Page 124 of Rough and Rugged

“Do you ever have guests?” I find myself gravitating toward the table.

“No.”

“How come?”

“I don’t like people.”

I tilt my head. “You’ve got to like somebody.”

“I like Bob. And his wife.” He doesn’t waste time looking up at me while he works on putting everything together. “Jenny is okay too.”

“Who’s Jenny?” I ask, partly curious, partly jealous.

I barely know this man—have spent a total of one hour in his presence—and still, I feel some sort of hold. As if he’s mine.

Following his gaze to the painting I’d pointed out earlier, I nod as he says, “The three-year-old artist you complimented earlier.”

A beaming smile pulls at my lips, because besides the fact that his comment was adorable— “You hung it?”

“It’s good.” He shrugs. “Can’t beat free professional art.” Underneath the grumpy loner is an adorable man.

Noted.

“We can eat in the living room.” He grabs both plates and moves out of the kitchen, nodding toward the bottle on the counter. “Can you grab the wine?”

“Wine?”

A skeptical gaze finds me. “I should have asked.”

“I didn’t peg you as a wine guy.”

“I’m more of a beer guy, but I figured it was a special occasion.”

“What’s the special occasion?” I ask, reaching the counter and grabbing both glasses of red.

He sits down, setting one plate on the coffee table and the other in his lap. “Company.”

The couch dips as I sit in the same spot I’d been in before while I was reading, the fire blazing across from me. He’d just set a few more logs on before the timer on the oven went off.

“Your bathroom is extremely nice,” I comment, searching for a point of conversation.

“Thank you. I finally finished the remodel last year.”

I almost choke on my first bite of cooked carrot. “You did it?” I finish swallowing my food before continuing, “You remodeled it yourself?”

“I’ve remodeled this entire place.” He takes a drink of the wine, his heavy hazel gaze set on me.

“When did you start?”

“Five years ago, I bought this place after my second tour in Iraq. Bob and his wife were already retired, so he helped me a lot at first. The plan was to flip it, but I like it out here. Unbothered,” he explains while eating his roast, as if he’s talking about something as simple as changing a light bulb.

“So, you’re a veteran, then?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I did my twenty and never looked back.”

“What was this place like before you started?” I look around me. From the outside, it looks almost identical to the cabin I rented.

“It looked like the one you’re in. I make renovations when people aren’t renting it.”

---