Josh woke in Hayley’s bed shortly before he had to be at work for his seven o’clock shift only because his watch alarm vibrated. Otherwise, he might have slept for hours.

So this is what it’s like to sleep well, he thought as he came awake relaxed and happy. After their luxurious bath, they’d retired to the bedroom and gotten busy under the covers. He couldn’t remember when he fell asleep, and he wondered if he’d fallen asleep before Hayley, which would have been a first for him with a woman.

Laying on his side, he watched her sleep. She had the softest, smoothest, creamiest skin, and he couldn’t resist softly stroking her cheek. He found himself not wanting to leave her. Not wanting the night to be over. Definitely not wanting her to work her charms on the next guy. He wanted to claim her as his own, knowing it went against everything he’d told her and every day he’d lived since arriving back in Golden Falls.

It was just good sex, he told himself as his arousal began again, wanting to pull her close before he had to leave for work. You’re thinking with your dick as usual, while she’s thinking with her heart. But even as he thought it, Josh knew it was more complicated than that.

He decided to leave without waking her. Since his clothes were still in the living room where they’d first had their way with each other, he made his way silently from her bedroom, closing the door behind him. He dressed quickly, stepped outside her front door into the hallway to put on his parka, and headed in to report for his shift.

The early morning air was a bitter-cold slap in the face as he walked to his truck. With a wash of guilt he thought of his dad, feeding the dogs by himself back at the kennel, and he brought out his phone and fired off a quick text.

Hey, Dad. Sorry for the no-show this morning. Stayed in town last night. See you when I’m off shift and thanks for taking care of the dogs.

He let his diesel engine heat up for a few minutes and sat there, breath fogging, looking at the small second-story balcony that he knew belonged to Hayley. And with more longing than he could ever remember feeling, he wanted to be back up there with her, cozy in bed, sleeping soundly, his arms wrapped tight around her luscious curves and his nose buried in the flowery scent of her hair.

* * *

For the first time in ages, Hayley was on time for breakfast with Claire at the North Star Café. Still, Claire was there before her, and she didn’t waste any time asking about the previous evening.

“Did you hit it off with Evan after my introduction last night?”

Hayley flushed, thinking of last night and everything she’d done with Josh. She was saved by the waitress bringing her a hot cup of fresh coffee. The wake-me-up smell brought her back to her senses. “Evan! Yes. He asked me on a date for Saturday.”

Claire beamed. “I have a good feeling about him. I got to know him well enough during the interview process for the manager job, and he’s friendly, curious, pursues his passions. Plus, he loves old movies as much as you.”

They placed their breakfast orders, a cinnamon bun for Claire and a veggie omelet for Hayley. She was meeting Cassie after breakfast to try a spin class and didn’t want to throw away calories on one of Rebecca’s glorious cinnamon buns, which were not only huge and mouth-meltingly soft, but drizzled with the yummiest white glaze.

Over Hayley’s coffee and Claire’s tea, they discussed a few details of the employment agency’s involvement with Hayley’s “Bring Your Heart” campaign. Since Hayley was using the agency’s resources, she felt Claire should take a percentage of the money generated by placing newly recruited women in jobs. She’d argued this for weeks without getting Claire’s agreement. When Hayley began to bring it up again, Claire stopped her.

“I have a proposal I’d like you to consider,” she said. “As you know, I’ve been thinking for a while about transitioning into semi-retirement.”

Hayley smiled. “For as long as I’ve known you, it’s been your plan. But you’re still as busy as ever. You even bought that new apartment complex near campus.”

“I just didn’t want it to go to Gordon Begay, that bastard,” Claire said. “He lets his places get so rundown it’s a disgrace to the community. But I’m getting serious about my desire to slow down. I’ve had my hat in so many things for so long, and I want to begin to downsize my involvement.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“You’re seeing it now,” Claire said. “I’d like to make you a managing partner of the employment agency.”

