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His eyes swept me up and down. Suddenly self-conscious, I realized I was wearing just my exercise clothes, which were tighter and more formfitting than my normal outfits. He was in jeans, sandals, and a black T-shirt. He looked like he’d already showered, and his blond hair was bright in the morning sun. Dang, the man was attractive.
He gestured to the house. “I’m moving in for the summer.”
“What?” I put my hand to my chest.
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “I’m taking some time off, since I want to be in Refuge Falls for a couple months for Mom and Dad. Plus, I like this lake.” His eyes darted to the calm waters not far away. “I have good memories here.”
My heart hammered in my chest, and I didn’t know what to say. Of course, it made sense. He did have memories here, and a lot of those memories included me. “RJ’s family owns this.”
He moved to his Jeep, opened the hatch, and picked up a large bag. “They do. I’m going to help them fix some stuff, and they are letting me live here.” He slammed the door shut again and paused. “Do you want to look around inside?”
“Sure.” I said it without thinking, then instantly regretted it. “Actually, no. I don’t need to look inside.” What was I doing? It didn’t matter if he was here for three months? So what if he was two doors down from me? I didn’t want to hang out with him. “I have to go.”
“Ella,” he called, stopping me as I was turning to jog away.
I turned back.
He had his bag hoisted over his shoulder like it weighed nothing. “I had our pizza last night. It still tastes the same.”
Anger burned into me. “Why are you telling me this?”
He shrugged, and his expression turned sad. “I don’t know. I thought you’d like to get some with me sometime.”
“I don’t.”
He nodded. “Or if you need something, don’t be afraid to ask.”
“I don’t need anything.” I started jogging again, slipping my AirPods into place.
It seemed like I’d need a longer run this morning.
After eating dinner that night, I relaxed on the back porch and set my laptop on the picnic table. A wooden splinter pricked me through the fabric of my sweats as I sat down. I pulled it out. At some point, I’d have to get the table sanded down.
I scrolled images online for how to redo fireplaces. I watched some YouTube videos on it, and it looked complicated enough that I wondered if I should take on the project this year. It might have to wait.
I’d spent most of the day clearing things out and taking bags to Goodwill. It was hard to let go of Grandma’s things, but I had to if I wanted to move forward.
The phrase stuck in my brain. Let go to move forward. Wasn’t that what Mercy kept telling me I needed to do about Noah?
Now that Noah was living by the lake for the summer, I couldn’t pretend he didn’t exist. I thought of that old fairy taleI’d read in elementary school about the princess and the pea. No matter how many mattresses she layered on the bed, she could always feel the pea underneath. Noah was my pea.
I snickered. His brothers would tease him about that.
I went inside to put my laptop away and considered cleaning up the mess I’d left. It could wait until tomorrow. Instead, I slipped my shoes on and grabbed a light jacket. I would walk down the road and try to get a glimpse of him. Maybe that was too much like stalking. Wasn’t that the exact thing I had accused Clint of? Still, I couldn’t resist.
I walked down the street toward the Whipple house. The sun was just starting to set, and annoyance shot through me. Why was I torturing myself?
My efforts were rewarded when I saw Noah standing on the porch, leaning against one of the columns as he looked out over the lake. He was sipping some kind of drink—probably something hot, since he was using a mug.
I was stalking. Why did I even care what kind of drink it was?
Just as I was chastising myself, he started to turn. Startled, I raced toward a nearby tree and ducked behind it, hoping it would keep me hidden from his view. I sucked in a breath and waited there for a minute. When I peeked out, he had disappeared. Phew.
As I made my way back to the road, I ran into Clint, who was jogging. He stopped and popped out one of his AirPods. “Ella? Is that you?”
I froze like a deer in the headlights.
“What are you doing here?” He turned and then noticed the black Jeep for the first time. “Is RJ out here? Did he get a new Jeep?”
