Page 9 of Trick or Treat with the Mountain Man
Because this grown man was scared of that sound.
Quietly I said, “I’ll talk to my friends about the noise. And… I can ask them to hold off on the fireworks. Someone brought over a pile of leftovers from the Fourth of July.”
His brow furrowed, and he pulled another cookie out of the cellophane bag. “I appreciate that. Very kind of you.”
“Yeah. No problem.”
The energy between us changed. Tyler seemed to be getting comfortable with me. I’d have him warmed up and friendly in another hour if he let me keep chatting.
The entire bag of cookies might be gone by then. I’d let him worry about his blood sugar levels. I just knew those sweet treats were working some magic on him.
“I bake other things, too. I could bring something by someday if you want. I make a perfect Sweet Tea Cake, and I’ve heard my classic Arkansas Jam Cake is to die for.”
His lips parted slightly, as if he were ready to eat both cakes up right now.
But he clamped his mouth shut, then muttered, “This visit is a one-time thing.”
Maybe it had been too soon to try to weasel a second invitation out of him.
His eyes narrowed. “And what did you mean when you saidthisis what you do? Meet strangers?”
“I just like to make people feel welcome around here. I grew up knowingeveryonein this town. But I remember going to summer camp one year in South Arkansas. I didn’t know anyone, and one girl took me under her wing and introduced me to the whole camp. I’m not really the shy type, but I was feeling shy out there until she helped me feel like I belonged. So I like to greet the newcomers.”
He scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck, a tiny furrow between his brows. “I’m sorry, Ava. You caught me at a time when I didn’t expect to have any company. And if you can’t tell, I’m a few shot glasses into my whiskey bottle. I think I’m being an ass.”
“You?Never. You’re definitely not guarded. Or suspicious. Or surly. No one would ever say those things about you,” I told him with a giant grin on my face.
As a reward, I managed to sneak another small chuckle out of him.
Step one. Get their name.
Step two. Find common ground.
Step three. Make them laugh.
Those were my rules for breaking the ice with someone new.
And italwaysworked.
All I needed was one good belly laugh from him, and I’d feel confident I’d cemented things between us.
He picked up his empty whiskey glass, then put it back down on the coffee table, like he’d only been thinking of filling it up again.
When he spoke, his voice was serious. “Wouldn’t you rather be hanging around with your friends right now?”
Tyler was right about one thing. You could hear music, along with people talking and laughing all the way inside with the windows shut. This place wasn’t insulated well.
“I’ve known all of them my whole life. I’m pretty excited to dive into someone new. By the end of this maybe you’ll tell me the story of how you moved to Red Oak Mountain. That’s all I’m really here for. I collect stories.”
He cocked his head. “What do you do with them?”
“Nothing. I just like hearing people’s stories. We all make life decisions, and some of those decisions have no effect on our lives, and some of them completely change the trajectory. Just last year, one of my friends moved back to town after leaving as a kid. I never thought I’d see Candy again. But she showed up. And then, wouldn’t you believe it, there was an ulterior motive for her moving back! She’d never forgotten her first boyfriend. She moved back to see if there was a chance that she and Walker could have a future together. Isn’t that something? Changing your whole life on a whim? I mean… she could have come onvacationfirst rather thanmovehere. What if things hadn’t worked out?”
He stared at me, perplexed.
“Well, that’s just one example of a story.”
“What’syourstory?” he asked out of the blue.