Hayley’s jaw dropped. “Really?” she squeaked, with unprofessional enthusiasm, but Claire didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she smiled.

“Over the coming years, we would set up a buy-out agreement. You’d go from employee to part-owner effective immediately, and then transition to full owner over a period of time which works for both of us.”

“Claire, that’s … that’s so kind, but I don’t think I could come up with the amount of money I’d need to buy you out.” She knew Claire grossed in the mid-six-figures from the employment agency, as most of the hundreds of summer workers were recruited and placed through the agency, and it was the sole local recruiter for the hospital and university, where placement fees could sometimes total the entire first year’s salary of the new hire.

“You can now that you’re partnering with Devotion.com for the ‘Bring Your Heart’ campaign,” Claire said. “And from the business acumen you’ve shown, I have confidence that you’ll be able to buy me out sooner than you think.”  

Hayley mentally doubled her projected program goals on the spot, and it still seemed she’d get the best end of the deal. “Are you sure it’s fair?”

“Fair shmair,” Claire said. “I’ve watched you grow from a teenager to a self-assured, open-hearted woman in the past eight years, and I know how much you love Golden Falls. You love it as much as I do, which is saying something. That’s worth its weight in gold to me, Hayley. I’ve worked my entire life to build this community—myself and several others—and now I want to put the pieces in place so it continues to thrive for decades to come.”

Tears filled Hayley’s eyes. To be loved by Claire, to be understood by her and supported by her, was the greatest gift of her life. This was the validation of her worth that her parents had never given her.

“I will do you proud,” she said.

“I know you will.” Claire patted her hand. “Now, do you remember my niece, Jenna?”

“The one from Chicago who used to spend summers up here when she was a kid?”

“That’s the one. I’m hoping she’ll come up here for a bit, put her MBA to good use, and help me do an audit of some of my businesses and help me streamline some things. In my ideal world, she’d dump her jerk of a boyfriend and move up here, and the two of you could take over my little empire together, but it’s not likely. In any case, she can help me structure the buyout so that it’s as slow a transition as you need.”

“Gosh, I just … I don’t know what to say.” Hayley went around to the other side of the booth and threw her arms around Claire. “You’re the most generous person I know.” Then an awful possibility occurred to her. All this about settling financial matters, handing off responsibility … “Claire. Wait a second. Are you feeling okay? Healthwise?”

“I’m fit as a fiddle,” Claire said. “I just had a complete checkup and my blood work’s perfect. Don’t worry—I’m not ‘settling my affairs’ in that sense. I’m just feeling restless with life and, believe it or not, I have a bucket list I’ve been ignoring for years.”

“Travel?” Hayley asked, because it seemed Claire never went anywhere beyond Anchorage and occasionally Seattle.

“It’s so silly, but ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved the story of Eloise, and I’ve always wanted to stay in the Eloise Suite at the Plaza Hotel.” Claire smiled and for a moment looked positively girlish. “So I’m going to do that for a few nights and then move to a regular grown-up suite and spend a week or two living it up in New York City. I’ll take in some Broadway shows. Indulge in some fine dining. I’ll go in autumn, of course, because New England in the fall is supposed to be spectacular.”

“Will you go by yourself?”

Claire’s eyes sparkled. “Hopefully not.”

“Ah, so you’re going to snag yourself a man? Can I help with that?”

“I figure I have one great love affair left in me, but it’s got to be someone who’ll indulge my every whim.”

Hayley looked at her closely and saw a secret in her eyes. “Have you got anyone in mind?”

“Maybe I do.” Claire said, looking very much like the cat who swallowed the canary.

“Well, who?” Hayley’s mind raced but came up empty. Claire had a flirtatious personality, but she was an equal-opportunity flirt. No one stood out as having received special attention. “It’s not fair you have secrets. I tell you everything about my love life.”

“Oh, you do?” Claire sipped her tea daintily, and for the second time that morning, Hayley’s jaw dropped.

