AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now, though…I doubt I’ll ever be able to forget Busy Mitchell again. She’s probably the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen, and she nearly knocked me over when she turned around last night, wielding her tiny hair pin like a sword.
I smile internally at the memory. That wild blonde hair. Those beautiful blue eyes. I felt a thrill run through me that I haven’t allowed myself to feel since…well, in a while. And that was just what I was able to see by moonlight. Once I switched on the porch lamp?
Damn.
She’s certainly not the gangly pre-teen I’ve managed to conjure up in my memory. Not by a long shot.
A beep on my phone drags me away from those thoughts.
Unknown: One hour out
Sighing, I take another sip of my coffee and push out of my chair, knowing I need to start the drive into town soon if I’m going to get to the shop before my delivery is set to arrive.
After making quick work of washing my mug and tugging on my work boots, I give Sydney a few good pets then hop into the old Chevy Cheyenne I bought when I graduated from high school, pulling down the gravel lane then out to the main road.
I don’t normally work on Saturdays, but I’m getting a special delivery from a wood supplier who’s doing me a big favor by hauling it all the way up here instead of forcing me to make the drive down to Oakland. So, as tired and weary as I feel, I know I don’t have the option to relegate the responsibility to one of my employees. It’s not easy being the boss.
The quiet, twenty-minute drive to and from town is one of my favorite parts of the day. I like the solitude of it. The music on the radio, the window down, the cool breeze blowing through my hair. Or warm breeze, depending on the time of year.
Whenever I can, Sydney hops up into the seat next to me and rides around town at my side, her head out the window, enjoying the views and the smells, probably just as much as I do if not more. Sometimes I bring her with me to work, depending on what I have going on. I hate leaving her at home. She’s such a good dog and she loves curling up on the bed I have set up for her in the corner at the warehouse where I build pieces. When she was younger, she was a bit more squirrely, always snooping around and nosing her way into things. Now that she’s older, she enjoys lazing around more than she used to. She’s the perfect shop companion.
The music on the radio rolls into another ’90s rock song as I pull into a spot on the street outside the coffee shop on Main. One cup in the morning is never enough, and I hop out of my truck and jog across the street, eager to get an extra boost of caffeine from Ugly Mug before I get to work.
“There’s my favorite nephew!”
My head turns at the familiar sound of my aunt’s voice, and I grin when I spot her sitting at a table on the patio with a few other women.
“Hey, Aunt Lois,” I say, crossing toward her and leaning down to give her a hug. Then I turn, taking in the others. “Ladies.”
My eyes scan as I silently greet each of the women my aunt gets together with on a regular basis, including Patty Mitchell, Busy’s mother. Then my gaze falls to the identical books sitting in front of each of them.
“You working on a Saturday?”
I nod, returning my attention to Lois. “I am. Got a delivery coming in. What are you ladies up to?”
“Oh, just squeezing in a book club meeting.”
Glancing at my watch, I chuckle quietly. “It feels early for book club. I’m not sure I could get into a conversation aboutanythingthis early, let alone…” I glance down at the novel sitting in front of my aunt. “What are you reading?”
“It’s a historical romance,” she says, a wide grin on her face. “It was made into a TV show, so we’re all going to read the first book then have a watch party.”
I shake my head, a smile still on my face. “Sounds like fun.”
“Oh, it is,” she proclaims proudly, and then she and the other ladies at the table titter with laughter I’m not quite sure I understand.
“Well, I’ll let you all get back to it,” I tell them, knowing I need to grab my coffee and head in. “Nice to see you.”
“Before you go,” my aunt says, stopping me before I can turn and head inside. “I should have told you this earlier, but things have been so hectic recently. I finally found a long-term renter for the green cabin. Do you know Patty’s daughter, Busy? She just moved in yesterday.”
I shake my head. “No worries about not telling me. I saw Busy when she showed up last night, actually.”
A vision of her pointing her hair pin at me, her eyebrows tight and her lips turned down flits through my mindagain, and I have a hard time hiding my smile.
“Oh, really?” My aunt beams. “That’s wonderful. It would be great if you could kind of go out of your way to be friendly. Being a single mom can be so lonely sometimes, and I think she’s had a bit of a rough time recently.”
She says the last part as a whisper, and I blink, her words registering in my mind.
Single mom?
