Page 20 of Reckless Flames

“So how do you explain my presence in your house to him?”

“I’ve told him a simple version of the truth—that you’re just not able to stay at your own house right now, and I really like you, so I’m letting you stay here. It’s not something I’ve ever done before or am ever likely to do again.”

“So no trail to worry about. Okay then, how would you proceed, ideally, with someone you thought you could be serious about?”

“I’ve never had a plan for that, Sophie, since it’s never come up before. I guess that I would want to spend time with that person while keeping them separate from my life.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me that you were parenting a child?”

“Well that, and something else. Do you remember when we were at the property next door to your parent’s? You were leaving the wedding shower and saw me there, and we got to talking. You vented about all the women prying into your love life, asking when you were going to have children, and you told them it wasn’t even on your radar. You were so frustrated about the pressure to have children, that I worried you wouldn’t want to even consider a relationship with me because of Caleb. Cowardly, I know,” he said.

“Well, I understand now what a dilemma it is for you to feel as though you could get serious about me and for me to be living here at the same time, but I don’t know what to do about that.You did make the offer, and it did—and still does—feel like the right place for me to be right now.”

“Well, I’m not about to kick you out, so we’ll just have to deal with figuring us out while you’re here. Are you okay with that?”

“Well, I appreciate your honesty since that’s what this feels like, but it’s clear that my being here is creating a little stress for you, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that.”

“Neither do I. Why don’t we just take it one day at a time and see how it goes?”

Chapter twelve

Ben

The tension surrounding Sophie and I was increasing. We needed a break from the chaotic combination of wedding preparations, stalker issues, and relationship problems. I racked my brain for something that could offer us a respite, a little bit of peace. That’s when the idea struck—a helicopter ride, a literal escape from everything going on down here on the ground. Caleb was at a friend’s house, so it would be just the two of us.

I made the arrangements quietly, wanting to keep it a surprise. When everything was set, I found her in the garden, lost in thought among the blooms.

“Got plans for the afternoon?” I asked casually, trying to gauge her mood.

She looked up, a hint of surprise in her eyes at my sudden appearance. “No, nothing concrete. Why?”

I shrugged. “Thought you might like to see Finch Valley from a different perspective.”

Her curiosity was piqued. “What do you mean?”

“Meet me at the front door in an hour,” I said. “And wear something warm.”

The hour passed in a blur of anticipation. When she joined me, wearing a jacket, and looking questioningly at me, I was looking forward to seeing her face when she realized what the surprise was. “Ready for an adventure?” I asked, opening the door for her first view of a helicopter on the front lawn, its rotors slowly beginning to whirl in preparation.

Her reaction was better than I’d hoped—eyes wide, a mixture of disbelief and excitement dancing across her features. “Are you serious? A helicopter ride?”

“Thought it might be nice to get away, just for a bit,” I replied.

As we lifted off, the world falling away beneath us, the tension in her that had been so obvious seemed to dissolve, carried away on the wind. The landscape of Finch Valley spread out below us,a tapestry of greens and browns, the river winding like a silver thread through the fabric of the earth.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, her face alight with wonder, the view erasing the shadows that had lingered in her eyes.

I watched her, the joy in her expression a balm to the ache her distance had caused. “It’s nothing compared to you,” I found myself saying, the words slipping out in a moment of raw honesty.

The air between us charged, the confined space of the helicopter amplifying the intensity of the moment. Her gaze met mine, a myriad of emotions swirling in the depths of her eyes.

As we flew over the valley, the world below seemed to simplify, a reminder that sometimes, a change in perspective was all it took to see things in a new light. We followed the river for quite a while and, once out in the country, were able to fly low enough to see the occasional herd of cattle grazing in a green velvet meadow or a deer family, frozen at the sound of the rotors, looking up at us curiously.

All too soon, our time was up, and the chopper looped around to return us to the house. As it approached, signaling the end of our escape, the reality we’d left behind loomed large, only waiting for us to land to swallow us up again.

“We should do this more often,” Sophie said, a little of the lightness we felt in the air flickering in her tone.

“I’d like that,” I replied.

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