“What do you know?” she asked.

“Did I ever tell you I grew up next door to Bruce Barnes?” Claire set down her teacup. “I ran into him last night after the mixer, and we went for a late dinner at the Pioneer. We had an interesting talk about his son, Josh.”

“Oh, really?” It came out weak, like Hayley was a little girl getting busted for being naughty.

“Oh, really.” Claire’s smile widened. “And then we went for a walk around the square, and imagine our surprise when we saw Josh’s truck parked outside your apartment.”

Embarrassed, Hayley covered her face with her hands. All she could think was how glad she was her curtains had been drawn.

“Bruce is very hopeful Josh will settle down soon,” Claire said. “I guess he’s about to turn thirty, and his dad thinks that’s long enough for him to live the bachelor life.”

“Josh is a great guy,” Hayley said. “A fantastic guy, but I’ll be honest—he doesn’t want a relationship, so he was more like someone I needed to get out of my system before I could move on with Evan or with anyone else.”

“I see,” Claire said.

“Do you hate me?” Hayley said. “Do you think I’m a slut?”

“Oh, please.” Claire laughed. “Trust me, I understand the intoxication of a one-night stand.”

“With who?” Hayley was laughing now, too. And very curious about Claire’s past “intoxicating” encounter.

“I’ll never tell—but I will change the subject. I was thinking we should change the name of the employment agency to the March & Roberts Staffing Agency. Sound good to you?”

March and Roberts. It was music to Hayley’s ears—almost. “I think it should be Roberts & March because you came first. You’re the legacy.”

“And you’re the future.”

* * *

Josh found himself uncharacteristically grumpy at work.

The morning started busy, with calls coming one after the other, many of them non-emergencies by so-called “frequent flyers.” One guy called three separate times for chest pain, but refused to go to the hospital. Someone else called for difficulty breathing which turned out to be a stuffy nose. Two drunks got stuck in snow banks, and a car without snow tires went into a ditch. There was an overdose. In addition, they had a small fire caused by a portable space heater which displaced eight people in an apartment complex. And then an icy rain began, generating several slip-and-falls and “lift assist” calls.

That wasn’t what irked Josh, though. It was Troy Garrett, the other firefighter who rode in the backseat with him. Garrett was “temped” on Ladder One, meaning he occupied the spot temporarily, while the ladder’s normal paramedic-firefighter Rick “Maddog” Madsen was deployed in Afghanistan with the Army Rangers. Josh was good friends with Maddog, who was not only fellow military, but an all-around good guy who specialized in extreme practical jokes. Everyone loved Maddog. No one loved Troy Garrett.

“Get lucky lately?” Troy said to Josh on the way to one of the day’s many calls.

Josh wasn’t about to mention Hayley to Troy. Instead he said, “Why, you interested?”

“I got lucky.” Troy chortled into the microphone. “Fine little coed I met at one of the campus bars.”

“Good for you,” Josh muttered. Troy had a fiancée on whom he cheated with regularity.

“Heard you went to that Singles Night event without me.”

Now we get to it, Josh thought. It was bad enough being around Troy on shift; there was no way he’d socialize with the guy.

“Dude, you’re not single,” Josh said. “Didn’t think you’d want to go.”

“Well, I’m not married yet,” Troy said. “So according to the IRS I’m single.”

Josh thought about Hayley and how her ex-boyfriend had cheated on her. He thought about the hard work she put into her Singles Nights and how she brought earnest, looking-for-love women there. He thought about what would happen if one of Hayley’s clients met and hooked up with Troy Garrett, only to find out he was already in a relationship and looking for a piece on the side.

And Josh snapped. He didn’t care that Nate Halstead, the engineer, and Captain Tom Steele were listening over the headset.

“Troy, you’re a lying, untrustworthy sack of shit. So why don’t you spare me and the rest of this crew all your infidelity stories and just do your job.”

