Page 10 of One Chance to Stay
“I was hoping you’d come with martinis in hand.”
“Blue Lagoons,” I laughed. When she raised an eyebrow, I shook my head. “Inside joke.”
“But now…” She skated to the snow bank. Dipping down, she scooped up a pile of snow and pressed it into a ball. “It’s time for revenge.”
I tried scrambling to my feet. Getting to my knees was as far as I could get. Glancing over my shoulder, she wound back, my ass in the air, an exposed target. Another splat of white hit Amanda in the chest. Not far away, Jason held a second snowball, ready to fire. He hit my shoulder, snow finding its way inside my jacket.
“Snowball fight!” Amanda roared.
The skaters bolted for snow banks, ducking for cover as they went. Parents and kids alike armed themselves. When Amanda hurled a snowball, the powder sprayed across Jason’s face. Havoc ensued. Before I could laugh, the skater Amanda had coached landed a snowball against the side of my face.
“Oh, you’re in trouble!” As I reached for another handful of snow, it felt as if the entire rink had picked me as their target. Did they practice in their yards? Pitch after pitch pelted my backside. “Cease fire! Cease fire!”
Of course, they ignored my pleas.
STARTS WITH A GESTURE
I glanced down at the record. Gladys had done such a great job with carefully placed folds. I didn’t dare open it to see its contents. I had faith that she had picked the perfect gift. If I knew anything about this town, its occupants took an uncanny delight in surprising one another.
I glanced at the hand-carved “Logan & Son Hardware” sign hanging above the entrance. Before I could reach for the door, it opened. I recognized the guy as one of Jason’s friends, but I couldn’t place the name. The few times I had seen him around town, he wore his signature overalls. It seemed fitting to run into him at the hardware store.
I stared long enough that he raised an eyebrow. “So sorry.” I offered my hand. “I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’m?—”
“Patrick.” The speed at which Firefly dismantled privacy made me uneasy. “I’m Bobby. My dad lives next door to Valhalla.” He took my hand and gave it a firm shake. “You doing okay? Heard you got stuck out in the storm.”
Of course, he knew.
“Yeah. I won’t be hiking for a while.”
He stepped out of the way, holding the door open. “If you ever need anything, Evelyn has my number.” Oh, I knew she did.I bet buying a house in Firefly came with the phone numbers of every person in town. And birthdays. Allergies. Favorite pie.
“Appreciated.” He shot me a wink as I went in. My cheeks burned. At the bar, getting hit on was part of the job. Catching the eye of a rather handsome man out in the wild, I considered myself flattered.
Slipping inside, I had a direct view of the empty counter at the back of the store. I stepped into one row running perpendicular to the counter. Holding the record behind my back, I prepared to surprise Seamus. I walked along the salt and snow shovels, turning so I approached the counter. I moved through the plumbing equipment into chainsaws. The storefront hid the true size of the interior. Shy of lumber, it had everything to build a house and keep it snow free.
“Snow shoes?” I whispered. Okay, the storedidhave everything.
I leaned around the display of duct tape and spotted Seamus reading something on the counter. He wore overalls similar to Bobby’s and a dark green turtleneck sweater that put him somewhere between cozy and playful. Seamus would probably frown if I said that aloud. He could argue all he wanted. I’m sure underneath the growling was a sensible human.
“What do you want?” He never looked up from the counter.
“Hey.” I waved, even though he never glanced in my direction. “Remember me from the other day?”
“How could I forget?” I smiled as he looked up. “You drank the last of my whiskey.” It had been a short-lived smile.
At least this explained how he got me naked in bed. Now that I had his attention, he didn’t break eye contact. Seamus had the perfect poker face, as if he could relax every muscle in his face. Feign annoyance all he wanted, it would not detour me from my mission.
“I wanted to say thank you for helping me out.”
He held still as a statue. I could’ve just said thank you and walked away. So why was I suddenly staging a grand gesture at the counter of a hardware store? No, a bit of gratitude wouldn’t be enough to shake the walls Seamus had erected. Part of me worried he’d see it as a violation of trust. The other part wanted him to think I knew him on my own.
“Screw it,” I mumbled. I whipped the record around and thrust it toward him. “I got you something.”
An eyebrow rose. A sparkly bow and wrapping paper covered in snowmen, and all I got from him was a single muscle twitch? His eyes dropped, inspecting the gift before returning with something that bordered on a glare. He must be a real hoot at birthday parties.
I set the record on the counter and slid it in his direction. Did he realize he came off as an emotional black hole? I had enough pep for two people, and yet, he deflected it without flinching. My hand lingered on the wrapping paper. If he wasn’t going to be excited, I’d dial it up. My fingers tugged at the paper, ready to tear it and reveal the golden oldies inside.
His hand shot forward, his oversized mitt flattening my palm against the record. “It’s rude to open another man’s gift.”
