I finish the rest of my beer and stand to go inside when I hear the door below open again.
“Yeah, I met Willow at the Bean & Bun the other day and she told me about that. It’s a barn dance?” I hear Quinn asking about Grand Lake’s annual Fall Fest.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. They have all sorts of stuff the entire week, mostly for kids and families and such, but on Friday night, they have this big dance with an open bar and a potluck. I know it probably sounds so Podunk, but hey, it’s our tradition here and we love it.”
I know Pearl loves that damn fest since she’s always pestering me to go every fuckin’ year. I haven’t been to one since Justine ran off, and I don’t plan on going back.
“Plus,” Jade interjects, “there’s a lot of local talent there. It’s basically like a cattle auction for all the eligible bachelors,” she giggles.
That comment causes my back to stiffen.
“Oh yeah?” I hear Quinn ask.
That causes my jaw to clench.
“Yeah, so you’re going, no question, and you better wear something cute and flirty, because I can tell you right now that all the guys in town are going to trip over themselves when you walk through those barn doors. You’ll have to shoo them off with a broom!”
“I have this dress . . . you guys want to see it?”
“Show us!” Pearl says, and I hear them run back inside and slam the door.
If Quinn thinks she’s going to flaunt her sexy little ass for all the boys in this town, she has another thing coming. Guess it’s time for me to go to the annual Fall Fest after all.
Seven
Quinn
“Sooo, what do you think?” I hold up the red off-the-shoulder dress and spin the hanger around so they can see the front and back. It has little white flowers all over it and it ties above the breast area, leaving a keyhole for cleavage.
“It hits me like right here,” I say as I draw an imaginary line across my thigh about three inches above my knee, “and it sits off the shoulders.”
“That is adorable,” Jade says emphatically.
“The boys are going to be drooling,” Pearl adds.
I look it over again and I wonder if Sawyer will be at the fest. I want to ask them, but I don’t want it to seem obvious.
“So does everyone go to this thing or . . . ?”
“Yeah, for the most part. You’ll get to meet our husbands. Blake will be there—right, Pearl? I know Memphis will be for sure. I told him he doesn’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, Blake thought he was going to be out of town, but he said he was going to make sure he was there. We have some special memories from the fest.” She gets a dreamy, far-off look on her face.
“Is . . . does Sawyer go?” I hear my voice go up about six octaves as Jade and Pearl throw each other a glance.
“Uh, not really. I mean, he used to, but he hasn’t been there in a while.”
“Well, not since Jus—” Jade begins to say, but Pearl gives her a quick look that says shut up and she snaps her mouth shut.
“Oookay, is there something I’m missing?” I ask, confused.
“No, it’s just that he’s had a lot of shit in his life and it’s not really our place to talk about it.”
I nod, but it’s left me more curious. Who were they going to mention?
It’s been several hours since Pearl and Jade left, and the sun has completely set. I shiver as I put on my pajamas and an extra layer of thick, warm socks and my hoodie. I check the thermostat. Although it’s set to 70, it’s freezing. I open the sliding glass door and step out on the balcony. The temperature feels like it’s dropped at least 30 degrees, and a thick blanket of snow covers the ground.
“When did it start snowing?”
I step back inside and grab a blanket to wrap myself in as I sit in the lounger and flip on the TV that hangs on the wall. This is the first time I’ve turned it on, and the screen immediately populates with several streaming services.
“Nice.” I open Peacock and flip around to find The Office, my go-to show when there’s nothing to watch or I don’t feel like flipping around to find something. I get up to make myself some tea then stare at my laptop. I haven’t written a single word since I’ve been here, and now with whatever the hell happened with me and Sawyer today and making new friends, I’m worried I’ll never end up getting around to actually writing.
After my water has boiled, I grab a tea bag from the selection in the kitchen and take the tea and my laptop back to my chair. I turn the TV volume way down and fire up the computer. I open a Word doc and start typing whatever comes to mind.
Broken man. Tragic loss. Jaded. Mountain man. Learning to love again.
I continue with my brainstorming until my mind starts to wander back to the events of this morning. I haven’t even had time to really process it. With Jade and Pearl stopping by, I pushed it out of my mind, wondering if I dreamt it or if it actually happened.
As I absentmindedly bring my thumb to my bottom lip and drag it back and forth like Sawyer did, my body shivers as I remember the look in his eyes. I’ve never had a man look at me like that before—like he wanted to devour me. The look was dangerous but exciting—the kind of look that has a warning behind it. I smile to myself when I think about how soft his lips felt against mine. I wouldn’t even call it a kiss; it was just a whisper of a kiss.
I’m jolted out of my thoughts by a pounding on the front door. I jump up, my tea sloshing a bit onto my pajama pants. I round the corner and see the top of Sawyer’s head in the door window. I’m suddenly very aware that I look like an actual hobo in my now-stained pajama bottoms, a giant hoodie, and a messy bun. I don’t have time to do anything about it, so I wrap the blanket tighter around me as I open the door.
“Hey,” is all he says.
“Hey.”
We both stand there for a brief moment just staring at each other before he speaks again.
“You know how to make a fire?” He points toward my fireplace with his chin.
“Umm, no, I don’t.” I turn and gesture for him to come inside.
“It’s getting really cold out there and there’s a winter weather advisory, so it’s probably best you have a fire going so the furnace doesn’t struggle to keep up.”
“Oh, is that normal for October? The weather advisory?”
“Yeah, the weather up in the mountains is always unpredictable. We’ve even had snow in August before.” He slips off his boots and I look down at his socks, which are plaid. Something about that makes me giggle and he looks at me like I’m crazy.
“I like your socks.”
He doesn’t say anything and just steps past me to walk into the living room and kneel in front of the fireplace. I watch as his shirt stretches over his back, his muscles rippling beneath it.
“So, how’d you learn to build a fire?” I know it’s a stupid question as soon as the words leave my mouth. He turns around and looks at me over his left shoulder. “Sorry, I know that was a dumb question,” I say. “Just a little nervous.” I say the last part under my breath and, thankfully, I don’t think he heard me.