Page 39 of Just One Chance

"I'm hungry," I said as we glided toward the exit.

He grinned. "I could eat."

We walked to the bench where we'd left our shoes. We made quick work of changing out of the skates, and once I was in my boots, I breathed a sigh of relief. He carried our skates to the rental hut and then asked, "So would you go again?"

"If I lived here, I'd want to be able to skate. You must do it all the time."

He shrugged. "Not so much since I was a kid. Back then we used to skate on the frozen ponds."

"Wow. I can't even imagine."

"It wasn't as smooth as this, and there would be trees and other things that jutted through the ice. Thinking back, it was probably dangerous. But we didn't exactly worry about things like safety. Broken bones weren't unheard of."

"Just for you or all the kids?" I asked, wanting to know more about him and his siblings.

"My brothers and I. Clara wasn't as adventurous as us."

I could imagine Boone as a boy skating around a pond with his brothers. My childhood was more traditional. "I lived in a neighborhood, and our biggest worry was hurricanes. Other than that, we had warm weather for the most part and short bouts of rain. We had a lot of kids to play with. It was fun."

He started walking toward the shops. "Sounds like an idyllic childhood. But then again, you might think we had the same growing up here. I had fun with my siblings no matter what we were doing."

"You're close with them?"

"Yeah, we are."

"There's no competition with you all working at the same location?"

"Not really. We all have our own talents and interests. I'm the only one whose talent doesn't directly lie with the businesses. I could go out on my own."

"Aren't you already doing that?" I asked.

"I always thought of that as a side thing. My family's business came first, and if they needed me to make furniture, I'd be available. But I'm starting to think that held me back a bit. I've been slow to advertise and grow my business because I wanted to be available for my family. But maybe that was shortsighted of me."

"I don't know." I didn't know much about his family dynamics. "I could see you putting your family first. That seems like a Hart thing to do."

"Yeah, but I'm wondering if I should have focused more on building my solo business and not be so dependent on my family to bring in business."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to grow your business, especially if it makes you happy."

I was glad I agreed to go out with him tonight. I enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him better. I just hoped that I wasn't starting to fall for him.

11

BOONE

"You want to get a taco?" I asked, stopping in front of a food truck.

"Sure."

The one thing I knew for sure was that I needed to start focusing on me and what I wanted. If my parents wanted to follow a consultant's advice and go outside the family for the inn's decor, then I should be focused on building my business in other ways.

The more I thought about it, the better I felt. I'd been waiting for my parents to make a decision. But I didn't want to wait anymore. I wanted to take action. I wanted to secure my future in a different way. I wanted everyone to know that I was the guy to come to for handmade furniture. I wanted to be known in my community. That was important to me. I still wanted to see my furniture at the inn, but I wanted to stay open to the possibilities.

Kennedy ordered chicken tacos, and I asked for beef. Then we waited for our food off to the side.

When the food was ready, I said, "Let's sit at one of the tables. There're heaters under the tent."

We sat at a table and dug into our tacos.