When I Had Nothing

When my stepmother talks me into doing a favor for her new neighbor, it's clear she's up to something. She's been watching over me for years, quiet and protective, trying to save me from myself each time my life falls apart.

The neighbor in question is trouble, I know it the instant I lay eyes on her: she's beautiful, friendly, and unwittingly seductive. A woman like her could get a man into deep trouble, especially someone looking for a kind word or a hot meal, and Natalie willingly provides both. For someone who's been starved for human affection and home cooked meals for years, this makes the little dynamo my kryptonite. I want to hate her for it, and I put on a pretty convincing show.

There is no use in fighting Natalie: gorgeous, persistent, funny, and kind when I don't deserve it. Patient to a fault, she is quick to forgive my shortcomings. She's sunlight and happiness. Feisty and wonderful. She's always looking for the silver lining, and it takes a long time to realize there's more to her than meets the eye: she's holding some secrets of her own and holding them close.

I've had enough trouble in my life already, losing nearly everything I held dear, and many days I wonder what it is that keeps me going. I don't need Natalie complicating things, asking nosy questions, trying to pick apart all the secrets I can't begin to share.

I'm good at pushing people away with harsh words and because I don't know how to apologize, I find myself doing things for her instead. It allows me to be near the woman who's designated us friends, though I'm certain there's more there.

It scares me how much I want more.

When a project spirals out of control and I have to call in help, I begin to understand just what I stand to lose when I see her through the eyes of someone more desirable than me. Yet I continue to dig myself deeper...

On the other side of the country I have a life and a career, something I willingly left behind to save the things most important to me. But I'm formulating my comeback plan, building another arm for my empire, the one my ex-business partner is trying to run into the ground while I hide away in the middle of nowhere, Alabama.

As desperately as I want to trust Natalie, will she see me through different eyes once she knows who I really am?