Page 79 of One More Kiss

What in the fudge was going on? How much did I really not know? However, after the stripping down I’d just been given, I wasn’t asking him anything else right now. He didn’t give me any answers anyway, just more questions to ask.

A little while later, I heard the door open and close, and peering out from behind the drapes, I saw him pulling his heavy flannel jacket on as he headed to the barn. There must be cattle somewhere further past the fields beside the house, and if there were, he’d be gone for a while.

“Why am I the stranger here?” I grumbled as I headed to my parents’ old room, preparing myself for seeing my aunt’s things, but I was stumped when I saw all of my things I had left behind decorating the room. Once again, I went into the third room. It didn’t look like anyone had slept in there in years.

Downstairs, I noticed for the first time, the shadow falling over the area where the back door was. Crossing to it, I opened the door and walked into an extension. “What the…” There was a bedroom with my aunt’s things and knickknacks, a separate washroom, which I saw was a wet room, and a south-facing, large window. I saw the cattle, and I watched Ethan for a moment as he walked amongst them.

Giving the window my back, I looked around the room. A small bookshelf with the thrillers she liked to read. A checkerboard on a small table with a chair. Knitting needles poking out of a sewing bag, a cardigan hanging on the back of the door. This room was lived in.

Guilt swept over me, and I bit my lip to stop the chin wobble. I hadn’t known any of this, and maybe, somewhere along the line or at some time, I should have asked, but shouldn’t she have told me? I mean, I wasn’t a mind reader. And Mr Opinionated hadn’t been shy just now with his words; why hadn’t he reached out?

Well, I knew the answer to that.

Me.

Taking a seat in my great-aunt’s bedroom, I considered the room once more. Why would she keep this from me? Was she worried I would say no? An extension was a pretty major thing to add to a house; was she concerned I wouldn’t want it? It looked well built. I saw Ethan squat down at the fence line and then stand and give it a swift kick. I smiled at the familiarity of Ethan’s testing method to see if a fence would hold. Seemed some things didn’t change.

The smile faded as I thought back on what he said.

I had so many questions for him. I needed so many answers. But after what happened upstairs, I was reluctant to approach him, never mind ask him anything.

Standing abruptly, I gave myself a shake. I could face down a class of seven-year-olds who had just been told there’s double homework without a tremble in my tone… If I could do that, I could talk to him. Ethan Michaels was not more intimidating than my second-grade students.

We needed to talk and talk like adults. Armed with a plan and determination, I left my aunt’s room and headed back upstairs. If I was going to negotiate, I needed a shower first.

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