Page 6 of Flirting with the Mountain Man

“Maybe on our way, we could stop and grab some breakfast?” she asked. “I’m starving.”

Now that she’d mentioned it, I was pretty darn hungry myself. And not just for her.

“Rosewood Ridge Diner?” I asked.

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds great.” And then she said the words I’d said earlier at her cabin. “Let’s go.”

5

BIANCA

Maybe it was because the area suffered a tornado over the summer, or maybe it was always this way, but Christmas had come early to downtown Rosewood Ridge. Not only did red bows adorn every streetlamp, but the buildings were decorated with lights and holly and the diner had a large, decorated Christmas tree in the front window.

“You weren’t kidding,” Tyler said from across the table as the server plopped my breakfast in front of me. “You were hungry.”

“I usually can’t eat when stuff like this is going on, but as soon as it’s over, my appetite kicks in and that’s all I want to do.”

“I can relate.”

He watched as I squirted syrup all over my peppermint chocolate chip pancakes. I had a side of bacon, two scrambled eggs, and a bowl of fruit. He, on the other hand, ordered the breakfast that had a little bit of everything in it, including country ham and hamburger steak.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” I said. “The tests could come back with something wrong.”

“Your dad’s healthy as a horse.” He slid a heaping pile of hash browns onto his fork and held it as he finished his thought. “Buteven if there was something wrong, at least if they catch it early, they can do something about it. It’s better than not knowing, right?”

I took a deep breath and looked out the window. People rushed by on their way to work or court or whatever it was workers downtown did all day.

It reminded me that I still hadn’t found a job despite a solid six-month job search. The whole thing made me feel like a total loser.

“So you’re the town fire chief,” I said, partly to make conversation but partly because I was genuinely interested in this guy’s life. “Do you like it?”

He thought about that a moment as he chewed, staring out the window as I’d done. “It’s a good job. The pay isn’t the best, but part of the reason I moved here is that the cost of living is so low. I was in the military for most of my twenties. Moving around isn’t for me. I like roots. Being here lets me stay in one place.”

“The military,” I said. “Yeah, Dad said most of the guys on the crew are former Navy SEALs.”

“Yep. I served with most of them, but now that word’s spreading, we’re getting people who’ve heard we need help with our volunteer fire department.”

“You still need help?”

He immediately began shaking his head. “Not at all. We just keep gathering volunteers. It’s getting unwieldy, but how do you say no when people want to make a difference?”

That was a rhetorical question, but I still found myself searching for an answer. I should say something, but I couldn’t compare any of my life experiences to what he was doing here in this small mountain town.

“What about you?” he asked.

My head snapped up at that question. “What do you want to know?”

Please don’t ask what I do for a living. I didn’t have an answer for that. I’d never want to admit to him just how many resumes I’d sent out going all the way back to a couple of months before college graduation.

“Are you just passing through town or staying?” he asked.

Oh. That. I hadn’t expected that question, but it was all too easy to answer.

“Staying,” I said. “My sister lives in Germany with her family, and my mom died when I was in middle school, so living close to Dad is important to me. Plus, I can work anywhere. I just need internet access.”

Well, I’d stepped into that one. I hadn’t wanted to discuss my occupation, yet I’d just brought it up.

“Oh yeah?” he asked after swallowing a generous bite of bacon. “What do you do for a living?”

---