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He leaned against the kitchen table they rarely used. “Actually, the writing startedbecauseof all the time I spend on the road. I oversee sales and customer support for the eastern division of Wellington Equipment and Trucking. Basically, we sell big trucks and all the equipment that goes along with them. I grew up watching my father work his way up in his father’s company. He often took me with him on his travels, and I loved experiencing new places and meeting new people. As I got older, I started working for him on summer break, learning from the best on how to take good care of our customers. After I got my MBA, he reassigned me to a sales position, overseeing the northeast territory. When those sales figures jumped and the former division head retired, I was promoted to take his place.”
“So, work had you stressed and you started drinking bourbon?”
He chuckled. “Not exactly. I’ve always enjoyed a good bourbon, but to get myself out of the hotel rooms, I started visiting bars in the towns where I stayed and asking for their recommendations. Soon, I was getting connected with distillers and learning all about their techniques. The distilling process fascinates me, so I decided to put my interests to good use and wrote a book.”
“Whoa, you have time to do your jobandresearch and write?” Mia shook her head. “That’s impressive. Some days, I can barely keep my head above water with just one job. I can’t imagine working two.”
Alex smiled. “But you do have more than one job—you help at the bookstore, and you’re a single mom. From what I hear, that’s far more demanding than my writing is.”
“It can be.” She glanced toward the hall leading to Brooklyn’s room, where her daughter would likely be holed up until Alex left. “It’s also the most rewarding job I’ll ever hold. Do you have any children, Alex?”
“Oh no. Kids were never a part of my plan. Or my ex’s.”
So, he had been married once upon a time. She wanted to know more but didn’t want to pry. Goodness knew, she’d gotten tired of answering those questions herself after Greg left.
Alex stepped toward the windows facing her backyard and peered through the blinds. With his attention diverted, she took a moment to drink in the view. His sandy blond hair was a little shorter than he’d kept it in college, the top longer than the sides. Now that he was in her well-lit kitchen, she could see flecks of gray at his temples, the glimmer of it in the scruff along his jawline. Add in the laugh lines around his eyes, and he was quite the looker for a guy in his thirties.
Oh, who was she kidding? Alex had always been a looker—she’d just tried her damnedest back in the day not to look very closely. Tried—and failed.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he added, turning to face her once again. “I’ve got nothing against kids. I’m just not so good at connecting with them.”
“Ha, join the club.”
“Well, you’ve got a teenager. No one’s good at connecting with them, from what I hear.”
“Del is.” The confession slipped out before she could edit.
“Ah, but that’s what aunts and uncles and cousins are for,” Alex said with a wink. “Being the ‘cool’ ones in the family.”
She hadn’t thought of it like that, but there was some truth to his words. Growing up, she’d always thought Aunt Faye was way cooler than her father. Maybe that was because when her aunt moved back to town and into the family farmhouse, she was the first nontraditional spot of sunshine they’d all had since their mother’s passing. As time went on, she also never enforced the “no getting down from the table until you eat your veggies” rule. And goodness knew Del didn’t enforce much of anything where Brooklyn was involved.
Maybe Delaney and Isaac needed to hurry up and start a family so Mia could finally be the cool aunt. Of course, that would probably be the moment Hannah came back into town and stole Mia’s glory. If she ever came back.
Wanting an escape from where her thoughts had gone, Mia motioned for the front room. Time to wrap up this tour so she could call it a night and put this crazy day behind her.
“Any more spider sightings?” she asked as she led him to the front staircase.
“Nope. So far, so good.”
The tension in his voice made her grin. There was something endearing about a man unafraid to show his weakness—intentional or not. It also helped remind her he was human. Knowing he’d come from a well-to-do family in Indianapolis had been intimidating at first, and then again after their big blowup.
But I promised to forgive him for that. Now it’s time to also try to forget it.
“You’re sure Brooklyn won’t mind having me here?” he asked as they made their way upstairs.
“She’ll be fine.” At least, Mia hoped so. If she wasn’t, she could take it up with her beloved aunt Del. “Now, before you see our guest room, I have to warn you—it doubles as my classroom test lab. I tried picking up as best I could on short notice, but…”
“Test lab? That sounds high tech.”
Mia laughed. “More like highmess. It’s where I weed out the Pinterest fails from successes. Better to test craft ideas here than at school and end up with twenty third-graders covered in glitter and glue.”
“So, you stuck with elementary ed, huh?”
“I did.” She led him from the landing and stopped at the doorway to her crafting room. “Anyway, it’s not much, but hopefully, it’ll work for you while you’re stuck in Bourbon Falls.”
Alex stepped forward, his gaze slowly scanning the space. She’d never found this room anything but fun and magical in the past, her “creation station” for future classroom projects. But standing here, trying to see it through his eyes, Mia began to worry. The twin-sized bed was covered in a worn, patchwork quilt her nana had made. The desk was secondhand, as was its mismatched chair, neither in pristine shape. She’d never minded, but would he?
Maybe she should have changed out the quilt for something more masculine. Or thrown all the craft supplies on top of the desk into a box and tucked it away until he was gone. Or—
