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“Kai?”

“What?” Oh yeah. Introduce. “Maybe later. I need to check out of the LeeHy Motel and check-in to the Whispering Pines Inn.”

“Oh, let me call on over to Gretchen. She’s managing things at Whisper these days. I’ll let her know you’re coming. Do you know where it is?”

“I’ll put the name into my phone and take it from there.” I knew I wasn’t paying attention and when I looked over at the woman, I saw that she could tell I wasn’t too. “Let me get you to your house.”

“All right. I don’t suppose I could invite you in for some homemade lemonade and apple brown betty?”

“I’m stuffed,” I said as I eased up to her house. Before I had a chance to turn off the engine, Lettie had her seatbelt off and the passenger door open. Then she stopped and looked at me. “You come back to the diner, you hear? It’ll make Little Grandma happy. Also, stop by my place anytime you want me to introduce you to Marlowe. I get off at three every day, and Marlowe doesn’t start work until the third week of August. She’s a teacher.”

“Who’s Marlowe again?”

“She’s the woman renting your old house. Plus, she’s the one who’s talked to your brother most recently. You’ll want to get to know her and pick her brain.”

I nodded.

She reached over and patted my shoulder. “You’re not alone. You have a whole town behind you.”

I nodded again. What in the hell else could I do? A whole town? Was she crazy?

She slipped out of my truck and walked around the front, then came around to my window. I rolled it down.

“I mean it, Kai. Ask for anything. We’ll be here for you.”

My throat was tight. All I could do was nod. She smiled and headed into her house.

Why hadn’t I talked to Lettie sooner? I’d just been walking Chaos around the neighborhood and exploring downtown for the last couple of weeks and I hadn’t even considered taking her to the woods.

Right now, my pup was in doggie heaven.

I looked in the rearview mirror.

“Aren’t you, girl? You’re loving life.”

She couldn’t hear me. She had her head out the window of the backseat of my 4Runner. I wished I had my head out the window. It was hot. And I mean hot. Lettie promised me that the forest trails up near the Whispering Pines Inn would be ten to fifteen degrees cooler, and I was counting on her being right. The last four days of one hundred-plus degree heat had me wilting. Yeah, there was air conditioning in the house. Beau hadn’t skimped on any upgrade, but I just preferred the fresh air. I was a freak like that.

Of course, right now I had the air conditioning blowing in my car. I’d take advantage of it while I could. I’d be hot enough when I started my run. I took a turn and I’ll be damned. Lettie was right, I was heading for a forest.

Duh, Marlowe. Hello, Smokey Mountains. Forests. Remember?

But still, I’d somehow thought they were farther away.

Now I was getting excited. If the trails were any good, today was going to be fantastic. I’d missed running.

I saw the sign for the Whispering Pines Inn, and I turned in. What a cute building. I loved the use of wood and glass for the façade; it looked both modern and foresty.

I laughed at my made-up word. Even so, it totally looked like it fit for the area. I was bummed that the trees weren’t bumped up against it, but I knew that there needed to be a buffer zone between the forest and the dwelling in case of wildfires. Still, it would have looked pretty.

I pulled into the guest parking spot and got out of my 4Runner. As I started toward the front of the building, I could hear Chaos whining. I went back to my Jeep.

I was such a pushover. Seriously, I needed to grow a backbone.

I popped the lock and gave my baby a long rub. “I’ll be right back, then we’ll go for a run. I promise.” I pointed to my shorts and top. “Look, I’m dressed for running. Now no more whining, okay?”

She lay down on the back seat. “Good girl.”

I heard a chuckle behind me. It wasn’t the first time that somebody laughed at me talking to my girl. But it was the first time that a chuckle raced down my spine, swirled around until I felt it in my gut. I closed the backseat door and slowly turned around.