Chapter 305

Bonus 5: The Tease

Enzo

Dust and sweat clung to my skin as I wrestled with the new living room furniture.

It was a final touch to the renovations we’d been slogging through for months, transforming our once dull house into a vibrant home. Despite the exhaustion tugging at my muscles, a sense of satisfaction washed over me as I looked around the house. Our house.

Just as I was finishing up on the final bench for our massive dining room table, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

A picture of Nina lit up the screen, her smile making my lips curve in response. “Hey, love,” I answered, using my cleanest elbow to press the speaker button.

“Enzo,” she started, and I could already hear the hesitation in her voice.

“I… uh… had a little run-in with a raccoon. I maybe… sort of… kind of got myself stuck in a ditch.”

The last part of her sentence came out all at once like an avalanche. I could tell immediately that she was embarrassed. And I was a man; it was my job to capitalize on her embarrassment. What good would it be if I didn’t tease my fiancee a little?

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. A raccoon?” 1 chortled. “Are you telling me you swerved off of the road because of a little raccoon?”

“Yes, okay! It was scary, alright? And I didn’t wanna hit it!” Nina huffed on the other end of the line. I could almost see her pouting, her arms crossed in defiance.

I couldn’t stop myself from teasing her relentlessly; to think that Nina Harper, the strong and independent woman who pretty much single-handedly saved the entire town of Mountainview from the Crescents, survived on her own with a bullet hole in her leg, got spooked by a little raccoon.

anymore,” I continued to tease as I stood and wiped the sawdust off of my hands. “Raccoons today, and what’s next? Squirrels

me up,” she said, ignoring my

as my voice took on a more serious tone.

sigh of relief. “Just artnoyed, both at myself and that damn

Just as I was heading out the door, however, a

the image of her smiling face. I missed her. It wasn’t fair that she wouldn’t be there for my wedding with Nina, for all of the moments that 1 wanted

missed him. I wanted nothing more than to make up for those lost years, to finally come to a

the bright colors and the eclectic furniture. I think that my father would have liked it, too, although he seemed to pick up a

really just a way for him to punish himself, a way to convey the feeling in his heart that his life

mental note to pick up a new frame while

last, satisfied look around the nearly finished living room, I

road, I spotted her. As I pulled up next to Nina’s car in the ditch, I found her

concern, her sulky expression struck me as comical,

I quipped as I climbed out of my pickup truck – it was really my father’s truck, but I decided to use it rather than let it

then again, they didn’t seem to steal much of anything. The act of ransacking my dad’s house was more of a way to show their disrespect than anything else. They may as well have spat on his

brown eyes narrowed, but I could see

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