“Did we just…” She rolls her lips together like she’s not sure she wants to let her next words out. “Did we just share a moment?”
Swiping a hand across my chin, I let out a chuckle. “I believe we did.”
“Oh good. It wasn’t just me then.”
“Definitely not just you.”
“Would it be too forward if I asked you to dinner tonight? It’s fine if you say no, it’s just that—”
“I’d love to have dinner with you.”
Her face lights up. “Valentine’s? Eight o’clock?”
“I’ll be there.”
“OK then.” She lets out a happy sigh along with her words. “It’s a date.”
I give her a nod and as she gets into her car, I make sure to keep my eyes on her every movement, enjoying the sway of her ass and the awkward way she gets into her car when she realizes I’m still watching. She gives me a little wave as she drives away, and just after I do the same, I pick up that candle she left for me, pocketing the note with her number as I read the label on the side.The scent of Whisper Valley.Holding it to my nose, I inhale nice and deep. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it smells like…
* * *
“Nothing,”my sister hands the candle back to me while crinkling her nose up and shaking her head.
“What are you talking about? It smells of something.” I hold it to my nose and inhale again. “It’s something familiar, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.” It’s like an autumn breeze or a home cooked meal or an outdoor cookout on a summer’s day. I know that’s an odd way to describe a scent, but it evokes all those memories in me. I just can’t pinpoint exactlywhatit is that’s making the smell.
“Maybe if I light it?” Dottie says, taking the candle back from me and walking it over to the mantle in her old farmhouse. It’s been a labor of love restoring it—something I’ve been helping with ever since I got laid off from my old job and she convinced me to move out to Whisper Valley and open a shop of my own—but it’s starting to look more like a home than a construction site. We now have a complete living area and kitchen to use, but the rest of the place is still a work in progress. Her goal is to get the attached vineyard to flourish again so she can produce her own wine and open the grounds as a function center.
Dottie clicks the stick lighter, and the candle wicks lights up, its soft glow hitting the odd-looking stones embedded in the wax and throwing different colors.
“I still can’t smell a damn thing, but those stones are cool. What are they?”
“I’m guessing they’re just something from around here,” I say, watching her as she reads the label.
“Looks that way. But I’ve never seen them before. You’d think with all the work I’ve done on this place, I’d have come across one by now. They’re cool.”
“You can dig one out if you want. Hell, when the candle melts down, you can have them all.”
“I just might take you up on that,” she says, centering the candle then stepping away from it. “Who did you say this was from?”
“I didn’t,” I say, quirking a brow at my nosy sibling. “But since you’ll likely find out anyway with the way this town gossips, I’m having dinner tonight with a woman named Ava.”
Dottie’s face lights up. “Agirlgave you this candle?”
I grunt. “Don’t get your hopes up. It’s just dinner.”
“Still…” She follows me as I move into the laundry room in search of clean clothes. “This is progress, big brother. You haven’t been on a date since—”
“I’m aware, Dottie,” I warn, giving her a look that says I have no desire to rehash my past. I like that shit boxed up and left to history where it belongs.
"I’m just so excited for you.” I can hear the dreaminess in her voice and fight a smile. I can lie to her, but I can’t lie to myself. After meeting Ava earlier, I kind of have my hopes up here too. But I’m concerned about dating again. Hearts can only crack so many times before they’re permanently broken. “What’s she like?”
“I don’t really know. We met for maybe five minutes.”
“What were your first impressions then?”
I turn and lean against the dryer and fold my arms. “Cute, great smile. She had a great energy about her.” I chuckle as I remember the way she tried to use my broken wiper as a weapon. “She wanted to fight me.”
“Fight you?” Dottie’s eyes bug out. “Dear brother, what are you getting yourself into?”
