Page 16 of There I Find Hope

Her eyes caught on those, and they made her smile. She tried to hide it as her eyes came back up to his face.

He looked a little familiar.

“Do I know you?” she blurted out. She could blame it on Blake. Or the stress of the last few weeks. She didn’t typically greet guests like that.

“Actually, you do. I’m Noah. Noah Sterner.” He opened his mouth to say more, but she gasped.

“Noah? From high school?”

He nodded.

“Goodness. It’s been years.” She couldn’t keep the pleasure out of her voice. Her memories of her time with Noah were all sweet. He had been a good friend. She crinkled her brow. “I can’t even remember the last time I talked to you. I guess we just drifted apart.” After graduation? She couldn’t really remember.

And then it hit her.

Glenn.

“I always felt bad for the way I just kind of left everyone when I fell head over heels for Glenn.” She took a breath. This wasn’t something she was expecting to have to say today. “I owe you an apology.”

Here he was, at the bed-and-breakfast, and she wasn’t letting him state his business, she was dredging up old memories. But now that she’d started, she had to finish. “Sorry. I valued your friendship, but I didn’t act like I did.”

He grunted a little laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I certainly don’t hold anything against you. I... Sorry things didn’t work out.”

He seemed truly unhappy. And that was Noah. He’d always been concerned about others. As she recalled, his family had money, but he never acted like it. He’d always been humble. And that appealed to her. It made her feel better that he wasn’t holding her past against her.

“It’s okay. That’s water under the bridge. And nothing I can do about it now. But I do feel bad that I pretty much dumped the people who cared about me and ran off with someone who didn’t in the end.”

“I think we’ve all made stupid mistakes like that.”

“You’ve been married?” He certainly seemed like the kind of man who would have a wife and a couple of kids in a happy home. Somewhere. Noah was loyal. She remembered that much.

“No. Never been.”

She let that sink in. She wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. But his eyes held hers, and she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “So, I was here to talk to your mom. She still owns the bed-and-breakfast, right?”

“Yeah. She does. But I’m here right now, because she’s taking a walk.” She took a breath. Why did she feel so odd? Lightheaded? Maybe she needed to eat more. “Can I help you with something?”

“I wanted to ask her about making a brochure, but let me help you get this flour cleaned up first. Someone else might come in, and I’m sure you’d feel better if the kitchen looked less dusty.”

She laughed. She’d totally forgotten about the flour on the floor. That showed how jumbled her brain was.

“All right.” She pointed to the pantry where they kept the broom and dustpan. “Do you mind grabbing the broom and dustpan from there, and I’ll scoop up as much of this as I can and get it in the trash.”

He jerked his head, set his briefcase down well away from the flour mess, and walked to the pantry.

By the time he came back with the broom and dustpan, she’d gotten several large handfuls of flour off the floor and tossed them in the trash.

He swept up everything that was left on the floor while she grabbed the rag to wipe down the counters and the covered doors and swipe at what was left on the floor.

Five minutes later, the kitchen looked the way it had before she showered it with flour.

“Thanks for your help. Honestly, we don’t usually put guests to work around here.”

“I like to think I’m a little more than a guest. I used to be a friend.”

There was something in his tone that made her eyes sweep to his.

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