LOGINMaya Reyes is twenty-six, quietly resilient, and out of options. When she takes a live-in nanny position for a Manhattan billionaire, she expects a difficult employer and a lonely child. She gets both, but she also gets Ethan Cole. Ethan lost his wife eighteen months ago and has been managing the grief the only way he knows how: by controlling everything around him. His apartment is spotless, his rules are laminated, his daughter Lily is the only crack in the armour he has built around his life, and it is through Lily that Maya begins to see the man underneath. What follows is not a dramatic love story, it is a quiet one. He carries her to her room when she falls asleep on the floor, he heats her soup when she hasn't eaten. He holds her hand in a dark car and lets go like it never happened. She cooks for him, confronts him, tells him truths no one else will, and slowly without either of them naming it, they become the most important person in each other's lives. But grief doesn't move in straight lines. When Ethan's fear gets the better of him, he tries to restore the distance, and nearly loses the one thing that has made him want to come back to life. It will take a four-year-old's unfiltered honesty, a letter Maya writes from the floor of her room, and a man finally choosing to stop running, for both of them to find their way to the other side of it. When Winter Blooms is a story about what love looks like before anyone admits it exists, and what it costs to let it.
View MoreThe beat vibrates off the walls, and the drinks flow across the tables as fast as the bartenders can make them. They swayed to the rhythm, so sweaty bodies filled the dance floor. Replicas of different light colors sync with the music playing.
I'm a bit drunk, but I still enjoy dancing. I don't even care what the fucked these people will say, and just enjoying my dumb fucking life. Tonight, I will drink a lot like I never have been."Miss, are you okay? You look totally tanked up." She caught me because I was about to stumble.In an instant, I thought I was in heaven when I saw an angelic face, wearing the most respectable piece of clothes I have ever seen in every bar I am with every time I messed up.She is undeniably stunning, white, of average height, and sexy. I tried to stand up straight, though I was slightly unsteady."I'm sorry, Ms., I'm a little groggy, but I can manage," I said as I drank my booze."You may need some help. Will you mind if I escorted you?" Her smile was radiant, lighting up her entire face with warmth and joy."No, I'm fine, wonderful," full of assurance, I said, as I raised my two hands, nodding my head."You don't look fine. Are you with someone? I will take you to them." She proposed, and that is so kind of her, but no."Miss, I said I'm okay and not with anyone. I'm fine. You don't need to be bothered by a stranger like me." I resist, trying to act cool."No, I insist. Since you are alone, then let's hang out together. I'm all by myself, though." I find it cute."Okay, that's great. You are quite pushy, so I guess you win. Let's drink to that." I take a sip of my drink afterward."By the way, I'm Ally, and you are?" She asked while I went along with the beat of the music, rocking my body."Oh! Me? I'm Hannah. Hannah Spaughton. The only Spaughton here in the Philippines," I said as I shook hands with her and still danced.I take her to the front bar as I notice her empty-handed."Oh, slow down, Hannah, we might fall. Where are you taking me?"As I ask her, we sit on the vacant chair in the corner of the front bar."What do you prefer to drink, Ally? It's my treat for your kindness.""Maybe Boulevardier will be nice," agreeing to my offer."Alright! One boulevardier over here, please, Mr. Bartender, and one more Old Fashioned.""Hannah, are you sure you can still drink? It may be difficult for you to go home.""No, I'm good at drinking. Why are you worried? You don't know me." How I wish Billy could be like this, too."Of course, coz you are alone, nobody will take you home. What if something might happen to you on the way? You can't drive like this." How sweet... She sounded like she really did care."It's fine, Ally, and I did not bring any car because I already planned. I want to get drunk and forget everything here." I said as I touched my chest.I'm so annoyed with Billy, frustrated, and feel like giving up. I really can't handle her anymore. If I could ignore her, then it wouldn't be hard. What did I see in her? She could be more clumsy and noisy. Almost everyone has become her boyfriend."Hey, are you still okay?" When she waved her hand at my face, I was stunned as she was so close to me. I can't deny her beauty."I think that's enough, Hannah. Don't finish It." she grabs the drink from my hand and gulps it.Afterward, I couldn't handle my dizziness, so I suddenly sank into the countertop of the front bar, and I didn't know what the next thing that happened was."Oh shit, Hannah, wake up. How am I supposed to carry you, dude?" slightly, hearing those words. I was about to pass out.