by Kay Correll
She slipped her hand in his, at once surrounded by rough skin and a firm handshake. “I’m Cece. Bree’s sister.”
“Nice to meet you. Cece, huh?”
“Short for Celeste, but the only one who ever called me that was my mother when I did something wrong.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” His lazy grin teased her.
She looked down to see that he still held her hand. He must have noticed at the same time because he set it free. Her hand immediately felt lonely and cold.
That was a silly thought, wasn’t it?
Another silly thought—she wanted to invite herself to join him while he ate his lunch. But that would be strange to ask if she could join him because she’d already eaten, and she really needed to get back and help Bree. What would she say? Hi, can I sit and watch you eat?
She slipped her hand into her jeans pocket. “Well, I better go. Enjoy your lunch.”
“I’m sure I will. Thanks for bringing it over to me.” His smile said thanks, but something about his face held a depth of standoffishness.
Okay then, maybe she didn’t want to stay after all. “You’re welcome. It was no big deal. It’s a pretty day for a walk.”
“Yep.”
Ugh, small talk.
“Okay, see you.” She fled the structure before she could say one more meaningless comment.
Zach watched the cute brunette scurry away. He couldn’t help but think that “scurry” was the exact right word to describe it. Like she couldn’t wait to get away from him. But that was okay. He didn’t need any entanglements while this project was taking up all his time.
Even if she did have the most interesting brown eyes with hints of golden sparkles in them. Even if she had a quick smile and a dimple on her left cheek. She had her hair pulled back in one of those complicated looking braid thingies that women wore. She was shorter than him, he’d guess only about five foot two or so. She’d barely come up to his shoulders.
And why had he noticed all these details?
But none of that mattered, of course. He’d sworn off women. That was the only logical thing to do after what happened with…
Nope, he’d also sworn that he wouldn’t think about her. Wouldn’t even allow himself to think her name.
He settled down on a sawhorse and pulled out a thick sandwich on homemade bread. Man, no other job was ever going to be as good as this one with meals like the ones Nora made for him.
Even if this job was trying to kill him.
Chapter 3
Cece sank onto the swing by the lake after returning to the cabin late that night following the wedding. She gratefully took the glass of wine Bree held out to her. “Thanks.”
“That was a long one, wasn’t it?” Bree dropped a blanket on Cece’s lap.
“It was. I don’t know how you do it. I’m exhausted.”
“I’m thinking I’m going to need to hire some more help. And I don’t know how I got wrapped up in doing so much of the wedding planning, too. I want to cook. I want to cater.” Bree settled beside her, and Cece covered her sister’s lap with half of the blanket.
“You know what?” Bree pushed off lightly with her foot and started the swing in a gentle motion.
“What?” She took a sip of her wine and looked up at the starlit sky.
“I think you should consider moving to Sweet River Falls, too.”
“What?” She swiveled her head and stared at her sister.
“Seriously. You could do the wedding planner side of the business. I could do the catering. There isn’t another wedding planner here. It would be the perfect job for you. You’re always saying that your day job is so boring.”
She frowned. “It is. But… move here? Where would I live?”
“At the cabin, of course.”
“With you?”
Bree laughed softly. “Of course with me. The past is behind us, Cece. I’m serious about this offer.”
“You think we could grow the business enough to support both of us?”
“At the rate it’s growing, we could support both of us and hire some help.”
“But where are you and Jason going to live when you get married? I don’t want to get in your way.”
“We haven’t really talked about that yet.” Bree sighed. “I know we need to. We need to make wedding plans. Pick a date. I’ve just been so busy and Jason has been patient with me. And he’s crazy busy himself. But I do want you to move here. If you want to.”
“You want to hire me to work for you…” Cece still couldn’t wrap her mind around the offer.
“No, actually…” Bree paused and took a sip of her wine. “I was thinking more like you’d be my partner. You run the planning side, I’ll do the catering. But we could also back each other up.”
“I…” Her pulse raced as she thought of the possibilities. Own part of her own business. Be her own boss or at least co-boss. Leave her dead-end job she hated going back to each Monday.
“You can think about it if you want. But I’d really, really love to have you. We work well together, don’t we? And you charmed those brides you talked to today. You basically have both their weddings planned. You’re great at that.”
“I should probably think about it, you’re right.” A slow grin spread across her face.
Bree laughed. “But you’ve already made a decision, right?”
“I have. I’m going to turn in my notice on Monday.”
“Atta girl. This is going to be great.”
She frowned. “I’ll have to deal with my place in Denver and all my stuff.”
“Why don’t you arrange to put your things in storage until we get everything sorted out? I ended up selling most of my things in Austin when I moved here. It was kind of… freeing.”
“Freeing sounds good. Maybe I’ll see about selling what I can of my things in Denver.”
Her mind was reeling with a mental checklist of to-dos. “I better tell Petey, too.”
“You mean Pete.” Bree grinned.
“That. I’m having a hard time calling my son Pete after eighteen years of Petey.”
