Chapter 24

Avery

I’m in that delicious place just before I wake up. I call it the in-between world.

Not quite in dreamland anymore, but reality is still shrouded in a kind of cloud.

I make the most of it and let my body melt into Jack’s.

Slowly, images of the previous night enter my mind. And, of course, it occurs to me, I’m no longer a virgin.

The thought has my cheeks turning hot and red. Thinking about my indiscretion has me think about my mother.

Mother would be furious. She’d say something about me having spoiled the family name with my behavior.

I try and push Mommy out of my head. No point ruining a perfectly good start to the day.

Slowly, I roll away from my mountain man so I can actually look at him. Moving has pain shooting through me and I bite my teeth together so I don’t cry out in pain. Jack looks like he’s still deep asleep.

My eyes feast on the muscles of his chest and broad shoulders. Then I even let myself look lower—not too low because a blanket covers that part of Jack.

I sigh and smile.

I’m no longer a virgin. I feel like getting up and shouting it from the rooftop. The entire notion is silly, I know, but I can’t help it.

I’ve grown up a little in the last few hours. Jack taking my virginity has matured me and freed me a little from the ties my parents still had over me.

My entire life I’ve never done anything my parents haven’t wanted me to do, until last night.

Even if Adam still wanted me before, he won’t want me now.

Gently, I sit up in bed. Again, I can feel pain all over.

I can also feel pain between my legs. It’s a different kind of pain than the one I sustained during the crash.

It’s the type of pain that feels like, honestly, kind of good.

It’s the type of pain that confirms I’ve smudged the family honor.

What a laugh.

I really have been a naive little girl all my life, swallowing everything I’ve been told without question.

What do I do now, though?

Clothes first, I decide, and scoot to the edge of the bed. I scan the room and spy one of Jack’s flannel shirts.

Good. I pull it on over my head, enveloping myself in Jack’s scent.

Now it’s time to get breakfast organized.

So far, Jack has done everything for me, including rescuing me twice. I decide it’s about time I do something for him.

I have to admit when I enter his kitchen, I question the wisdom of my decision. It’s his domain after all. I don’t want to do the wrong thing.

Can I do the wrong thing in a kitchen?

Knowing myself for as long as I have, probably.

Slowly, I open cupboard doors and pull drawers out. Before I start any kind of cooking, I need to get my bearings. Figure out where everything is kept.

I decide to try bacon and eggs. My gaze lingers on the coffee pot and I decide I’ll also attempt making coffee too.

I heat up the oil in the heavy black cast iron frying pan and gently add three slices of bacon. The fat hisses and spits at me and I watch the meat curl up a little from the heat.

Eggs.

What’s the easiest and fastest way to prepare eggs?

I rummage through my brain for any information left over from the cooking classes I had to attend, as well as TV cooking shows and time-lapse recipe videos on the internet.

Mommy didn’t cook herself. I’m not sure that Mommy actually even eats anymore. If she does, I sure don’t know about it.

In fact, I don’t even think she knows how to make a cup of tea or boil water. I think she might survive on vitamin water and her own sense of superiority.

And when she does eat, Daddy has enough money to make sure Mommy can hire people to do those boring chores for her.

Mrs. Higgins, the cooking teacher at my private high school, once taught me something called scrambled eggs.

I’m pretty sure at the hotel I stayed at the night before the wedding I ordered bacon and eggs, with the eggs scrambled.

What do I need again to scramble eggs?

A bowl, a whisk and a little salt.

Before I get to the eggs, I decide to check the bacon again. As I turn it over, I realize I got to it just in time. The edges are a little black already.

With the bacon now sizzling on the other side, I break an egg open. Unfortunately, instead of neatly opening it into two halves, I must use too much force because egg and shell both drop into the bowl.

Aw, beans.

Obviously, this breaking an egg thing is a little harder than it looks.

Gingerly, I pick out the eggshell. Fingers crossed those tiny pieces won’t be noticeable when I’ve added more egg and scrambled it.

With the second egg, I exercise more caution, and this time it only gets a crack. I push my index finger into the tiny gap and manage to only lose some of the eggshell into the mixture.

I wipe my brow and try to slow my breathing. My shoulders are tense and I’m beginning to understand why mother never cooked.

By the time I add the fourth egg, I’ve improved a little. I’m a long way from an expert, but I’ve got eggs in the bowl and most of the shell in the trash can.

Now for a little salt and pepper before I whisk it all together.

The smell of burning has me think about the bacon again.

Oh no. There are just too many things to think about.

I lift the pan with the meat off the flame. But to keep it warm, I decide to leave it in the pan at the back of the stove.

The flame seems awfully big. I play with the knob and realize I can turn it down.

Instead of oil, I add butter to the pot and pour my egg mixture in when it dissolves.

It hardens faster than I anticipate. I stir the mixture quickly.

I glance toward the stairs but don’t see Jack coming down yet.

On one hand, this is good news. I’d hate for him to see how useless I am in the kitchen; on the other, what will I do with the food when it’s ready and he’s not here?

Jack.

Jack the mountain man with many talents. He has so many talents.

Thinking about him makes me feel inferior and silly. Although so far, Jack’s treated me with the utmost respect, courtesy, and reverence.

Of course, he hasn’t seen my cooking skills yet.

It was nothing yesterday for him to whip up the most amazing homemade pancakes in the world, maybe even the universe. He also told me he built this cabin himself, and I assume he’s got plenty of other talents I haven’t seen yet.

He’s so unlike Adam.

I shiver just thinking about Adam.

Adam, who would never ever dream of entering a kitchen, let alone attempt to cook something. Adam, who has made billions and likes to boast about all his achievements to anyone who’s worth boasting to.

And then, there’s my own Daddy.

Jack is also nothing like my Daddy.

Maybe the fact Jack’s the total opposite of the two men who so far have tried to control my life makes him more attractive to me.

I slept well last night, better than I have in a long time.

Jack. Jack the mountain man.

I like him. I like him a lot. I wonder what he thinks of me.

I know Adam has no feelings for me whatsoever. All Adam is interested in is owning things and the connection to my father that I represent. I would have made an obedient little trophy wife for him, the type that gets wheeled out for special gatherings to be admired and oohed and ahhed over. Then I would have been returned to my mansion somewhere so he could go on with his business without interference from me.

On the side, he would no doubt keep other women, just as pretty but not as well-connected as me.

And I didn’t love him, so I wouldn’t have even cared.

I decide I’ve thought enough about Adam and his low life plans.

Daddy.

I still need to process Daddy. You can’t just overnight break up with a parent.

Although, it would be nice.

I’ll need to find a special place for Daddy in my head and in my heart. Since learning that he’s a wheeling, dealing piece of shit the night I ran away, he can’t occupy the same place in my affections ever again.

A noise has me spinning around. My heart rate goes through the roof and I half expect to find Adam and Daddy to standing behind me.

When I catch sight of the tall, slightly unkempt figure, I relax and smile.

“I made breakfast,” I announce as if I’ve won the lottery, and point to my creation.

“Boof!” Buck says from behind me, his paws on the counter as he stares at what I’ve made.

“For you too, Buck. Down, boy,” I order him, and to my surprise, Buck happily obeys.