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They touched glasses, and Mara took a sip and smiled into it. “I can certainly see why the reviews kept mentioning the wine.”

“Is that one of the reasons you chose Bear Creek?” Gabe asked.

Mara tilted her head. “The wine?”

“Maybe.” He was floundering. “I mean, you could have gone anywhere for your vacation. Why here?”

“Oh.” She settled back in her chair with the glass in both hands. “I don’t know if there was one reason. I wanted mountains. Fall. Somewhere pretty enough that we could go out and do things, but not somewhere I’d feel as if I had to spend every day racing through a list of attractions.” She took another sip. “Actually, I think Bear Creek Lodge sold it to me. I found the website late one night, and there were cabins and trails and photographs of the mountains with all the color coming through, and it looked peaceful. I sat there looking at it for far longer than I needed to before I booked anything.”

“That’s Curtis’s secret weapon.”

“The mountains?” she asked.

“Photographs that make you want to pack a bag immediately. He’s been doing it for years, and he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Mara laughed. “It worked.”

Their food arrived, interrupting them long enough for plates to be set down and their glasses topped up. Gabe’s came with bread he had not ordered and did not need, and he tore off a piece anyway, because he could never resist someone else’s baking.

Mara noticed. “You’re eating the bread before you’ve even tried your dinner.”

“I like bread.” He shrugged.

“I can see that.”

“It’s a compliment. Taking pleasure in someone else’s time and patience. Good bread cannot be rushed.” He grinned and took another piece. “It’s my thing.”

Mara chuckled as she picked up her fork. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Gabe was not used to talking about himself.

“Why do you like it here?”

Gabe glanced around the restaurant. “The restaurant?”

His bear rolled his eyes. The town.

“Bear Creek,” Mara said.

See, his bear said with an exasperated sigh.

“Well.” He picked up his fork. “I suppose I never had to decide whether I liked Bear Creek. It was just home, the way weather is weather. You don’t think about whether you approve of it. I’ve been other places since, and I still came back.”

Mara waited. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

“You really don’t let things go,” he said.

“Nope.”

His bear gave an approving rumble.

Gabe thought about it while he cut into his food. “It’s the people, mostly. Which is also the worst thing about it. Everybody knows too much. If I close the bakery for an afternoon, somebody will ask Matilda where I went before I’ve made it to the truck. If I sneeze twice, Dana will hear about it before I get home.”

“You don’t find that suffocating?”

What are you doing? his bear grumbled. You’re supposed to be making her fall in love with the town, not scare her away.

“I might be exaggerating.” Gabe considered. “Slightly.”