Page 75 of Chasing Smoke

I swallow hard. “Thank you.” Then I pick up the pastry and take a big bite.

Deacon goes back to work, and Dottie sits with me for another ten minutes while I enjoy my pastry. We don’t talk about what’s bothering me. Instead, I tell her about how I joined a weekly yoga class and about some of the decorative pieces I bought for my bedroom.

When it’s time for me to get back to work, I say goodbye to her and Deacon, feeling lighter than when I first came in here. It’s not like one conversation has made everything better, but I do see hope on the horizon that I won’t always be dragging this feeling behind me like a ball and chain.

Ansel calls as I’m heading out of the Birdhouse Bakery to my car, so I stop and pull my thin glove off one hand and grab my phone from my purse, accepting the call.

It’s still cold and snowy, but the bite of deep winter has given way to something milder. Something that promises spring in the not-too-distant future.

“Hello?”

“Hey, how are you doing?” Ansel’s deep voice sounds in my ear, and I find it comforting. I instantly feel more at ease and settled.

“I’m not amazing but not like I was on the weekend.” Or even a half hour ago, I don’t add.

“It still feels surreal.”

I nod, though he can’t see me. “I agree. The whole thing is so messed up.”

“To say the least. How’s the bedroom going?”

Ansel insisted on sticking around to help me finish painting the morning after he stayed over.

“It’s coming together. The bedding arrived yesterday, so I made the bed. Managed to find some new lamps at The Foglight online, so I ordered them and am going to pick them up after work.” I’d planned to pop by there after I grabbed something at the bakery, but that didn’t turn out as planned.

I don’t mention it, but I also ordered a new mattress. I had debated doing it before, but with the recent revelation, it’s the right thing to do.

“That’s great. Listen, I have to go out of town for the day tomorrow, and then I work a few shifts, but I thought maybe on the weekend, we could get together and do something.”

I grin like a schoolgirl who’s just been asked out on her first date. “What did you have in mind?”

“Hear me out…”

“Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this?”

“I thought we could go snowmobiling.”

I’m not a fan of winter sports, or the cold, really, but the more years I spend in Echo Lake, the more it’s growing on me. To my surprise, the idea of spending the day outside in the snow doesn’t sound awful. At least not when it involves me wrapping my arms around Ansel all day.

“I have a new sled, and there are some really gorgeous trails around. I think you’d like it.”

“All right.”

“Seriously?”

I chuckle at the surprise in his voice. “Yup.” I pop the “p” on the end of the word.

“I thought I was going to have to do more convincing than that.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” I say with some sass.

“All right, I’ll text you the details sometime this week, sound good?”

“Sounds good. So where are you headed tomorrow?”

There’s silence for a beat. “Oh, uh, Portland again.”

“Miss your friend already?” I check both sides of the road, then cross the street to walk over to my SUV.