“Maggie. Have you been there?”
He nodded. “I’ve passed through there for work. My territory spans about half of Pennsylvania, and that’s the edge of it. I’ll be out there again in a couple of weeks.”
She took another bite of burger as she considered what questions to ask. After she swallowed, she turned her head and startled to find Kirk now sitting in the stool next to hers.
“What’s it like?” Maggie didn’t look at him, continuing to eat. Her hackles were raised and she just wanted to finish her dinner and make her exit.
“Cute, like I said. They’re an old town, but they’re welcoming. You see an influx in people in the spring and summer. The outdoorsy types love to go there for a quick getaway. You’ll have to stay at the bed-and-breakfast there, it’s the only place in town. But the old lady that runs it is top-notch.” He kept sipping at his beer, its malty tang floating to her nose over her food. Her own beer sat half empty, and she found she didn’t want to finish it now.
Kirk leaned into her space as she finished her onion rings. “Can I buy you another beer?”
Maggie shook her head. “One’s plenty for me.”
“Come on, I can tell you all about your destination over a fresh one.”
Ugh. He’d been much more attractive two stools over, but Maggie didn’t know how to get rid of him.
“I’m tired, and I need to get going.” She raised her voice just a hair.
“Let me walk you back to your car, Maggie.”
Shit. Now she wished she’d gotten back in her car and driven over. Maggie wracked her brain trying to figure out how to ditch the guy without telling him where she was staying. Tracey must have noticed Maggie’s discomfort.
“Come around to the register, and I’ll get you cashed out.”
“Thanks for the information.” Maggie nodded at him and gathered her things, ignoring his request for her phone number. Thank God he didn’t follow her, though that could be due to the glare Tracey gave him.
The register just happened to be on the other side of the bar. Tracey leaned over and spoke so only Maggie could hear. “You walked, didn’t you?”
Maggie nodded.
“I’ll keep him here as long as I can.”
“I only need ten minutes or so.”
Tracey gave her a nod. “You got it.” Maggie tried to give her a healthy tip, but Tracey pushed the extra cash back at her.
“We gotta look out for each other.”
Maggie smiled. “Thanks for everything.” Then she high-tailed it out of there.
Back at the hotel, Maggie powered on her burner phone for the first time since leaving Oklahoma City. The pictures she found of Hawthorn Hills were charming, a quaint small town smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania. Sean would never think to look for her there.
Chapter 2
“WelcometoHawthornHills,established 1880,” read the old-fashioned wooden sign by the road. Maggie’s heart pulsed in her chest as the old Ford made the turns into town. Trees bare of their leaves made a wooden tunnel that would be stunning in the spring and summer to lead her to her new town. Once the twists and turns ended, the tunnel released her into rolling farmland.
She kept driving past the fallow fields, the voice of her GPS silent. It was still too early to check in at the bed-and-breakfast where she’d rented a room online last night. Thanks to her nightmare of waking up back in Sean’s bedroom, she’d been up early, showered, and left the hotel at seven A.M. sharp, stopping only to fuel up at their continental breakfast. But before she found the charming Victorian building, she came across the town square, a large green space in the center of Main Street with a huge tree in the middle. Might as well stretch her legs and see the sights.
Maggie pulled into a parking space, and without taking time to think about it, groped for some change in the cupholder. Shestepped out of the car and stretched, then turned in a circle. Victorian-style buildings lined Main Street, each one a different color. Light gray, bright purple, turquoise blue… She smiled as the winter sun warmed her face and took a deep breath of the fresh air. It felt like freedom.
Marching to the front of the car, she looked up and down the sidewalk. Where were the parking meters?
“New to town or passing through?” asked an elder gentleman, startling her and causing her to spin around.
“Uh… where are your parking meters?”
“Oh, you’re definitely passing through.” The old man laughed. “We don’t pay for parking here.”
