Page 81 of Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance

And there’s Jack, standing on the long porch in jeans and a pale-blue short-sleeve shirt. His black hair stands out starkly against the white entryway.

He’s a picture, that’s for sure.

My meet-cute options are limited here. No elevator. No food order to mix up. I’m feeling skittish about trip and fall.

But then I have it. I snatch my rolling suitcase and get it ready to bump up the stairs.

Zachery moves to help me, but I wave him away.

Up a step. Second step.

“I can help,” Jack says, coming down from the top.

Zachery tries to intercept me. “Kelsey, you don’t want to—”

“Shhh,” I hiss. “Back off!”

I have no idea what Zachery is trying to do here, but right as Jack arrives to help with the suitcase, I kick the latch so that my clothes spill down the steps. Here we go.

“Oh, no!” I cry.

Jack grins. “Don’t worry, little lady, I’ll help.”

We kneel together in front of my exploded suitcase. We both reach for the same pair of shorts and our fingers brush against each other.

It’s working!

Then I realize it’s my white shorts from earlier, the red stains gone brown.

I snatch them away and shove them beneath the pile. More clothes cascade down the steps, all my pretty panties like a pastel rainbow.

God. This scene would never make the cut.

“Kelsey.” Zachery’s tone has a warning in it.

“What?” Maybe he’s trying to thwart my meet-cute after all. Does he care?

But when I look up, he’s standing behind Jack, holding up his left hand and pointing at his ring finger.

I immediately drop my gaze to Jack’s hand.

Blast it all, there’s a wedding ring.

I start shoving my clothes into the suitcase as fast as I can. “Thanks,” I tell Mr. Married. “I’ve got it now.”

But he’s a gentleman, and he carries the bulging bag the rest of the way up the stairs.

“Sure is nice to meet you two,” he says. “This house has been in my family for five generations.”

He leads us into a massive front room with a charming fireplace and a white staircase wrapped in ... Christmas holly? Ribbons? With silver bells?

Jack notices me gawking. “Oh, yeah, there’s a big summer Christmas event at the tree farm coming up in a week. We’ll be using the house.” He rubs his neck. “That’s why we only had this week open.”

“Wait,” I say. “Are you a Hanover from the Hanover Tree Farm?”

He grins. “Sure am.”

Zachery frowns. “So, we won’t have the option to extend our stay due to the Christmas events?”

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