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He swung his gaze back to the road, then glanced over again at her. The snow seemed to be falling at a faster clip now. He watched as she slipped a little, before managing to catch herself so she didn’t fall.
“Atta girl,” he said. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like cheering Sophie on. There was something about her that made him want to root for her.
Noah let out a frustrated groan as he watched her continue to trudge onward through the snow. Ever since he was a kid it had been ingrained in him by his father to help out a lady whenever necessary. Chivalry. This time would be no different.
He slowed his car and veered toward the snow-covered sidewalk until he was parallel to Sophie. He pushed the button to let the window down and called out, “Hey, Sophie. Can I give you a ride somewhere?”
She whirled around, her face reflecting surprise. Then she shifted from one foot to another and rubbed her mittened hands together. “I don’t want to put you out, but I’m not sure I can walk all the way to the Black Bear Cabins. It’s pretty frosty out here.”
He waved her over. “Come on. Hop in.”
A cold blast of air assaulted him as soon as Sophie tugged the passenger door open. Her cheeks were rosy as she settled into her seat and put her seat belt on. “You’re a lifesaver. I usually get a ride home from Cameron or Hazel, but I think they must have gotten their wires crossed today. I went to get my things, and they’d locked up the place and left.”
“No problem. What are the Black Bear Cabins? Sounds like something out of a fairy tale.” He couldn’t stop thinking about porridge and bears and chairs being broken in a tiny house nestled in the woods. He hadn’t been much of a reader as a kid, but he seemed to remember something to that effect.
Sophie chuckled. “Just go straight along this road until you come to the Moose Crossing sign. Once you pass it, you take a right about a half mile down the road and keep going until you see the sign for Black Bear Cabins. That’s where I live. I rent out one of the cabins from Hazel, who owns the place. So do a bunch of others who came here for Operation Love.”
Noah wrinkled his nose. “Operation Love? That’s what brought you here? The matchmaking program?” Noah had heard about it on the Seattle news, and when he’d researched the town of Love it had popped up in the search engine. From what he gathered, it was a program created to pair up single bachelors from here in town with women who came from across the United States. He wondered how successful it had been so far.
Had Sophie found someone? Was she no longer single? Although he suddenly felt tongue-tied, he had to find out if Sophie was romantically attached to anyone here in Love. It was his job to know these things and pass them on to his client.
Something told him John Sussex had no idea that Sophie was part of the matchmaking program. He hadn’t mentioned it to Noah when he’d hired him. Had his client been holding out on him? Was there more to Sussex than met the eye? Noah considered himself a pretty good judge of character, but it was possible he’d missed something.
Sophie nodded, her long hair swirling around her shoulders. “Yes. In a way. I came here to reinvent my life, and Operation Love seemed like a good way to find a husband and a loving home.”
A husband? Love? Ouch. It wasn’t going to be easy relaying that information to Sussex. Noah wanted to shake his head in disbelief, but he didn’t want to alienate Sophie, who was giving him the information he needed. Picking her up and taking her to the Black Bear Cabins had yielded more information than he’d imagined.
“You really think your future is here in Love?” There was a tinge of incredulity in his voice that he couldn’t manage to mask. He didn’t want to sound like a jerk, but he felt amazed that women actually ventured to this town and stepped out in such a massive leap of faith. What if they ended up with a serial killer?
Sophie grinned at him. “The way I figure it, God has always been faithful to me. He placed me here for a reason. I just have to be patient and let it all unfold.”
Noah snorted. He hadn’t meant to, but it slipped out. One quick glance in Sophie’s direction showed that she wasn’t pleased in the slightest. Her pretty face was now scrunched up in a massive frown. Her eyebrows were knitted together. He was pretty sure steam might be coming out her ears.
“Excuse me, Noah Callahan, but that was quite rude of you,” she huffed. Anger radiated off her in waves.
“I’m sorry, Sophie,” he said, feeling contrite. One look into her big green eyes made him feel like the worst person in the world for hurting her feelings. “It just sort of slipped out. Kind of like this morning, when you first saw me and called me good-looking.” He winked at her. He wasn’t trying to flirt with her, but she was a pretty girl and he liked the way she became easily flustered. That didn’t happen too often with the women in his circle. They were all way too polished for his liking.
Noah tried not to grin as he watched Sophie turn several shades of red. She opened her mouth, then closed it, while making a sputtering sound.
“Apology accepted,” she finally said. She sat up straight and tilted her chin upward. “I’m sorry if you don’t believe that God lights the way for us, but He does. Of that I am very certain.”
“It’s not that I have anything against the big guy upstairs, but it seems like a pretty tall order to expect Him to give you a happily-ever-after.” Noah tapped his brakes as he came to a stop sign. He looked over at Sophie. “Although I admire anyone who believes in something as fervently as you do.”
She didn’t say a word, but the beginnings of a gorgeous smile began to tug at the corners of her lips. His chest tightened a little bit at the notion that something he’d said had made her smile as if she’d just glimpsed paradise. A wave of happiness traveled through him, and he had to quickly snap himself back to his main objective. He needed information, not million-dollar smiles.
“So, have you found that special someone yet?” he asked, his heart pounding like a jackhammer inside his chest as he awaited her answer. If she said yes, Sussex was bound to be upset.
“No, not yet,” she said, her shoulders sagging a little bit. “I’ve been asked on many a date here in Love, but I?
??ve never clicked romantically with any of them. Not that they’re not wonderful men, but I’m not willing to settle for anything less than someone who makes me feel like I’m going to swoon. And that hasn’t happened yet.”
Noah frowned. “Swoon? Isn’t that a little bit...unrealistic? I’ve never heard of a woman actually swooning.”
She shook her head at him. “It’s a feeling, Noah. One that goes straight down to your toes. Maw Maw used to tell me about it all the time when she talked about meeting Gramps for the first time.” Sophie pressed her hands together in a prayer-like fashion. “Her knees felt weak and her belly did flip-flops. She felt light-headed and she actually saw stars.”
Maybe she was actually seeing stars in the sky, Noah thought. Far more reasonable than to believe in all the romantic notions Sophie was hurling around.
“Maw Maw?” he asked, curious about the odd-sounding name.
