Page 49 of The Bitterroot Inn (Jamison Valley 5)
“Me too.”
Damn, this was nice. It was all I could think about as we finished our meal. Coby, Maisy and I were so comfortable around each other. Everything was easy here. If only I could ignore the world outside her door and stay in this loft for the rest of my life.
Maisy stood and started clearing plates to the kitchen before I could offer to clean up. “I’ve got dishes tonight.”
“Coby, bud, why don’t you go get Pickle’s leash and we’ll take him for his walk?”
“Okay!” He scrambled off the seat.
I grabbed his yellow plate and took it into the kitchen, setting it on the counter. “Thanks for dinner tonight and all of the other nights this week.”
“It was my pleasure.”
I leaned a hip against the counter, studying her perfect profile as she faced the sink. “You don’t have to cook for me, you know? You’ve got a lot going on and making me food isn’t necessary. I can just eat downtown.”
“I want to,” she said as she rinsed a fork. “I cook plenty for me and Coby, so setting aside some for you is no big deal. Besides, I hate the idea of you always eating out or only eating junk. I’ve got too much of my mom in me to let you survive on processed foods alone.”
I opened my mouth to thank her again but nothing came out.
She’d rendered me speechless.
Other than my mother, no one had ever really cared about what I had to eat. I’d never gone hungry, our house chef had made sure to always have something prepared, but he’d done it out of obligation, not love. Maisy was feeding me simply because she cared.
All those years ago, when I’d first seen Maisy in the maternity ward of the hospital, I had made an assumption about her. Spending time with her these last two weeks, I now knew I’d been right.
Maisy Holt was pure joy. She was goodness personified. She was a beam of sunshine breaking through the clouds in my life.
I’d walked away from her back then.
I’d avoided her the last time I’d lived in Prescott.
I wouldn’t do either ever again. I wasn’t giving her up without a fight.
I’d come to Prescott with a plan: to look out for this beautiful soul. My plan had just changed. Now I was here to win her heart.
Maybe—if she could fall in love with me—she wouldn’t push me away when she learned the truth. Maybe she’d love me enough to forgive all the omissions and the half-truths.
Maisy deserved the full story. The entire truth.
Just not yet.
Until the time was right, my secrets were my burdens to bear. Then, when the time was right, she’d get it all. Every miserable detail. She could ask me any question her heart desired and I’d give all the answers.
But not yet.
Not until I won her over completely and stood a chance at keeping her—forever.
As I stared at her profile, determination coursed through my veins. I had never faced a bigger challenge but I’d never had this much to gain. Three hearts were on the line here: Maisy’s, Coby’s and mine, and I’d do whatever it took not to break them all.
“Ready!” Coby bounced into the kitchen with Pickle’s leash.
I tore my eyes away from Maisy and stood tall, smiling down at the overexcited puppy and his boy. “I’ll take these two out for a walk.”
Maisy stopped washing and worried her bottom lip. “O
h, um . . . that’s okay. We can all go when I’m done with this.”
Shit. Did she not trust me alone with Coby? She’d declined my offer to watch him earlier so she could paint, and now this. Winning her over was going to be fucking hard if she didn’t trust me with her son.
