so helpful to me. I don’t wanna see him hurt.”
“Lady, that man wasnotbeing nice. There’s no such thing as a left or right-handed hammer. There’re are just hammers. He did you wrong.”
“I see,” she says with a sigh. “Well, I suppose there’s not a lot I can do about that now. And since I don’t want to waste an entire day of work arguing over pennies, I think I’ll just keep going and sort this out with Marvin in the morning. Have you tried the cupcakes from the bakery in town? They are divine. I’ll get some extra for you as a thank you for pointing out Marvin’s cheeky move.”
“Cheeky? The man swindled you.”
She shrugs. “It’s to be expected. People look at me and they don’t see brains, ah…I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name.”
“Dylan,” I grunt.
“Well, nice to meet you, Dylan,” she says with a smile. “I’m Millie. And as I was saying, people don’t see brains, they see my smile and mistake my happiness for a lack of intelligence. So this actually happens a lot. Which I guess means that they might be right. But I don’t think they are. I’m not dumb. I’m just trusting.”
“Sweet baby Jesus,” I mutter, envisioning every shady character in Whisper Valley and its surrounds coming to line up and take advantage of this trusting personality of hers. Hell, why is she even standing here talking to me when I literally stepped out of the forest to chastise her? “Are you livin’ here alone?”
“Yep!” She grins and hefts the chainsaw up with two hands. I groan inwardly. “What about you?”
“I live on the lot next door to you.”
