Page 5 of How The Mountain Man Stole Christmas
“Hi Harper, nice to see you again.” The waitress said sarcastically as she filled a new cup to the rim and begrudgingly took both Fin and Harper’s orders then disappeared almost as fast as she’d appeared.
Fin reached out to touch Harper’s hand. “Thanks for meeting me. I wasn’t sure if you would.”
“Well, a girls gotta eat right? Besides, you didn’t seem like the serial killer type, and we are in a public place, so I figured, what did I have to lose?”
Her laugh was so genuine and oddly infectious that the tension in his shoulders relaxed the longer he was in her presence. However, the more she talked in her animated and surprisingly sexy way; the tension and tightening found other areas to inhabit. He’d need to get a handle on that reaction quickly.
They’d spent the next hour getting to know each other a little bit more. Fin shared that he’d come back home after his sister-in-law died and he was living and working on the family tree farm with his brother because of the twin nieces he’d mentioned the night before. They’d lost their mother duringchildbirth and Kaleb had had a rough time coping with it. Single parent to twin toddlers was quite an adjustment.
“I swear those girls are the most precious things on this earth, but man are they evil.”
“Really? How can two three-year-old girls be evil? They sound positively adorable.”
“Oh, they’re trouble, trust me. You really need to meet them before you can form an opinion and fully judge. Hey, I know, are you doing anything tonight? We’re just having pizza so nothing special, but you could come over.”
“Well, I don’t know…” He could tell by her hesitation to say yes that she wasn’t sure about the idea.
“Listen, I promise it’ll be fun, and I’ll behave.” He gave her his pleading puppy dog face. “I’d love for you to come.”
“Oh my gosh, stop. How can I say no to that face?” She laughed as she shook her head.
“Great, what time do you get out of work? I’ll be over at the Boy Scout tree lot, and I have to pick up the pizza at Tony’s anyway so I can just stop and pick you up on the way if you want. Saves you on gas.”
“We close at five so I should be ready to go by quarter after I suppose.”
Together they stacked their empty plates and left the table, and Fin paid the bill after a few seconds of arguing. Out on the sidewalk, Fin held the car door while Harper loaded herself into her vehicle.
“Thanks for lunch Fin, I owe you one. I guess I’ll see you around five.” He closed her door and watched her fidget with the key in the ignition of her old Jeep then cranked itover, but nothing happened. She pounded the steering wheel in frustration.
“Man don’t do this to me now.” He heard her words through the window then watched her turn to look at him, concern and panic written all over her face. He motioned for her to roll down the glass hoping he could offer her some help.
“That didn’t sound too good Harper. Do you mind if I try?”
“Oh yes please! That would be so great, thank you.” Harper jumped out of the seat and let Fin in.
He pumped the gas pedal and turned the ignition, but he only heard ticking.
“Shit.”
Harper leaned in through the open window, “I don’t like the sound of that at all, do you know what’s wrong with it?”
“Well, I’m no mechanic but I do fix a lot of stuff on the farm. I think it’s your starter. It could also be a dead battery, but I really think we had better get it checked out. Jaxon’s the mechanic mastermind so I’ll give him a shout and see if he can get the Jeep picked up.
“This isn’t good. How am I going to get back to work?” Fin didn’t know if she was talking to herself or him as she’d wandered off a little.
“Harper it won’t be a big deal at all. I can take you back to work and I was going to pick you up right after anyway, so it all works out.”
“I can’t make you do that. What about tomorrow or the next day? You don’t even live in town. I don’t want you going out of your way just to run me all over the place.”
Fin ignored her ramblings and helped her get her things from the Jeep, then she locked it up since they’d be leaving it until Jaxon could get it.
“So, milady, please let me escort you to my truck.” He made a butler-type bowing motion while pointing to his truck parked across the street. “Let’s get you inside and crank the heater then we’ll go drop off your keys to Jaxon and see if he’ll be able to check it out.”
“You really don’t have to do this you know? I mean I really, really appreciate it, but you don’t have to.”
“I know I don’t Harper, but I want to. That’s what friends are for right?” When Harper looked his way, he wondered if friends were all she was looking for.
Chapter Three
