“No, but he’s your older brother. And he’s one of my best friends. I need to talk to him.”
Before they went any further. Because he had lines he wouldn’t cross, even if she thought they were silly. “Fine. Talk fast.”
Sam wanted to pull out his phone and call Joe right there, but that wouldn’t do. He had to figure out how to say it.
He knew it was early in a relationship to tell anyone, never mind someone important to them both, but he couldn’t move forward with Tansy until he cleared his conscience.
They’d only shared a few kisses. He didn’t know if her heart was close to where his was. Where his had always been.
But he wanted her. In a forever kind of way.
And he needed Joe to be okay with that.
When they paid the bill, Sam asked Sato about the best places to buy supplies. Interest lit up her face. “What kinds of supplies do you need?”
Perfect. “Tansy owns some property north of town. We’re looking to pick up food supplies, along with some security bits and pieces.”
Sato’s eyebrows rose. “Security? You won’t need much of that around here. People mostly mind their own. Don’t have a lot of theft and that sort of nonsense.”
As usual, Tansy stayed quiet with strangers and let Sam do the talking.
“Phail General might have what you need, or they can get it shipped in for you. Phail Phoods will set you up for the food. You sticking around?”
Sato was looking at Tansy, who nodded with a small smile.
“Welcome to Phail. We hope you don’t.” Then she hooted at her own joke, making them smile. “You’ll get used to that. With a name like ours, you’ve got to have a sense of humor.”
As new locals, Sato introduced them to Manuel, cook extraordinaire and Ginny, owner and baker.
They went on their way with a half dozen cinnamon buns that smelled like heaven.
In Phail General, they met Troy Phail, who looked ex-military to Sam. When Sam talked security systems, the guy proved he knew his stuff. Not your typical sleepy small town general handyman. Sam was pretty sure Troy was exactly the kind of guy you wanted at your back in a fight.
Tansy wandered around the store while the two men talked and Sam had a hard time not following her every movement.
“Your woman in danger?”
Was she his woman? He sure as hell hoped so.
“Potentially. Some asshole wants to rip off her work and take credit for it.”
Troy frowned and looked over to where Tansy was checking out the electrical supplies. “What kind of work and who should we be looking out for?”
“Tansy is a scientist working on all kinds of things. I don’t have the name of the asshole yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.”
Troy nodded and pulled a card out from beneath the counter. “Here are my numbers. Call if you need help.”
Sam pocketed the card and finalized the order before Tansy finished her tour of the store.
They made a couple more connections while they bought food, including coffee, and then they were heading back to the lodge.
“You need a name for this place, Tans. It’s not just a lodge or a sawmill and it’s awkward calling it both. What are your plans for the place? Maybe that’ll help you come up with a name.”
She was silent for a minute and he waited, knowing she liked to marshal her thoughts.
“I want to use parts of the property for various types of science. I want to build a greenhouse to help me become more self-sufficient, and I know a botanist who would love to run it. My friend Bella is an arson investigator, and I thought she could use one of the cabins for training and investigating. A mini fire lab.”
Sam hadn’t seen that one coming.