“Why not lately?”
“Because I promised my sister I’d behave when we moved to Colorado,” she pouts.
“Why’d you promise her if you didn’t want to?”
“She gave me a guilt trip and I fell into her trap.”
“A guilt trip about what?”
“Never you mind.”
I frown at her refusal to answer my question. Wait a second. Why am I frowning? I don’t usually spend the morning after sex quizzing my one-night stand about her life. But I’m fascinated with this woman and want to know more. Before I have a chance to push her, she waves her fork at me.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Not all of us are Sleeping Beauty.”
“I worked until 3 a.m. Sleeping until noon doesn’t make me lazy,” she snarls.
I’ve obviously touched a nerve. I raise my hands. “I didn’t say it did. I ate already.”
“You’ve made yourself right at home, haven’t you?”
“Have I overstayed my welcome?”
Probably. I’ve never eaten breakfast – let alone breakfast at noon – with a one-night stand before. I know how to avoid an awkward morning after. I’ve become an expert at it considering I never stay in one place too long. Serious relationships and moving every couple of months don’t exactly go together.
But for some reason I can’t figure out, I can’t walk away from Cassandra. She gave me the perfect opportunity to slip out when she fell back asleep this morning, but I didn’t take it. Instead, I’ve been answering emails on my phone all morning while waiting for her to wake up.
Shit. I sound like a creeper. My heart races. My mother would be appalled.
“Nope. I did say you could wake me at noon, after all.” Cassandra’s response has my heart slowing back to normal.
“Good. Because I have a few ideas of what to do with the maple syrup once you’re done eating.”
“I have maple syrup?”
I laugh as I haul her out of her chair and throw her over my shoulder before grabbing the bottle.
“Let me show you.”
Chapter 3
Old Man – someone who knows more about what the town gossips are up to than he lets on
Iexit the apartment building I just finished helping my sister, Elizabeth, move into in the small town of Winter Falls. When her ‘best friend’ River showed up, she couldn’t kick me out fast enough. Those two claim to be ‘friends only’ but the heat between them doesn’t lie.
All of my siblings are falling in love these days. First, my big brother Beckett found Lilac and convinced her to give him a chance. Then, my baby sister, Gabrielle, fell for the goat farmer, Phoenix. If Elizabeth and River ever seal the deal, I’ll be all alone.
I do have another sister. Olivia. But I gave up on her a long time ago. When our parents died, she went off the rails and she hasn’t found her way back yet. I know Elizabeth begged her to come to Colorado with us, but Olivia was bound and determined to stay in Saint Louis. I’m surprised she didn’t throw us a ‘go away and don’t come back’ party.
I could use a distraction. My mind immediately conjures up Archer. What a wonderful distraction he was. I wouldn’t mind taking him for another ride, but I don’t double dip.
Maybe a walk will get me out of this melancholy mood. I leave my car in the parking lot of Elizabeth’s apartment building and wander toward the hiking path behind her building. Winter Falls claims to be the first carbon neutral town in the world. I don’t pretend to understand what that means, but I do know their love of the environment equates to plenty of hiking trails around the town.
I travel westward for about ten minutes before I happen upon anyone else. An elderly man stands in the middle of the path leaning on his cane blocking my way.
“Hello,” I greet.