Chapter 5

Morgan

Alec picksme up right on time, and I smile as he opens the passenger door for me.

"How was your afternoon?" He asks as he slides behind the wheel, and we take off out of the parking lot.

"Long. My parents were upset that they couldn't find me earlier. They yelled at me for a bit and then left to have dinner somewhere in town."

"So, we shouldn't go anywhere in town then?" He asks, giving me a worried look.

"Probably not."

"Well, there's a few places nearby, or we can go to my house and I can cook for us," he offers.

I love that he's always checking in with me, always looking out for me. I haven't had someone do that since Susan, and I didn't realize how much I missed it.

"Can we just go to your house?" I ask, and he nods.

"Of course."

He turns away from town, and I look out the window as we drive down some dirt roads. The houses here in Aspen Ridge are spread out, but we pass by a few as we make our way further up the mountain.

A few minutes later, we pull up outside of a beautiful two-story cabin. It's a log cabin with two wrap-around porches, one on the ground level and one on the second story. This is my dream house, and I sigh longingly as I look at it.

"You don't like it?" He asks, and I turn to face him.

"No, I love it. I would kill to live in a place like this," I tell him as he parks, and he climbs out.

"Wait, let me get your door. There might be some ice."

He hurries around to my side and takes my hand as I get out of his truck.

"How long have you lived here?" I ask him as we head up to the front door.

"Since I moved to town. I knew that I didn't want to live in town. I wanted more room to… more privacy," he finishes, and I nod.

I wonder what he was going to say, but I'm too enthralled with the house to ask him. He unlocks the front door and waves for me to enter ahead of him.

His place is clean and smells just like him. Like pine and honey. There's a staircase to the right, and I peek up it. I know it's probably just bedrooms and bathrooms up there, but I'm dying for a tour.

The living room is to our left, and Alec leads me further into the house.

"Am I going to get the tour?" I ask, and he nods.

"Sure. This is the living room. Come on."

He leads me through the living room and into the kitchen. Then we walk around past a half bathroom and his office. The office is empty except for a desk and office chair, and I quirk a brow at him.

"I don't really bring work home," he admits with a shrug. "So I don't really need an office."

"I like it," I tell him honestly.

"The upstairs is just bedrooms," he says, leading me back to the kitchen.

Part of me wants to ask him to see his bedroom, but I'm not that bold.

Maybe I'll get the chance to see it soon…

I bite back a smirk at that thought as we head into the kitchen.

"Can I get you something to drink?" He asks as he pulls out a barstool for me.

"Maybe just some water?"

"Sure."

He grabs two glasses and fills them with water before he passes me one.

"What would you like for dinner?"

"What do you have?" I counter.

"Let's see."

He opens the fridge and scans the contents before he moves onto the cupboards.

"Eggs and bacon," he says sheepishly, and I laugh.

"Not much of a chef?" I ask, and he snorts.

"Not at all," he says with a laugh. "I went from my parents' house to the Marines, where I ate in the cafeteria or had MREs. I've never really had to cook for myself. Until I got out of the Marines. I've been surviving off of Lunchables, frozen meals, and takeout for the last six months."

"Well, luckily for you, your fiancée loves cooking," I say as I slide off the stool and head over to the fridge.

He's not lying. He really does only have a package of bacon and some eggs left in the fridge. I poke through the cabinets and find some penne, but that's all he has.

"Bacon and eggs it is!" I say, grabbing the stuff from the fridge.

He grabs me two frying pans, and I get to work.

"How did you learn to cook?" He asks as I add the bacon to the pan.

"Susan. She was my nanny growing up, but she was more like a grandmother to me. She taught me how to cook. We used to love to bake together," I say, smiling fondly.

"She sounds great."

"She is. She's been declining in the last few years. She was diagnosed with dementia right after I left for college, and whenever I went home to visit her, she wouldn't…" I trail off and he reaches out, squeezing my hand.

"I'm sure that it still meant a lot to her."

I nod, swallowing back some tears.

"I hope so. It hurt to see her like that, and I felt so guilty having to leave her all alone. I was her only family, you know? She never married or had kids. It was just me."

I flip the bacon in the pan and clear my throat.

"I don't think she has that long left," I say softly.

"I'm sorry."

"It kind of feels like I already lost her," I blurt, and then I cover my mouth. "God, do I sound like a terrible person?"

"No, Morgan. No. Dementia is a horrible disease. It has to be so hard to watch someone go through that."

He wraps me up in his strong arms, and I let him hold me like that until I've gotten my emotions under control.

"I'm burning the bacon," I say when I pull back and he smiles kindly down at me.

"I love burnt bacon."

I laugh, drying my eyes as I turn off the burner and hurry to remove the bacon before it really can burn.

"How many eggs and how do you want them?" I ask him.

"Four, please, and sunny side up."

My eyebrows raise but I don't say anything as I crack the eggs into the pan. Alec changes the subject and starts to tell me some funny stories from his time in the Marines. It helps to lighten the mood and as we sit down to eat, I realize that I like being around Alec.

Now I think that I might have a problem.

I think I'm falling for my fake fiancé.