Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

H e’d nearly made it back to his rental car, ready to make his escape, away from this farm and Kira and an impending snowstorm and barns that were most definitely death traps, when a familiar voice called his name.

‘Ben! Hey!’ Jacob from Jeanie’s book club was waving to him from the dirt patch that served as a parking lot.

Bennett glanced at his watch. He’d stayed longer than he planned. It was after ten and the farm was officially open. Not that anyone else appeared to be here.

‘Jacob, hey. What are you doing here?’

The younger man smiled at him like he was an idiot. ‘This is a tree farm, Ben. We’re here for a tree.’

Bennett was about to ask who the ‘we’ was, when he spotted Nancy, Linda, and Kaori climbing out of Nancy’s hatchback.

‘It’s a book-club field trip. Or at least some of the book club,’ Jacob explained. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Uh…’ Using all my strength not to fall back into bad habits. ‘Just out for a walk with the dogs.’ The dogs in question were happily sniffing around Jacob’s feet.

‘Right,’ Jacob said with a wink. ‘A walk … got it.’ He winked again and Bennett had no idea what he was hinting at until the women came over and Linda immediately asked if he’d found anything suspicious yet.

Kaori shushed her. ‘Quiet, Linda! Remember we’re trying not to traumatize the new owner.’ Kaori turned her gaze on Bennett. ‘How is Miss North, by the way? We hear you’ve gotten to know her.’ Her smile made him wonder if he could make a run for his car before they could catch him.

‘She’s…’ Funny, sharp, a little lonely, so beautiful it hurts … ‘She’s done a lot to get the farm up and running. I think she’ll be good for the uh … town.’

‘Hmm, yes, good for the town.’ Kaori’s smile grew but there was no time for a more thorough interrogation. Another young man was striding toward them.

‘Looks like they’re closed,’ he said, linking his hand with Jacob’s.

‘Ben, this is Darius, my boyfriend,’ Jacob said with a huge grin, ignoring Darius’s proclamation that the farm was closed.

‘Nice to meet you.’ Bennett shook the man’s hand and Darius gave him a big smile in return before turning back to Jacob. ‘There’s no one in the cabin. Maybe because of the snow?’

Jacob frowned. ‘But it’s barely started!’

The snow had been falling in large, fat flakes since Bennett had run away from Kira, and now it was coming down faster. Already the trees had a light coating, making the farm look like it had been dusted with confectioners’ sugar. It was pretty at the moment, but Bennett figured they only had another few hours before the roads were a mess.

‘We’ll just go by the honor system,’ Nancy declared, waving her saw around.

‘The honor system?’ Darius asked, clearly skeptical and maybe a bit nervous about the jagged blade the older woman was brandishing.

‘Sure. We’ll cut down our trees and leave the money. Like we used to do. No need for all this fuss.’ Nancy waved her hand at all of Kira’s hard work. Her decorated cabin and strings of lights, her cute hand-painted signs and photo-op spots. It made Bennett irrationally angry to have it brushed aside like it was nothing.

‘Maybe you should just come back another time,’ he suggested.

‘Do you know how hard it was to find a day we could all come?’ Kaori asked. ‘And we’re still missing members.’ She gave her head a determined shake. ‘I’m with Nancy. It has to be today.’

‘Yay!’ Jacob clapped his hands. ‘Let’s go!’

The little group marched off toward the trees, snow already piling up on their hats and shoulders.

‘Come on, Bennett!’ Jacob called over his shoulder. ‘We’ll help you look for bodies while we’re here!’

Bennett glanced toward Kira’s house, down the dirt road from the parking lot. He thought about her in there, alone and cold. He thought about her rummaging around in that old barn, or stumbling over some grisly discovery, or most likely looking out her window and seeing the Dream Harbor Book Club stealing her Christmas trees, and he wanted to protect her from all of it.

He blew out a long sigh.

This test was too much and he’d definitely failed it.

