Page 15 of Grateful for You
She nodded and set it beside her phone. “Thank you.”
I pulled Piper into my arms and we both fell back on the bed as I stroked my fingers through her hair. “Let him try to come here. Maple Grove might be a small town, but we are fierce.”
She sighed, exhaling hot air against my neck. “What about you? You said you bought this house with… someone?”
I stared at the ceiling. Did I really want to talk about Jayme with Piper? Not especially, but she shared so much about herself with me, I probably owed her the truth. With my fingers still entwined in her hair, stroking tenderly, it was my turn to sigh. “I bought this house with an ex. She was bubbly and fun and the life of every party. And when she saw this house come on the market, she had to have it. Her words. She promised that even though she was in school and I was working full-time, it would be the perfect project for us on the weekends.” I gulped. “She said it would make her happy… and I wanted to make her happy. But I learned the hard way that a house can’t make you happy if you don’t know how to make it a home. And after a few months… Jayme learned that, too. I don’t think she meant to use me like she did…”
The room was silent. A heavy, steady breath came from Piper, still nestled into my side body. I smiled and pulled the covers up around her.
“Good night… Pumpkin.”
I felt the foot of the bed dip with extra weight and I chuckled as a cold nose and thick fur brushed my foot. “Good night, Athena.”
10
Piper
Iwoke up in the morning in an unfamiliar bed after one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in years.
I reached over to the nightstand and turned my phone on, sending a quick text to my sister saying Happy Thanksgiving and that I was okay.
Despite the early hour, she texted back immediately asking if Ireallywas okay. I glanced to my right where Mason was still fast asleep and grinned at the sight of Athena curled up with him. That little slut… sometime in the middle of the night, my dog had curled up and taken my position as little spoon in Mason’s arms.
I’m actually really, really good. I texted her back and held the phone to my chest. For the first time in years, I wasn’t lying with that answer. I was good. I was safe. And I felt refreshed and loved…
Loved. I gulped and glanced again at Mason. That wasn’t what this was. You can’t fall in love after one incredible night. What I was feeling was probably more of a response to the fact that I had spilled my heart out to him, and he had listened. Mason was a good man. A kind man. And that wasn’t something I was used to. I would probably fall in love with a tree as long as it didn’t hit me.
That’s what I had to keep telling myself. Because the more I convinced myself there was something real here, the harder it would be to leave.
And I had to leave…right?
John wouldn’t stop searching for me, and Maple Grove was only a few hours away from our home.Hishome.
I slipped out of bed and found a robe in Mason’s closet to slip on over my t-shirt and shorts. Overnight, the temperature had dropped, and there was an icy frost of crystal designs covering the outside of his old windows.
I had never been a good sleeper. So, the fact that I had slept through the night, a full six hours, was saying something. I pulled the turkey out from the fridge and noticed that Mason had already cleaned it. But there was nothing stuffed inside it. No seasonings or flavors rubbed onto its skin.
Again, I smiled.He’s hopeless, I thought and reached for the butter and some dried herbs.
It didn’t take long to season and stuff the turkey. And since I was already up, I heated the oven and slid it inside. It would take a few hours to bake, and then we would still have time to use the juice to make our own gravy before everyone arrived.
I settled in at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of hot coffee, noting that it was only 6:30 a.m. … still too early for even Athena to wake up. Then again, that dog was a lazy bones. Most mornings, I had to wakeherup to go for a walk.
I watched out the window as fat snowflakes started falling from the sky. Last night, the weather had been more treacherous—freezing rain and sleet with some snowfall mixed in. But today it was beautiful, a movie type of snow.
Just as the peace was settling into my core, I saw through the white haze of the snowfall … my car. In Mason’s driveway.
My throat clamped as perspiration began to seep its way through my pores. Did Mason pay to have my car towedhere? No, that didn’t make any sense. He knew that the car needed multiple repairs, and even if he was being nice, paying for the tow truck, he would have had it brought straight to the mechanic… not here to his house.
My heart hammered against my rib cage, and I shrugged on one of mason’s coats over the robe. I grabbed my keys, clutching the pepper spray Mason gave me between my fingers. I slid on my boots, still perched next to Mason’s door.
A blast of frigid air hit me as I slipped outside and wrapped the coat tighter around my midsection. Snow was way more beautiful from the warmth inside a house. I glanced around, searching for any sign of John. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I’d rather be paranoid than have regrets.Better to be safe than sorry. The phrase now had two voices ringing in my head—my father’s and Mason’s.
I crept closer to my car, my boots shuffling in the freshly fallen snow that couldn’t have accumulated more than an inch, and as I approached, I brushed the snow off the windshield, breathing a sigh of relief that John wasn’t inside the car, asleep. I wouldn’t put it past him, despite the fact that he had an incredibly fancy, relatively new truck while I drove the same hunk of junk I’d had since I was seventeen.
I tilted my head, an envelope on the front seat catching my eye. I was pretty sure I hadn’t left anything in the car on the side of the road. I unlocked the driver’s side door and leaned in to grab it, my fingers shaking, which I was certain had nothing to do with the below freezing temperatures.
I tore the envelope open, and on the inside, there in John’s handwriting, was a short note written on a single index card.
