Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Text her and send her a picture of your smiling face. Offer to video chat but not speak, just so you can see each other.”
Her smile almost reached her eyes. “That’s a really good idea. Thanks.”
When we arrived at dusk, she was fast asleep. I rounded the car and opened her door.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty.”
Her lashes swept up and her brown eyes focused on me. “We’re here?” she said, still sounding drowsy.
“We are and I want to show you around before dark.”
I bypassed the front door, and with her hand in mine took her around back.
“This is the generator,” I said. “It runs on gasoline and here is the fuel gauge.” I tapped it. “Looks like Dad filled it up.”
“I thought you ran on solar?”
“Solar is the main power source. The generator is backup.” I walked her behind a timber screen. “This is my stacked barrel rainwater collection system. I know it’s a mouthful. Basically, it’s a backup to the well water pump system when power is out like when you were here the first time.”
Without going into too many details, I told her how the water was collected, went through a filter system, and was stored until needed. When it was, it would be filtered again through the well water filter before entering the house.
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“Not really. The toilet is compostable, and I’ll show you how that works tomorrow.” Her brow rose and I laughed. “It’s just in case something happens, I want you to know how things work at least on a basic level.”
Her face soured and I wrapped my arms around her. “We’ll be fine.”
I didn’t let go of her shoulder as we went back to the front. Inside, Dad had replenished firewood. A quick inspection of the refrigerator and he had come through with food as well.
“I bet you didn’t think you’d see this place again,” I joked, hoping to lighten the mood.
When I turned, she stood in place, taking it all in like it was the first time.
“I didn’t pack for two weeks.”
I managed to hold back a chuckle. “I can’t say it will be a hardship to see you in my clothes.”
“This isn’t funny, Grant. How is this happening?”
“Fate.” I winked at her.
“Fate’s a bitch,” she complained.
She was too damn cute with her lip poked out. I said, “I know what you need.” She glared at me. “A shower.” I raised my hands in surrender, but I couldn’t help myself and added, “We could conserve water by sharing one.”
25
Jolie
Damn him for being too irresistible. I quickly turned away before he could see the smile growing on my face.
I’d been in the room he’d designated for me before, but I hadn’t spent much time there. Looking around it now, I noticed how truly homey it was. Though it wasn’t big and only had the bare minimum in furniture from a queen bed, a small table next to it, a chair in the corner, and a small table opposite the bed that looked as though it could hold a TV, it seemed warm.
The home I purchased in Palm Beach might have been larger and I’d filled it with knickknacks and art here and there. Still, it didn’t have the comfy feeling Grant’s home did.
“Are you okay?”
I swiveled around and found Grant leaning on the doorframe.
“You weren’t moving,” he said.
I shook my head. “Just thinking. If I haven’t said it before, you have a lovely home.”
That damn brow of his lifted in question.
I shrugged. “I’ve lived in a brownstone in Long Island, visited my Gran’s mansion in Manhattan, lived in a boarding school in upstate New York, and now my condo in Palm Beach. I never thought I’d be a lover of a cabin in the woods on a mountain, but it’s peaceful here.”
“You haven’t seen it all yet.” He holds out a hand to me. “I want you to see something.”
Though his face held a smile, it wasn’t as bright as it had been, and I was nervous for what was to come next. Still I took his hand.
We stopped at the front door, where he helped me into the down coat I’d bought before our road trip and he slipped into his. Our boots crunched on snow that still covered the ground as we walked back around the house but didn’t stop there.
We walked a few hundred yards through trees until we came into a clearing. But it wasn’t exactly that. The view of a snow-covered valley below with fog rising as the sun dipped low off to the west created a cascade of colors from pink, burnt orange to dusty blue.
“This is amazing,” I said.
“It is. It’s part of the reason I bought the place.”
“I could see myself sitting here with a cup of coffee just watching the majesty of it all.”
“We could make that happen,” he said.