Troy sat back in his seat, glaring at Josh, but said nothing as the ladder truck pulled into the fire station bay. No one else said anything, either, and there was awkward silence as the four men climbed out of the truck.

“Josh, a word?”

It was Tom. He motioned Josh into his office, which doubled as his single bunkroom. They stood just inside the door.

“Listen,” Tom said. “None of what you said is wrong. Garrett can be an asshole, but he’s also the one who’s got your back when you’re up there on the roof.”

“I doubt he really has my back.”

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Tom’s voice hinted at his impatience with Josh. “You’re taking it too far, is what I’m telling you. You don’t have to be his best friend, but you do have to keep things civil at work.”

“The guy’s a buddy-fucker and you know it. If you did anything that could be spun out of context, he’d be the first in line to report you to Chief and try to make himself look good.”

“I know what he is. And when he really gets out of line with his mouthing off, it’s my job to check him, and I do. Why’s today any different for you? Have you got something going on you want to talk about?”

Yeah, I met this fantastic woman who rocks my world and I’m inexplicably letting her get away. To Tom he said, “No. It just pisses me off how we all hold ourselves to high standards every damn day at work and in life—we all try to do the right thing, get the job done—but this guy treats people like shit and can’t be trusted. I just got sick of hearing about it. Sorry I lost my temper, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.”

“I get it, Josh. Remember he’s temped. Rick will be back in less than a year.”

“Can’t be soon enough.”

“Tell you what,” Tom said. “You go mop the garage bay and give Garrett some space.”

“By myself?” Usually, it was a task done in pairs.

“By yourself,” Tom said. “It’ll give you a little time to cool off.”

“Fine.”

But as Josh moved the first of the three units from the apparatus bay, his brother Jack showed up to help. Josh was not in the mood to deal with him or his big-brotherliness, which all too often came unasked-for. He also suspected Tom had sent him out there to help; the two captains were close friends.

Jack must have read Josh’s mood because he kept quiet for a while, but Josh knew he was only biding his time. As they filled their mop buckets at the spigot, he tried to ward off the brotherly lecture.

“Listen.” He turned to Jack. “I blew up at Troy, and I know I should have controlled my temper. I was just sick of his shit and felt that someone needed to say it.”

“I get that.” Jack met Josh’s sideways glance. Despite their difference in age—six years—and the present difficulty with Jack’s relationship with their father Bruce, both men had been raised to be decent to everyone they encountered. “Tom and I have already had several conversations with him regarding his attitude, but in the end, we’re just gonna have to put up with him until Maddog gets back.”

“That’s seven months from now, which is a long damn time.”

“I’ll make sure Tom and I have another word with him. He’s had a few incidents with my engine guys, too.”

Jack grabbed the mop bucket and began to pull it to the bay. When Josh didn’t follow, Jack looked up.

“What?” he said.

“I was expecting a lecture.”

“I can give you one if you want, but since when did you ever listen to me?”

Josh smiled. “Never.”

It wasn’t true. He’d actually taken every bit of advice Jack had ever offered, although sometimes begrudgingly and sometimes secretly.

“Try not to let him rattle you,” Jack said. “When you do, he wins.”

They began mopping in companionable silence, broken only occasionally by Jack’s small talk during the short breaks they took, leaning onto their mops. During one, he told Josh about how he and Tom had gone horseback riding on their day off, and a red fox had followed them for their entire ride. Jack kept a horse boarded at the stable next door to his property, and between his own place and his neighbors’, they had a forty-acre spread on which they let the horses roam. His horse, Honest Abe, was a perlino paint gelding with one blue eye.

Of course, Jack lived on the opposite end of town from where Josh and his dad lived. A person couldn’t be within the city limits and be further apart. Josh felt it was another deliberate slight to their dad, and Josh had to admit he felt annoyance every time he made the drive out there for one of Jack’s regular firefighter social gatherings.

“How’s Honest Abe doing?” he asked his brother.

