Page 149 of Mountain Grump
The light moves around to my side as Ethan crouches next to me.
And I stay where I am as Ethan unlaces my shoes.
“Let me grab bedding.” He leaves the light where it is and goes to the cabinets. As expected, he pulls out another bin, opens the lid, and removes two pillows.
Caring.
“Now?” I let him hear the smile I force into my voice.
I’ll find a way to manage my emotions, my feelings toward Ethan. I don’t need him knowing that everything he does makes me fall more than a little in love with him.
He’s probably like this with everyone.
“Almost.” My smile turns real at his response. “Hold these.”
I take the pillows from him and hug them to my chest.
Ethan drags the blanket off the bed and drops it in a pile on the empty pillow bin. Under the blanket was a mattress protector, but no sheets in sight. Then I notice a handful of little sachets.
“What are those?”
Ethan grabs the little pouches. And I can smell the answer before he speaks. “Lavender.”
“Fancy.”
“They’re losing their potency, but they’re good for keeping bugs and rodents away.” He drops them on top of the discarded blanket. “So, at least if something gets in the cabin. They should stay out of the bed.”
My mouth pulls into a frown.
Maintaining a cabin in the woods comes with all sorts of logistical issues.
I press my nose against the pillows as Ethan pulls out a full set of bedding from another bin.
Inhaling, I notice the pillows have the same laundry scent as the clothing he gave me.
“Can I help?”
Ethan lifts his head to look at me from across the mattress, the answer written all over his shadowed expression.
I let him see me roll my eyes. “Fine, I’ll just watch you do everything.”
“Good.”
This man is something else.
Not helping, I take another sniff of the pillows. “When were you here last?”
“November.”
My eyebrows lift. “Seriously?”
Ethan circles the bed, securing each corner of the fitted sheet. “Yeah. Why?”
“Everything is so… fresh.”
He does a snapping motion with the flat sheet, and it drapes perfectly into place. “I’ve had lots of practice learning what works best.” He unfolds a heavy wool blanket, similar to the one that was on the bed before, and it falls into place on top of the sheets. “Plus, the elevation keeps things dry. Humidity would make everything moldy.”
Coming from Vegas, the literal desert, I don’t have much experience with things being humid. So I take his word for it.
