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His smile was small and shy. “I haven’t really considered a dog before, but something tells me these friends of yours might be what I’m looking for.”

Maybe it was the way he called them friends that instantly won me over, instead of calling them pets. Which was weird, since that was how the general population referred to them. But my dogs had been through so much that they truly deserved what this young man was offering. Now, more than ever, I was thankful that I had signed up to do the booth.

Anderson Smith ended up taking home Abigail. She was a six-year-old Pomeranian that had been brought to me in the worst shape. Her fur was matted beyond belief. I had to shave her down to the skin in order to get rid of the horrible tangles. Her previous owner had liked the idea of a long-haired dog, but had no idea how to take care of her.

Before Anderson left, he showed me the brush he’d ordered online and was looking forward to nights sitting on the couch with her while he brushed out her fur and made her feel like the real princess she was. This was why I was doing this. These animals deserved all the love and attention they could get.

With Anderson and Abigail off to bigger adventures together I didn’t have anyone to distract me from my thoughts.I looked around the area to see if I could spot Allie.

She was a few booths down, excitedly snapping pictures of Miriam Galago’s canned fruits and vegetables. The woman had always had a large garden, and someone had suggested that she start selling some of her produce when she inevitably didn’t know what to do with it all. Her children sat in the kitchen with her at least once a month as she carefully prepped everything for canning. While I wished her pickled asparagus was available year-round, I understood why that wasn’t possible for a small-town gardener who was just out to make a few extra bucks.

Everyone in town loved her products. It wasn’t something she’d intended to turn into a full-time business, but things had naturally evolved that way. She found joy in it, and that was what was really important.

What I really wanted was for Allie to look in my direction. For her to notice that I wanted her back at my side, even if I understood she had a job to do. Allie was so in her element each time the camera lifted to her face. She scrunched her nose as the shutter flashed again and again. While I’d never loved being the center of attention, for the first time in my life, I wanted to be someone’s sole focus.

Allie moved onto the next booth, and something sank in my chest. God, I was so fucked up over this woman. I’d never experienced that before. It was something I wanted to talk to her about because something told me she was on the same page. She’d been comfortable enough with me to tell me about her sexuality—that had to mean something. While I understood that it had probably caused issues for her in the past, I never wanted to pressure her into thinking she needed to do anything for me.

Maybe most guys would think I was weird for thinking it, but I was fine getting off other ways if I needed it. My imagination was very active, I had toys and my hands to get by. For the right person, it didn’t matter if you had all the physical stuff. You just loved them for who they were.

“Are you okay?”

The voice made me jump again, but I turned to see Rhett Gallagher. I really needed to start paying attention to my surroundings. He’d moved to town a few years ago, and had been quiet ever since. A lot of the people whispered about him, but he had the most amazing woodworking shop on the outskirts of town. Most of their issue was with how sedentary he was, but I was sort of the same way. It wasn’t like a lot of the men in town went out of their way to be social with everyone.

His dark auburn hair always looked more red to me, more than it might have to everyone else. I liked to call it fire engine red, but it caused a lot of arguments, so I stopped bringing it up. The man really didn’t say much, so for him to be asking if I was okay, I must have looked out of it.

“I—I’m okay. Just distracted.”

He looked in the direction I’d been looking. Allie was at yet another booth. She was talking to the owner, arms moving animatedly before she lifted her camera to take more pictures.

The side of his mouth hooked up into a grin. “I see the bug is in the air.”

I blinked at him because I had no idea what he was talking about. “What does that mean?”

He chuckled. “Feels like a lot of us are falling into that boat lately.” With that cryptic message, he was off. What the hell was that?

One more look in Allie’s direction and I had to wonder if he was talking about falling in love. While it had been fast, it was crazy to say that I saw Allie that way. In the last couple of weeks, she’d wormed her way in. I never thought it would be that easy for anyone to enter my life like that, but she had. It wasn’t like I hated her being there, either. I wanted her to be a permanent fixture. To take up residence when no one had ever made me crave it.

Chapter 13

Allie

The night was drawing to a close. My feet hurt from walking around in the cute Jimmy Choo booties I’d worn for the night. In New York, the shoes would have gotten me some attention, but no one seemed to care about such materialistic things out in Maple Lane Falls. While I enjoyed adjusting to small-town life, there were going to be some hard things to give up.

I actually loved my designer clothes and shoes.

Seeing people live such simple lives puts things into perspective. Things weren’t nearly as expensive. My bank account had noticed the difference in rent alone, but instead of making me want to buy and own more, I found myself wanting to donate that money to those in need. People in need, like Truman, who wanted to improve his dog shelter. He’d made it more than clear he wasn’t looking for handouts, wanting instead to earn it.

I hit the shutter button on my camera once more, focusing on the books in front of me. Ms. Shelly from the local bookstore had set up a booth to display some of the used and indie books she had in her shop. My primary focus had been the indie authors she had on her tables. It was hard enough for some of them to get the attention they deserved. There was a weird stigma attached to indie publishing that said it wasn’t as good, but some of the best books I’d ever read were published by the author who wrote them and not by some fancy publishing house.

“There’s about an hour left to the event tonight. Are you going to work all night?” Ms. Shelly’s question surprised me, making me blush.

“I was asked to feature the event.”

She laughed, waving her hand at me. “And the event lasts three nights. There’s no need to get to all of us on the first night. Enjoy yourself...” She paused to look over my shoulder. I knew exactly where she was looking. Truman’s booth was right down the line. A few of the local residents had asked me tonight if there was something going on between the two of us. While I didn’t want to deny it, Truman and I hadn’t exactly discussed what was going on.

“Go,” was all she said, prompting me in the direction I wanted to go anyway.

I gave her a thankful smile before turning and heading back to Truman’s booth. He was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, a deep frown on his face. One or two of the dogs he’d brought with him were no longer in their carriers, my heart pounded, knowing that it meant they’d found new homes.