Page 8 of Wyatt the Military Veteran

*Adding a visit to Suitor’s Crossing to my bucket list. Any suggestions for what a tourist should see?

Hmm… I'm sensing we may have different tastes in entertainment. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't break the code of your favorite book. I'm officially stumped.

My origami specialty is a classic—the swan. An art teacher taught us in class one day, and I was hooked. I checked out an origami book from the library to memorize all the ways I could fold squares of paper into animals, flowers, you name it.

There are worse things you could hoard… Toenails, teeth, used bandaids… Stickers seem like a wise choice when you think about it.

Yours,

Wyatt

P.S. In case you don't hear from me, my number is below, if you want to text. No pressure! I just don't want you to worry if a letter gets lost in the mail and weeks go by in radio silence.

CHAPTER SIX

KENNEDY

“What's got you smiling?” Beth asks from my office doorway.

I knew I should have shut the door.

Flipping my phone over as if I'm not guilty of texting during work hours, I lie, “Nothing. Just a meme,” and cross my fingers under my desk.

Beth moved to town a month ago after her friend Caroline suggested she apply for a job at city hall. Apparently, Beth wanted a change—and most of her friends now live in Suitor's Crossing—so she took the plunge.

I admire her courage, and we hit it off immediately during a meeting to discuss Hearthstone Lodge hosting a city hall event.

“A meme?” Beth's forehead crinkles in doubt. “That's the same moony-eyed look Caroline gets whenever Snow is around.”

“I'm not moony-eyed, and our coffee date isn’t for another fifteen minutes. You’re early.”Diverting the conversation is always a good tactic, right?

“Good thing, too, or else you'd still be keeping secrets from me, so spill. What's going on? Did Chris finally start making an effort for you?”

All of my friends know about the Ghosting of Chris Dugan. He still hasn't acknowledged my letters, which honestly is a dickmove—something I’ll never say to Sheree. She thinks the sun shines out of his ass, especially with the whole ‘military’ thing.

Frustration boils to the forefront again at the reminder of Chris's bad behavior, and I'll take anger over sadness any day. His rejection would have decimated me to tears a few months ago, but Wyatt’s correspondence eases the pain.

Because he actually replies, and not just in letters.

We’ve been texting since he sent his phone number—hence my smile earlier—and our conversations are easy. Comforting. Probably because he’s thousands of miles away and doesn’t have to deal with my brothers or my awkwardness up close and personal.

There’s a barrier between us. One that invites vulnerability rather than my usual shyness.

“It’s not Chris.” I close out the tabs on my desktop screen then stretch before grabbing my purse.

“Then who is it? One of Beckett’s hot firefighter friends? Or a business associate of Ezra’s?” Excitement magnifies in Beth’s pupils. “Oh, let it be that one! Talk about a taboo pairing. Your brother would freak.”

Beth hasn’t met all of my family yet, but she’s heard rumors about the Suitor’s Crossing bad boy, Beckett Caldwell, and knows Ezra mingles in an international crowd with his elite financial group.

“Nope.” We walk to the lodge’s exclusive coffee shop and order our drinks before meandering out to the brick patio that overlooks the mountains and forests surrounding a glittering lake. We usually mix up our meetings between Hearthstone’s coffee and Crossing’s Cups & Cakes in town, and today is a lodge day.

“Is it any of your brothers’ friends?” she asks. Our metal chairs scrape across the bricks as we settle in for an afternoon chat.

I shake my head, hiding a smile behind my iced coffee.

Beth taps a finger against her lips. “Mysterious… A stranger.”

“Well, he knows someone I know.”

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