It bothered me that she knew about my past, but I didn’t know hers. It bothered me that she knew how broken I was, but she couldn’t trust me with how broken she was. Didn’t she understand that I would get it? I knew she was scared that I’d see her as damaged goods. That had been my fear in the beginning as well. But I knew she could never look at me like that. She wasn’t capable of it.
Didn’t she understand I wasn’t capable of it, either?
I ran my fingers through her hair as the sun began to rise above the trees. The kids were still sleeping and I groaned at the thought. I was hoping Liam hadn’t gotten Hadley sick because if he did that meant I’d have to travel into town to get them to a doctor. I couldn’t let something like that stick around in the house too long. Otherwise, we’d all get sick.
But I was enjoying the time with Melanie, even if she was still asleep.
I wondered if I should tell her how I felt. Maybe if she knew I was falling in love with her, she would tell me. She would finally tear down those walls and let me in. I didn’t want to be someone who had to roll a boulder down a hill to get her to open the door. I wanted her to open it on her own like I had done with her.
But I just didn’t know what would prompt her to open that damn door, and I was scared I’d push her away again.
Melanie began to stir on my chest and the sight brought a smile to my face. Her hair was tangled and mussed, still smelling of our adventures from last night. She groaned and stretched, her body cracking and warming up after a long night’s rest.
Then she looked up at me with her beautiful sleepy eyes and smiled.
“Morning,” she said.
“Morning, beautiful.”
I raised her up to me and brought a kiss down on her lips. She tasted like warmth and my cock, a combination I knew I could get used to if she stuck around long enough. I pulled her on top of me and she started giggling, her legs straddling my hips as my morning wood pressed against her ass.
“Someone’s ready to go another round,” she said.
But before we could get anything started, Hadley started crying in her crib.
“You get ready for work,” she said. “I’ve got the kids.”
I watched Melanie get up and quickly shower and get dressed before she blew me a kiss. I did what she asked and got ready for work, kissing the kids and the top of her head before I left. I had some work in town I needed to do that required me to pick up some wood and drop off some projects. I was ready to put a little more money into the bank and then I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to get the kids some things they would need to help them feel better.
Medicine, more soup, and popsicles.
As I made my way back up to the cabin, I made up my mind. I was going to tell her how I felt about her. I was going to let her know how valuable she’d become to this mismatched family of mine, and how I wasn’t going to let her go easily. I was going to tell her I was falling in love with her and that I hadn’t felt this way about someone in a very long time.
Then, I hoped she would talk to me about what was plaguing her mind.
I unloaded the wood into my shed then walked into the cabin and found that it was silent. The kids weren’t running around and Melanie wasn’t cooking in the kitchen. I set the bags of things down I’d gotten from the pharmacy and shrugged off my coat, my senses on high alert. Melanie’s car was still outside and nothing looked to be out of place. The cabin was clean, nothing seemed to be broken.
So where was everyone?”
“Evan! You’re home.”
Melanie was whispering down the hallway as she strode toward me for a hug.
“Hey there,” I said as I wrapped her in my arms. “Are the kids still sleeping?”
“Yeah. Hadley’s not feeling well either. I couldn’t get laundry done before you got back, so I’ll do that tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it. How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Fine. Do you know if they have any allergies?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Well, people do have winter allergies sometimes. Because the air’s so dry and their body reacts funny to it. I found a humidifier buried in the hallway closet, so I’ve got it going in Hadley’s room,” she said.
“Should I run out and get one for Liam?”
“I actually put him in the shower with me,” she said.