‘Wait up,’ he called after the group and followed them back into the trees.

* * *

‘I’m starting to think maybe there isn’t a dead body, after all,’ Jacob said, like he was horribly disappointed they hadn’t found a murder victim.

‘Of course there isn’t,’ Bennett grumbled. They’d ended up by the old barn again, mostly because Jacob thought it looked like a good place to hide things and partly because the biggest trees were up at this end of the farm, and apparently Kaori required a twelve-footer for her cathedral ceilings. Bennett was cold and tired and now carrying Pudgy who was snoring loudly in his arms.

The women had already headed back down the hill, their trees on the back of a sled. But Jacob insisted they check out the barn. So here they were, inside the building that just this morning Bennett had warned Kira to stay away from.

Trespassing.

Snooping.

‘Maybe it’s not a body. Maybe Noah was right. Maybe he buried some kind of treasure. Or money,’ Jacob said, as he peered around an old tractor.

‘And if he did, it’s not ours to find. So, let’s go.’

‘He’s right,’ Darius chimed in from his spot huddled inside his coat near the door. ‘We should go, babe.’

‘Okay, fine,’ Jacob agreed with a huff. ‘I guess the old guy was just screwing with us with that letter.’ He shrugged. ‘Well, you’re off the hook, Ben. You don’t have to keep coming up here for walks,’ he said, with another wink, before following Darius out of the barn.

Bennett didn’t have to keep coming here. He shouldn’t keep coming here. He didn’t need another Nicole in his life. Not that Kira was anything like her, but the situation was too tempting for him. It was like a sugar addict getting a part-time job at a candy factory.

He glanced at the ceiling, where the beams had separated and the roof had caved in. Snowflakes swirled in through the opening. There was nothing else in here except for some old farm equipment and damp hay. Nothing of much use.

Except for maybe that…

Bennett spotted the old shovel and the bag of rock salt shoved into the corner of the barn. He doubted Kira had thought about how she would clear her path tomorrow. She wasn’t used to the snow.

He could just bring these down and leave them on her porch for her.

And then he would go.

He wouldn’t think about her digging herself out of her house, alone, tomorrow. Nope. He would drop these off and then go home.

It was a good plan. A compromise with himself.

He looked down at the sleeping dog in his arms and the two circling his feet.

‘Hey, Jacob, wait up.’ He followed the other men and found them loading their tiny tree onto the back of a sled. Perfect.

He put the salt and the shovel next to their tree, but kept Pudgy with him. She was too old to go bumping around on the back of a sled. They all slipped and slid their way back down the hill, with Jacob and Darius spontaneously breaking out into a very spirited version of ‘Let it Snow’ on their way down.

It reminded Bennett that this was what he’d wanted. A white Christmas. A quintessential New England December. Noah was right, the farm looked like the set of a holiday movie. But it wasn’t enough. Bennett’s thoughts kept returning to his other Christmas wish.

And his resolve to leave the snow supplies and run was weakening with every step.

‘Can you guys drop the dogs off at Logan’s for me?’ he said when they got back to the cars. Logan’s farm was on the way back to town or he wouldn’t have asked, but he didn’t know how much longer he’d be here, and he wanted the dogs taken care of.

Because, who the hell was he kidding? There was no way he was leaving until he was sure Kira was equipped for this storm.

‘Sure, Ben.’ Jacob smiled at him, shaking snow from his coat. ‘Sticking around a little longer, huh?’

Bennett didn’t reply. He was getting tired of this book club and their knowing smiles and remarks.

‘Have fun, anyway!’ Jacob sang.

Bennett bundled the dogs into the car and watched as they drove away. The dirt parking lot was completely covered in several inches of snow now, but the car made it out and onto the road safely.

Bennett stood there, the snow seeping through his jeans, thinking about how he should leave, about how bad of an idea it was to go check on Kira, about how he was repeating patterns that had only made him miserable in the past.

But the thing about bad habits was that they were very hard to break.