“Fantastic. Long in the tooth, but still seems to be enjoying life.”

As they continued mopping, Josh’s thoughts turned to Hayley. He’d been checking his phone every few hours, hoping for a text from her, but apparently she was discontinuing contact with him even before her first date with the new guy.

“There’s a new manager at the Moondance,” he told Jack.

“Oh yeah? Male or female?”

“Male, unfortunately.” Josh looked at his brother. “Why? Are you looking for a new girlfriend?”

“Nope, although it was nice to have Emily here for those couple weeks. I didn’t expect—”

“Emily?”

“I’m sure I told you about her.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

“Oh, well, I met her when Tom and I went on that biking tour through the Netherlands last fall, and then she came and visited last winter for a few weeks. Couldn’t handle it and went back to California, but in the time she was here, we had this ritual where after dinner, we’d have a glass of cognac in front of the fire and play cribbage. It seems like an old-couple thing to do, but just having someone regular to fill those after-dinner-before-bed hours—it really grew on me.”

Josh thought of Hayley then, and the bath they’d taken in her damn fine copper tub, and what a nice daily ritual it would be.

“Remember how Mom and Dad used to watch All My Children every night at eight o’clock, and they’d shoo us out of the living room so they could play their VHS tape of the day’s show?”

Jack laughed, remembering. “I used to sneak back and watch from the doorway. I had the hots for Susan Lucci at one point.”

“Isn’t she, like, eighty by now?”

“No.” Jack scoffed. “I’m sure she’s hardly over seventy. But I’m talking like when I was thirteen or fourteen. She would have been in her forties or early fifties. She had that hot-mom thing going on. Hell of a body. You were too young to appreciate her,” he added when he saw how Josh was laughing. “Hey, I have a thought.” He dipped his mop in the bucket and squeezed it, keeping his eyes off Josh’s. “I’m starting to plan my next trip, and Tom’s not sure he can go. You want to go together?”

“You and me?” Josh stared at his brother, dumbfounded. “Travel together?”

At least once a year and usually twice, Jack traveled overseas, places like Botswana, Thailand, Costa Rica, Peru. Tom Steele often went with him, and they invariably returned with stories of adventure sports and short-term flings. On rare occasions, like with Emily, the women they hooked up with visited them in Alaska, but the relationships never stuck. Josh wasn’t sure they were supposed to.

“Why not?” Jack leaned on his mop again.

“Well, there’s the Iditarod, for one thing, and—”

“Dude, screw the Iditarod. It’s not worth your time or your money.”

A hot sizzle of anger flared in Josh’s stomach. “Says who? I happen to think it’s very well worth my time.”

“Really? Why? And is it worth Dad’s time? I mean, you’re basically holding him hostage by making him manage the kennel.”

Josh shook his head, doubling the pace of his mopping to avoid punching his brother. “Some of us don’t mind having obligations to family. You should try it sometime. You might find it rewarding.”

“My obligation’s to you,” Jack said. “And when you came back to work after the Iditarod last year, you could hardly move, remember? It took a good couple weeks until your fingers and toes stopped tingling. You’re spending every dollar you make on the kennel and the race, and for what? Coming in last? It would be different if you had sponsors paying for you, and if you had a chance to win, but … I don’t know, brother. It’s like you’ve got something in your head that keeps pushing you to do this, and I don’t know what it is, but I just wish you’d give some thought to finding something else to do. I mean, you’ve never once said it was fun.”

“It’s not supposed to be fun,” Josh said, feeling a deep-seated frustration toward Jack, who in spite of their uneasy relationship knew him so well. “It’s supposed to be hard.”

Jack shrugged. “I just think you should give it some thought.”

“Fine, but leave Dad out of it. You have no right to even talk about him, since you won’t talk to him.”

“Fair enough. I just figured that thinking about what he might want could help sway you to find a new hobby.”

Hayley, Josh thought immediately. She could be my new hobby.

