I sat reading my book, smelling delicious smells coming from the kitchen, smiling to myself. I sighed, and realized that I shouldn't get used to this, because Y/n wasn't going to be here forever. I didn't want her to be here forever.

~♡ ~

Twenty minutes or so later, she came into the room to tell me everything was ready. I put my book down and got up to follow her into the kitchen. The table was set, and each plate held  pancakes, fried eggs, and bacon. There were two mugs of hot cocoa, each piled with marshmallows.

Our pancakes in Korea were much different than these, but I'd had these once at a restaurant a day or two after I'd arrived, and enjoyed them very much, so I was looking forward to them .

I sat down, waiting for her to sit as well, then I reached for the butter and syrup, anticipating that first bite eagerly.

"This looks delicious Y/n. I probably would have just made a fried egg and some toast, or maybe oatmeal." I praised, slathering on butter and syrup, then taking a big bite of  the  pancakes.

"I like cooking, a lot. I used to cook for my daddy after my mama p..passed away. But after my daddy died, I didn't really have anyone who appreciated my cooking anymore. I stopped trying to cook well, because my..."

She stopped mid sentence, frowning at whatever memory had crept into her mind before continuing. "I stopped trying to cook well because it didn't matter how much effort I put into something, no one ever noticed anyway.

I slowly chewed the bite of food I'd just taken, but it still felt like a rock going down when I swallowed it. "I'm really sorry about your parents Y/n, I had no idea." I said quietly. She hadn't mentioned anything about them, except when she talked about promising her daddy she wouldn't stay with a man who hit her. I'd just assumed they were still around.

"Thank you..." She whispered, her mouth turning down in a frown.

I couldn't imagine losing my parents. My grandparents were hard enough to lose, my heart was still healing from that after years, and would never be whole again no matter how much time went by.

I continued to eat, looking at her every now and then, watching her eat everything on her plate.

"Do you feel like helping me stack the wood today?" I questioned. " You don't have to, but if you want to, I think we did pretty good as a team yesterday."

She perked up a bit, smiling easily, and nodding. "I'd like to help. I had f..fun yesterday."

"Okay, well, lets get the kitchen cleaned up, and then I can go take care of the horses, so we can get started. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish. I'd like to get the rest of it split and stacked today"

"I...I can clean up the kitchen if you want to go take care of the horses, that way we'll get started even quicker."

"You sure? I don't mind helping you..."

"I'm sure, it's fine. I'll be d..done in no time. I'll meet you outside." She urged with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go feed the horses then." I stood, and got ready to head outside, watching her as she gathered the dirty dishes from the table and carried them to the sink. I turned away, mentally scolding myself for letting my thoughts wander, to the point that I was starting to think it was nice having her here and that maybe It wouldn't be so bad if she stuck around for awhile.

I grabbed my coat, sticking my feet into my boots and shrugging the coat on, zipping it up to protect me from the cold I knew I was about to step into. I pulled my hat onto my head, and stuck my hands in my gloves, glancing back at her once more before opening the door and stepping out into the crisp morning air.

Once I was done with the horses, which took me about 15 minutes, I headed to the wood pile, and decided to start splitting, and get as much as I could done before Y/n came out. I worried about her being warm enough, and decided that as soon as we were finished with the wood, I would run into town and grab her a few things. Just enough to get her thru a couple days, then I could have her look online and pick out some other things that she wanted.

I had a decent pile split when she came out the door, Gucci on her heels, wearing my too large coat and her red hat. She smiled at me, and stayed back until I had split a couple more chunks, then we worked together to get it stacked in the wood shed.

It took us about 4 hours to finish up, getting every last piece stacked into the woodshed, or onto the back porch. I told her to go ahead and go inside to warm up, and that I would be back in about 30 minutes, I had to run into town quick. She didn't question, simply nodding, and disappearing thru the back door, Gucci scurrying in right behind her.

¤¤¤

I drove the few miles to town, easily finding a place to park, and entered the small dept. store. I asked the lady at the register where to find young ladies clothes. She smiled at me, a little to friendly, and gestured for me to follow her. I rolled my eyes behind her, shaking my head slightly, hoping that I could find something warm for Y/n, and get back home within the 30 minute timeframe I'd given her.

"Is there anything specific I can help you find, hon?" She asked, sounding as if she were holding her nose as she spoke.

I glanced at her, deciding I didn't really care for her voice, but I supposed it wasn't her fault she sounded like that. I'd never be rude to her, but I hoped she could just show me where to look and leave me to choose on my own.

