“Her name was Taffy, and she had a crush on a big beefy anteater—”
She liked his chuckle as he pressed his lips to her forehead, and then stood. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“The anteater was big and strong, and had big muscles and an extra-large wiener.”
“Holy shit, woman,” he said, laughing as he left.
“Don’t go!”
“Are you a clinger?” he asked at the doorway.
“Yes.”
An even bigger smile stretched his lips. “Good.”
And then he left, but she knew shifters could hear well, so she called out, “The anteater’s name was Bruce, and he smelled like cologne, and had two different-colored eyes.”
“Goodnight,” she heard him call from somewhere outside.
Timber was already halfway down the stairs and bustled right past her, closed the door, pressed her hands against it, and twisted around to stare at Sasha with her mouth hanging open. “You are really good at flirting. What happened next?”
“With what?”
“With Taffy and Bruce!”
“Oh my gosh, I don’t even know. Crucial announcement, I just hugged Reed. I thought it was too soon for a kiss.”
“He kissed you on the forehead. I took a picture.” Timber turned her phone screen toward Sasha and sure enough, there was a picture—taken from the loft—of Reed kissing her on the forehead in front of the fireplace.
“Timber! Why are you a stalker? Also, can you send me that picture?”
“I already did. If you marry Reed—”
“Stop,” Sasha drawled.
“Hear me out! If you marry Reed, then you’ll never leave, and you’ll be close to me forever, and Mom will lose her absolute shit, and everything will be awesome.” Timber made her way into the kitchen, chattering on like they’d done when they were kids, with imaginings of futures that wouldn’t ever come to fruition, but Sasha smiled, because it had been so long since Timber had seemed this happy and chattery.
Earlier Sasha had told Reed that she felt lighter here, but just as importantly, her sister felt lighter here too.
Sasha looked toward the door, and felt excitement about a coming day for the first time in as long as she could remember. Tomorrow would be an early-morning coffee date and working on the house, and maybe wings for lunch at the 406 Saloon.
She couldn’t contain her smile even if she tried.
Chapter Six
Reed rubbed his hands together and blew into them to warm up his fingers. He needed to make the trip to Murdoch’s and get a good pair of gloves. As soon as he got paid tomorrow, that’s what he was going to do. He’d been counting down to his first paycheck. Why? Because it had been years since he felt self-sufficient, and felt the victory of a success, no matter how big or small.
The strangest part of waiting for a paycheck was that he actually had an ungodly amount of money sitting in his bank account right now. Why? Because Damon Daye had gone after the prison, and all of their investors, and all of the companies involved in the experimentation side of it on his behalf. And since they didn’t want it to leak that Reed had been kept in there four years past his release date, they had settled out of court as fast as they could, and had already cut him a check to stay quiet. Fine by him. He didn’t want any media attention for any of this. He didn’t even know any of that was happening until Damon sent him paperwork to sign for it all.
All of that had been a whirlwind, and he still hadn’t gotten through the shock of it. Something good had come from that mess after all, but he hadn’t processed his feelings on it yet, so he focused on living off his paycheck instead of the number in his bank account.
He loved his job. It was solitary, with only check-ins with his boss and the five-man crew that divvied up the roads they would clear around here. Already, he’d texted his boss and told him he would be dragging the road all the way up from the mountain they lived on to town, so he could pull it off the others’ list. What he hadn’t mentioned was that he would have Sasha with him. Ifthe boss wanted to pay him for the extra hour, great. He didn’t need to know Reed’s business though. And honestly? He felt very protective of Sasha. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was scary, and confusing, and exciting.
The door to Wreck’s house creaked open, and Reed pushed off his truck and straightened up.
Sasha closed it gently, and then turned right for him. The smile that stretched her face in the early-morning light was the prettiest sight he’d ever seen.
She wore dark indigo skinny jeans under her snow boots, and a skintight white thermal sweater under a beige-colored puffy vest. Her jacket was draped over her arm, and she had her backpack of belongings in her other hand as she bounded down the stairs. The crisp crunch of the fresh fallen snow under her boots filled his senses, and he wished he could take a picture of her just like this, greeting smile plastered across her lips and just for him. Had anyone ever smiled at him like this? He couldn’t recall. Memories of his life before Cold Foot were sometimes hard to reach.