Chapter 8
488 Words
Jacob sat quietly by the window, the soft glow of the fading afternoon light warming the room. His gaze kept drifting to Evelyn, who sat wrapped in the thick shawl Clara had given her. There was something about her—something that pulled at him in a way he hadn’t expected.
He remembered this morning, the moment when he had accidentally walked in on her as she was changing. The way she had startled, quickly wrapping the coat around her slender frame, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Her eyes darted away, avoiding his, but he caught the faintest flicker of vulnerability there, hidden beneath the careful composure.
Jacob found himself studying her features—the delicate curve of her jaw, the soft sweep of her dark hair framing a face that seemed both strong and fragile at once. Her lips, pressed together in a quiet tension, hinted at stories she wasn’t ready to tell. Even her hands, clutching the coat like a shield, betrayed a weariness that no words could explain.
He wondered what was going through her mind. What fears or memories made her so guarded? There was a grace in how she carried herself despite it all, a resilience that intrigued him.
In that quiet room, with the world outside muffled by snow, Jacob realized he wanted to see beyond the walls she’d built around herself. To understand the woman who had suddenly appeared in his life and unsettled everything he thought he knew.
For now, all he could do was watch and wait, hoping she’d let him in when she was ready.
A knock on his door withdrew him from his thoughts.
"Clara?"
"No, she has gone to the Iron smith's.. it's Evelyn"
Jacob paused, arranged his hair and went to the door.
"You must be bored " He said smiling.
"Yes, I am is there anything I can do, make myself useful while I'm here? " She asked smiling.
She was still very shy, and tried to avoid his gaze. Jacob focused on her lips, with the red color she had yesterday now gone, he realized how pink and full her lips actually were. Her lashes kept fluttering and she was biting the insides of her mouth.
"Actually, there's nothing left to do here, Clara is a busy bee she does everything, but if you want we can step out, join the villagers to decorate the square for Christmas".
She looked at him, confusion written all over her face.
" When is Christmas? " She asked she remembered ticking the fifteenth on her calendar in her office–Her third month dating Marcus–so if her calculations were correct it should be in ten days except this place wasn't just weird but also went backwards.
"In fifteen days, we start the decorations on the tenth" He said surprised that she would ask that.
She almost cried. –Five days back was crazy –
- Writer