So many changes in such a short time. Bree was once again her friend as well as her sister. Pete and Bree’s son, Cody, were set to be roommates at Mountain View College this fall, and now it appeared she was moving to Sweet River Falls.
In spite of all the changes and all she now had to do with a move, a comforting feeling of rightness settled over her. She was coming home to where she belonged.
The next morning Cece and Bree headed back over to the lodge for breakfast. Jason walked up to them, a warm smile on his face, as they entered the dining hall. He pressed a quick kiss on Bree’s forehead. “Well, this is a surprise.”
“We were out of coffee and neither one of us felt like cooking.” Cece shrugged.
“And I have news.” Bree slipped her hand in Jason’s.
“I can tell. I can read your face like a book. Spill it.”
“Cece is moving here to Sweet River Falls.” Bree’s voice danced with excitement.
“No kidding. That’s great.” He turned to her. “What made you decide to move here?”
“Bree’s offer to join her in her business.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Bree’s been overwhelmed with everything since moving here. If you help her… maybe she’ll have more time for me.” Jason’s eyes twinkled.
“And maybe she’ll decide to set a wedding date.” Cece eyed her sister.
“Hey, no ganging up on me. I’ll set one. Soon.”
“Can’t be too soon for me.” Jason squeezed Bree’s hand.
“What’s all the excitement over here?” Nora walked up to them.
“Cece’s moving to Sweet River Falls and joining Bree in her business.”
“That’s great news.” Nora nodded. “Bree can use the help. She’s running herself ragged.”
“Says the woman who never takes a day off.” Bree gave Nora a wry smile.
“There is that
.” Nora grinned and turned to Cece. “So when are you moving?”
“I need to turn in notice to my company. Four weeks, I think. I don’t want to leave them hanging.”
“Perfect. You’ll be here this summer for the busy season.”
Everything was moving so quickly, but Cece felt like she’d made the right decision. She loved Sweet River Falls and was super excited about owning part of the business. Four weeks would give her time to get used to the idea, wouldn’t it?
“Having a party here?”
She turned at the deep tones of Zach’s voice and the heat of a blush crossed her cheeks.
What was up with that?
“Just found out that Cece is moving here to town.” Jason nodded his head toward her.
“Oh.”
Cece was strangely disappointed that there was not a hint of excitement in Zach’s tone. Her move obviously meant nothing to him. But why should it? She’d just met him yesterday for mere moments.
She should quit acting like a high school girl with a crush.
Her mouth almost dropped open with the thought. She was acting like she had an instant crush on him. That was ridiculous.
She turned away from him.
Nora stepped closer to her. “So, you’ll be helping with the wedding planning? I’d like to hire you to do all the wedding planning here at the lodge, and, of course, you’d be free to do planning at other places in town.”
“That sounds fabulous. Yes. That’s great.”
“You don’t even want to talk money?” Zach interrupted.
“I’m sure whatever Nora thinks is fair will work for me.” She didn’t know why Zach ruffled her nerves, but he did. Was he criticizing the first business decision she’d made?
“We’ll iron out the details. I’m excited that you’re moving here.” Nora motioned to a table in the corner. “Come on, the lot of you, let’s go sit down and have a nice big breakfast.”
They all headed over to the table Nora kept open for friends and family who stopped by. Cece slipped into a seat next to Bree, and to her dismay, Zach sat down on the other side of her. Their shoulders bumped and the faint scent of a woodsy aftershave and fresh air surrounded her.
She pushed her hair away from her face and concentrated on the mug of coffee the waitress set in front of her.
And concentrated on it some more.
“You reading tea leaves in that coffee or something?” Zach’s low voice whispered against her ear.
“I—no—” The warmth of a blush flushed her cheeks again. “I’m just trying to decide what to order.” That sounded lame, even to her.
“And staring at your coffee helps with that?”
She lifted her chin and looked directly at him. “Anything else I’m doing wrong that you want to comment on?”
“What? No.” He frowned. “I was just teasing. I’m sorry.”
Of course he’d been teasing. What was wrong with her? Why did he do this to her? She couldn’t catch her balance.
“I’m sorry. I guess I just didn’t have enough sleep last night.” Another lame excuse. She wasn’t entirely pleased with his effect on her. Not at all.
She was a testy little thing. He’d better be careful what he said around her. Not that he’d be around her very often. He’d already decided that much. For some reason, she got under his skin, and he did not need that. Not now.
He’d already realized that he’d offended her—and probably Nora—when he’d blurted out that she should ask about money before accepting a job. He couldn’t help it. It was like his mind was constantly in business mode, juggling numbers and time. But of course, Nora would pay her fairly. He was an idiot. He should keep his comments to himself.
“So, I hear the roof is going to be put on the building this week.” Nora interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes, ma’am.” If he could just get his supplier to deliver the materials.
“That’s great. Then you can get started on the inside, too, right?”
“That’s the plan.” He reached for his coffee and bumped into Cece’s hand. She snatched it away like he’d burned her. He grabbed his mug and took a gulp of the steaming coffee. He choked.
