Page 20 of Winter Vows

She stopped so fast, he almost charged right into her. “Here?” she echoed as if he’d suggested setting up shop on Mars.

“Probably not a good idea,” he said hurriedly. “It’s a small town. You’d go broke in a month.”

As if she hadn’t even heard him, her expression turned thoughtful. She began to move again, albeit at an even slower pace. “There’s no bookstore in town?”

He sighed, then reluctantly admitted what she could discover in ten seconds on her own anyway. “No.”

“What about Garden City?”

“I think there’s one at the mall, but no superstore, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Hmm.”

He could practically see the wheels turning as she toyed with the idea. As for him, his palms started turning sweaty, and his stomach began churning as he realized she’d taken him seriously and was actually considering settling down in Los Piños. Heaven help him!

“Property downtown probably has very low overhead,” she mused. “I could create a new catalogue and a jazzy new Web page. Legally I’d probably have to expand beyond mysteries and be a fullservice bookstore, so I wouldn’t be competing directly with the business I sold. Maybe I could add in a lot of Westerns. That might do really well on a Web page. I’ve heard stores in other parts of the country don’t stock that many beyond Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey.” She gazed at him with sparkling eyes. “What do you think?”

“It sounds like a possibility,” he said neutrally, regretting his lack of nerve to tell her it was insane so she’d forget all about it.

“Maybe I’ll drive into town tomorrow and take a look at what’s available.”

“You shouldn’t be driving,” he scolded, seizing on any excuse he could think of to delay her putting this impetuous plan into action. Maybe if he could stall her long enough, she’d forget all about it.

“Thank you, Dr. Jones,” she retorted.

He snatched another excuse out of thin air. “Besides, your car’s still in a ditch.”

“No, it isn’t. Jordan arranged to have it towed, checked out and brought over here this morning.”

“You still shouldn’t be driving,” Hardy insisted. “Surely that’s just good common sense. After all, you just had a baby.”

“In some parts of the world, women have babies out in the field and get right back to work,” she pointed out.

Having just seen firsthand how difficult giving birth was, Hardy shuddered. “It can’t be good for them.”

“I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying that giving birth is natural. It doesn’t turn you into an invalid.”

“Whatever you say. If you’re getting a little stircrazy sitting around, I’m sure Kelly can find some chores for you to do. Scrubbing floors and washing windows, maybe. Or maybe you’d like to ride out and round up some cattle with me?”

He’d been teasing, but her expression immediately brightened. “Oh, could I? I’ve always wanted to do that.”

He stared at her incredulously. “You actually want to bounce around in a saddle?”

She winced. “Well, maybe not today, but soon. You won’t forget, will you?”

Hardy had a hunch she wouldn’t allow him to. Since she didn’t seem to have a lick of common sense, he said, “Look, if you can wait till tomorrow evening to go into town, I’ll take you. We can grab some dinner and then cruise up and down Main Street to see if any property is available. I doubt there’s much. Most of the businesses have been there since the town was first settled.”

“Then it’s time a new one came along to shake things up,” she said, undaunted by his deliberately discouraging assessment.

They had reached the porch. Hardy stood at the foot of the steps, determined not to set foot inside that house where all manner of schemers lurked. Where Laura might be around needing to be held, he conceded; that was the real threat.

“The baby’s doing okay?” he inquired, forcing himself to act as if the question were no more than idle curiosity.

“She’s fine,” Trish said, beaming. “The best thing I’ve ever done. Want to come in and see her?”

“Not tonight,” he said a little too hurriedly.

She gave him an oddly knowing look, then shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow then. What time?”

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