Page 16 of A Christmas Duet

She was strumming the guitar’s strings, chasing the melody that had captured her attention, when she heard a vehicle approach. Jay had said he’d return to make a permanent repair come morning. What she hadn’t expected was that he would arrive this early.

When she glanced at her watch, Hailey was surprised to see it was after nine. In her creative zone, she’d been working on the song for the last two hours. It had seemed like mere minutes. The ability to spend this dedicated time doing what she loved most was a dream come true.

Opening the front door, Hailey was there to greet Jay as he exited the truck with the Cantor Store logo painted in bright red lettering on the door. A fir wreath with blinking colored lights was attached to the grille.

“Morning,” she said with a smile, her arm across her middle to chase away the cold.

“Morning. How’d your night go?” He carried a carpenter’s box as he approached the steps.

“Wonderful. I slept like a baby.”

“No intruders?” A smile quivered at the corners of his mouth as he asked the question.

Well, at least he found her situation amusing! She lethim inside and closed the door. “If there were any nighttime invaders, I didn’t hear them.” Then, because it had been on her mind, she asked the question that had been plaguing her. She’d hesitated earlier, mainly because she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Do…Do you think…It’s clear no one has been to the cabin in a while, that there could be…mice?” She swallowed tightly as she waited for his response.

Jay grinned as though he understood her hesitation. “I can’t say, but it’s likely. If you happen upon one, let me know.”

Seeing that she intended to be in Podunk only ten days or so, Hailey decided what she didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt her. She had no intention of becoming the great white mouse hunter.

Having answered her question, Jay disappeared into the kitchen. “This shouldn’t take long,” he assured her.

Hailey followed him inside and leaned her shoulder against the door as he knelt and opened the cupboard below the sink.

“That’s where the rabid beast broke in?” she asked.

“Looks that way. The doors were open, and upon inspection, I could see the space between the logs that had deteriorated. Rocky Raccoon was a rather ingenious fellow, if you ask me.”

“Resourceful, it seems,” she added.

Jay reached for his tools and went to work.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Hailey wasn’t sure how, but she was willing to do what she could, which admittedly wasn’t much.

“Naw, I’m good.”

“Okay.” She lingered, feeling useless.

His head appeared from beneath the sink. “I see you have your guitar out,” he said, sitting back on his feet.

“Yeah, I was working on a song.”

He scooted out and looked up, holding her gaze. “You write music?”

“I try…” She was about to say she wasn’t very good and stopped herself, clamping her mouth closed. It was her own self-doubts speaking, and she refused to give in to negativity.

“Keep going,” Jay urged. “Your music will drown out the noise I’ll make hammering.”

“Won’t that bother you?”

“Not in the least.”

Although she was self-conscious, Hailey returned to her spot on the sofa with her guitar. She’d worked out the first verse and was experimenting with the bridge. The lyrics were already in her head, and she needed to balance the words with the notes.

Completely absorbed in her effort, she didn’t hear Jay until he stood almost directly in front of her.

She found him tapping his foot to the beat. “That sounds great.”

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