Darn, that was hot. He gingerly put the mug back on the table, careful not to touch Cece again.
He glanced at her and noticed she was trying her best to smother a grin. Great. She’d probably thought he was going to spit the hot coffee out all over the table.
“It’s really good coffee here at the lodge, isn’t it?” Her innocent tone didn’t fool him.
“Darn tasty,” he muttered.
“You should try the biscuits and gravy,” Nora urged him. “I haven’t figured out a way to deliver that all hot to you over at the building site.”
“That sounds good. I’ll have that.”
“And some eggs?” Nora asked.
The woman did love to feed him. “Okay, yes, I’ll have some eggs with it, too.”
Nora’s smile said her job was done. “Perfect.”
“I think I’ll have the biscuits and gravy, too.” Cece placed her order with the waitress.
He would have thought she was an egg white, whole wheat toast, and a couple of pieces of fruit eater. She was just a slip of a woman. Though, she had mentioned she loved Nora’s pies.
“You’re staring at me.” Cece eyed him.
“What? No, I’m not.”
“You were.”
“Nope, just thinking. Not looking at anything.” Especially not looking at her warm brown eyes, or the way that one wayward lock of hair had escaped her braid thingie today and tenderly curled at the side of her face. Especially not any of that. And he especially didn’t want to reach over and tuck that wayward lock back into her braid.
The entire breakfast of the delicious biscuits and gravy he especially didn’t look at Cece. Not even when she wiped some crumbs from her face with a delicate swipe of her hand or when she laughed at something Bree said and it accentuated her dimple. Not even then.
He rose as soon as he swallowed the last bite, almost knocking his chair over in his haste. “I better get going. Got lots to do. Nora, thanks for the breakfast.”
He fled the dining hall… much like the way Cece had scurried away yesterday…
Chapter 4
Cece stood in her Denver apartment the next afternoon stunned into inertia. She’d marched into her boss’s office this morning and turned in her notice. Even told him she could stay six weeks if that would help with filling her position. Her boss had come by her desk an hour later and told her to pack her things. They were letting her go today. Didn’t want her to stay and work her last four weeks.
Maybe they thought she would steal clients, but what she’d need with them in Sweet River Falls was beyond her.
But now the four weeks she had to process all the change and deal with the actual move to Sweet River Falls… well, there was nothing keeping her here in Denver any longer.
She still stood just looking around the apartment. That wasn’t helping anything. She should make a plan. A list of everything she needed to do. She should move from this spot. She really should. Find her notebook. Still, she stood as if her feet wouldn’t listen to her.
The timing was actually great. She’d been dating Eric Riley off and on for a year or so and he wanted more than she was willing to give. Her heart wasn’t into him. She’d slowly pulled away from him as she spent more weekends in Sweet River Falls. She’d actually told him last week that they should just be friends. He took it pretty well. At least she thought he had.
Anyway, she wanted to move to Sweet River Falls, she did. But the world seemed to be rushing at her. Her feet finally listened to her, and she crossed to the kitchen, pulled open a drawer, and grabbed a notebook and pen.
After fifteen minutes of planning, she felt a bit more under control. A tiny bit.
With a quick moment of decision, she went into her bedroom, packed up clothes, toiletries, and a couple of framed photos of Petey—Pete—was
she ever going to get used to calling him that? She threw everything into some suitcases and boxes.
She needed to go to the cabin. Gain her equilibrium. Then she could deal with the details. She’d planned to be back in Sweet River Falls this coming weekend anyway to help her sister. This would give her more time and they could work on the business. Make plans. Get organized.
Feeling more in control, she carted her things to the car and headed off to the cabin in time to miss most of the rush hour traffic.
Her mind careened through thoughts and details on the drive, and before she knew it she was pulling into the drive at the cabin. Her sister was sitting on the swing by the lake and jumped up and crossed over to the car. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, it seems like I wasn’t as irreplaceable at my job as I thought. I even offered to give them six weeks to find someone new. They walked me out of the office late this morning. Said I was finished.” Cece stretched, tired from the drive, or the turmoil, or both.
“I see you loaded up.” Bree eyed the full car.
“I did. I figured there was no reason to make a wasted trip. I’ve got clothes and some photos. Things I knew I wanted to keep.”
“Let me help you get everything inside, then we’re going to sit out by the lake and watch the sunset, and you are going to relax.”
“That sounds like a fabulous plan to me.” She rubbed her shoulder, trying to erase the tension of the day.
Within half an hour she had changed into jeans and a sweater and they were sitting on the swing, sipping on Pinot Grigio.
“Did you get a chance to tell Eric about the move? You okay with moving away from him? I know you’ve been dating him for a while.”
“I talked to him last week. Before I even knew I was moving. Told him we should just be friends. I just don’t feel about him the way I know he wants me to feel.”
“Then it’s probably best you broke things off. You still think you can be friends?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’m not sure he’d be someone who I’d really be friends with. Which was part of the problem with dating him. If we weren’t friends, too, you know?”
