“Umm, where are yours?”
He snorted. “Love, if you think you’re getting more than two cookies, you can think again.”
She pouted as he sat across from her. He wiggled a finger at her. “Uh-uh, you can put that away. It doesn’t work on me.”
It didn’t? Well, that sucked.
She grabbed a cookie, dunking it in her milk then sucking on it. She noticed him staring at her and she blushed.
Way to be unsophisticated, Caley.
But he just grinned at her and picked up his own cookie, dunking it.
“You dunk your cookie too?”
His eyes widened. “Doesn’t everyone?”
She smiled and sunk her cookie into the milk again.
“Next time you need something up high, you come get me, understand?” he told her with a firm look. “If you’d fallen and hurt yourself, Issy would have had my hide.”
She rolled her eyes at the exaggeration, but nodded.
“You’re good for him, you know,” he told her, surprising her. “He’s more relaxed. Happier. I haven’t seen him smile this much in years.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. How are you feeling with him? I know it must be an adjustment for you, having us here when you were used to being alone.”
She bit at her lip. “It is. Dave was…he was nervous of something bad happening again like in Spencerville and so was I. So we’ve never really gotten to know the people in town. And I only got closer to Murray and Geoff after his death. I thought I was good with being so isolated but now…now I realize I was lonely.”
“People aren’t really meant to be on their own.”
“I’m nervous, though. I know that Issy wants me to show him my, uhh, my Little…”
“And you’re scared of being vulnerable? Of being hurt?”
“Yes.” He could read her so well. “I want to open up. To show that side of myself. But I just can’t seem to take that next step.”
“It’s understandable that you’re having trouble after losing Dave and after what you went through.”
The door banged open and Issy stomped in. Archer let go of her hand and she moved it back, missing the warmth of his touch. But she stood with a smile, wrapping herself around Issy as he came close. He held her against him and she sighed happily.
“Everything okay? What’s going on? Hey, are those cookies?”
“Everything is fine. And yes, they are,” Archer answered with a wry grin.
“Awesome.”
18
“I just spoke to Mal.” Archer walked outside through the mud to where Doc was chopping up wood. He stopped and wiped at his forehead with his arm. They’d been here at Caley’s cabin for six nights now.
“Who?”
“The guy at the local garage. He said that there’s a crew currently working on the downed tree and he ought to be able to get through to get my rental vehicle by tomorrow. He can give me a ride back down the mountain. The rental company already has another vehicle waiting for me. I figure I can drive to Bozeman and get a flight back to Dallas.”
Fuck.