But the thing that haunted me most—and has always haunted me since—was the question…did he ever love me? Or was I just a temporary distraction?
The way we broke up posed those questions, which to this day remain unanswered. When I finally was able to box Eli away, I realized I’d never get those answers. Oddly enough, it seems he came here to deliver them, and I’m not sure I want them anymore.
Heart aching with memory, I can’t help my smile when I hear Peyton’s giggles ring out below. Eli’s already won my family over in the short time he’s been here. He’s still a charmer and definitely hasn’t lost his touch in that respect. It’s only a matter of time before he conquers Serena, and then I’ll be left to fend for myself. Even so, I have to be careful.
Forcing myself away from the sight of them, I resume my place in bed, determined to stand my ground despite my slip up last night. Even if he’s changed, no one can change that drastically. After all, he’s still a bachelor without a single tie binding him to anything or anyone, no doubt by choice. Even as the thought starts to cement my resolve in keeping him at a safe distance, Peyton and Eli’s mixed voices sound from below my window. Tuning in with a smile on my face, I somehow drift back to sleep.
Pound. Pound. Pound.
“Wake up, Auntie Whit!” Gracie calls from outside my door. “It snowed!”
“It snows here, Gracie,” I groan.
“No, I mean, it really snowed! A lot!!”
A dramatic pause.
“OH CRAP, GRAMPS!” Gracie roars over the peekaboo on the second floor. “Can we still go to Moonshine Mountain?!”
Groaning due to her shrieking, I pull a pillow over my head.
“Whit!” Peyton barks from the other side of the door. “Ti Whit! comere! Mere!”
The sound of the door handle turning left and right has me thankful for the lock as I toss my pillow and stare up at the ceiling.
“Lord, I love them. I do, but please, if you are planning to bless me with more patience at some point in my life, let it be today.”
Bladder screaming, I rise and crack my neck, my lower back smarting as I massage it before opening the door. Laughter spills from my lips as I see the pile-up of nieces and nephews at my threshold. Conner fidgets nervously next to the ringleader, Gracie, unsure of what she’s doing there.
“Guys, I don’t know why you’re stalking me. There’s no party up here.”
“Grammy told us to wake you up before you miss breakfast. We were supposed to go tubing today, and I think it snowed too much!”
“Gracie, please stop yelling. I’m standing right here.”
“Up!” Peyton orders, holding his hands up.
“I have to pee-pee.”
Peyton keeps his hands up. “I go.”
“No, you not go,” I run my hand over his wayward cowlick. “Give me ten minutes, guys, and I’ll be down.”
“Okay,” Gracie concedes quickly as I pull Conner into my arms for a reassuring hug.
“Doing okay, baby girl?” Conner nods and hugs me back before turning and following Gracie and Peyton down the stairs. Fifteen minutes later, I shuffle into the dining room and instantly feel all eyes on me, especially the intense shade of powder blue.
“You look beautiful today, Sweet Pea,” Mom speaks up as I take my seat. “That a new outfit?”
I glance down at my new jogging suit. “I picked it up while we were shopping yesterday.”
“Pink has always been your color,” my mother admonishes as a blush threatens.
Ridiculous. What thirty-eight-year-old woman blushes?
Get a fucking grip, Whitney.
I shake some oat squares into my waiting bowl as the almond milk is passed over the table. Lifting my eyes to Eli, I take his offering with a soft “Good Morning. Thank you.”
“Morning, welcome,” he says just as softly. The look he brands me with is anything but breakfast cordial. Heat again threatens to bloom in my cheeks as I turn to gaze outside and scope the amount of snowfall.
“Wow, it really did come down last night.”
“Isn’t it amazing?” Mom beams taking a seat at the table. “A blessing.”
The front door opens and Thatch steps inside the house, kicking thick snow off his boots on the mat, his expression bleak as Gracie looks on at him expectantly.
“Sorry, baby. It dumped too much to dig the cars out and get us safely down the driveway.”
“Awesome,” my mother says with a smile. “Let’s hope we get more.”