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Authors: Olivia Stephens
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in her bird-like grip, shaking it slowly and looking into her eyes. Sofie wonders what it is about people around here and the way they look at her like they can see right through her.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Edith or Edie as everyone calls me.” Abruptly she turns around, throwing a smile at Ashton. “I better get going. I’ll leave you kids to it.” She doesn’t say what she thinks she’s leaving them ‘to’ exactly, but the obvious wink that she gives Sofie as she walks out gives her a good idea of what’s on the older woman’s mind.
Ashton looks after the woman, shaking his head a little.
“That was a nice thing you did for her.” Sofie tries to keep the admiration out of her voice and fails. “Who’s Arthur?”
“Her husband. Early onset Alzheimer’s. He was my second grade teacher, known him for a long time. He helped me a lot, taught me a lot about myself.” Ashton suddenly clams up, like he’s not used to letting anyone in to his world.
Sofie swallows the lump in her throat that’s formed at his words and turns away so that he doesn’t see how his simple act of kindness has affected her. “So this really is your place, then.” She looks around at the beautiful wooden furniture. The craftsmanship is easy to see.
“Like I said, just because it doesn’t have my name on it, doesn’t mean that it’s not mine.” Ashton looks at her pointedly and smiles victoriously.
“You have some beautiful pieces here,” she says, knowing that she would be lying if she said that she wasn’t impressed by everything she saw in the store.
“Thanks, but I think that’s more about the wood than me,” he says humbly, looking around the floor of the store.
“You made all of this?” Sofie can’t keep the shock out of her voice, and she’s sure that her dark eyes are wide with surprise. “You made the chair for Arthur?”
“Do you see anyone else here?” Ashton looks around him, as if there might be someone hiding in the store.
“No, I’m just, you don’t look like...I didn’t expect that.” Sofie takes a deep breath, trying to figure out when it had become so difficult for her to talk to men. It had always been something that she’d been good at; she was good at lines, bad at relationships.
“Well, I’m nothing if not unexpected.” Ashton smiles, his blue eyes sparkling with merriment, and Sofie gets the distinct impression that he’s not just talking about his talent as a furniture maker. “You should take that off,” he says so matter-of-factly that it takes Sofie a few moments to realize that he’s talking about her soaking shirt.
“Well, as much as I would love nothing better than to walk down the street in nothing but my underwear, I don’t think that would go down too well with the good people of Beaumont.” Sofie feels her sass coming back, and she’s relieved that finally she’s not so tongue-tied around this gorgeous man.
“You’d be surprised. I think it would go down very well with at least half the good people of Beaumont.” He smiles and although he’s looking at her face, Sofie can’t help but feel that he’s undressing her with those amazing eyes of his. “But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I’ve probably got something in the back you can wear.” He gestures for her to follow him, as he heads to the far side of the store.
While his back is turned, Sofie uses the time to inspect him. The man really is delicious , she thinks. His jeans hug him in all the right places, and his t shirt highlights the strong muscles in his back. He walks with a loping gait, hinting at his athletic body. He has a habit of pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes that makes Sofie want to reach out and do it for him. He was completely the opposite of the kind of guy she would normally be attracted to. She had always been more into the preppy-type, lawyers, accountants, doctors, men that her parents would have approved of. But after everything that had happened and the
“Nice to meet you. I’m Edith or Edie as everyone calls me.” Abruptly she turns around, throwing a smile at Ashton. “I better get going. I’ll leave you kids to it.” She doesn’t say what she thinks she’s leaving them ‘to’ exactly, but the obvious wink that she gives Sofie as she walks out gives her a good idea of what’s on the older woman’s mind.
Ashton looks after the woman, shaking his head a little.
“That was a nice thing you did for her.” Sofie tries to keep the admiration out of her voice and fails. “Who’s Arthur?”
“Her husband. Early onset Alzheimer’s. He was my second grade teacher, known him for a long time. He helped me a lot, taught me a lot about myself.” Ashton suddenly clams up, like he’s not used to letting anyone in to his world.
Sofie swallows the lump in her throat that’s formed at his words and turns away so that he doesn’t see how his simple act of kindness has affected her. “So this really is your place, then.” She looks around at the beautiful wooden furniture. The craftsmanship is easy to see.
“Like I said, just because it doesn’t have my name on it, doesn’t mean that it’s not mine.” Ashton looks at her pointedly and smiles victoriously.
“You have some beautiful pieces here,” she says, knowing that she would be lying if she said that she wasn’t impressed by everything she saw in the store.
“Thanks, but I think that’s more about the wood than me,” he says humbly, looking around the floor of the store.
“You made all of this?” Sofie can’t keep the shock out of her voice, and she’s sure that her dark eyes are wide with surprise. “You made the chair for Arthur?”
“Do you see anyone else here?” Ashton looks around him, as if there might be someone hiding in the store.
“No, I’m just, you don’t look like...I didn’t expect that.” Sofie takes a deep breath, trying to figure out when it had become so difficult for her to talk to men. It had always been something that she’d been good at; she was good at lines, bad at relationships.
“Well, I’m nothing if not unexpected.” Ashton smiles, his blue eyes sparkling with merriment, and Sofie gets the distinct impression that he’s not just talking about his talent as a furniture maker. “You should take that off,” he says so matter-of-factly that it takes Sofie a few moments to realize that he’s talking about her soaking shirt.
“Well, as much as I would love nothing better than to walk down the street in nothing but my underwear, I don’t think that would go down too well with the good people of Beaumont.” Sofie feels her sass coming back, and she’s relieved that finally she’s not so tongue-tied around this gorgeous man.
“You’d be surprised. I think it would go down very well with at least half the good people of Beaumont.” He smiles and although he’s looking at her face, Sofie can’t help but feel that he’s undressing her with those amazing eyes of his. “But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I’ve probably got something in the back you can wear.” He gestures for her to follow him, as he heads to the far side of the store.
While his back is turned, Sofie uses the time to inspect him. The man really is delicious , she thinks. His jeans hug him in all the right places, and his t shirt highlights the strong muscles in his back. He walks with a loping gait, hinting at his athletic body. He has a habit of pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes that makes Sofie want to reach out and do it for him. He was completely the opposite of the kind of guy she would normally be attracted to. She had always been more into the preppy-type, lawyers, accountants, doctors, men that her parents would have approved of. But after everything that had happened and the
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