"Uh, well, I have my niece staying with me for awhile, and she doesn't have the proper clothes for the weather around here. I was hoping to grab her a few things until I can order her some stuff online." I decided that was the safest lie I could tell.

"Oh, well, this rack might have just what you need, there are sweatshirts, and a few sweaters, then over there we have a small selection a blue jeans."

"Thank you, I'll let you know if I need anymore help."

"No problem. I'll just be at the counter if you need me." She smiled a bit to big and turned to walk away. 

I flipped thru the items, pulling out three sweatshirts, each a different color. I wasn't sure of her size, but anything would be better than my clothes, which swallowed her. As I was turning to look at the jeans, I caught sight of a cute red and green sweater with a cat on it, wearing a santa hat, with a pom pom attached to it. It would be Christmas soon, and my gut told me that she would still be there. I added the sweater to the pile, hoping she would like it. 

I moved to the rack of jeans, and picked up a pair, putting the other items down so I could hold them up and decide if I thought they would fit. I'd never bought clothes for a woman before, so I tried to picture her. She seemed pretty small to me, but then again, she was wearing oversized clothes, so that could be making her look smaller than she actually was.

They looked like they would fit, so I grabbed another pair of the same size, and the tops, and made my way to what looked to be a bin of socks. I grabbed 5 pairs of thick socks, and wondered how I would get her shoes, knowing that If they didn't fit, she wouldn't be able to wear them.

I walked around till I found the shoes, and there happened to be a pair of boots that looked warm, and looked like they might actually fit her. I grabbed them, before wandering to a rack of coats, picking out a nice thick brown coat that had fur around the hood. That would do for now.

I made my way to the smiling lady at the counter, barely able to see over the items I was clutching in front of me. "If the shoes don't fit, will I be able to return them for another pair, or a refund if you don't carry her size?" I asked as I set the pile down in on the counter.

"Of course, as long as you have your receipt, you can return anything for exchange or refund, providing it's in unused condition."

"Okay, good. That'll be it for today then." I smiled at her, and waited for her to ring everything up. She bagged it all in a large bag, and I paid her, and hurried to my truck, so I could get back home and show her what I'd gotten. I was certain she would probably be more comfortable in clothes that fit, so I was happy to be able to do this for her.

I parked, and jumped out of the truck, grabbing the bag and slamming the door shut. Once inside, I set it on the table, wondering where Y/n was. I took my boots and coat, hat and gloves off, putting them away, and walked into the living room. She was crouched down in front of the fireplace, attempting to start a fire. I smiled and watched her for a few minutes, because she clearly hadn't heard me come in.

She had a little bit of kindling in the grate, but hadn't put any paper in, and was trying to get the kindling to catch. She wasn't having much luck. After about a minute, I decided I should step in.

"You could be there all day trying to start it like that."

She jerked her head up, turning to look at me. I smiled at her, and walked closer, leaning to grab paper from the basket next to the kindling bin. I squatted down next to her, adding some paper under the grate, and lighting it. The kindling caught, and I grabbed another handful from the bin and placed it on top of hers, letting it get burning good and hot.

Her shoulders sagged, and she gave a half smile, looking embarrassed.

"I c...couldn't get warm, so I thought I would t...try to get the fire going. I never had a fireplace before."

"Me neither, till I moved here, and it took me a few tries before I was able to get it going correctly, so don't feel bad." I grabbed two pieces of firewood, adding them to the now blazing kindling.

I stood up, and she followed. She folded her arms over her chest, and I noticed her shivering.

"Come with me, I have something to show you." I made my way back to the kitchen, and opened the bag, removing everything and placing it on the table. She looked at it, wide eyed, then glanced at me quickly before her eyes moved back to the clothes.

"I...w..what...I..." she whispered, her head shaking back and forth slightly.

"It's for you, Y/n. You can't be very comfortable in my clothes, and besides, you need more than one days worth of clothes. We'll look online, and you can pick out some things that you like as well, but this should get you thru for a bit."

I grabbed the boots, setting them on the floor, and picked up the coat, holding it up, deciding it should fit her just fine. I removed the tags and hung it on the hook next to mine by the back door.

"You should try the boots on, because if they don't fit, I can return them for something that does. I wasn't sure of any sizes, so I did the best I could."

I looked at her, only to see that her eyes had filled with tears, and her bottom lip was trembling.