“I mean, you don’t think Dad would rather be visiting his grandkids in the Florida Keys?” Jack continued. “I’m surprised you don’t remember him and Mom talking about retiring down in Florida. They talked about it all the time.”

“Here’s a thought,” Josh said. “Why don’t you invite Dad to go with you on this trip? Since you’re so concerned about me ‘holding him hostage’ with obligations.”

Of everything Jack had said, that was what burned the most.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“Well, I have no interest in travelling with you,” Josh said, although he’d secretly yearned for years that he could be actual friends with his brother like Tom Steele was. “It’s a hard no.”

“Fine,” Jack said. “I won’t ask again.”

They finished mopping the floor in a silence that stretched for miles.

* * *

Hayley walked out of the North Star Café a much richer woman than she’d been when she walked in, thanks to Claire’s generosity. She wanted to share the news of her good fortune, and she wanted to share it with Josh.

She wouldn’t, of course. She didn’t want people to think it was why she’d befriended Claire in the first place, as a way to get at her money. Growing up like she had, where motives were always questioned, she often had a hard time understanding how happy people thought, that not everyone was angling to manipulate a situation in their favor. Therapy had helped during her college years, and now she felt she was able to mostly function like a normal person. There were times, though, when quick, unquestioned thoughts would take over her mind.

Now was one of those times. Was she a gold-digger? Were her motives entirely pure where her friendship with Claire was concerned? It had always been hard for her to accept gifts, even the smallest of gifts, because in her upbringing, gifts were never freely given. There were always strings attached and there was always a price to be paid for accepting.

Claire’s offer—the eventual ownership of a thriving business—was a doozy of a gift.

As she made the mile-long walk to Golden Falls Fitness Studio, where she was meeting Cassie for spin class, Hayley worked through the situation in her mind.

In her defense, she came from a very wealthy family, and had she stayed and been willing to subject herself to their particular form of tyranny, she could have taken control of her trust money by now. The amount bordered on obscene and had been dangled in front of her throughout her life.

Instead, she’d walked away. Applied to Alaska State University without telling her parents and won a full merit scholarship. When she told them, they threatened to revoke her trust fund if she didn’t go to Duke, where she’d also gained admittance. Taking them at their word, she took her birth certificate and high school transcript and moved to Golden Falls, the opposite corner of the country, and never looked back.

Her parents had kept their word about disowning her, and she was glad for it.

Making the move was what Hayley was most proud of in her life, followed closely by working her way through school and establishing a name for herself as an up-and-comer in her adopted hometown. Her motives concerning Claire were pure. In addition to being a great boss and friend, Claire was like the mother Hayley’d never had and always wanted. If she had an ulterior motive, it was that—to be loved unconditionally by Claire, and to return the love tenfold.

It was the same as her motive for finding a man in her life, the kind of man her father had never been, one who was emotionally available, who loved her, who had time for her.

All the things Josh Barnes wasn’t.

The freezing air stung the tears in her eyes, and Hayley resolutely wiped them away. She picked up her walking pace, tried to focus on her numerous blessings and her plans for the staffing agency, and by the time she arrived at the health club, she already felt better.

The spin class was held in a glass-walled room with a breathtaking view of Denali, and while there wasn’t a bad view in the room, Hayley wasn’t able to grab a bike next to Cassie, as both were already taken. Instead, she took the bike directly behind her. Cassie, who Hayley expected would be early to everything always, had a front-row position and was dressed in a magazine-worthy outfit that showed off her toned body. Not an extra half-inch anywhere, and while Hayley was happy for her, she knew she’d spend the entire class staring at her new friend’s perfectly pert ass. She decided to be inspired by it rather than jealous of it.

“Good morning!” Cassie said over her shoulder. “How was your date with Josh?”

“Oh. My. God.” Hayley nearly lost her breath just thinking about it. “It went beautifully.”

