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Yes, Isaac Manning was a household name in Bourbon Falls. Not because he’d ever come into town and introduced himself, but because the woman who ran the town’s mail route tipped them off. The broom fiasco had put her in the center of attention for at least a week.
“Yes,” Del said, still pacing. “But there were no brooms involved this time. In fact, once he realized Brooklyn was stuck in his overgrown mess of landscaping, he stopped trying to scare us away and actually came outside to help.”
“Really?” Faye asked.
“Yep. And Aunt Del thinks he’s totally hot, too.”
Del came to an abrupt halt. “When did I say that?”
“See?” Brooklyn smirked. “She’s getting all red.”
Faye arched a knowing brow; Del wished she had a book handy to hide behind.
“So what if he was easy on the eyes? Lots of guys around here are like that.”
Which wasn’t exactly true. Being a small town, Bourbon Falls didn’t have lots of guys—hot or otherwise—and definitely not a surplus of them in her age group. It also had zero men with the same caliber of Isaac’s handsomeness, an opinion she dared not mention at this moment.
Because yes, even drenched, the man had looked mighty fine.
But what she’d been drawn to even more was his concern for Brooklyn. He didn’t have to come down from his house in the pouring rain, but he had. Plus, he’d agreed not to call the cops or his insurance agent—also things he hadn’t had to do. And he’d shown up sans broom, which was another surprise. Maybe the town hermit wasn’t so bad after all.
Brooklyn clasped her hands and put them under her chin, eyelashes batting. “Oh, Isaac.Pleasedon’t call your insurance company. I’dloveto come back and clean this all up with you.”
“Really?” Del planted a hand on each hip. “I save your butt by pulling you out of the mud and keeping him from reporting the accident, and this is the thanks I get?”
Faye covered her mouth, trying to hide a grin and failing miserably. She looked to Brooklyn and said, “He must have been quite a looker.”
“I guess so. I mean, if you’re into old guys and stuff.”
“Old guys? He can’t be much older than me!” Del pinched the bridge of her nose. Getting defensive would only make her niece’s accusation that much more believable.
And so what if the guy was good-looking? It didn’t mean she was going to ask him out on a date or anything. Heck, the guy never left his house! Besides, dates led to relationships, and goodness knew she was done with those for a while. Maybe for forever, as badly as she’d been burned the last go around.
Having a little fun here and there? Sure.
Getting serious with anyone? Wasn’t gonna happen.
Nope, no dating in her future, just her holding up her end of the bargain by putting the guy’s yard back in order. Then she could go on her way, and he could go back to doing whatever handsome hermits did all day. Oh, and she needed to tell Mia belatedly about her daughter’s fender bender without being disowned.
“Maybe instead of you two making fun of me, you could do something a little more productive—like help me think of what to tell your mother.”
“Tell me what?”
The trio spun in unison. With all the fans going, no one had heard Mia Brooks-French arrive. She stepped out from the back hall, a wary look on her face.
Del forced the most angelic smile she could muster. “Uh, hiya, Sis.”
*
Isaac dragged himselfout of bed early the next morning in advance of a scheduled video conference call. There were perks to working from home these past several months, one of which was not having to take the early subway train to get to the office on time. Then again, he was generally there an hour before everyone else, so “late” was really only ever by his standards; his partner William McManus and the rest of their team usually rolled in somewhere between eight and nine.
Life in the Big Apple was all hustle and bustle.
Life here in Indiana was mind-numbingly dull.
Showered and dressed—professionally as far as they knew, a long-sleeved button-down and tie from the waist up, jogging shorts and white socks from the waist down—he grabbed a cup of coffee and dropped into a seat before his laptop camera. When he’d first moved to Indiana, he’d looked forward to these calls because he missed his colleagues. Over time, however, he’d begun to dread them. Anymore, the incoming bad news outweighed the good. It seemed for every new project won, two existing ones had been lost.
Isaac leaned back and stared at his rental’s faded popcorn ceiling. He’d hoped his decision to move west and diminish his presence at Manning & McManus IT Solutions would have spared the company from taking the brunt of last summer’s social media disaster. Unfortunately, the fire had grown too big, too fast to be extinguished by such a simple move. Now their once-thriving app development company, focused on helping upstarts and small businesses build the websites and sales tools they needed to grow, was struggling to stay afloat.