[Ally's Point of View]"Hey, Bro. I'm Ally. What's your name?" I talked with the random guy who walked by near us."I'm Zee." He shakes his hand with me."I'm sorry to bother you, Zee, but can I ask you a favor? Can you help me bring my friend in the car? Coz she's drunk already.""No problem. Are you sure only that?" He slightly touches my hand.I knew what he might be thinking, so I changed my mind and asked the bartender if I could have some assistance from the staff. It's a good thing the team in the bar was kind and trustworthy. They help me carry Hannah to the car."Thank you, here take it." I gave some tips as we settled in my car.###I was driving, and I couldn't bring her home. My dad won't allow me to let someone in the house. I wondered what kind of problem this woman had, letting herself intoxicated.We ended up checking in at a prestigious hotel near Ortigas. I don't have any choice, and this is the last thing on my mind. I go to the drive-thru hotel named Marco Polo, so it won't be hard to take her to the room. I was at the counter to check in and pay."Ms., I need one room with two single beds in it. Here's my card." she smiled, took it, and swiped it.Finally, we can rest and take some sleep. I'm so disgusted already in my body. Hannah is so drunk, and I let her lie in bed as we reach our room.The room is big and relaxing. I go to the shower to take a bath. I wondered if I would wipe her with a warm towel, but maybe she would wake up and get mad at me, so I let her be.I was about to sleep, dimming the light due to fear in the dark. I was lying in bed and suddenly shocked when Hannah abruptly talked and called someone's name.If I was not mistaken, she's calling out the name Billy. Hannah even stood and walked through me, and I looked at her in astonishment. She leaned, grabbed, and kissed me torridly on the lips.Her tongue was long, soft, and seemed to move inside vigorously."Hey, Hannah, wake up. I am not Billy. What the fucked!" I uttered, confused about what to do. It's okay, and I have nothing to lose, but I'm afraid. She will slap me big time in the morning and put all the blame on me for what happened.I'm holding her two hands, trying to avoid her. She's too strong, as the spirit of the liquor is still there. She struggled and kept on kissing me. She removed her clothes, hugged me again, and kissed me hard.I'm just a human being, starting to feel hot, but I swayed her, trying to push her away so many times.Our bodies almost collided as I felt her soft skin touches mine. Hannah aroused my sleeping soul."Billy, you know how much I love you. I can give you myself even a thousand times," She said, believing I was Billy.She's aggressive and hot, so I was carried away by the fragrance of her body. I kissed her deeply and laid her on the bed, and now I'm on top.I got rid of my shirt, continued to grab her, put my right hand inside her bra, and began to mash her boobs. I unbuckle her bra and show how big it is. I sucked her left nipple, and she moaned. That was hot and even made me want more. I licked her body from the neck up to down her belly.I start to take it off her panty first before her skirt. My hand felt her warmth down there, so I ate her deep, and she grabbed my head to push it in more.I pulled out the last piece that covered her and then returned to the top to kiss her, wild and lustful. She is so hot that I can't resist her.I slowly entered. My finger was all sucked inside, and I fucked her hard as fast as possible.The bed was shaking while fucking her, and she moaned even louder. What the hell? She's driving me crazy. I could feel her scratching my back with her nail almost sinking into me.Fucked, I was about to reach orgasm, so she was as she hugged me more tightly. It was the strangest sensation I had ever felt in my whole life. Shit, that was damn awesome.[Hannah's Point of View]"OMG, what the hell am I doing at the hotel?"Those words were mumbled in my mind when I woke up with no clothes and this strange girl sleeping next to me naked, too. I got panicked and confused, and I couldn't think. I quickly got dressed and left the room.I'm in trouble.I woke up and he'd already started the waffles.I could smell them before I'd opened my eyes properly — butter and vanilla and the particular warmth of a kitchen that's been going for a while. I lay there for a moment listening. Birds in the apple tree, rain gone. The house was quiet except for the kitchen.I got up.He had the recipe card propped against the backsplash. Mine, my handwriting. He was following it with the kind of focus he gave documents that mattered.I stood in the doorway.He turned around."You found the recipe," I said."Gerald's decision, I just executed.""Gerald decided you should make waffles.""Gerald felt the occasion warranted it."I came to the counter, looked at the bowl, the recipe card, him."Good morning," I said.He looked at me. "Good morning."He reached over and tucked my hair back and then he kissed me. Then he went back to the batter.I sat at the table."How long have you been up?" I asked."Six thirty.""Ethan, It's seven fifteen.""The first on
