Page 12 of No Good Deed

So did she. Maybe a little too much.

* * *

Troy wanted to ask questions about the ideas whirling in Piper’s head, but he respected her process instead. She was the expert, and he’d have to wait until she was ready to share.

That thought made him smile. He had plenty of ideas of what and how they could share. The woman was totally appealing. She’d taken on a dog even though she’d never had one.

Her eyes took in all the details of the area as they walked, reminding him this wasn’t a date. She was working. Her gaze moved from sidewalks to store fronts to empty buildings to street lamps to people.

He wondered how differently she saw things. Phail had always been home to Troy. When he’d been overseas, memories of Phail had sustained him during the difficult days.

The people mostly, but the places too. He knew every street, every home, every business. He knew who liked coffee and who preferred tea. When someone needed help, he knew who would chip in with ways to make things better.

Even far from home, he could imagine the friendly banter in the No Fail Diner. The scent of Ginny’s cinnamon buns and Fiona’s homemade breads over in her store. The sight of fresh snow covering everything in a layer of magic. The rivers and creeks freezing enough for everyone to skate.

Tourists wouldn’t see the heart of Phail. They would see the empty buildings, the obvious signs of a town not in its prime.

Attracting people and business meant showcasing that heart. The way Piper had been studying the area with a smile, he hoped she had some ideas how to achieve that.

Excitement was building in him. Hope. Hiring Piper might turn out to be his best move ever.

The little bulldog led the way down the street, stopping every few feet to shove his face into a snowbank, and making them both laugh.

Piper grinned up at him. “Do all dogs do that?”

Troy shrugged. “No idea.”

“He doesn’t have much fur. I didn’t expect him to like snow so much.”

Troy nodded. “He’s having a blast. Look at that tail wag. Maybe Kimi’s wrong and he’s really a mutant variety of husky.”

Her laugh and obvious joy in the dog filled Troy with warmth. When they arrived back at the B&B, they dried Oreo’s paws with a towel Jim or Carl had left in the foyer.

Troy picked up his backpack and they moved into the main room of the B&B. A fire crackled and popped in the fireplace. Jazzy Christmas music played softly through the speakers. A romantic setting. Were the men playing matchmakers?

Troy pointed at an ancient trunk that served as a coffee table in front of the couch. “I can use that to show you what I brought.” And it would give him an excuse to sit beside her on the couch. He was ridiculously happy about the prospect.

Maybe he was simply ridiculous.

Piper let Oreo roam and sat on the couch. He sat beside her, leaving room between them, and set his pack on the floor. He unzipped it and brought out the first photo album. “My generation is the youngest of the Phails. There are only the three of us who live here, but there are a few more cousins scattered around the country.”

“You said Ginny and Fiona are your cousins, right?”

He nodded. “Right. They’ve both lived here their whole lives as well, aside from going to school.”

“How did Phail come by its name?”

He grinned at her. “I know you want to find out if there’s a way to change the name, but there isn’t. Let me give the short version of the history. Way back when, there was a feud between some of the members of the MacPhail clan over in Scotland. They split into two groups and one group dropped the Mac and kept the Phail.”

Her eyes twinkled. “They should have kept the Mac instead.”

He laughed. “Maybe. After a generation or two, a few Phails moved to the States. Samuel Phail decided to settle in Vermont and built a sawmill out at the Midnight Lake property.”

“I’d like to see that area some day.”

He nodded. “It was abandoned for a lot of decades, but it’s a great place. Tansy and her team have taken it off the grid without destroying the charm or the history.”

Oreo jumped up from where he was snoozing on the rug in front of the fire as the door to the kitchen swung open.

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