Page 44 of New River Gorge(ous)
I smile to myself, because she really didn’t, and I liked getting to rescue her. “Ben is looking for another mechanic, but that doesn’t seem like a good fit.”
“Probably not. Unless people want cars they can’t drive. Actually, are there any rage rooms around here? Maybe I could open one up.”
“Rage room?” I ask, my mind shuffling through images of things like a deck of cards but not landing on anything that makes sense.
“You know, a place people go and break stuff in order to calm down. They’re all therage.” She elbows my side and wiggles her eyebrows.
I do not laugh. Instead, I fix her with a stern gaze. “Did you just make a dad joke?”
“Low-hanging fruit,” she responds. “Too tempting not to try it out. I can tell that was not your style, though, so I’ll refrain in the future.”
I don’t know what to say to this woman who is so naturally herself around me. A bit of an enigma, but one I’m enjoying puzzling out. I study her face, and that scar on her left eye catches my gaze. My hand reaches out, and I trace the line with my forefinger as she sits perfectly still at my contact.
“What happened?” I ask in a voice far more gravelly than normal.
Her blue eyes widen, and her lips part slightly, and I think she might lean in to kiss me—but then my phone buzzes and breaks the moment.
She sits back abruptly, and I look down at the phone on my lap to hide my disappointment.
Logan
We need someone to do reservation check-ins for the rafting groups twice a week.
I take a moment to collect myself and paste on a smile even though I really wish we weren’t interrupted.
“Good news,” I say with forced cheer. “Logan says they need someone to help with the reservations for rafting groups twice a week.”
“Oh, wow. That’s perfect!”
“I’ll give him your number and you can talk to him about it.”
“Ok. Is there an application?”
“Logan’s family owns the rafting company, so probably not, but you can ask him.” The words are as dry as sand in my mouth. I hate the idea of giving her information to Logan, but I also know he’s my friend, and even if he’s a serial dater, he’s a good person.
But still, jealousy doesn’t taste good.
I click through my contacts and share Brooke Bastion’s contact information with Logan. I know this is the normal and right thing to do in this situation, but Logan is also an extrovert, and Brooke might like him more than me. The two of them together would make an unstoppable force.
The jealous part of me ignites. It’s hard not to wonder if Logan will be more attractive to Brooke when Logan never lacks dates. Women flock to the man.
Brooke’s phone vibrates, and she pulls it from her pocket. “Oh that’s perfect!” she says, turning her bright smile on me.“Thank you so much! I start tomorrow. Logan said if you vouched for me, I’m good.”
I force a smile back at her obvious enthusiasm even though that means she won’t be sitting on June’s porch swing and waving to me when I leave for work tomorrow.
“Hmm.” She jumps up off the swing and scrolls on her phone for a minute, then begins talking to herself. “I have sturdy shoes, and I have a water bottle, but I don’t have a headlamp.”
“I do,” I blurt.
She blinks at me.
“I have a headlamp. You could use it.”
“Oh, that would be great. Logan said the back room gets dark when grabbing supplies and things.”
I nod, but a huge yawn escapes me.
“I should go tell Meemaw about my job, and you should probably…” She tilts her head, indicating my house.
