Page 21 of Sweetheart and the Grouch
“Around here, my sister-in-laws call it a Soulwink. They’ve got jackets made up, turned it into a club and…yeah. There’s something in the air.”
Danny chuckles warmly. “So if what you’re feeling toward this girl is crazy, then I guess we all are, right?”
Leaning against my kitchen counter, I scrub a hand back and forth over my head. “What I’m hearin’ here is that you think I should get married.”
“It’d solve things, right? You’ve got a stable job, you own your own place, and that’ll satisfy the legal requirements for your girl to get custody.”
“Yeah. But I have a record, dude. Not to mention, we literally just met each other.”
“I can make your record go away. With the work you do, it’s likely sealed anyway, but I’ll make some calls, get you looking like Mother Theresa and hell, I’ll even throw in a white horse so you can ride on in and save your girl.”
“I honestly can’t believe this is the path you’re recommending to me.”
“What can I say? I’m a believer in fairytales. And I’ve known you long enough to hear it when you tell me the safety of these girls is important to you. You don’t have to decide right now, but at least consider it. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can find out. Sit tight, OK?”
He hangs up, and I blow out a puff of air as I just look at my phone in disbelief. Marriage? So soon? The idea of it seems almost as crazy as entering into a relationship with a nineteen-year-old after only knowing her for a day. But what’s even crazier is that I don’t hate it. Maybe this Soulwink thing my sister-in-laws talk about really is a thing? And maybe it’s got me?
AINSLEY
My body is sore in a good way, and when I walk, I’m reminded with every step what happened last night. I can’t stop smiling.
“What got you so happy?” Elena asks from her perch at the kitchen table. She’s eating cereal without milk since we need to go into town for groceries, but since I said she could watch her iPad while eating she’s not complaining much. Mostly, she’s just fidgeting because she’s excited to try these beet muffins Ajax is bringing us. I’m excited too. But not because of the beets.
“I guess I just like it here,” I say, picking up my mug of black coffee and moving to sit across from her. Her hair is sticking up on one side of her head because of the way she slept, but the rosiness in her cheeks tells me the mountain air is agreeing with her. Once again, it’s like the universe is giving me a little nod and telling me I did the right thing coming here. If the last couple of days are anything to go by, this place is where our happily ever after begins.
“Me too,” she says, sliding a tiny circle of puffed grain past her lips. “I thought it might be scary in my own room. But it wasn’t. I had the whole bed to myself, and I was wondering if we could paint the walls purple.”
“I’ll have to ask if we’re allowed,” I say, taking a sip of coffee then turning my head to the sound of footfalls approaching.
“No more dry cereal for me!” Elena practically yells as she jumps up. “Jax is back!”
Chuckling at her exuberance, I place my mug on the table and follow her to the door. Stopping short when she flings it open and instead of Ajax, there’s an even bigger man with a short but curvy blonde wearing a sunflower printed shirt and a pink jacket.
“Oh my! Hello,” she says, placing her hand on her chest in surprise. “You must be Elena.” Her eyes lift to meet mine. “And you must be Ainsley.” She has a bright smile that puts me at ease immediately. “I’m Millie, and this is my husband, Dylan.”
“The cabin owners?” I say, shifting my eyes to the quiet giant at her side. He seems a lot older than Ajax, but maybe that’s the beard giving that impression. Either way, he has the same kind green eyes.
“Sorry we weren’t here when you moved in,” he says. “We were expecting you next week.”
“Oh. Gosh. I’m so sorry. I had the key and we—”
“Never you mind,” Millie cuts in, waving my words away. “You were more than welcome to come up here at any time. We’re just sad we didn’t get to welcome you to the mountain. We hear Ajax did that for us though.” My cheeks burn at the mention of his name and her smile gets even wider. “Something tells me Jade will be ordering a new jacket soon.” She nudges Dylan and he chuckles knowingly.
“Jacket?” I query, and Millie turns around in response.
“It’s for the Soulwink Society.” She gestures to the emblem on the back of her jacket that says as much.
“Member of the Whisper Valley Soulwink Society,” I read, tilting my head curiously as she turns back around.
“What’s that?” Ellie asks with her face all scrunched up.
Millie touches her under the chin. “My dear child, it’s a wonderful club filled with women who are lucky enough to be loved by one of the Valentine men. Each of us met each other and just knew right away that we belonged.” I suck in my breath since that’s exactly how I felt when I met Ajax. “Except some of them fight it a little harder than others.” When she says the last part, she looks up at Dylan who grunts, although he does it through a smirk. I’m guessing there’s an interesting story there.
“My sister could be in that club,” Ellie responds, nodding enthusiastically. “I saw her kissing Ajax yesterday and I think they had a sleepover.” She lifts her hand up and lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’m not supposed to know, but I heard him leave early this morning.”
I didn’t think Millie’s smile could get wider, but it does. “That makes me very happy to hear. Ajax is such a wonderful man.”
“Yeah,” I say, pressing my lips together to keep my own grin from getting too out of control. “He’s been pretty great so far.”
