Ripley barked, breaking the tension, which was much appreciated because I had forgotten how to speak, but I wasn’t smashing that skill to begin with.
“Have we met?” She leaned forward and squinted her eyes.
I stilled. Every single anti-social cell in my body screamed for me to end this conversation by any means necessary. I could lie, protect her pride, and get myself the hell out of there.
When I looked to the side, just past her, my eyes drifted to the interior of the cabin, so different but so much the same: a glimpse of the bed, the interior of the house. A flash of memory.
Don’t you dare lie to that sweet girl.
I glared at the ground. Goddamn this conscience. Life would be so much easier if I never cared about doing the right thing or people’s feelings.
“Yes,” I said.
She waited for me to elaborate. I didn’t.
I sighed at the ground before stepping forward so the porch light would shine on me. In doing so, I revealed my full size. I wasn’t wearing the same work smock I had on earlier, but I can’t imagine many people looked like me, safety goggles or not.
Sure enough, as I hesitantly lifted my gaze to her face, her eyes moved over me, widening as realization set in. “Oh, God.”
The color drained from her face. She barked out a laugh, then a hiccup, covering her mouth as her shoulders shook.
I didn’t think I could take any more crying.
But a second later, I was reassured when her laughter broke out.
She collapsed forward, hands on her knees as her laughter rang through the night. “Of course. Of course, it was you.Levi,” she said.
With every passing second, I grew more uncomfortable.
“I didn’t know—” I started, trying to explain.
“How could you?” She was borderline hysterical. “I basically assaulted you.”
“I wouldn’t?—”
“Do you work there?”
“No. I?—”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head and eventually stopped laughing—or whatever that had been—with a deep breath.
She blew out a breath so hard, her full lips blew raspberries. “Can we pretend that didn’t happen? Back at the store? I cannot begin to tell you how out of character it was for me to dump all that onto a stranger.”
I held her gaze. She met mine for a long beat before the color returned to her cheeks, and she glanced away.
Much to my horror, I wondered if she didn’t need to talk more about what happened. Her ex-boyfriendsounded awful and thoughtless. Maybe she wasn’t ready to forget it happened? But then I remembered who I was and what I wanted, and the answer to that was alone and quiet.
“If that’s what you want,” I said.
But I wouldn’t forget. I couldn’t. Her words had imprinted on me. My fingers twitched with the need to go to the workshop and start on my next piece.
“Come on, Rip.” I knelt and started to unzip the sweatshirt that was sewn diagonally across my chest.
I flicked a nervous glance at Claire, who watched with amused confusion as Ripley finally left her side and ran at me full speed. She leaped into the kangaroo pouch and situated herself as she’d done a hundred times before. I zipped her up as I came back to standing.
“Stop. It’s too much.” Claire pressed a hand to her chest. I couldn’t tell if she was laughing at me or with me.
I shrugged sheepishly. “I do what I can to keep her warm. She gets cold easily.”
