She didn’t respond to his soft call but loped on ahead. Nolan picked up his pace. Maybe he could stop her from chasing any more wayward cats if he hurried.
Ahead, Snowball gave a softwuff. It was her indoor voice, the only voice he let her use around the horses. The big dog was standing hip-deep in snow, tail wagging vigorously as she beheld the woman staring at the back of the inn with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. Maybe she sensed that Julie was skittish. Snowball could be surprisingly astute that way.
Julie pulled from whatever trance she’d been in, looked around, and yelped when she saw how close the dog was—the wrong end of a pounce away. The yelp, Snowball took as an invitation to play. She coiled in preparation for jumping.
“Snowball!”
Too late.
Julie managed to avoid one hundred pounds of dog knocking her back into the snow but lost her balance. She scrabbled for the nearest handhold—the railing of that rickety, wraparound porch. The wood creaked. It held.
Nolan was already halfway across the lawn before he registered that she was in no danger. She saw him coming and released her death grip on the railing, regaining her balance and recrossing her arms.
Her hair was in that perfect bob, the blond highlights catching the sunlight reflecting off the glittering white snow. She wore those good-for-nothing boots again. And today, she didn’t even have on her coat, only a cable-knit sweater that went up to her chin. Did this woman have any sense at all? Or did she only care for fashion—even if it meant frostbite?
Nolan hadn’t had any coffee yet, so of course, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “Where’s your coat?”
She stared at him, blinking owlishly. “Where’s mywhat?”
“Your coat.” He’d already put his foot in his mouth. He couldn’t take it back now.
“What are you, my dad?”
“Uh, no.” He forced himself not to sweep his gaze over the figure that sweater clung to intimately. “Definitely not.”
Snowball barked, interrupting the awkward moment.
He smiled, even though it felt strained. “Come here, girl.”
“Do you ever put that dog on a leash?”
Julie was hugging herself so tightly, her sweater would probably leave an imprint on her skin.
Nolan frowned. “Are you afraid of dogs?”
“What? No. She just came out of nowhere and she’s…big.”
When Nolan held out his hand, Snowball came to sit at his feet. He didn’t even have to call her name; she knew him that well. He scratched her behind the ears. “She’s playful, but she’d never intentionally hurt you.”
The arms around her middle eased, but the tightness of her mouth didn’t. “Are you here for a reason?”
He tried not to take the bite in her voice personally. “Just out for a walk.”
“Here?” She gestured to the yard, and he guessed she was wondering why he was on her property. He couldn’t blame her, really.
“We were walking in the woods, and Snowball came running over here, so I came to find her,” he said.
“Oh.” She shivered.
He cleared his throat, trying to find some way to turn this from awkward to neighborly.
With a smile that he hoped didn’t look as forced as it felt, he teased, “Must be warm in the city, or have you forgotten how cold it is in Pinecone Falls?”
“I only came out here for a minute to look at the porch railing and make sure it’s safe.” Her lips turned up in a shadow of a smile. “I guess I did forget how cold it can get, though.”
Nolan eyed the railing. “Anything I can help with?”
Uncertainty flickered in her eyes. She wasn’t wearing makeup this morning, and he could see all her freckles she’d had hidden the day before. They made her look softer, more approachable.