Cassie raised her eyebrows, wanting Hayley to elaborate, but they were surrounded by other women whose spin bikes were definitely within hearing distance. Hayley was thankful when the instructor began class, but not for long because the class almost killed her. She sweated buckets, and when she got off the bike at the end of class, her legs were beyond wobbly. The thought of walking back a mile to her office or home felt like cruel and unusual punishment, so when Cassie offered to give Hayley a ride, she gratefully accepted.

Cassie mentioned she was stopping by the Arctic Skies B&B to see Shannon Steele about doing a feature story on the recent rooftop patio installation of a custom twelve-person hot tub—which was apparently the largest hot tub in Alaska. When they got to the B&B, Hayley went in with Cassie to say hello.

When Shannon opened the door, she gave Hayley a curious look. “You live there, don’t you?” She pointed to Hayley’s apartment building down the street. “In the brick two-story?”

“I do,” Hayley said with a sinking feeling.

“Come on in,” Shannon said, holding the door for them. “I’ll make some tea, and then Hayley can tell me why Josh Barnes's truck was parked outside her house all night when she implied she barely knew him.”

Hayley swallowed guiltily. “I do barely know him.”

“But now she knows him carnally,” Cassie said breezily, waving off any threat of negativity. “A one-night stand, no big deal.”

Hayley gave her a grateful look but watched Shannon’s face, ready for the accusation of false friendship.

Shannon, though, to Hayley’s great shock, gave her a conspiratorial wink instead. “Hey, more power to you. Better to get him out of your system now.”

“Oh, he is,” Hayley said, trying to convince herself at the same time. She looked around with genuine awe at the gorgeous foyer into which she’d been welcomed, and changed the subject with sincerity.

“This is awe-inspiring.” Her eyes took in the grand chandelier. “Is it original to the house?”

“Nope,” Shannon said with a laugh. “It’s a Restoration Hardware knock-off. I’m not actually a huge lover of antiques. I go for comfort. And quality. And stuff you don’t have to fix all the time.”

“Same.” There hadn’t been one comfortable piece of furniture in Hayley’s childhood house.

“Can you show us the hot tub before we have tea?” Cassie said. “I’ll probably need to dash out pretty quick afterwards.”

“Sure.”

Shannon took them through the B&B to get to the rooftop patio, describing all the projects she’d done and still needed to do. Her great-grandparents had built the six-bedroom house shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, and Shannon told them that when her mom passed, she couldn’t bear the thought of selling it. Her bachelor brother, Tom, had a small house north of town and no interest in maintaining such a large property.

Hayley’s admiration for Shannon grew as she toured the B&B. It was clear they shared the same entrepreneurial vigor. The twelve-person rooftop hot tub would be a draw, and when Cassie suggested they do a girls’ night and watch the northern lights while sipping cocktails in the hot tub, Hayley was quick to express her enthusiasm. She loved the patio; it was a great party venue. From one edge, the downtown square was visible, and from the other, Shannon’s backyard.

Hayley went to the railing and tried to get a sense of what the yard would look like without snow. She was startled to see a big bear ambling through.

“Um, Shannon?” she said. “You’ve got a bear walking through your yard.”

“A bear!” Cassie’s voice was an octave higher than normal. “I hate bears!” She came to the edge near Hayley and clutched her arm as she tried to get a look. “A bear almost killed me once. We should call this in. Get that monster out of here.”

“Oh, that’s the one-eared bear!” Shannon said, coming beside them and smiling down at the fat grizzly bear stretching against her storage shed. “He’s kind of a townie.”

Cassie shuddered. “Cody mentioned that they ran a nuisance call on a bear the other day. I wonder if it’s the same one.”

“Watch, he’s harmless,” Shannon said. “We mean nothing to him. Hey, BEAR!”

The bear looked up at them, his head tilted so his one ear could better hear her, and Hayley laughed.

“Go on, get out of here,” Shannon called, waving her arms.

The bear stared at her stubbornly for a few seconds and then turned and waddled out of sight behind the storage shed.

