CHAPTER FOUR
1244 Words
The storm had grown louder. The kind of loud that didn’t sound like wind anymore more like the sky warning everyone with a low, angry growl. Amara was helping Lily arrange the small stack of firewood near the hearth when the knock came.
A hard, frantic, urgent knock.
Lily jolted.
Ethan froze.
And Amara..Amara felt a strange twist in her stomach. Because that knock sounded exactly like the one she’d made the night she stumbled into this cabin.
Ethan frowned and moved toward the door. “Stay back,” he murmured, his voice low and even. Protective. Serious.
Amara swallowed, suddenly tense. The last time he said those exact words, she’d been the stranger he didn’t trust.
He opened the door.
And a woman practically fell inside.
“OH MY GOD! I thought I was going to die out there!” she shrieked, tossing her soaking wet hair back and shivering dramatically. “Who knew snow could be this aggressive? It literally slapped me in the face. Multiple times!”
She stumbled forward on unsteady legs, leaving puddles of water everywhere. Her hair was wild, her lipstick smudged, and her coat looked like something straight off a runway. She wasn’t beautiful in a quiet, gentle way like Amara she was the kind of beauty that hit loud, bold, and impossible to ignore.
The kind of woman who walked into a room and made everything shift.
Ethan blinked, clearly not expecting the chaos.
Amara raised her brows, also not expecting… this.
And Lily? Lily giggled because children always love dramatic people.
“Oh, hi!” the woman said once she caught her breath. “Sorry, I swear I’m not normally a tornado in human form. My name’s Riley.” She dropped her soaked gloves on the table like she owned the place. “And I’m stranded.”
“Stranded?” Ethan repeated.
“Yes! My rental car spun off the road, my phone died, and I saw the lights from your cabin like a sign from God.” Riley placed a hand dramatically on her chest. “A sexy miracle of survival.”
Amara choked on nothing. Ethan’s eyes twitched.
Riley turned, her gaze finally landing on Ethan fully then she lit up, smiling with a confidence that made Amara’s pulse tick uncomfortably.
“Well hello, handsome.”
Amara stiffened so hard her bones felt offended.
Ethan cleared his throat. “You’re freezing. Sit by the fire.”
He didn’t smile.
He didn’t flirt.
He didn’t encourage anything.
But Riley didn’t need encouragement.
Women like Riley never needed encouragement.
She waltzed to the fire, dramatic as ever. “If you hadn’t opened that door, I swear my ghost would’ve haunted this place forever. Lucky you.”
Amara felt irritation crawl up her spine.
This woman was chaos wrapped in beauty and confidence and she had already started orbiting Ethan like he was the sun.
New Energy, New Jealousy
Amara didn’t mean to stare. She didn’t mean to watch how Riley pushed her damp hair back or how she laughed too loudly at things that weren’t funny, or how she leaned yes leaned toward Ethan every time he passed.
She didn’t mean to feel this..this twisting in her stomach.
What was it? Annoyance?
Discomfort?
No.
No, it couldn’t be the thing she was avoiding naming.
Not jealousy. Not that.
Ethan brought her a blanket.
Amara watched.
He offered it politely, his expression neutral. Forced. Controlled.
Riley grinned and opened her arms. “Oh, come on. Wrap it around me. I’m freezing.”
Ethan visibly hesitated.
Amara held her breath.
He didn’t wrap it around her.
He handed it to her stiffly and stepped back.
Relief washed through Amara so quickly it irritated her. Why did she care? Why did it matter what he did?
But Riley didn’t miss a beat. She pulled the blanket around herself, fluffing it up dramatically. “You’re too sweet. Thank you.”
Amara rolled her eyes before she even realized it.
Ethan noticed.
His gaze flickered to her quick, sharp, unreadable.
She looked away fast, pretending to focus on the fire.
Dinner, Tension, and Too Much Talking
Ethan made dinner because he didn’t trust Riley near a stove. To be honest, Amara didn’t trust her near oxygen.
Riley talked through the entire meal.
She talked about her failed ski trip.
She talked about running two lifestyle businesses online.
She talked about how she loved “quiet, mysterious men.”
And every time Ethan shifted his eyes, Riley acted like she’d just won a prize.
Amara stabbed her food repeatedly like it insulted her ancestors.
Lily whispered to Amara, “She talks a lot.”
Amara whispered back, “You have NO idea.”
Riley suddenly brightened. “Oh, by the way, you” she pointed directly at Ethan “look SO familiar. What’s your name again?”
Ethan paused, uncomfortable. “Ethan.”
Riley gasped. “Ethan? Ethan Hale?”
Amara’s heart stuttered at Riley’s recognition.
Ethan’s jaw tightened a fraction.
He didn’t like being recognized.
“Yes, that one,” he said quietly.
Riley smirked. “Oh. That explains the brooding. And the muscles.”
Amara nearly broke her fork.
The Moment Amara Breaks
Later that night, when Lily was in bed and the storm screamed outside, Riley followed Ethan toward the kitchen while Amara tidied up by the fire.
Amara heard them speaking softly.
Riley’s voice carried easily,
“So..the girl. Amara. Is she your girlfriend?”
Amara froze.
Her heart stopped.
Her breath caught.
Her hands turned cold.
Ethan sighed annoyed, guarded, distant.
“No. She’s.. nothing like that.”
Amara didn’t hear the rest.
She didn’t hear the soft frustration in his voice, or the hint of something unsaid.
All she heard was:
She’s nothing.
Nothing.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Her vision blurred.
She moved quietly, stepping away before they could see her shattered expression.
She needed air.
She needed space.
She needed anything other than the sting spreading through her chest.
Riley Stays. Amara Doesn’t Sleep. Ethan Doesn’t Either.
Ethan gave Riley the guest room for the night.
Amara pretended not to care.
She nodded and forced a smile when Ethan told her.
But inside?
Inside she felt replaced.
Small.
Stupid for feeling anything at all.
Riley blew them a kiss before disappearing into the room. “Goodnight, lovers!”
Amara felt the words like a slap.
She walked past Ethan quickly. “Goodnight.”
Her voice cracked.
He noticed.
He always noticed.
“Amara,” he said softly behind her, “are you alright?”
She didn’t turn.
She didn’t answer.
She only shook her head and slipped into her room, shutting the door before the tears spilled.
The Night of Three Silences
Amara cried quietly under her blanket, furious at herself for caring. Furious at Ethan for his words. Furious at Riley for existing.
She tried to sleep, but sleep refused her.
In the hallway, Ethan stood outside her door for a long moment.
Confused.
Heavy.
Pulled by something he didn’t want to name.
His hand hovered above her doorknob once..then dropped.
He didn’t knock.
He didn’t walk away either.
Riley, in the guest room, hummed to herself, unaware of the storm she’d created inside the cabin.
Outside, the wind howled.
Inside, three hearts battled different kinds of pain.
And Amara cried herself into a restless, aching sleep believing Ethan’s words meant she was nothing to him.
When he had meant something entirely different.
- Writer
