Page 29 of This Moment

“Um, the Moose Village Inn.”

He nodded. “The place didn’t come furnished. Are you going to be able to buy furniture after putting up so much cash up front?”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I glanced at the door that led into the cabin. “I’m sure I can find some good deals.”

Kian stood. “I have a friend who owns a furniture storeabout thirty minutes from here in Lake Placid. I’m sure he’ll make you a good deal.”

Everything inside me screamed to tell him I was fine and could manage to get it. But another part of me wanted to spend time with Kian. For the last month, I had kept to myself, which wasn’t normal for me. I was a people person, and keeping to myself for much longer would drive me crazy.

Could I trust Kian? When he smiled, and it lit his eyes up, I had my answer. “You don’t have anything better to do today?”

“I’m currently unemployed, so I have all the time in the world. Are you off from the bakery today?”

“I am. Are you sure you don’t mind? I haven’t had a chance to drive around and see what’s in the area, so I wasn’t sure if there was a furniture store.”

His brows shot up. “You’ve been here a month and haven’t looked around the area or googled anything?”

“I have not.”

He ran his hand over his chin. “Have you seen the calendar of events page on the city website?”

Laughing, I replied, “I haven’t.”

“Oh, Cadie, you need to bookmark that page. If there is one thing about Moose Village, they love their city and celebrate. This month is the spring scavenger hunt, even though it’s still normally cold out during it.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You meet at City Hall and get the list of what is on the scavenger hunt. Once you get all the locations marked off and what you found at each one, you go back to City Hall. Whoever gets there first with all of the correct items wins.”

Smiling, I asked, “What do you win?”

Kian winked, and I had to force myself not to swoon. Goodness, the man was handsome. Built. Charming. And a bit mysterious. “Respect.”

I laughed again. “Respect? All that running around, and you don’t even get a free ice cream at the ice cream parlor?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t done it in years, and maybe it was because we were kids and we didn’t get anything, but, man, it was a lot of fun. The grownups loved it as well.”

“Did your parents have fun doing it?” I asked.

Kian’s smile instantly vanished. “They never participated in it. At least not with us kids.”

“I’m sorry. That seems like something that would be fun to do with your kids.”

He gave a half shrug. “My parents liked the idea of kids but didn’t like us around. We were messy, loud, and didn’t fit the idea of a perfect world. At least not until we were old enough for them to start shaping us how they wanted us to be. We were a good conversation for them at their functions, and once we were old enough to behave, they would drag us to these events. I liked the Christmas parties, though; they were fun.”

I wanted to take his hand and squeeze it. I didn’t know what it was like to have parents who weren’t in every aspect of my life. I hated that my own lived in Italy, but they made sure to call every other week after I moved out and they even managed to return to the states for Christmas every year. That was the hardest part about this…not having any contact with my family.

Instead of taking his hand, I gave him a soft smile. “I wish I could say I understand, but my parents are very loving.”

“Do they live close by?”

I felt myself wobble for a half second. “No, they live on the West Coast.”Of Italy.

It wasn’t a lie…exactly.

“Do you miss them?”

Tears stung at the back of my eyes. “Yes. Very much.”

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