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I can’t stand it. I can’t stand watching her berate herself for something I put her up to. I reach for her hand, tugging gently until she turns those big brown eyes at me. “Should we bet on it?” I ask with a wink.
A beautiful breathy laugh breaks from her lips, and I’m instantly relieved.
We arrive at the cottage a little after noon. I walk her in with the excuse of checking the place for toads or spiders.
With an eye roll, Pepper pushes the door open. “It’s your house, you don’t need an excuse to come inside.”
“I do. It’s temporarily yours and you’re not obligated to let me in.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Is there a reason you’re suddenly Mr. Respectful?”
With a smirk, I shut the front door behind me and spin her against it, pressing my weight into her. Then I bury my face in her hair—something I’ve been dying to do since last night and draw in a long, lingering breath, enjoying the way her breath hitches under my touch. “Because if I’m not—I might get a little carried away not being respectful.”
She swallows. “Oh.”
I pull back with a grin that likely does nothing to cover my desire to kiss her.
“I’m heading to the Inn in a bit, to check on Dad and see if there’s been any talk in town after your…coming out party.”
A wide grin matching mine spreads her lips. “Will you stop calling it that?”
“It’s what it felt like to me.”
“They were all there for you, Chase—not me.”
“You’re joking, right? Pepper Woods is back in town. No one cares about me.”
“I thought you were the end-all, be all around here.”
“Not really. Here I’m just Chase. The second youngest of the Reeves brothers. The guy with the loud bike and quick wit.”
She shakes her head as she heads to the kitchen. “Well, let me know if he heard anything.”
I take advantage of the moment alone in the living room to look around. Most of the empty boxes I’d brought months ago are now packed and spread evenly against the wall. They’re all sealed except for one.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, moving away from the box.
“Ordering pizza and then cleaning out that coat closet. Or at least it should be a coat closet. It’s stuffed with…all kinds of fun stuff, currently.”
I nod, relieved I don’t have to go through it. Elliot was a sentimental guy—and a hoarder. Because of that, he got a lot of the stuff my brothers and I outgrew but were never quite ready to throw away.
We knew Elliot would hang on to them for us.
Like that stupid telephone.
I walk to the front door, and before I go, I take a peek in the closet she’s about to dissect. A musky scent spills out, and I shut the door. “Might wanna wear a mask before you do that.”
The only thing I caught before I closed the door on the memories glaring me in the face is our old baseball card collection on the top shelf.
The one that was passed down to him from the three of us—it made him happier than any of us had ever seen him. We didn’t have the heart to tell him none of them were really worth anything.
Pepper strides back into the room. She looks from the closet to me, noticing my hesitation. “I’ve got it. You don’t have to—”
“Oh, no, it just smells like something died in there.”
She doesn’t laugh. She watches me thoughtfully. “I’m sorry.”
“For what—I’m sorry you have to go through that.” I move away from the closet and toward the front door. “I can probably still hire someone.”