Saturday night the storm came in.Lily had gone to sleep at eight with Gerald and the spare Gerald positioned for maximum coverage, satisfied with the day, already planning tomorrow's work in zone three. She slept through the storm entirely.I was in the living room when the rain started properly, the fire had been going since dinner — Ethan had built it, and it had settled into the deep warm version of itself by nine, the kind that made the room amber and close. I had my book, he had his. We were on opposite ends of the sofa with the lamp between us and the fire on one side and the storm on the other.It was the most comfortable I had been in a very long time.He looked up at some point and I looked up at the same moment, some shared awareness that surfaced simultaneously, some frequency both tuned to."You're not reading," he said."I'm reading.""You've been on the same page for twenty minutes."I looked at the page, he was right. I had been on it for at least twenty minutes, possi
Saturday in the garden was Lily's day.She had announced this at breakfast firmly, without preamble, and nobody had argued because she was right. The garden was the reason we'd come. The garden was Lily's domain.We were outside by nine.I stood at the edge of the garden and breathed it in and felt the specific expansion of a person who had been living at altitude for a long time and had come down to somewhere with more oxygen.Lily was already at the far end with her rock map and a trowel she'd found in the shed and strong opinions about zone one. Gerald was propped against the apple tree, officiating.Ethan came to stand beside me with two coffees.He handed me one, his fingers at mine on the transfer unhurried, present, the contact lasting a beat longer than the handoff required. I had noticed he did this now. "She found a trowel," I said."She finds everything," he said. "It's a gift."We stood at the edge of the garden and drank our coffee and watched Lily work. She was crouchin
The trip upstate happened on a Friday.Lily had been preparing since Tuesday. This preparation involved Gerald, a list she'd dictated to me that I'd written out for her because her own handwriting was still in the developmental phase where enthusiasm outpaced legibility, and several conversations with the sunflower shoots about what to expect in their absence. She'd given Steven Two specific instructions about holding things together while she was gone, I did not know what instructions to use. I thought it was better not to ask.The car came at nine. Ethan had arranged it — a larger one than usual, because Lily's concept of a weekend bag was generous. She had brought Gerald, a spare Gerald in case of emergency which was a development I had not been informed about until the morning of, her sunflower growth chart, three books, art supplies, and what appeared to be a small collection of rocks she described as relevant."Relevant to what?" Ethan said, looking at the rocks."The garden," L
Lily found out at breakfast. Lily had a radar for things that were different, and Sunday morning had a different quality to it than Saturday morning had, something in the air of the apartment, some shift in the texture of the ordinary, that she clocked immediately with the instincts of a child who
He came home at 10:45.Lily had been asleep since eight, I'd eaten alone, tidied the kitchen, done the small evening things, and then sat on the sofa with my book and the low lamp.I was waiting.His bag set down, heavier than usual.He didn't come to the kitchen, neither to the living room, he wen
He started working from home more.A Tuesday where he appeared at the kitchen island with his laptop at nine and stayed until three, a Thursday where he took calls from the living room instead of going in to the office, a Friday that he explained to no one, because no one had asked, because that wa
Derek's first face happened before we'd even gotten our coats off.I saw it from across the lobby, and then he composed himself and came toward us with the expression of a man who has decided to be extremely well-behaved and is finding it a significant effort. He kissed me on the cheek like we'd kn












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