I shrug. “Maybe I’ll just stipulate that if you want to stay here, you’ll have to come down for evening prayer every night here in the foyer. Bring your Bible. There’s usually a rousing scripture study for a few hours afterward.”
He cocks his head, eyes narrowing as he tries to decide how much of what I say is sarcasm at the South’s expense. I do him the favor of smiling this time, letting him in on the joke.
I push his paperwork across the counter.
“Sign at the bottom and you’re all set,” I say. “Lindsey took care of all the money.”
“She shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yes, well, it’s already done. If you really care about your sister that much, you won’t escape Little Haven in the middle of the night to catch the next bus to Atlanta. Don’t waste her cash.”
He smiles that lopsided smile again and signs on the dotted line. When he passes the paperwork back, our fingers just brush. I have to bite the inside of my cheek like I’m trying to gnaw through, just to maintain some semblance of control. I clear my throat and busy myself looking for his room key.
“How did you end up running this place?” Gray asks. “When I left town, your life was still consumed with Debate Club.”
“When you left town, I also could not drive, and I thought side bangs were a good idea on my face. A lot has changed.” I allow myself my own small smile in return. “Um, the inn was my grandmother’s. I inherited it—well, Hunter and I inherited it—when she died.”
“Shoot, I do remember that now that you say so. I feel like Hunter and I came here after Prom but it didn’t look so…”
He gestures behind him, which proves to be very lucky for me, as I can feel my cheeks burning at the memory of seeing Gray with hickeys all over his neck the night after he went to prom with Debra Danville.
“It didn’t look this way back then,” I provide, shaking my head as he looks back at me. “Fewer stacks of papers my grandmother left behind. And you can thank the good lords Chip and Joanna Gaines for all my inspiration, and these powerhouse muscles for all the renovation.”
I flex and kiss my nonexistent arm muscle. When Gray’s eyes travel across my shoulders and sweep my arm, that burn on my cheeks only intensifies.
“Um, honestly, you’re catching me at a good time,” I admit to him. “For the first little while, I was drowning in work. I always wanted to inherit the place, but I didn’t realize what a task that would prove. I only just feel like Imightbe able to catch my breath.”
“So, this is the end-goal then?”
I shrug. “I’m not so sure right now. I love it here, I do. But there are only so many broken toilets and roof leaks and bills you can deal with before you’re worn down…” My voice fades out. I swallow before continuing. “I just wanted to carve out some space for myself and I didn’t realize it would be this hard, ya know?”
“Could’ve escaped to the big city with me,” Gray says, smiling. “If memory serves, we were under that old cherry blossom tree at your parents’ place when you told me about some daydream about being a famous actress or comedian.” He leans in, and I get a heavy hit of his delicious scent. I have to hold my breath. “Who knows? You could be headlining a show at a Ramada Inn or Hilton Conference Room instead of running this tiny place.”
I manage a laugh. “What a promotion.”
It’s fucking hard not to give away how that brief reference to our day under the cherry blossom tree gets my heart racing.
We didn’t have many moments in private together growing up. Mine was a crush from afar, and one that I knew would never fly with my protective older brother.
But there had been a day. One beautiful, glorious spring day when Gray had come by, forgetting that Hunter was on a fishing trip with my dad. We’d sat under the fresh blooms of the cherry blossom tree and talked about school and friends and the future. It wasn’t much, but when he’d laughed with me and brushed a loose hair back behind my ear, I had thought that maybe…
“You’ve done an incredible job,” Gray says, wrenching me from the past and back to reality. “I mean, I might eat my words if I find you’re really housing a goat in my room, but right now I think it looks insane. You must out-earn your brother at the cable company.”
A lump forms in my throat, and I glance down at his room key in my hands.
“That would be nice,” I say. “But of all the people in our town borders right now, you probably know better than anyone that Little Haven isn’t exactly adestination. I love it here, but we don’t get a ton of tourists. It’s mostly just guys stopping through on the way to Atlanta.”
“Or tragic basketball coaches on paid leave?” He smiles sheepishly.
“You’ll have to autograph our guest book before you go, big shot.”
“You ever thought about selling to one of the bigger chains?” He asks. “I’m sure they would love a cute spot like this to revamp and make Little Haven a real tourist stop.”
I let out a long puff of air between my lips and tuck a loose strand of black hair behind my ear. “They’ve been in touch, actually. This huge chain keeps hounding me to sell, but I’m hoping guests will pick up soon for the Christmas travel season and I’ll make enough to hang on for a little longer. Or at least, I go back and forth on their offer depending on which day you talk to me. I’ve got this big plan to throw a Christmas party fundraiser and—”
There’s a rustle behind Gray, and we both look over to see who’s coming down the front stairs.
“Miss Hales. Mr. Bates.” I grab two mugs from a cabinet behind me and step over to my Keurig, popping in the first of two hot cocoa pods. “The usual?”