“Sure.” She sighed, and he could tell that she had fallen asleep.
He waited almost a half hour before untangling himself from her. Pulling on his sweats and a shirt, he moved into the living room and turned on his laptop for the first time.
He found the email he’d received last week from his father’s friend and read it a few times. The job offer was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. One that, last week, he’d easily brushed aside. Now, however, he thought about creating something more solid, building something better with Alice.
He created a draft email accepting the offer but held off on hitting send until after he could talk to Alice.
When he crawled back in bed next to her, she automatically turned to him in her sleep, snuggling into his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he closed his eyes, enjoying the way her body fit against his.
The next morning, he cooked the rest of their eggs. They had finished off all of the bacon the day before, so he pulled out a few slices of turkey, diced them up, and put them in the eggs. There were only three slices of bread left for toast, but they had a box of blueberry muffins. He poured the rest of the orange juice into glasses just as Alice walked out of the bathroom.
“It’s a good thing we’re heading into town today.” She smiled as she sat down.
“It’s not the Ritz, but at least we have all of this left.” He motioned to the box of muffins.
“Good thing you grabbed two boxes. We’ll have to get a lot more supplies this time, since we know we’ll be stuck here for a while longer.”
“Yeah, I’ve already made a list.” He motioned to the small tablet.
She laughed. “I had almost forgotten you were a list kind of guy.”
He smiled across at her. “I had forgotten that you weren’t.”
She shrugged. “There’s probably lots we don’t have in common,” she said between bites. “Like, you’re a summer person and I’m a winter.”
“No.” He shook his head after thinking about it. “I think now”—his eyes met hers—“I like winter just fine.”
She smiled and he felt his heart skip. She’d always done that to him, but now he knew there wasn’t anything standing between them.
“Okay, you hate school. I love it,” she added.
He sobered. “Right.” He hadn’t thought about her education when he’d been planning last night. Now he did as she continued to list off a few other small things that they didn’t have in common.
“You’re not listening to me,” she said after a moment.
“Sure, I am,” he lied. Her eyebrows shot up.
“Oh?” She leaned closer. “Then what was the last thing I said?”
“You like cats and I like dogs,” he pulled from his memory.
“No, I said that like five minutes ago.” She leaned back and chuckled. “Where did you go?”
“Portland,” he answered honestly.
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”
“I had an offer.” He stood up and took the empty dishes to the sink.
“What kind of offer?” she asked following him.
“A job offer. One from my dad’s old buddy at the Krieger plant.”
“That’s great.” The excitement in her voice told him that she hadn’t thought it through yet.
“It’s in Portland,” he said, turning towards her, leaving the dirty dishes in the sink.
“And?” She waited.
“And you’re heading back to Cali to finish school,” he supplied. She actually shrank a little. Her shoulders slumped and she frowned, getting the cute little crease between her brows she normally had when she was deep in thought.
“So, we’ve waited this long…” She bit her bottom lip.
He took her shoulders in his hands and pulled her close. “Right,” he said, instead of talking her into it. “If that’s what you want.” He kissed the top of her head and, before she could see the sadness in his eyes, turned back towards the sink to wash the dishes.
He heard her leave the room and closed his eyes as he leaned on the counter. Clearing his mind, he finished the dishes and decided he needed a quick walk.
He knocked on her bedroom door and could hear her talking to someone. When she opened the door, she was holding the phone to her shoulder.
“I’m going to take a walk,” he told her, then he motioned to her phone. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She smiled. “Stay warm.”
He turned and left. Hitting the trail, he headed towards the beach. He was a little surprised when he found a woman walking towards him, two dogs on her heels.
“Morning.” She smiled at him and instantly he guessed that the woman was related to Todd.
“Morning.” He smiled back.
“I’m Lacey, Todd’s sister. My husband and I live just…” She motioned towards a hill. “Over there.”
“Eric Jenkins,” he replied. “We’re staying in the end cabin.”
“Oh, you’re the couple that got stuck on the trip up to Portland. Megan was telling me about how nice the two of you are. You and your wife.”
He smiled and nodded, but the woman’s eyes ran over his face.
“Oh my god,” she said, startling him, “you’re not really married, are you?”
He was taken back. “How… How did you know?”
“I have my ways.” She smiled. “But you’ve known each other forever,” she said as he bent to pet one of the dogs.
“Yes.” He sighed. “Her brother is my best friend.”
“How romantic.” Lacey chuckled.
“Yeah, until now, we’ve been… like brother and sister.” He straightened, but the other dog had waddled up and was now demanding attention.
“Nothing like being stuck in a snowstorm to strip away those layers.” Lacey smiled. “Sounds like you need some time alone to think.” She motioned towards the beach. “You couldn’t ask for a better spot to do it. Even if there is two feet of snow on the ground.”
“Yeah, I’m already planning on making a trip back here in the summer.”
“You’ll fall in love with the town.” She smiled. “Come on Bo and JoJo, let’s leave the man alone. He needs to figure out how to convince his best friends’ sister to marry him.” She laughed as she started walking down the path towards her brother’s house.
“How did…” he said to her back, but he was greeted with another laugh.
“It was nice meeting you, Eric Jenkins. Oh, and welcome to Pride,” she called out.
Chapter 13
Alice sat between the two car seats in the back of the full-sized truck and enjoyed the short drive into town.
She’d given Eric the seat up front next to Megan since there was more legroom.
“It’s a good thing I put the chains on this thing last week,” Todd said as they pulled into town. “I’m not sure how many others from town will make it in for this thing, but at least I know my brothers’ and sister’s families have made it here.” He nodded to a few other trucks.