Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was only noon, and Caroline already felt as if she’d been on her feet all day.

She’d just finished checking in a new guest for the weekend—the inn was at capacity, which excited her beyond words, considering how sparse business had been this time last year. No one else was scheduled to check in for the rest of the day, so she took the opportunity to go into the kitchen and work on some meal prep for dinner.

She wasn’t the best cook. Her mother far and away held that title, but Caroline could manage making some roasted potatoes and vegetables to set aside to go with a main course for dinners for the rest of the week. With the holiday season in full swing, she didn’t want her mother to be burdened making food for the rest of the family as well as guests any more than necessary.

She had just taken the pan of vegetables out of the oven when she heard an odd scraping noise outside. Wiping her hands on her jeans, she walked out of the back door into the late afternoon chill, looking around curiously for the source of the sound.

There was nothing along the side of the house—no animals or anything that had fallen loose, as was her first worry, because it seemed lately that there were more repairs to be done than ever. Frowning, she continued around to the back of the inn, only to see the source of the noise there, crouched in the snow.

There was a young boy—probably eight or nine, she thought—with auburn hair and glasses digging in the snow. He’d managed to clear out a section with his mittened hands and was now using a stick to prod at the frozen earth—without much success.

Caroline cleared her throat, crossing her arms and trying not to laugh. She had no idea who this child was, and was more than a little worried as to why he’d wandered onto their property—but there was something markedly adorable about the sight she’d stumbled on.

“Hey there.” She cocked her head. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The little boy jumped, almost spilling back into the snow as he turned to look at her. “Digging,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I heard the person who owned this place a hundred years ago used to have a bunch of exotic pets! Monkeys and tigers and dinosaurs . And they’re all buried here in the backyard.” His voice rose as he spoke, full of enthusiasm, and Caroline pressed her lips together to keep a smile off of her face.

“So you’re a paleontologist? Did someone hire you to dig them all up?”

The little boy frowned, nudging his glasses up. “No,” he admitted. “But fossils are my favorite thing besides math. So I had to come dig them up.”

Caroline couldn’t help but chuckle at that. The boy was utterly charming, and she didn’t want to break his heart, even if he did need to understand that he couldn’t just wander wherever he pleased. “That’s really cool,” she admitted, smiling at him. “ But —this is private property. So you can’t just plop down and start digging, okay? You’d have to talk to someone first. And especially this time of year, digging for fossils is just a no-go. It’s too cold.”

“It is?”

Caroline nodded.

The little boy looked down, obviously chagrined. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, and Caroline walked toward him.

“It’s all right. You didn’t know. And we should be introduced. I’m Caroline.”

“Josiah. Jay,” he amended, and she gave him a warm smile.

“Jay. You should probably head home—it’s getting late, and it’s kind of cold out. I’ll walk you where you need to go, if that’s okay?”

He nodded, and Caroline tucked her hands into her coat. “Lead the way, then, Jay.”

To her surprise, he didn’t take her to one of the residential houses in town. They walked further than she would have thought, all the way to the firehouse, where Jay immediately brightened up and rushed inside. She hesitated, but followed him, unsure if he’d just brought her here because he wasn’t sure where to go.

But, as she watched, she was shocked to see him run directly toward the firefighter who had talked to her the other night at the inn.

The one Nora and Audrey had interrogated at Rockridge Grill.

Rhett.

Caroline blinked, shocked as Rhett took Jay’s hand and walked over to her. “I see my son got into some trouble,” he said, the look on his face bemused, and Caroline shook her head quickly.

“I didn’t know you had a son,” she managed, stammering a little for the second time since she’d met this man.

How does he turn me into such a mess?

Her statement hadn’t even made sense, and she quickly rushed to rectify it. “Not that I would have any reason to know. You’re new here, you said. But…”

She trailed off, feeling foolish.

All she could think as she stood there, looking at Rhett and the little boy who obviously looked like him now that they were side by side, was, Oh no. He’s married.

She hadn’t really wanted to admit to herself that she’d nurtured a tiny crush on him since the night they’d met, but now that it seemed obvious he was spoken for, she felt a flush of disappointment. She glanced covertly at his left hand, looking for a ring. There wasn’t one, but that didn’t mean anything. Plenty of blue-collar men took them off before work, to avoid any kind of injury.

Rhett smiled, seemingly taking her awkwardness in stride.

“Yeah,” he said, glancing down at Jay and then back at her. “Jay’s mine. I’m divorced,” he added, and she felt her cheeks heat, realizing that he’d noticed in some way that that mattered to her.

“He’s not in any trouble,” she said quickly, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. “He just wandered into the inn’s backyard. I suppose he heard a rumor about some fossils and wanted to dig them up.”

“Jay!” Rhett scolded, embarrassment clear on his handsome features. “I’m sorry about that,” he said quickly. “I’ll make sure we have a talk about boundaries tonight.”

“It’s okay, really,” she hurried to assure him. “The ground’s too hard to dig very much anyway. There wasn’t any harm done. And this is all new, so it’s natural for him to want to explore. I just thought he should know to be careful—some folks have more animals than we do, dogs and bigger goats and such, and I wouldn’t want him to be hurt.”

She was a little surprised to hear the words coming out of her mouth. She’d always been a stickler for the rules all her life—it was one of the things that had often come between her and Nora, both when they were younger and as adults. But looking at the little boy and remembering his eagerness, and seeing his father’s concern, she found that she didn’t care as much.

“Well,” Rhett said, letting out a breath. “Jay will come over this weekend, and fix whatever digging he did manage to do. Right, Jay? If that’s okay with you,” he added.

Caroline nodded. “Of course.” She made a mental note to have Rhonda save a few cookies, or whatever baked goods showed up on the weekend roster for breakfast.

Rhett gave his son a pointed look, and Jay nodded. “Okay,” he mumbled, repeating it more clearly when Rhett didn’t relent.

Caroline smiled. “I’ll head out, then. See you tomorrow,” she added to Jay, who waved a small wave.

“Bye,” he said.

“Bye.” She glanced at Rhett as she said it, as well, and he waved as she walked away, out of the firehouse.

She wanted to kick herself, as she left. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her cheeks flushed—as if she were some teenage schoolgirl getting flustered again.

Nothing was going to happen between her and the handsome firefighter. She should come to terms with that now, before she made a fool out of herself in front of him again.

After all, Evergreen Hollow was a small town.

It definitely wouldn’t be the last they’d see of each other.