“Yeah,” he said. “Weather can be unpredictable up there.”
I dropped into a chair and stared out at the view beyond the porch. “Your fiancée is trying to set me up with her friend Wren.”
Grant snorted. “Yeah. She seems to think there’s a fairytale out there for everyone. Funny considering I’m not exactly Prince Charming.”
I looked down at my hands. “I guess everyone’s got a different definition of theprince.”
He nodded. “I never really pictured myself getting married until I met her.”
That sentence carried more honesty than I expected from the closed-off lumberjack.
I glanced at him. “So what changed?”
He turned, leaning against the railing.
“I was always on my own. Figured it would stay that way. When Walt was alive, he and I just kind of clicked. It wasn’t tiring to be around him, if that makes sense.”
He looked out toward the trees.
“When he passed, I thought things would go back to how they were. Once a loner, always a loner you know? But going back to being alone was harder than I expected.”
He paused.
“Then Kara came along. And she just fit. I don’t know how else to explain it. Being around most people makes life harder. More complicated. But with her everything just got better.” He huffed a quiet laugh, almost embarrassed. “God, I’m getting sappy.”
I let out a short laugh myself. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“I can’t even blame her for trying to pair you up. She didn’t think she’d find love again and did.”
“I can’t say I’ve ever really experienced that,” I admitted.
“Yeah. Well, if you ever get the chance—” He turned back to the barbecue, lifting the lid and pulling steaks off the grill.
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.
I understoodwhat he meant.
Or thought I did.
A man who had spent his whole life choosing no one… until the right someone made the choice feel obvious.
Leaning back in my chair, I stared at the trees again. I spent so much time running. It was strange to sit with my thoughts when that all stopped.
Wren’s face flickered through my mind.
The stubborn way we argued. The soft way we connected. How she rolled with the punches when things got tough.
I swallowed.
Changing my life wasn’t in the plan, but Wren might force the issue.
And I wasn’t sure how to handle that.
Not yet.
Not at all.
Chapter Nine
