As soon as Summer opened her eyes, she had direct eye contact with him.
Pursing her lips and squinting, she suddenly pulled herself up to sit on the bed.
Since Leonardo was standing directly over her, their heads collided.
Feeling the impact, she quietly rubbed her forehead, but the pain soon subsided.
Leonardo felt his forehead too, his expression calm as he stared at her.
Summer slowly slid out of bed, appearing cool. “I’m sorry.”
It seemed like he was in more pain than her.
She did not mean it? There was no way Leonardo would believe her.
Due to their circumstances, they had their clothes on while they slept. So, Summer just put her jacket on straight away and headed downstairs.
The elderly man was already awake and was now making a fire in the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she greeted him.
The elderly man looked up from the cloud of smoke and narrowed his eyes to look at Summer. “You’re up so early. Why don’t you sleep a little longer?”
“I woke a while ago, so I might as well get out of bed. Aren’t you awake so early too?” Summer rolled up her sleeves. “Are you preparing breakfast? Let me give you a hand. What do you plan on making?”
“No need.” The elderly man shook his head. She did not look like someone who could handle such manual labor.
“You make the fire, and I’ll cook,” Summer said with a smile as she tucked her hair behind her ears
Since she insisted, the elderly man let her be. While he made the fire, he told her what dishes to prepare.
People in the countryside ate whatever they could lay their hands on. It was a variety based on the seasons. Sometimes there would be noodles, sometimes rice.
The elderly man told her to fry three eggs, then cook some noodles.
Before the water boiled, he got to his feet, grabbed his raincoat, and began to head out.
“Where are you going?” Summer asked.
“I’m going to pluck some vegetables from the ground.” He walked out as he spoke.
Summer glanced at the heavy rain outside. The ground was so muddy that if he was not careful, he would fall.
She furrowed her brow slightly and pulled him back. “I’ll go.”
“No, I’ll go. You stay!” The elderly man appeared stubborn with the pride of an elder on his face.
Just then, Leonardo descended the stairs.
Summer quickly pointed at Leonardo while she looked at the elderly man. “He’ll go.”
Seeing Summer point at him, Leonardo quirked an eyebrow and went over. “Go where and for what?”
“He wants to pluck some vegetables from the ground and cook it with the noodles. The water’s about to boil soon. You better hurry.” Summer pushed him toward the door.
She made it sound like it was the obvious thing to do.
Leonardo glanced at her, took the raincoat from the elderly man’s hand, and put it on before he jumped out.
Summer’s lips curled up in a smile as Leonardo made his way in the rain.
She realized that Leonardo was very b*tchy when it came to petty matters, but his actions were never ambiguous.
He may have differed slightly from the person he was in the past, but Leonardo was still himself.
The elderly man suddenly chortled, shaking his head while returning to the stove to keep the fire going.
“Why are you laughing, Mister?” Summer asked.
He just smiled and said nothing.
Leonardo soon returned with some vegetables in his hands.
There was a pot of water under the eaves at the back of the house. Summer took the vegetables and washed them there before she threw them all into the cooking pot.
Today’s breakfast was stir-fried egg noodles.
After breakfast, the elderly man sat in a rocking chair by the doorway with his cat on his lap, seemingly about to doze off.
Summer and Leonardo stood under the eaves outside the door.
“It looks like the rain isn’t going to stop anytime soon.” She gazed at the rain outside, obviously worried.
Leonardo’s expression was solemn too. “There are no other residents living nearby, and landslides have washed away the roads. Other than wait for rescue, there isn’t much we can do.”
“How do you know that there’s no one living nearby?” Summer peered at him curiously.
Leonardo looked up at her. “I didn’t see a single speck of light during my walk outside last night.”
It turned out that he was doing a recce the night before to see if there were any other residents nearby.
“Do we really have to wait for rescue? Is there any other way?” Summer pursed her lips.
He turned to her with a blank face. “I told you before; you shouldn’t have come.”
“It was my mistake for not checking the condition of the terrain before coming here, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely right.”
Summer’s expression faded.
Leonardo was unruffled by her words, and he just casually looked over. “Are you sure you want to discuss this subject in that tone with the person who saved your life?”
If Leonardo had not arrived, she would have probably been stranded by the roadside and never come back.
Seeing that he was becoming impatient, Summer decided not to continue the conversation.
They both stood under the eaves for a while. Just as Leonardo turned around to go back into the house, she suddenly grabbed his hand as if something had occurred to her. “Leonardo!”
“Is there anything else?” His facial expression remained unchanged, but the annoyance in his voice was apparent.
“Was it because you couldn’t bear not seeing me for so long? That’s why you didn’t want me to visit Jessica?” Summer studied his expression as she asked softly.
There was a subtle change in his expression.
They both looked into each other’s eyes, and a few seconds later, Leonardo cocked an eyebrow. “It looks like self-indulgence is what you’re good at.”
“Then tell me, what’s the reason? Is it purely because you think I can only have you as the center of my life? Besides your possessive behavior, isn’t there something else?”
It seemed that Leonardo did not want to continue the conversation. He shook her hand off and went back into the house.
She looked up at the rainy sky and sighed in frustration with her arms akimbo.
With Leonardo’s weird temperament, he would never surrender and admit it. Nevertheless, the fact that he had come to her rescue at the earliest possible time showed that he cared for her.
Leonardo’s feelings for her might not have been as strong as they were in the past, but it was a start. They were growing, and that was a good sign.
It was now more vital for them to get out of the forest.
Were they prepared to be stranded there if the rain did not stop for a couple of weeks?
She would love to have some private time with Leonardo, but they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rosie was still waiting for them at home. More importantly, Leonardo had to look after Emerson Group. Even if he had things arranged beforehand, things could go wrong. It did not help that there was no cell signal there.
Losing contact with the outside world for two weeks was not something to be taken lightly.
When Summer stepped back in, she saw Leonardo talking to the elderly man.
“Is there any alternative way to go out to the city?”