Page 17 of Married to Her Yeti
He helped her stand. “No, Tseten dropped off groceries while you were asleep. There should be enough food in the fridge for a few days. Tseten’s willing to arrange another delivery tomorrow if you need it and if the store does same-day orders on Christmas Eve.”
“That was nice of him, but I’m having a hard time planning beyond the next few minutes. I have an emergency stash of canned food if we need it.”
Nima would have a hard time planning too if he were in her shoes. “We can talk about it later. Right now, you can concentrate on walking to the dinner table on those crutches, and I’ll try not to be too overprotective as I hover behind you.”
Mari huffed a laugh, then grimaced. “No making me laugh.” She took a step forward, supported by the crutches. “I’m going to stop in the bathroom first. Let’s see if I can take care of some basic needs on my own.”
Of course Mari would push herself and recover fast. Nima was glad, but his chest panged nonetheless. Their few days of Christmas bliss were going to be over too soon, flying by faster than Santa’s sleigh with all his reindeer.
Mari glancedat herself in the bathroom mirror and froze.Woof. She looked rough. But based on the chainsaw she’d heard Nima using earlier, the spruce tree had to be in worse shape than she was at this point. Besides, she could do little more than run a washcloth over her body. A shower wasn’t an option, not without handrails and a bench. Maybe she could talk Nima into helping her into a bath tomorrow—if he promised not to look.
Her face heated, remembering how he’d leaned over her in the clinic, his giant, firm hand on her hip as he reminded her how he’d dropped, his cock becoming huge and hard when she’d pressed her backside against him in the closet. So fucking hot. She fanned herself, her skin heating at the memory. She would definitely replay that scene one night with Big Blue finishing her off.
“Everything okay in there?” Nima asked, and she startled as if caught with her hand down her pants. He was likely waiting outside the door in case she fell on her face trying to get off the toilet. She smiled at that. It had been ages since anyone fussed over her, and she found she didn’t mind, not when it was Nima.
“All good,” she called before grabbing her crutches once again. The door was a little awkward because it opened into the bathroom. Nima helped her maneuver out of the tight spot and make her way to her too-cluttered kitchen.
Except her table wasn’t as messy as usual. Nima had cleared an area for dinner. He’d included champagne flutes, what looked like a chilled bottle of sparkling cider, and an envelope with her name on it next to her place setting. Mari’s heart raced. Leave it to Nima to find small ways to make her feel special. Acts like this were one of the reasons she’d fallen for him years ago.
“I hope it was okay to move a few things around so we’d have room to eat at the table.” The hesitancy in his voice snapped her out of her daze.
“It’s perfectly fine,” she said, accepting his arm as she lowered herself onto a chair. “I rarely entertain.” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t have many reasons to keep my table clear.” When she ate at home, she often lounged on her couch watching TV or stood in the kitchen. A depressing image of herself eating cold, leftover Thai food straight out of the container while leaning over the kitchen sink flashed through her head.
“Well, you’ll have a reason for a few days, thenyou’ll be on the mend and can have your place back to yourself.”
Mari forced a smile. “Right.” Her chest twinged in discomfort, completely unrelated to her rib injury. She enjoyed Nima’s company and having her table set for a cozy dinner for two. It sure beat soggy leftovers eaten alone. “What’s all this?” she asked, gesturing at the cider bottle and the card.
Nima placed a bowl of soup and a hot roll in front of her. “Part of the celebration.” He joined her a moment later with his own serving. Then he unscrewed the cider bottle cap. “It’s not as impressive as uncorking sparkling wine, but we shouldn’t mix alcohol with your pain meds.”
Mari nudged her glass toward him so he could pour. “This is so thoughtful of you, Nima.” She hadn’t wanted a celebration yesterday. Her friends and family were out of town, plus the bakery itself would have its own grand reopening event in a few weeks. But this small recognition was perfect, and she appreciated Nima’s efforts.
“Open the card,” he urged.
She slid a finger under the envelope’s flap and pulled out a card covered with a beautiful hand-drawn field of lupine. The various shades of lavender took her breath away. “Lupine are my favorite.”
Nima rested an arm on the table. “I know.” His face was nearly the color of the flowers on the card, as if embarrassed by something.
“Where did you get this? And how did you arrange all this so quickly?”
The tips of his ears turned darker than monkshood in July. “I told you. I gave Tseten a list, and he brought groceries.”
“Did he pick out this card? It’s gorgeous. I’ll have to thank him.”
Nima fisted his napkin into a tight ball. “I picked out the card for you.” He looked away. “Five years ago. An artist from Denali sketched it.”
Mari blinked. Five years? Like... in the middle of the ten years they weren’t talking to each other?
He set his abused napkin on the table and finally met her gaze. “Look, I saw it and thought you’d like it, so I bought it. I basically live out of my truck, so I had it with me. This celebration was the perfect occasion to give it to you.”
Mari blinked at his admission. No wonder he’d been blushing purple. Had Nima been thinking of her as often as she’d thought of him all these years? A lump formed in her throat, tears threatening again. They’d lost so much during their time apart. Regret simmered as she thought about how she’dblocked his number. She would do better from this day forward.
With a slightly shaky hand, she opened the card.
My heartfelt congratulations, Mari. Running Wildwood Bakery was your dream. And now you not only run it, you OWN it. I’m so proud of you.
Yours,
Nima
