Page 21 of These Rough Waters

Eleven

Iwash my hands off in the sink, watching the dirtied water circle down the drain. Keeping busy was the only way I knew how to live.

From work on the house, to fishing, and the odd job around town, I could do. Going from a life I used to lead, where it was constantly moving, constantly changing to this, was something not even the years passing could ever make me adapt. I gave it up. That life. But truth was, I should have done that sooner. I should have kept my word.

I glance out the window, the sun now setting and bringing in a bitter chill. Winters were brutal here and without wood for the hearth, Maya and Harper would freeze in that damn cabin.

A cabin that shouldn’t be lived in anyway.

I snatch the towel from the rack, roughly drying my hands as I trynotto picture her pinkened skin from the heat of the bath water, try not to remember how I watched a single droplet of water roll down the feminine curve of her neck. And I certainly wasn’t allowing myself to remember how it felt to press her up against the wall, her tiny little body trapped beneath mine.

I adjust my cock, irritated that, for the first time in five damn years, I can’t control myself. And it didn’t help that the fucking woman was trouble.

She may look like a little doe, but that woman wastrouble.

Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I will my dick to go down by thinking of anything but her and fall onto the couch, tipping the cold beverage to my lips. I’ve only managed two sips when there’s a knock on the door.

People in this town knew better than to bother me. The only one brave enough to do it was Ruthie, so that’s who I expect when I go to the door.

Except it isn’t Ruthie.

Maya stands a little unsure on the porch, her dark hair pulled back away from her face, but as if the unruly strands couldn’t stand being tamed, two thick curled tendrils frame her face, her green eyes watching me uncertainly.

“What?” I grunt.

Her groomed brows drop into a disapproving scowl, “No wonder you’re always alone,” she hisses, “You’re so rude.”

“You’re standing onmyporch, atmyhouse, insulting me and you’re calling me rude?”

“A hello wouldn’t have hurt you, Torin.”

“What do you want, Maya?”

“I made you this,” she shoves a dish into my hands, leaving me no choice but to grab it, “As a thank you for fixing the leak.”

The smell of the casserole seeps through the cloth she has draped over the top and my mouth damn near waters at the scent.

“Don’t choke on it,” She snaps before spinning, “Or do, I don’t really care.”

Her little body storms away from my house, leaving me to stare after her as her anger tightens her muscles and lifts her shoulders. And even though there is some fair distance between her cabin and my house, I can almost hear how loud she slams the front door without ever turning back to me.

I stand with the dish in my hand, slightly stumped, waiting for a few minutes to see if she returns but when that doesn’t appear to be likely, I head back inside placing the dish on the side.

And then I stare at it, like it’s a bomb waiting to go off.

She made me food.

No one has made me food for a long time. Not even Ruthie who is the resident mother hen for the town.

“It’s just a goodwill gesture,” I mutter to myself, ripping the cloth off and finding the most delicious looking casserole I’d ever fucking seen. Grace was good at most things, but cooking wasn’t one of them.

“Shit,” I growl, the fuck am I doing? Comparing them like Maya is even in the same realm as my dead wife. Pushing all that aside, I grab the dish and shove it in the oven, turning the heat on just to warm it back through, but find myself looking back out the window. Towards that damn cabin. With evening now come and gone, darkness blankets this small island and the lights from that little home spill out onto the small patch of grass that makes up the front yard. I could see her, just the shape of her beyond the windows and tell myself to stay the fuck away from her.

Despite my better judgement, I find myself up at the ass crack of dawn, axe in hand as I swing it down onto the log, splitting the piece of wood before I add it to the pile next to me. The bay was busy despite the time, the towns fishermen getting up and out early since the skies are clear and the waters surrounding the town somewhat calm. Fishing was the main source of income for the town and these folk were serious about their catches.

An hour later I see Maya step out with Harper in tow. Her eyes cast over me once before she dismisses me, and they start their walk towards the town and wherever they’re going for the day. It didn’t look like the two of them were leaving anytime soon and even though I was doing this, I didn’t have to be around them.

Even if curiosity was niggling at my mind, begging me to find out more.

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