Page 14 of Merry on the Mountain
“Thank you, that’s always great to hear. Especially considering everything that’s happened.”
“What do you mean?” She tilts her head to the side.
It hits me that she might not know about Izzy’s mom or how I didn’t know about her until she was two. “Oh. Well, Ididn’t know about Izzy until her mother passed away and child protective services stepped in to see if I wanted custody.”
“What?” Her eyes go round.
“Crystal, Isabel’s mother, and I had a one-night stand after we won the Super Bowl. She got pregnant and reached out to my team to try to let me know, but my then-agent ignored her thinking she was some sort of gold digger. Turns out she wasn’t and then she passed away in a car accident.”
“Oh my gosh.” She presses her fingers to her lips. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry.”
I nod because there’s not much to say. It is awful.
“I was going to make chicken caesar salad wraps for lunch. Do you want to stay and have one?” Her offer comes after a long pause in the conversation that isn’t awkward, just like she’s taking in the story. Maybe pieces of Izzy and I are fitting into what she knows of us a bit differently.
“That sounds delicious, actually. I’d love to stay.”
I help her with the salad while she shreds a rotisserie chicken for us. She offers me a sparkling water or sports drink after we finish assembling the wraps. As I look around the kitchen more closely, I notice she’s added a few things. There are definitely more kitchen utensils than I had stocked previously. She also bought three stools for the counter.
“I can pay you back for everything you’ve purchased to live here.”
She waves me off as she chews. “No. You’re letting me stay here for free, it’s the least I can do.”
I’ll just slip cash in her coat pocket or something. I can tell by the way she looks at me she won’t be worn down by an argument.
“What preschool is Izzy at?” She proves my point by changing the subject before I can say anything.
“It’s actually through the school district. She qualified for speech services in Illinois, and because of that she receives the same services here.”
“I wouldn’t have ever thought she needed extra help.”
“She’s come a long way. Before her mom passed away, she was speaking in full sentences and hitting every milestone on time, but the loss set her back. Not to mention being sent to live with me, a man she’d never met before.”
“That had to be so scary for her.”
I nod. Remembering those first few weeks and how challenging it was for everyone involved always brings me down a bit.
“How did you end up here?” I ask, wanting to change the subject.
“I was just driving through a few years ago and made friends with some of the ski patrol at Holly Ridge. They invited me to apply for a volunteer position, and I figured why not, I had the time.” She takes a drink from her water. “I received a nice little nest egg when I graduated from college from my grandma’s estate and was living off that. It was easy to live out of my van and volunteer. Then they asked me back the next year as a paid employee, and I’ve been coming back every year since.”
“And in the summer?”
“I mostly stick to guided trips along the Pacific Crest Trail.”
“Impressive.”
She gives me a shy smile, one I haven’t seen from her before. “That’s a compliment coming from a Super Bowl winning former NFL player.”
“I was on a team of professional athletes. You’re leading groups of people through the wilderness, I think it’s a bit more impressive what you do.”
Her cheeks turn the prettiest shade of pink. I want to see that color staining her skin again and again. As we start cleaning updishes, I find myself brushing against her arm, reveling in the closeness of our bodies at the sink.
Fuck me, maybe I do need to get laid if our fingers brushing as she hands me plates to dry is turning me on. I wonder if she’d actually consider going to the auction and bidding on me. There’s no way to ask her to do that, though, without sounding like an absolute nutcase.
“Thanks for lunch,” I tell her when I notice the time. “I have to go get Izzy.”
“No problem.”
