Page 27 of Scoring with my Bestie's Ex

I duck into a hardware store. As I’m browsing, I hear something about another landslide. My stomach swoops—are we going to be stuck here even longer?

As much as I like this place, Mike and I need to start training soon, not to mention Bella and Ellen needing to get back to their jobs.

I head over to the two elderly men discussing the situation.

“Excuse me,” I say. “Did I hear right that there was another landslide?”

“Sure did,” the man to the left says. “As I was telling Billy here, the Colson’s house was completely destroyed.”

House? “It wasn’t on the highway?”

Billy shakes his head. “Joe lives near the Colson’s, and the slide came down the mountain and took out his barn, too.”

“Was anyone hurt?” I ask urgently. “Is anyone missing?”

“Thank God, no,” Joe answers.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“There were two houses and three barns all destroyed,” Joe continues. “Looks like some livestock were killed, but no people were hurt. It’s going to be difficult to rebuild, though.”

Billy nods, looking angry. “I’ve been saying for years that the mountain needs to be replanted. Damn, loggers ripped up all the trees, and now we have nothing to keep the dirt in place.”

“Gonna cost the town a fortune to stabilize it,” Joe agrees.

Billy scowls. “And how much you want to bet it won’t ever happen? Not in the budget or some such nonsense.”

They move on, but they’ve given me an idea. Castleton has offered the tourists trapped here so much. Perhaps we could give something back.

Some sort of fundraiser. An event I can help plan to raise money for the town and the people affected by the landslides.

I grin.

I can’t wait to share this idea with Bella.

Chapter eleven

Bella

Despite wanting to sleep and make up for the lack last night, I can’t get settled.

The same thoughts that kept me up last night keep me awake now.

It’s not going to help just to lie around, so I grab my sketchbook and a camping chair. I set up outside, getting some sun while I work on my designs.

With the gentle breeze and the warm sun, my body relaxes. I find myself dozing off with the pencil in hand. It’s just too beautiful a day to keep wondering about relationships and work and all that.

I’m just about to go back to get one of the lounging camp chairs when a shadow falls over me.

I shield my eyes and look up.

My heart drops. Steven is haloed by the sun, nearly blinding me to his identity.

“What are you doing here?” I snap, jumping to my feet.

Steven holds up his hands, his eyes widening. “I only wanted to make sure you knew that the town has a plane.”

“I know about the plane,” I answer.

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