1
3rd person pov
Having lost her little family.. and then the wounderful older couple who took her in and treated her like a daughter. since they didn't have kids. Evera was all alone. yeah she had a boyfriend who got her pregnant cheated on her then abandon her. so she has someone. but her baby girl Embree wasn't born yet.
When Evera learned about the house, the couple left her, as well as all the money, cars and their house. she was shocked but since they had no one and she had no one it wasnt all to surprising.
Having sold everything but what was of value, and one Car. Evera left the city behind and went to the house the couple left her.
Upon arriving she seen how much work was needed. so wanting to to do what she can with the time she has before Em arrives Evera got right to it.
~~
By the time her baby was born, she had managed to make the place livable somewhat entirely on her own. having listened to soem suggestes her and there from the locals. and turning their suggestions into her own thing. Evera during her pregnancy, she had painted rooms, repaired what she could, cleaned out years of accumulated clutter, and slowly turned the neglected property into somewhere she could actually imagine raising her child.
She had been proud of that.
Then the Embree came.
Now, with a newborn only a few weeks old, everything was harder.
The house still needed work. There were things on her endless list that she kept meaning to get around to, but most days she was simply trying to shower, eat something, and get a few hours of sleep between feedings.
A dead tree in the backyard had been on that list for weeks.
It was enormous, old, and dangerously close to falling toward the house.
So Evera finally admitted she couldn’t handle it herself and hired a lumberjack who upon calling learned his name to be Brendon.
He was a local lumberjack quiet, broad-shouldered, capable, and seemingly much more comfortable around trees than people.
He arrived early one morning with his equipment and found OC standing on the porch with her newborn tucked against her chest.
She apologized for the state of the property.
Brendon looked around.
“It isn’t that bad.”
She laughed tiredly.
“You haven’t seen the inside.”
“I’ve seen worse.”
Something about his easy answer made her smile.
Then he went to work.
~~
Evera stayed near the house with the baby, occasionally watching him through the window.
Eventually, Em became hungry. So she settled into a chair near the window and began nursing while watching Brendon work.
He knew she was watching.Every so often, he caught her silhouette through the glass.
He never stared. But when she looked down at her baby, completely unaware of him, he allowed himself a glance.
Not because she was nursing.Because she was beautiful. And there was something about the exhausted young mother sitting there with her tiny baby that affected him more than he expected.
She looked soft and tired and completely devoted to the little life in her arms.
Brendon looked away and returned to his work. When he finished, the tree was safely down. He went toward the house to let her know.
Evera had just finished feeding the baby and looked up at him. For a moment, neither of them said anything.
He noticed the tiredness beneath her eyes. She noticed the sawdust clinging to his clothes and the sweat at his temples.
“You did it,” she said.
“Told you I would.”
She smiled.
And something quietly shifted between them.
Brendon began finding little reasons to help after that.
A loose porch board, A damaged fence post, A pile of firewood that needed moving before the next storm.
He never treated Evera as though she were incapable. He simply noticed things she didn’t have the energy to notice anymore.
And Evera began to realize that having someone around who didn’t expect anything from her felt strangely comforting.
Their attraction grew slowly. Neither of them said anything about it.
Until the afternoon everything changed.
Brendon had stopped by to check something outside. Evera had finally managed to get Em settled, and for once she had a few precious minutes to herself.
She took a shower.
Brendon knocked.
She didn’t hear him.
He stepped inside, intending only to leave a message—and accidentally opened the wrong door.
Evera froze and so did he.
Brendon immediately turned away.
“I’m sorry.”
She grabbed a towel and pulled it around herself.
Neither knew what to say.
Finally, she whispered his name.
He looked back.
There was desire in his expression, but there was also restraint.
“I should go.”
She knew he meant it. And that somehow made her want him to stay.
“Do you want to?”
His eyes met hers.
“No.”
The honesty of the answer made her heart race. She stepped toward him and he didn’t move.
She reached for his hand, giving him every opportunity to pull away.
Instead, his fingers closed gently around hers.
“You’ve been so good to me,” she whispered.
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I know.”
She moved closer.
“I just want you.”
His expression softened.
He leaned down slowly, letting her make the final choice.
When she kissed him, it was tentative at first.
Then his arms came around her, careful and warm, and she melted against him.
For the first time since becoming a mother, she wasn’t thinking about the house, the baby, the laundry, or everything she still needed to do.
She was simply Evera, A woman who wanted to be held. And Brendon held her as though there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
When they finally pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.
“Tell me to stop.”
She smiled softly.
“I don’t want you to stop.”
So he kissed her again.
And for the first time, the house she’d worked so hard to make into a home began to feel like somewhere she might not have to live alone.
