Page 14 of Fire in My Heart

We kept walking until we reached the top of the hill. The main house was visible from here.

Charlotte stopped abruptly, and I almost ran into her. “Look at that sunset.”

I never stopped to admire the sunset. I had a list of things I needed to get done each day, and stopping to admire nature wasn’t one of them.

When I didn’t respond, Charlotte placed a hand on my arm and squeezed. “The colors are gorgeous, aren’t they?”

My heart contracted, and my chest tightened. Was I having a heart attack?

I concluded it was because I didn’t get close to anyone. I just hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. Charlotte wasn’t special.

CHAPTER 5

CHARLOTTE

The sky was a stunning array of yellow, orange, pink, and finally purple. “This view. I can see why you love this place so much.”

Teddy shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t have time to stop and admire nature.”

I bumped my shoulder against his arm, but he didn’t budge an inch. He was a solid mountain of a man. “You should.”

He looked down at me with irritation flitting over his face. This I was used to. I said something, and it inevitably agitated him. “This place feels more like an obligation. After Mom died, I needed to ensure my siblings stayed out of trouble and graduated. The farm needed to be profitable. It was one thing after the other.”

I was momentarily stunned that he’d shared something so vulnerable with me. I kept my gaze trained on the setting sun, not wanting to stop the flow of information. “That’s a lot.”

Teddy shrugged again. “I was the oldest. It was what was expected.”

Was it though? If I knew him better, I’d question him. It sounded like he took on the responsibility. His father mighthave needed him in the beginning, but he was doing great now. He was the one who was interested in moving forward with the farm, and Teddy was holding things back. “Do you feel like you can let go of a little bit of that control?”

“No.”

I opened and closed my mouth. The answer came so swiftly; he couldn’t have thought about it. Teddy was rigid, unable to see things any other way.

In general, I was attracted to easygoing guys. But I’d seriously miscalculated the charm on my last boyfriend. He had been charming until he wasn’t.

My suspicion was that Teddy was nothing like Rick. He saw things clearly, in black-and-white and wrong and right. My sense was that he wouldn’t hit a woman. But I didn’t know him that well. I used to trust so easily. Now, I was questioning my judgment.

Clearly, not everyone was good. But I couldn’t help being drawn to this big man who had a huge heart. He looked after his family, feeling the weight of responsibility. So much so that I wondered if he took care of his own needs. Or did he put everyone else first, including the community?

I hooked my arm through his. “Stick with me, and you’ll see things differently.”

He chuckled without any humor, but my heart skipped a beat because I’d never heard him laugh before. “I doubt that.”

“Hmm,” I hummed as I motioned for him to join me. He was slower to lower himself to the ground.

He was a big guy, but it was more than that. It was like he was incapable of loosening up. He held himself so rigid. He controlled himself and everything around him.

I think his dad was pushing back by hiring me, and Teddy didn’t like it. Now he saw me as one more person who could disrupt his carefully crafted life.

I smiled as the damp ground seeped through my leggings. “I’m glad you insisted we come out tonight. I would have missed this gorgeous sunset.”

“I wanted to teach you about trees, not watch the sunset.”

“It’s just perfect.” My heart was bubbling over with joy and contentment. Even though I should be worried about Rick showing up here, I felt safer than I had in a long time. “It has a magical quality to it.”

We sat there for a few more moments until the sun was almost gone.

Teddy stood and held his hand out to me. “We should head back. It will be dark soon.”

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