Page 54 of A Hard Habit to Break

They’d reached the front door. She hadn’t indicated she wanted down, so he kept her in his arms. “Did you go inside?”

She shook her head. “No. I didn’t try the door.”

“This is Service. The door’s always open.”

She smirked in his arms, her discomfort with the topic becoming less apparent as seconds ticked by.

“I know,” she whispered. “You’ve been a bachelor a long time. Guess I didn’t want to be surprised by her things.”

Noah placed his hand on the doorknob. He felt her muscles tense. “I wouldn’t hurt you like that, Six. You coming inside? I’ll make coffee, feed you…”

It wasn’t a question… not really. More of a clarification of what would happen next. It would take more than death to hold him back if she tried to leave.

“Noah.” Her hand covered his on the knob, stopping his nervous ramblings. “You’re exhausted. There’s no need to play host.”

But he wanted to. Because this was the first time she’d entered his cabin, inside the space he’d built with forever in mind. Every beam, every window, every carefully chosen detail had been selected with the hope that someday she might walk through that door.

“You waited for me to come home. I don’t mind serving you,” he said, thinking about what might come afterward. “Besides, I want you to see inside.”

He meant more than the four walls on the other side of the door. Rachel’s sudden intake of breath told him she knew the truth, too. Something shifted in her expression, a recognition of what he was offering. “Are you sure?”

Instead of answering, he turned the knob and pushed open the door. “Yep. I promised a cabin by the water.”

“And a Calvary man keeps his word.”

“I do,” he said, carrying his Six over the threshold and closing the door on the world. For the first time, his house felt like a home, a second chance of endless possibilities.

Once inside, he reluctantly lowered her booted feet on the cowhide area rug. Instantly, he regretted letting her go, missing her heat and scent. The interior was bathed in soft moonlight streaming through the large windows he’d positioned to catch the morning sun rising over the plunge pool.

“Wait here. I’ll grab your drawings.”

The energy surge that had him picking her up vanished faster than water vapor. Heaven knew, he was exhausted, but he’d nail his eyelids open to watch her move through the rooms touching what he touched, taking joy in his space. Glancing down at her artwork, he saw that she’d sketched the Johnson farmhouse, the barn, and the clearing between the two.

A half-moon arrangement of hay bale seating on either side of the giant oak filled the space, with a rectangular wedding arch center framed between the lowest branches. There were different sketches on the adjacent page and website addresses, but he darted back inside, closing the door before she changed her mind about being alone with him. He handed her the oversized drawing pad, holding on longer than necessary.

“Thanks. I worked on a bubble schematic of the mill. I really think we could create a mixed-use residential and retail space to rival Whynot’s.”

He gave a lopsided grin. “I may have peeked at a few pages.”

She smiled broadly. “It’s allowed, Mr. Chairman.”

“Oh yeah, that is me.”

“Did you see the wedding and reception layout designs I finished?”

“I did. I’ll unload the wood tomorrow.” They stood in his living room, a giant cashew tan leather sectional in the center of the room, an anchor piece drawing the eye to the river stone hearth. With the cabin recently completed, he hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy a fire, but he thought it added a homey feel to his place. Rachel studied the warm walls, the framed family photos, and the stone hearth, her eyes dancing like fairy wings landing briefly before gliding to the next object.

She nodded. “Yeah… no. You’ll sleep in. I got this. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, folks.” She had jokes. “There’s a lot of land between the house and the barn.The guest list Dad emailed me has over two hundred attendees, but with a space that large, I want to create a sense of intimacy. You know?”

Noah took a step closer, then another. “Intimacy. Yep, got it,” he rasped. “Noticed you included a few of your dad’s tractors.”

“With the wedding and reception happening in the same space, I want to frame each section, the ceremony, the reception tables, and the dance floor. Benji can drape lights on the tractors to form the entryway to the wedding ceremony. You know, like one on each side, to lead people into the ceremony.” She wiggled her fingers, making air quotes. “We’ll use hay bales to support the plywood for the seating area. I’m thinking, BYOB.”

“Bring your own blanket.” He chuckled. “Sounds nice.”

“Oh,” she breathed, stopping beside the bookshelf that dominated one wall.

He knew what she was seeing. Mixed among his collection of firefighting manuals and a Wednesday Knight novel from Tobias were the remnants of their shared past. The smooth river stone they’d painted with her initials when they were nine. A photo of them at junior high school graduation, his arm around her shoulders, both of them grinning at the camera. The origami crane she’d folded for him from a page of her sketch pad, now carefully preserved behind glass.