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As we stroll along, distracted with saying hello to the resident old-timers, we bump into a group of men leaving a hardware shop.
“Hey! Lauren!” A tall man grins at my friend.
“Hi! Funny running into you here,” she teases good-naturedly.
The blond laughs and jerks his thumb at the awning denoting the place as the local hardware place. “But…is it?”
Lauren smiles and shrugs.
His gaze lands on me, and I raise my brows expectantly.
“Hi, I’m Hayes Dawson,” he says, nodding at me in acknowledgment. He seems to have that good-old-boy charm, a guy who’d likely be polite and offer to shake my hand with the introduction, but his hands and arms are full of supplies.
Hayes? I’m not sure where to file his name on my lists of good and bad ones. His surname only makes me think of that nineties show I used to love. I never liked Joey though.
“This is the contractor Caleb and I have been working with to get started on our home,” Lauren says. “Hayes, this is my good friend Aubrey.”
I smile then, doing my part in being polite, or faking it. Lauren greets other men on the crew who are following after Hayes on their exit from the shop, but their leader seems stuck, taking a special interest in me. He doesn’t stare at me like Dalton did, like he is trying to see through me. This guy, buff and hot as he is, seems a bit much. Too pushy, especially when he winks at me.
I’m not sure how he got the impression I wanted to be hit on, even with something as cheesy as a wink, but I’ll play along and be polite.
“I’ll see you around, Aubrey.” He’s direct with his farewell as the men move off toward the curb where they’re parked. If his hands were free, I imagine he would’ve taken mine between his and worsened this all by kissing it.
We wave as they get in their trucks, then turn to head toward Marian’s.
Lauren nudges me. “Looks like you might have a grand old time in Colorado.”
“How so?” I retort wryly.
“You know. If you let yourself have some fun for once.”
I roll my eyes. “What, with a roll in the hay with Hayes?”
She giggles, shaking her head as we continue walking.
Even if I wanted to have a “grand, old time,” I wouldn’t be seeking that pretty boy of a contractor.
I’m not on the market to be looking for any guy to help me pass time here in the mountains.
And if I was…
I shake my head, banishing the unbidden and unwanted thoughts of Dalton from my mind.
Chapter 8
Aubrey
The first week at the Goldfinch passes by too quickly. With each day that passes, I fall deeper into relaxation. I’m not sitting or lying around. I’m not being lazy. It’s not that sort of leisure.
I’ve read three books. I’ve eaten delicious home-cooked meals I can never hope to replicate because Marian is a goddess and her “system” in her kitchen produces such goodness I never want to consider eating out again. Yoga is a staple in my life again, not an afterthought of that vague concept of self-care most adults never make time for. Slowly but surely, I feel myself changing after a mere seven days here.
All the crisp, fresh air has reinvigorated me. I suspect I’m one of those lucky people who aren’t impacted by the change of altitude. Hearing birds, chipmunks, frogs, and insects provides a symphony of nature no white noise track would ever compare to. And the glorious sunshine and clear skies add to my enjoyment.
“I think I could love it here,” I admit as I lie on a hammock while Lauren mows in the distance. Marian leans back with me in another hammock. They’re new additions to the rear portion of the property, and I offered to test them out with her. The verdict? Everyone will love them.
“Could?” Marian asks, mocking affront. “You mean you aren’t already?”
I grin at her teasing tone. Lauren sees this older lady as a fairy godmother, but the more I stick around, I come to view her as an aunt. I never had one. Neither of my parents had siblings, and once they were gone, I had no one. No cousins or extended family. Just me. While I see how Lauren was quick to assume Marian in a matronly role, I can’t. I loved my mom, and I could never see someone else as a replacement, even in name.
