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“Why would your family want to meet me?” she asked.
“Ahh,” Mac said, looking at Colt for help.
“You stepped in it now, kiddo,” he said. “Might as well come clean.”
“Because I might have told them about you,” Mac said. “But only because it’s obvious Colt likes you. It was my family duty.”
“Better stop while you’re ahead, kid,” Colt said.
“I’m just saying, I think you’re pretty amazing. And now that I’ve gotten to know you better I know you’ll fit right in. Since you don’t have family of your own around here we’re more than happy to play surrogate. So of course they want to meet you. And I’ve already told you a lot about the O’Haras and shared a lot of embarrassing stories about Colt, so it’ll be good for you to put names to faces.”
Zoe’s expression went from shocked to incredulous.
“Mayday, Mayday,” Colt said, making his whistle sound like a bomb that was about to hit the payload.
“I’ll take Chewy out for you before I leave,” Mac said, calling for the dog and snapping his leash on quickly so she could make her escape.
Zoe’s gaze swung to Colt and she frowned. He could tell she was about to say something to shut everyone out. It was obvious she wasn’t the type of person who was used to connecting with others or asking for help when she needed it. It made him want to know more about her childhood and the marriage that had left her cynical and disillusioned.
He could have played off Mac’s declaration of his interest in her one of two ways—by easing in slow and easy with the whole attraction and going the friendship route, or by letting her know his intentions from the start and damning the torpedoes. He had a feeling she would normally be more open to the second approach. She seemed a straightforward kind of woman who didn’t care for hidden meanings or subtleties in life. He would have preferred that too.
But despite the tough exterior, he wasn’t sure she was up for straightforward. She had a protective cloak wrapped around her like a second skin, and he felt compassion for the woman she’d been. And admiration for the woman she was trying to be.
“Laurel Valley is a good place,” he said. “A safe place. And the people here will love you, because this is the kind of community that takes care of one another. You’ll get used to it. I take it you’re not used to small-town living?
“No,” she said.
He picked up the plates from their dinner and threw them away, keeping the conversation light and easy as he cleaned up and put the lasagna away in the refrigerator.
“Where are you from?”
“New York,” she said, warily.
“Ahh, that explains the skepticism,” he said, giving her an easygoing grin. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to being neighborly. The people of Laurel Valley will scrub the New York right off of you. Besides, you’ve still got a few days of recovery time. Enjoy letting people take care of you. Your freezer will be full of meals and this place will be unpacked before you know it.”
“I don’t know how to deal with that,” she said.
“What? Kindness and love?” he asked. “Then you’ll learn. And before long you’ll be doing the same for the next transplant that moves into town. It’s the Laurel Valley way.”
Colt figured it was a good time to make his exit. He’d figured out his strategy. Maybe if she learned to love Laurel Valley and the people who lived there—his family included—she could learn to love him.
Chapter Seven
Zoe was going stir crazy. She was used to being on her own and tucked away in solitude when she was writing, but Colt had been right—staring at a computer screen had been torture for the last several days. She’d finally given up trying to get her words written altogether.
She was behind on her deadline, though she wasn’t at the point where it was stressing her out yet—at least not too much. But she couldn’t lie around any longer and sleep, no matter how much the tiny words on the screen made her head ache.
Every box in her house had been unpacked, her closets organized, and the spices in her drawers alphabetized. She was officially moved in. She could admit that Colt had been right. It had felt good to open her doors to her new community. And even if she hadn’t opened them willingly, she had a feeling they would have come anyway. The people of Laurel Valley were like none she’d ever met, and her introverted self was still somewhat shell shocked by the whirlwind of people who’d been in and out of her condo the last few days.
She’d met most of the O’Hara women—she hadn’t realized that the woman she’d met at the beauty salon had been Colt’s sister-in-law, Raven—along with his Aunt Simone, his sister-in-law Dylan, and his mother Anne.
As far as they were all concerned, Colt hung the moon and stars. Of course, they weren’t subtle in their attempts at matchmaking, but Zoe couldn’t help but laugh at the childhood stories they’d shared. Colt’s brothers had showed up to move her furniture where she’d needed it to go, and women who weren’t related to the O’Haras came by with casserole dishes. Apparently, everyone had heard of Chewy’s misdeeds and her concussion.
She’d received numerous home remedies for the bruising on her forehead, several new recipes to add to her nonexistent collection, and a handful of readers had come by with books so she could sign them. In New York, it would have made her nervous for readers to show up at her home. There had been the occasional fanatic over the last decade of her career. But for some reason it didn’t bother her in Laurel Valley. The people here were so…nice.
She’d been blown away at the hospitality they showed her. Never in her life had she witnessed a community that cared so much for one another—or a family that loved and argued and laughed with the same amount of passion and loyalty to one another. It made the world she’d grown up in seem almost foreign. Was this how most families behaved? Or were they an anomaly?
“Well, Chewy,” Zoe said. “What do you think?”
