Healed_Stone and Pepper by Tess Thompson

Author:Tess Thompson [Thompson, Tess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07R4PY1J8
Goodreads: 45362995
Publisher: 4kids5cats
Published: 2019-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Pepper

* * *

That evening, at a table by the window, they drank Chianti from tumblers and dipped crusty warm bread into olive oil. Outside, snow danced under the light of the streetlamp. Inside, a candle flickered happily between them. Opera music played in the background. White tablecloths, dark paneling, and sections of exposed brick made her feel as if she were in Italy, not a mountain pass in Colorado.

Pepper drifted to another place—a sanctuary far from her troubles and where everything but Stone Hickman faded from consciousness.

He wore a pair of black jeans and a button-down shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. When he’d come by her room at the lodge to fetch her, his hair had still been damp and combed into obedient lines. By the time the antipasti arrived, those silky strands had dried and now fell over his forehead in rebellious waves. Occasionally he brushed the wayward locks aside with a quick flick of his wrist. However, other than to take a bite of food or to sip from his glass, his gaze never left her. Emboldened by this unfiltered adoration and attention, she chattered on, answering his questions and telling stories of her life.

She told him of the summer she’d spent in Europe with her parents, recalling the apartment they’d rented in Paris and of high-speed trains to Italy, Spain, and Germany. She shared how the trip had changed her perspective and exposed her to art and history and awakened a deep love of historical fiction.

Over the second glass of wine and the pasta course brought by the formal white-haired server with posture like a dancer, she told him the story of her short and unfortunate driving career. He doubled over with laughter as she described the terror on the instructor’s face when she hit the poor man. “I decided right then and there that driving was not for me.”

“I could teach you. I taught my sister.”

“I’d prefer to be driven, thank you very much.”

That made him laugh again. “I’ll drive you anywhere you want to go.”

Their server poured more wine into their glasses as they twisted the pasta around their forks and murmured with pleasure at the explosion of tomato and garlic on their tongues.

“Tell me about New York,” he said. “I want to know everything.”

She told him about the auditions, waitress gigs, her parts in the chorus of big productions, and of lean days of rice and beans with Lisa and Maggie.

All the while, he listened and listened. She could almost hear him listening.

And she loved it. She loved the feeling of being with this big, easy man. She basked in his attention and felt herself bursting open as if she were a flower too long in the dark. Her petals opened toward him, as though he was the sun.

When the tiramisu arrived, she took one last sip of wine and watched him dig in with enthusiasm. The man could eat. He’d managed to eat his portion and half of hers. It made sense, given his size and the number of calories it must take to fuel those muscles.

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