Page 10 of Believe In Us

My whole body hummed and thrummed, and for once it wasn’t anger or darkness, or that constant undercurrent of grief. I felt like she’d walked straight up to my heart and opened a door to a room that had been sealed shut for years. Suddenly, there was sunlight and fresh air.

“Lincoln,” she said softly, uncertainty threading through her voice.

I gave myself a mental shake. I needed to get back to reality. Frankly, I needed to fucking clear my head.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

My words that came out were sharp, even though I didn’t intend that. “Yeah. We should probably go.”

“We should.”

The drive back to the resort was silent. The kind of silence that pressed in, awkward and full of emotions that neither of us knew how to acknowledge.

Until Chloe spoke when I turned down the road that led to Heartfire Falls. “Should we talk about that?”

“No,” was all I said. My tone was still sharp. I knew I shouldn’t have kissed her, but here we were.

When I parked, I glanced over. She met my gaze, her eyes searching mine. “Are you going to be an asshole now?”

Her crisp question drew a laugh out of me.

“You kind of already are,” she added. “I just mean, is it going to be worse?”

We stared at each other, and I couldn’t even answer. She rolled her eyes and climbed out of the truck. I had to bite back the urge to call her name.

Chapter Five

Chloe

The problem with him

Months later - summer

I peered out the window from my office, shaking my head in wonder. It was amazing to me how much the landscape shifted here. The snow was almost completely gone, except for higher up in the mountains. The days were wildly long now. I didn’t even know what to think of it. The dark winter had unfolded rapidly into days that lingered well past what I thought of as evening. It was almost 10pm, and the sun was just now setting.

With a quiet laugh, I turned back to my desk.

“Chloe.” Maggie’s voice reached me and I spun around. “Why are you still working?”

I shrugged. “It’s busy, Maggie. But also—” I gestured to the windows. “I didn’t even notice what time it was.”

“I’m going to have to set an alarm to remind you the work day is over,” she teased lightly. “You didn’t make it to dinner.” She rested her shoulder against the inside of the door frame.

I was pretty sure I already loved Maggie Silver like a mom. She was kind and sweet. Her dark hair was mostly shot through with silver now. She had laugh lines around her eyes, and even though I knew she’d been through some painful times, her kindness and joy were the thread that wove through everything she did.

“It’s weird. I’ll just keep going without even thinking about it, and all of a sudden it’s nine o’clock at night. I don’t even know what to think.”

“It happens even to those of us who grew up here. This is why some people put tinfoil on their windows. They’re not crazy,” she commented as I powered down my laptop and closed it, standing from my desk.

“I’ll do better, I promise.”

“I don’t want you to overwork. I’m not that kind of boss. None of us are.”

“I know you’re not. You don’t have to worry,” I assured her.

“Well, good. Speaking of, I’m done for the night. Kitchen’s clean, but I left a plate for you.”

“You seriously made me a plate, Maggie? You don’t need to do that.”