The lock on the cellar door and the forgotten dishes were far from her mind as she woke in the morning. A stifled yawn and a slow stretch was all she cared about at the moment. It felt so good after their night of rough love-making; several rounds of it.

A large smile spread across her face at the memory of going from the floor, to the couch, and ending up in bed. Each time had been thrilling in different ways. But the bed had been the sweetest.

They'd taken their time, savored one another's touches and kisses. Their climax came together as Carter had paid attention to her tell. After that, sleep took over, giving her sweet dreams of the man she laid beside.

Feeling lazy, she stayed in her spot for a few more minutes before the smells of breakfast drifted into the room and filled her nostrils. A rumble came from her stomach, reminding her that all the physical activity had left her famished.

With another slow stretch, she rolled out of bed and took languid steps into the next room where she could see her love cooking. He moved with ease as he put their food onto plates and then poured their coffee.

"Want some help?"

He hadn't expected her to be up yet and jumped a little at the sound of her voice.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." She had to stifle her chuckle.

"You're good. Sit." Without turning around, he motioned to the table, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Hmm."

"What?" She’d caught the sound he made and already had an idea what it meant.

"Probably should make you put more clothes on." There was already a devilish grin on his face as he turned to the table with a plate and a cup of coffee in his hands.

Before responding to him, she looked down at the tank top she'd found in his dresser drawer. "Would it really make a difference?" Her charming smile had the same bite to it.

"Ooh. Checkmate." As he placed the items down on the table, he leaned in for a kiss.

Her lips met his with an unexpected greed. If her stomach hadn't grumbled, she was sure they would have started up day two of crazy, amazing sex.

"Let's eat." Carter pulled away, laughing. "I'm starving too."

"What do you have planned for today?" Sloane asked before taking a forkful of eggs.

"Need to go into town. I broke a chisel this morning." The look on his face reminded her of a pouty three year old.

"Oh? How early did you get up?" It didn't matter to her, but she was surprised to hear that he'd started working so early.

"Hmm…around five."

Almost choking on her coffee, her eyes widened in disbelief. "You only got like three hours of sleep?"

He shrugged and stuffed the remaining half of his biscuit into his mouth. "I can always take a nap."

"Sure."

"Do you want to go with me? The town isn't anything fancy or exciting."

"Sure. It'd be nice to go out. And when we get back, while you're working, I want to go hike."

A look of uncertainty crossed his face, making her roll her eyes.

"I'm going to take the map with me. I want to learn the land. What better way to do that than repetitive actions?"

"Okay." The mention of the map seemed to soothe any worries he had.

They finished eating and washed the dishes together before going to their room to get ready.

Sloane frowned as she looked at her few choices.

"We'll buy you some clothes in town. They may not be in style though."

"I don't care about style. But it would be nice to wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that's mine." As she pulled on the clothes she'd worn while hiking that first day, she rethought the jeans. "Actually, a pair of linen shorts. Well, any shorts that aren't spandex."

"Jeans would probably be a mistake right now." He agreed.

They got in the truck and began their trip into town.

Sloane resembled an excited puppy with her head as far out the window as she could get it. They drove through the woods, certain areas containing traps popping up in her memory. The shades of green blurred together as the vehicle sped down the small dirt driveway.

After so long, an asphalt road came up and Carter turned onto it without looking for any oncoming traffic.

"Whoa."

"What?"

"You didn’t even look to see if someone was coming."

"Because there never is."

"But what if there had been?" She pointed out.

"But there wasn't."

"You could have caused a wreck."

"But there wasn't any traffic." His argument didn’t change, but he added in an undertone, "Still ain't none."

She gave up, giving him an aggravated stare. Her attention turned back to the scenery as he continued to drive.

Despite his warning that the town wasn't big, Sloane felt a little underwhelmed when they passed the charming "Welcome to Howley" sign and saw the few scattered shops that lined the streets.

Carter parked in front of the grocery store. Along a band crossing from one end of the building to the other were bold, black letters that told the shoppers what they could expect to find inside - candy, vegetables, popcorn, steak, soda, milk. There were several more and she realized there was a kind of pattern to the way the list had been made; something for the kids, then the adults, kids again, adults again.

She followed Carter inside and felt like they'd traveled back to the early nineties. Despite how small the building looked on the outside, the inside was spacious and seemed to have almost everything a more modern chain would have.

He let her lead the way which turned into going up and down every aisle. It shocked her to come across the clothing section at the back of the store.

And once again, she was stunned to find that they had a decent variety of shorts, shirts, and more to choose from. Right away, she found a pair of jean shorts that she liked and a tank top with a watercolor rose offset toward the left bottom side.

"Do they have a fitting room? That would suck if we bought these and they didn't fit."

"Yeah. Over there."

Tucked in the back corner was a small door with a plaque type sign telling the shoppers that was where to go to try on the clothes they shopped for.

"Be right back."

After a few minutes, she returned with a smile on her face.

"You're gonna need more than just one outfit. You need underwear too."

After ten minutes, she had a few t-shirts and tank tops, shorts, underwear and bras, and flip flops so that she didn't have to keep trudging around in her hiking boots. While it felt great to be getting her own things, she felt a little guilty, but Carter didn't seem to mind. He kept asking if she was sure that's all she needed.

They paid for the stuff and then took their time walking to the hardware store. Here, he went straight to the chisels and picked out several.

"I got a mini block plane in yesterday that you might be interested in." Jeremiah stated as he bagged the chisels.

"Hmm…let's see it."

"Come on." The older man waved his hand and led the way toward the back.

Sloane watched Carter follow him and disappear. It wasn't long before they came back, Carter turning the new tool over in his hands.

Jeremiah added it to the bill and placed it in the bag. "See you." His tone would have suggested he was an unpleasant man to anyone that didn't know him.

"Bye." Carter waved as he followed Sloane outside.

"Where to now?" Sloane made sure she wasn’t standing in front of the entrance as she looked around to see what else Howley had to offer.

"I could give you a tour. The schools are on the other side of town." He motioned in the direction.

"What do people do for fun?"

"There’s the movie theater." She followed where he pointed to see another square shaped building with a pointed sign sticking out, reminiscent of the fifties.

"They only play three different movies?"

"Yeah." He gave her a quizzical look.

"I guess there really isn't any reason to have more, huh?"

"I dunno."

"What else is there?"

"A cute little park. There's a walking path, playground, and then there's a lake."

"Sounds very peaceful." The longer she stayed there, the more she liked it.

"It is. And everyone knows everyone."

"So have you ever thought about moving down here?" Shs slipped her hand into his as they started to meander along the sidewalk.

"No. I like my mountain retreat." The sparkle in his eyes told her everything. "I could never give it up."

"Oh. I didn't mean that you'd give it up. You could keep it for your workshop and just to get away."

"Nah. I have you and I've always liked the solitude."

All she did was nod and turn her attention to where he was guiding her. The gates for the park came into view and she found that she was excited to see what lay ahead.

They spent the rest of the morning just walking around the small town before having lunch at the diner.

"Have you always lived in the city?" Carter swirled his straw around his drink, giving her an inquisitive look.

"Yeah. I never even visited places like this before."

"Which do you like more?" He almost feared her answer.

"I like our home."

He watched her to see her features softened.

"I never thought I'd prefer anything other than what I knew, but I've been so relaxed here, with you."

"I'm glad." He felt giddy and couldn't stop the huge grin that formed.

Once they finished their lunch, they got back in the truck and went home.

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