“Jesus. It’s that way.” Jabbing a thumb into the air over one shoulder, I decided I’d better get her going the right way or I’d be waiting around for her forever. “You can cut through the cabin. Come on.”
We walked back to the cabin and she followed me from the kitchen into the front room. “Hey, I like your place. It’s cozy. And so clean.”
“Thanks.”
The cat jumped down from the front windowsill and crossed in front of us, checking out the situation.
Margot knelt down to pet her. “How sweet. What’s her name?”
I grimaced. “Bridget Jones.”
She burst out laughing. “You have a cat named Bridget Jones?”
“Yeah. What’s so funny about it?” I snapped.
“I don’t know. Take it easy. You just seem more like a dog person, I guess.”
“I am,” I admitted, some of the tension leaving my voice. “The cat was my wife’s.” I opened the front door, hoping Margot would take the hint, but not surprised when she didn’t.
“Have you always lived here?”
“Since I got out of the Army.”
“When was that?”
“Six years ago.”
She nodded, rose to her feet, and glanced around the room. Her eyes lingered on the framed wedding photos hanging on the wall. “Oh, how beautiful. Can I look at them?”
“I guess.” I let the screen door swing shut as she went over to examine them. God, how long had it been since someone other than me had looked at those pictures? I felt nervous about it, but also pleased she’d noticed them.
There were three—one family photo; one of us during the ceremony, holding hands beneath a floral arch; and one taken in the barn where Steph stood on a bale of hay so her head would be level with mine when I kissed her. When Margot got to that one, she laughed. “That’s adorable! Look how tiny she is—and she’s wearing cowboy boots with her big wedding dress, I love it!” She pointed at the way Steph was holding up the bottom of her dress to show off her feet.
“Yeah. She loved her boots. She said she wasn’t a heels type of girl in real life and didn’t need to be one on her wedding day.” I could still hear her proclaiming it with no apology in her voice.
Margot nodded. “I’m a heels type of girl.”
“You don’t say.”
“But everybody should be free to be who they are on their wedding day. I love that she wasn’t afraid to be herself.”
“She wasn’t afraid of anything.” In general, I wasn’t the kind of guy who opened up to people I didn’t know. Or to people I did. But it felt good to talk about Steph in front of Margot. It felt safe.
“You don’t look too bad yourself here. You wore boots too, I see.”
“Yeah, I’m not much for fancy shoes. Or clothes. But Steph said I had to wear the suit.”
“You wore it well.”
“Thanks.”
A beat went by. “I was sorry to hear about what happened.” She kept staring at the picture. “You must miss her.”
“Yeah. I do.”
She sighed and turned around. “Well, I guess I better go get changed.”
Nodding, I opened the door again, and as she went by me, her shoulder brushed my bare chest. Gooseflesh rippled down my arms, and my nipples puckered. Quickly, I shut the screen door in front of me before giving her directions. “Head for those trees straight ahead and stay on the path that runs through them. You’ll see the house on the other side.”
“Got it.” She started down the steps.
“And be careful crossing the highway.”
At the bottom of the steps, she stopped and looked back at me. “I will. Promise.”
She took off running at a decent pace, and I tried not to look at her butt.
I had a feeling I’d be fighting that battle all damn day.
Ten
Margot
I hurried back to the cottage, more excited than I should have been about the day ahead. For heaven’s sake—Jack and I could hardly spend five minutes together without getting on each other’s nerves. But something about this felt like a victory to me.
I’d blown up at him by mistake—my plan had been to kill him with kindness, but instead I’d spied on him before calling him moody and uncooperative. But he was so frustrating! I was trying to help him!
The strange thing was, he hadn’t seemed that angry about the whole tree incident. In fact, he’d seemed almost amused by the whole thing—I could’ve sworn I almost saw him smile at one point.
Why that had me grinning I had no idea.
Inside the cottage, I peeled off my damp running clothes and decided, in the interest of saving time, not to shower. I didn’t want Jack to use tardiness as an excuse not to show me around today, and it’s not like I had to worry about him getting close. I’d never met a man so uncomfortable being next to me. He was always backing up or moving away, crossing his arms over his chest.
I pulled on fresh underwear and socks, my skinny jeans and a plaid button-down, and tugged the elastic from my ponytail. In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth, braided my hair and unzipped my makeup bag.
Then I caught myself.
What are you doing, Margot? This isn’t a date. You don’t need mascara in a barn.
I zipped it back up, but I did put on my pearl necklace…and a spritz of perfume.
A girl’s got to have a hint of pretty, right?