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“Did you bring Emilia wild flowers?” He took a sip of coffee, minus the milk or sugar on offer, and waited for her reply.
“Yes.” Her gaze skittered away from him, indicating she lied, but he let that observation slide. No point embarrassing her.
Still, at some point I’ll have to set her straight…
But Ally had her own special charm. An innocence he didn’t want to shatter. Innocence being a luxury he’d been denied at far too young an age.
Harsh reality could wait.
He’d let this woman, with her positive outlook and her heart on her sleeve, have her moment.
“Well, thank you for this.” He gestured to the collection of food, and she grinned at him, her attention dropping to his lips and holding seconds too long.
His heart did a dampened thud and a distinct coldness washed over him. He dropped his attention to the coffee table. Sarah’s warning wailed in his ears. How did the saying go? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
As much as he wanted to put this visit down to country kindness, his hope shifted to something else. To their encounter not ending with him shoving her out his door. To her not clinging to him or storming away in a fit of tears.
He lifted his focus to her sitting in the armchair perpendicular to him, her gaze bouncing around his face like she’d been staring at him the entire time he’d been thinking.
“I’m embarrassing myself here, aren’t I?” Her eyes took on a soft sheen while a wide chasm imploded just beneath his sternum.
“No.” He sat taller, clearing his throat and scrubbing his hand over his mouth to buy an extra few seconds. “But I get the impression my feelings don’t match yours.”
Her stare held a long and silent moment longer before she nodded, the strain over her cheekbones dropping as though she acknowledged what he’d said. Perhaps even accepted his sentiments a little.
“I don’t really know what I’m doing here, either.” She huffed out a tight laugh, her gaze falling to her lap. “It’s just… I had hope, you know?”
He took a moment to absorb her words—or more so, the meaning in them—then gave a slow nod. He did know. About hope. About pursuing what he wanted despite the odds. At least, he’d come to know, after years of just accepting his lot. For that. For Ally’s ability to put action to her ambition, even though she was a good ten years his junior.
“Listen, I’m sorry.” She shot to her feet, quick to swipe things off his coffee table and shove them back into her basket while more words rushed out. “I won’t take up anymore of your time.”
“No. No.” He lashed out a hand and grabbed hers, halting her packing, while her wide and overwrought stare hit his. “It’s okay, you don’t need to—”
“It’s just hard, you know?” She ripped her hand from his and turned away, continuing her hurried exit. “Being my age in this town. There’s no one around, and you have no choice but to hope… to hope that the next guy to stick around is your guy.”
She paused, turned her attention to him, eyes still wide, though this time the pointedness in her stare said she hadn’t planned on being so candid.
He shrugged, trying to let her see that her honesty didn’t faze him. “Maybe the answer to your problem isn’t in this town?”
She gave a taut chuckle and gestured to the world at large. “But what would I do anywhere else? Everything I know is here. How do I leave without hurting everyone who loves me?”
He didn’t know.
Not because he lacked a list of alternative things Ally could do anywhere but here, but because he didn’t know what it was like to have anyone want him to stay.
Ally drew back her shoulders and tilted her head to one side, her eased posture suggesting she’d figured he had no answer either.
“It’s about time for me to head out too.” He launched himself out of his seat and helped her place a few final items into her basket, last being the wild flowers.
Ally held a hand in front of him. “No, keep those.”
The pinched edges of her stare told him to just accept the peace offering and say nothing more. So, he nodded and replied, “Thanks. That’s kind of you.”
She let out a sigh, her expression cheerier, and she snapped the basket closed before leading him to the front door. He stood with her on the landing, his green lawn sending a mild glare into his eyes, the familiar thud of fast foot falls drawing closer from his right.
He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. Sarah usually ran past his house right about this time most days. He shot his gaze to Ally, just as she spoke again.
“Thanks for the talk.” She rose to her tippy toes and grabbed his face, landing a lip gloss–heavy, wet kiss to his cheek.
The nearing footfalls came to an abrupt stop. He jolted back and turned to Sarah, her hands on her hips, brows raised, and a bemused look on her face. He could only imagine what this looked like—him on his landing, disheveled and half in his pajamas, with Ally’s lips attached to his face.
And as usual, Sarah didn’t give away her feelings. She merely shook her head and kept running.