“I think his den is somewhere in town,” Shannon said. “That’s why he doesn’t completely hibernate. He has warmth and food sources nearby.”

“I’m telling Cody,” Cassie said. “He needs to be relocated.”

“Aw, he’s funny!” Shannon said. “He’s been around forever.”

They ended the tour in the spacious kitchen, where Shannon had installed commercial appliances and created a baking station at which she prepared pastries daily for her guests. Hayley’s favorite feature was the long counter-height farmhouse table, for guests to share meals together in the kitchen if they preferred.

“Sit,” Shannon said, gesturing toward the table. “I’ll get the teakettle going.”

They made small talk until she brought over their tea on a tray, along with a plate of chocolates. Cassie and Shannon indulged in multiple chocolates, but Hayley, not wanting her spin class to have been for nothing, confined herself to one, seeking solace instead in the calorie-free cinnamon tea.

“So, a one-night stand with Josh Barnes,” Shannon said. “That’s how we started, too. I advise you to be careful. He’s kind of addicting.”

Tell me about it, Hayley thought.

“It’s already over,” she said. “I have a date on Saturday with the new manager of the Moondance.”

“I met him last night!” Shannon said. “He was cute. You must have gotten to him first, because he showed absolutely no interest in me.”

“Was there anyone else there you connected with?” Hayley asked.

Shannon shook her head.

“You used to date Dylan Hart, didn’t you?” Cassie said.

“I did,” Shannon said. “A long, long time ago. He was my first. My high-school love.”

“I heard there’s bad blood between you,” said Cassie.

“Not on my end,” Shannon said. “We do have a history, though, and my brother would kill us if we got together again. I like to think that’s the reason why Dylan won’t talk to me, but the truth is, I don’t really know.”

“Dylan’s a firefighter, too,” Cassie told Hayley.

“Yeah, firefighters are my kryptonite,” Shannon said, taking another chocolate as if to distract herself.

“I met Dylan briefly at Singles Night,” Hayley said. “He’s … I guess smoldering is the word.”

“He was at Singles Night?” Shannon’s voice had a pout to it. “Did he go home with anyone?”

“Dylan often goes home with someone,” Cassie said. “And it sure sounds like you’re not over him.”

Shannon sighed. “Does anyone really ever get over their first love?”

“Yes,” Cassie and Hayley said simultaneously and then laughed, also simultaneously.

“You should find my brother a match,” Shannon said to Hayley. “I want to be an auntie.”

“What kind of woman is Tom attracted to?” Hayley asked.

“Free spirits.”

“Really?” Cassie said. “That’s odd because he seems so steady and reliable. I’d think he’d want someone the same way.”

“He had to grow up fast when our dad died,” Shannon said. “He never had the chance for a rebellious phase. Plus, he had to act all big-brotherly during my extended rebellious phase, and I’m sure it wore on him.”

“How did your dad die?” Hayley asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Not at all,” Shannon said. “Although it’s refreshing to think there’s someone in this town who doesn’t know. He was a bush pilot and his plane went down in rough weather.”

“Oh, how awful.” Hayley put her hand on Shannon’s arm.

“I was ten, and I’m sure Tom stuck around Golden Falls because of me. By the time I left for college he was already on the fire department and working his way up the ranks. So—” She faced Hayley directly. “You need to find my brother someone who’s worthy of him. Someone adventurous but not flighty, and someone who won’t take off on him in the middle of the night, like his one real serious girlfriend did. Because Tom’s a great guy, and he’s got a lot of love to give, and I can’t really tell if he’s happy being single or not. It’s not the kind of thing he’d ever admit to me if he wasn’t. He never wants me to worry about him.”

“In other words, you need to find women who’ll come to Golden Falls and actually stay,” Cassie said.

“That’s the plan,” Hayley said. “‘Bring Your Heart, Leave Your Baggage,’ as my friend Rebecca likes to say.”