Chapter Four
410 Words
The first disaster struck two days later.
Elena walked into the dining room and immediately froze.
Water poured steadily from the ceiling onto the hardwood floor.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”
She sprinted for buckets while rainwater splashed across her shoes.
The storm outside hammered the roof with malicious enthusiasm.
The front door burst open moments later.
Rowan entered carrying tools.
“You called?”
Elena pointed dramatically upward.
“The inn is trying to drown me.”
He glanced at the leak.
“That’s actually not the worst section.”
“There are worse sections?”
“You’re adorable when you panic.”
“I am not adorable.”
“You’re standing in a puddle yelling at a ceiling.”
Elena looked down.
Right.
Fine.
Maybe slightly adorable.
Rowan climbed the ladder with practiced ease while Elena held a flashlight beneath him.
Rain rattled overhead.
Water dripped steadily nearby.
“You know,” Elena muttered, “in New York my biggest problem was seating charts.”
“And now?”
“Structural collapse.”
“Character development.”
She laughed despite herself.
Rowan looked down at the sound.
Something softened in his expression.
It happened more often lately.
Those small unguarded moments.
The dangerous ones.
Elena’s pulse skipped.
Then the ladder shifted.
She gasped.
Rowan grabbed the beam overhead instantly.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
But he climbed down more carefully afterward.
Once his boots hit the floor, Elena realized how close they stood.
Too close.
Water dripped from his hair onto his jaw.
Her gaze lingered before she could stop herself.
Rowan noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His voice lowered.
“You staring at me, Marlowe?”
Heat flooded her cheeks.
“No.”
“You’re terrible at lying.”
“So are you.”
Silence stretched.
Charged.
Then Rowan reached up slowly and brushed rainwater from her cheek.
The touch was gentle enough to wreck her completely.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
The world narrowed to his hand against her skin.
And then Theo burst through the front door.
“Uncle Rowan, your truck—”
He stopped abruptly.
“Oh.”
Elena jumped backward so fast she nearly slipped.
Theo blinked between them.
“I interrupted something.”
“No,” Elena said far too quickly.
“Yes,” Rowan said at the exact same time.
Theo grinned.
“This is amazing.”
- Writer
