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Was he doing it to make the Heron more beautiful for guests or to make it more appealing to a buyer? Hadn’t he said that the land was worth more than the operating of the B and B?
Maybe he was actually starting to see what she did. She turned to him. “You’re starting to think like an innkeeper.”
“Until we put this place on the market, my name’s on the business too. So is my reputation.”
She looked back out the window. “Of course.” And she needed to remember that.
EIGHTEEN
Shane putthe truck into park. A good crowd of people was shuffling through the little corner lot of staked trees. He followed Kendall into the back of the lot.
“What size are we getting?”
“Eight foot minimum.”
“Eight?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “We put it in the main living space.”
Seemed like a damn big tree for the space, but it was her call. She wove between the trees as if she had an idea in mind but wasn’t finding just what she wanted.
“Heya, Ken.”
An easy and bright smile transformed her face and sucker punched him. “Hi, Brandon.”
Christ. She used to smile at him like that. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his bomber jacket.
“I’ve got a few of those blue spruces you like so much. I held a big one over here.”
He bet the guy did. Shane trudged through the muddy snow after her.
She hooked her arm through Brandon’s. “Oh, that’s perfect.”
Brandon patted her hand. “I thought you might like it.”
Shane stood with his feet apart, his thighs quivering with the full-body clench. He didn’t have any right to get pissed, but he didn’t like anyone else touching her.
“I’m sorry; evidently I left my manners in the truck. Brandon, this is Shane. Shane, Brandon.”
Shane held out his hand, and their handshake was firm. Brandon sized him up; his friendly blue eyes held an edge. Had Brandon and Kendall been an item?
Why the fuck did he care?
He stuffed his hand back into his pocket. She chattered away, asked the guy about his dog, his mother, his sister, and his goddamned nieces and nephews. Names flew out of her mouth.
Small town-ese and the easy familiarity of knowing someone most of her life left him on the sidelines.
He’d lived in Monterey for twenty-two years, and he didn’t know two of his neighbors. He wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Kendall knew the entire town of Winchester Falls.
Five minutes later the spruce was on the bed of his truck. She stopped at the edges of the displays. “Do you have any wreaths left?”
Brandon nodded. “Mom put a few together yesterday, and my sister made a few with those fat bows on the bottom and left the rest naked for people to trim themselves.”
Shane fisted his hands in his pockets and followed her to a small tent. She pored over the wreaths like she did the tree and finally selected one with a huge gold-and-silver bow.
Kendall counted out bills and handed them over. “Tell your sister she outdid herself.”
Brandon smiled. “I will.”
